Mexican authorities said on Thursday they had arrested an organized crime figure in the western state of Michoacan in connection with an incident last October. An outspoken leader of lime growers in the state was killed.
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said authorities arrested the man known as “El Botox” for allegedly extorting lemon growers and committing multiple murders, including that of agricultural leader Bernardo Bravo.
A Michoacán official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed the suspect’s full name is César Alejandro Sepúlveda Arellano, leader of the White Trojans, or Blancos de Troya, group. The group is understood to be working with Los Vigueras, a criminal organization allied with the Jalisco New Generation cartel.
García Harfuch said he had 11 arrest warrants for extortion and homicide. He is also accused of attacking authorities with explosives.
Michoacán Gov. Alfredo Ramirez Bedola said in a statement that his arrest on Thursday represented an “overwhelming blow against racketeering” in the state, which is Mexico’s largest producer of limes and avocados.
In October, the body of Bravo, chairman of the Apatzingan Valley Citrus Producers Association, was found in his car on a road in the area.
Bravo denounced the “perpetual commercial hijacking of any commercial activity by organized crime.”
Two weeks after gunman was killed Killing of popular Uruapan Mayor Carlos Alberto ManzoAnother is an outspoken critic of the cartels’ control of Michoacán. this Two homicides and public outcry Subsequent events galvanized the government Mexican President Claudia Shinebaum Send more troops to Michoacán