Mexican Authorities Arrest a Former Military Officer Linked to the Murder and Beheading of Mayor in Guerrero

It has taken over a month but Mexican authorities are getting clarity on the case investigating the murder of Alejandro Arcos Catalán, the mayor of the city of Chilpancingo in the southern state of Guerrero.

Arcos was beheaded in what seemed to be an attack from cartels and criminal groups in the state despite. He was killed shortly after requesting Guerrero Gov. Evelyn Salgado for better protection due to the state's ungovernability.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged to bring those responsible for the murder and beheading of Arcos Catalán to justice. And after a month of investigations, a former prosecutor and local police official was linked to the case.

Officials said the man responsible for the decapitation of Arcos Catalán is Germán Reyes, who was arrested in Guerrero on charges of homicide.

Reyes was a former military officer who, according to his official resume, retired with rank of captain in the military justice system. He then took a job as a special prosecutor in the state of Guerrero and more recently held the position of secretary of security within the Chilpancingo municipal government.

The crime had initially been blamed on local drug and extortion gangs, but authorities believe Reyes had somehow worked in collusion with one of the two main gangs in the entity known as "Los Tlacos" and "Los Ardillos."

On Nov. 12, Omar García Harfuch, Mexico's top federal security official, said that Arcos Catalán was apparently killed by "Los Ardillos," the same gang responsible for killing 11 market vendors, including four minors, on Nov. 8 in Chilpancingo.

But according to the investigation led by the state's Attorney General's Office, two other people could be behind Arcos Catalán's murder. The latest piece of the puzzle was revealed during the initial hearing in the case against Reyes that began on Nov. 12.

Allegedly, "El Michoacano" and "El Jimmy" were the two individuals that killed the mayor after Germán Reyes gave them orders to kill the official, as the mayor allegedly denied Reyes's request of integrating members of "Los Ardillos" to his security cabinet.

Officials found out abut Reyes's conspiracy to kill Arcos Catalán thanks to a complaint by a local merchant that overheard police officers from Petaquillas, a small town south of Chilpancingo. The merchant was extorted by the police officers and was asked to pay "his dues."

Unable to meet the amount requested by the police officers, the merchant was taken into custody. As he traveled inside the police car, he allegedly overheard them talb about how Germán Reyes ordered the assassination of the Chilpancingo mayor.

Violence in Guerrero

For decades, the state of Guerrero was known for its beach resort town of Acapulco and its beautiful Pacific Ocean coastlines. But the current state of impunity in some parts of Mexico have transformed Guerrero into one of the most dangerous states in the country.

Last year, Guerrero reported a total of 1,890 homicides and as of September of this year close to 1,200 homicides have been reported in the entity, according to national data.

The situation has escalated to the point in which the U.S. State Department is now advising Americans to completely avoid the state due to the high volume of crime and violence.