Juchitán mayor arrested in extortion case

Reporting and context

Miguel Sánchez Altamirano, the mayor of Juchitán de Zaragoza, Oaxaca, and Carlos Alberto “N,” known as “La Parca,” were arrested Wednesday during an operation carried out under warrants for aggravated extortion and crimes against state security, Colima Noticias reported. The outlet said both men were taken to the Ciudad Ixtepec airport for transfer to Mexico City, although a roadblock maintained by municipal police to demand the mayor’s release reportedly disrupted his air transport.

According to Security and Citizen Protection Secretary Omar García Harfuch, investigators link the two men to an alleged criminal structure involved in extortion and the collection of protection payments from merchants and business owners, as well as retail drug sales, human trafficking and homicide. García Harfuch confirmed the arrests in a post on X and said the Financial Intelligence Unit had immobilized funds and blocked accounts connected to the investigation.

The operation was conducted under President Claudia Sheinbaum’s “Zero Impunity” policy, García Harfuch said. Personnel from the Navy, the Security and Citizen Protection Secretariat, the Defense Secretariat, the Attorney General’s Office and the National Guard participated, along with Oaxaca state authorities. Colima Noticias said Oaxaca’s state prosecutor’s office and Governor Salomón Jara Cruz had not publicly commented on the arrests at the time of publication. The source also reported that investigations and operations would continue, and that García Harfuch thanked the governor and state government for their cooperation.

Image source: Colima Noticias.