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Alejandro Arcos was sworn in last Monday as mayor of
Chilpancingo, a city so violent that a drug gang openly staged a
demonstration, hijacked a government armored car and took police
hostage in 2023 to win the release of arrested suspects.
Chilpancingo is the capital of Guerrero state, where Acapulco is
located.
The state prosecutors’ office issued a statement Sunday
confirming Arcos had been killed, but provided no details.
Alejandro Moreno, the national leader of the Institutional
Revolutionary Party, or PRI, lamented Arcos' killing and said
the newly installed secretary of the city council had also been
murdered three days earlier.
“They had been in office less than a week,” Moreno wrote on his
social media accounts. “They were young and honest public
servants who were seeking progress for their community.”
Chilpancingo has long been the scene of bloody turf battles
between two drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos. The battle
has resulted in dozens of gruesome slayings and some
high-profile scandals.
A previous mayor was caught on video apparently holding a
meeting with leaders of one of the gangs at a restaurant. She
was subsequently expelled from her party.
In July 2023, federal officials said a demonstration held by
hundreds of people in Chilpancingo that month had been organized
by the Ardillos gang to win the release of two gang leaders
arrested for drugs and weapons possession.
The demonstrators largely blocked all traffic on the highway
between Mexico City and Acapulco for two days, battled security
forces and commandeered a police armored truck and used it to
ram down the gates of the state legislature building.
The demonstrators abducted 10 members of the state police and
National Guard, as well as three state and federal officials,
and held them hostage to enforce their demands before releasing
them.
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