4 Arrested in Shooting of Alleged Crime Boss in Mérida
Yucatán police made quick work of arresting four people within hours of Friday morning’s shooting of a man whom Quintana Roo authorities have called a criminal leader in Cancún.
Yucatán’s Public Security Secretariat, known as the SSP, said the suspects were two men and two women. Investigators began tracking them as soon as the attack was reported. All four will be turned over to the Yucatán State Attorney General’s Office, or FGE, which will decide their legal status. Authorities have not released their names or said what role each one is suspected of playing.
The SSP announced the first two arrests Friday afternoon. It also said it had seized a car and a motorcycle connected to the case. Later that day, it said four people — including an accused female shooter — were in custody.
Regional outlets reported that authorities caught the first two suspects at a checkpoint in Maxcanú, on the highway to Campeche, as they tried to leave the state. One outlet said they were caught less than seven hours after the shooting. The SSP has not confirmed where any of the arrests took place.
The attack happened around 11 a.m. on Calle 32 between 79 and 81 in Montes de Amé, a quiet, upscale residential enclave in north Mérida. Two people on a motorcycle pulled up as the man was getting out of his vehicle, and one of them fired. He was taken to a hospital. The SSP said he was in stable condition and had been able to give investigators information about the attack.
As Yucatán Magazine reported Friday, local media identified him as José Marcelino “N,” known as “El Marce.” Mexican authorities and news outlets routinely withhold the surnames of suspects involved in criminal cases.
He is well known to police in the neighboring state. Quintana Roo prosecutors arrested him in Cancún in 2025 on suspicion of street-level drug dealing. They named him a priority target in the state’s crime atlas and called him the leader of a violent criminal group. At the time, he faced a 2023 arrest warrant in the killing of four men and had been a fugitive for two years, Proceso reported. The national newsweekly also linked him to Los Chapitos. That faction of the Sinaloa Cartel is run by sons of jailed drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Quintana Roo outlets report that he later regained his freedom. They have not explained how, and it is not known how long he had been living in Mérida.
The SSP said it was still gathering information on the case and gave no further details. It added that anyone who comes to Yucatán to commit crimes “will be investigated and located” and handed over to the proper authorities.
Investigators have not said whether the attack is tied to a dispute between criminal groups, though some local reports point that way. Mérida Mayor Cecilia Patrón Laviada praised the SSP’s work on the case.
Shootings like this are rare in Mérida. For years, Yucatán has recorded fewer homicides than any other Mexican state. Federal figures show 17 homicides statewide from January through August.
The U.S. State Department gives Yucatán its lowest travel advisory, Level 1, “Exercise normal precautions.” Neighboring Quintana Roo, home to Cancún and Tulum, is at Level 2 because of violence between rival criminal groups.
Quick Facts
- Arrested: 2 men and 2 women, names not released
- Seized: A car and a motorcycle linked to the attack
- Shooting: About 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2, on Calle 32 between 79 and 81, Montes de Amé
- Victim: José Marcelino “N,” alias “El Marce,” in stable condition
- Next step: The suspects go before the Yucatán State Attorney General’s Office (FGE)
- Charge under investigation: Attempted homicide
With reporting from La Jornada Maya, Por Esto!, Sol Yucatán, Yucatán Ahora, Proceso and Sol Quintana Roo
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