Former customs director killed at Port of Manzanillo, Mexico

Fernando Ruben Guerrero was high-ranking official in Mexican navy

Fernando Ruben Guerrero, former customs director for the Port of Veracruz, was driving his vehicle on Nov. 8 when armed assailants allegedly shot him. (Photo: FreightWaves)

A high-ranking member of the Mexican navy was recently killed at the Port of Manzanillo, along Mexico’s Pacific Coast.

The incident happened about a month after another federal official was slain in the same port city.

Fernando Ruben Guerrero was driving his vehicle around noon on Nov. 8 when armed assailants allegedly caught up with him and shot him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities are still investigating.

Guerrero is a rear admiral in the Mexican navy. From September 2022 to August 2023, Guerrero was the customs director for the Port of Veracruz, located along the Gulf of Mexico.

Guerrero left the Port of Veracruz for a position at the National Customs Agency of Mexico, according to media reports.

“The Secretariat of the Navy deeply regrets the death of one of its members, who tragically lost his life while traveling on public roads aboard his private vehicle, in the port of Manzanillo, Colima; due to gunshot wounds,” the Mexican Navy said on a post on X.

Manzanillo, with a population of about 160,000, is located on Mexico’s central Pacific Coast. The Port of Manzanillo is one of the busiest container ports in the country and is Mexico’s main Pacific gateway for trade with China.

Guerrero is the second federal employee to be killed in Manzanillo in the past month.

An employee of the Mexican Attorney General’s Office was shot to death while driving her vehicle in Manzanillo on Oct. 21.  Authorities have not released the woman’s name.

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