Widow of slain Mexican mayor Valentin Lavin arrested in extortion case

Mexican authorities arrested the widow of Temoac Mayor Valentin Lavin and the town's police chief on Monday in an extortion case, prosecutors and local media said, less than a week after Lavin was shot dead.

The Morelos state prosecutor's office said Marisol "N" and Geovany Emmanuel "N" were detained as part of an anti-extortion operation. Mexican press identified Marisol "N" as Lavin's widow. Geovany Emmanuel "N" is the chief of the municipal police.

The prosecutor's office did not give further details about the arrests and did not say whether the case was connected to Lavin's death.

Lavin, mayor of Temoac in central Mexico and an ally of President Claudia Sheinbaum's leftist party, was shot and killed during a town hall on July 22. The killing happened in Morelos, a state near Mexico City where several drug cartels are active.

Official figures show almost 100 mayors have been murdered in Mexico since 2006, when drug-related violence surged. Mexico was also shocked by the fatal shooting of mayor Carlos Manzo in Michoacan state last November during Day of the Dead celebrations.