Arrested 14 Years Later: Sinaloa Detains ‘El Tino’ in the Culiacán Malecón Killing of Héctor Melesio Cuén’s Brother
Sinaloa state investigators have arrested Florentino “N,” 44, known as “El Tino,” on a 14-year-old warrant in the killing of Jesús Alfredo Cuén Ojeda. Cuén Ojeda was the brother of Héctor Melesio Cuén Ojeda, the former Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa (UAS) rector who was himself killed in Culiacán in 2024. El Universal and El Heraldo de México reported the arrest on Sept. 24, 2026, and El Blog del Narco followed on Sept. 25.
The charge
The Sinaloa state prosecutor’s office (FGE) said it served an arrest warrant on Florentino “N” for aggravated homicide with premeditation, advantage and payment, El Universal reported. The last element means prosecutors allege the killing was paid for. He was handed to a Culiacán criminal court, which will rule on his legal status. The FGE statement did not name the victim. El Universal and El Heraldo tied the case to the July 2, 2012, shooting of Jesús Alfredo Cuén on the Niños Héroes boulevard, known as the Malecón Viejo, in downtown Culiacán.
Accounts of his alleged role differ. El Blog del Narco calls him the gunman. El Universal reports that after the killing another man, Andrés Humberto Medina Armenta, “El Chore,” was named as the alleged shooter, and Florentino Armenta Valdez, “El Tino,” as the alleged driver of the car used in the attack. He has not been convicted and is presumed innocent.
Who Jesús Alfredo Cuén was
El Heraldo reported that Cuén, 59, was a sports-medicine doctor and a former UAS sports director. He was shot near a pickup that morning while his brother Héctor was close by, and the attackers fled in a white car. El Blog del Narco reported that investigators at the time pointed to a political motive. It also said a woman, Yesenia Armenta Graciano, was jailed for two years in the case and freed in 2014 after courts found she had been tortured into confessing.
The El Mayo link
Héctor Melesio Cuén, a former rector, Culiacán mayor and founder of the Partido Sinaloense, was killed on July 25, 2024. El Blog del Narco noted that state prosecutors first blamed an attempted carjacking at a gas station. Mexico’s federal prosecutors (FGR) then took over the case and called that version a set-up. Federal findings and a letter from Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada placed Cuén’s killing at the same property where the Sinaloa Cartel co-founder was seized and taken to the United States that day, the outlet reported.
Sources
- El Universal, “Detienen a presunto homicida del hermano de Héctor Melesio Cuén en Culiacán,” Sept. 24, 2026.
- El Heraldo de México, “Cae tras 14 años presunto implicado en asesinato del hermano de Héctor Cuén,” Sept. 24, 2026.
- El Blog del Narco, “14 años después detuvieron al Sicario que ejecutó en Culiacán a Jesús Alfredo, hermano de Héctor Melesio Cuén Ojeda,” Sept. 25, 2026.
- Photos: Fiscalía General del Estado de Sinaloa, via El Universal; Jsalo-Demos / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Reported Sept. 26, 2026, from the Mexican press accounts above. The Narco Blog did not independently verify them. The outlets differ on the suspect’s alleged role, and the state prosecutor’s statement did not name the victim or give a motive.