Jalisco state police say they have arrested a man in connection with the October 2012 murder of 64-year-old Canadian expatriate Ron Lloyd MacKintosh in Barra de Navidad.
According to a police report, Andres Abul Gomez Ibarra, 26, was detained in an operation carried out in the municipality of Cihuatlan in the early hours of Wednesday, June 26. A minor, whose name was not released, was detained at the same time.
The Ciuhuatlan Ministerio Publico (District Attorney's Office) has charged the detainees with two counts of armed robbery in the town of Villa Obregon, where Gomez Ibarra resided.
Investigators said Gomez Ibarra is "presumed responsible" for the murder of MacKintosh, as well as stealing 16,000 pesos from a Ciuhuatlan cattle farmer, who was kidnapped and beaten but left alive.
The report suggested Gomez Ibarra may have ties to the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel.
MacKintosh and his pet dog Nikko disappeared around 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, October 21 in Melaque, after he dropped off a friend in his black, British Columbia-licensed 2008 Jeep Patriot.
His decomposing body was found tied to a tree in a field one kilometer outside of Barra de Navidad two weeks after he was reported missing. He had been strangled to death with a belt. His vehicle and dog were never found.
MacKintosh was a former senior field inspector with engineering firm Koers and Associates in Parksville, northwest of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. He had been with the company since 1987 and took early retirement.
MacKintosh moved to Melaque, Jalisco about three years ago.