MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities in northern Mexico say armed men apparently worked for a drug cartel killed an American and that one of the alleged killers was a deserter from the Honduran presidential guard.

Arizona resident Nicholas Quets was shot to death on October 18 near a gas station between the towns of Altar and Caborca, in the border state of Sonora. Local media reported that Quets was heading to the resort of Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point, at the time of the attack.

Local media reported that Quets’ vehicle may have passed a checkpoint on the cartel highway just before the murder.

Prosecutors in the northern state of Sonora said late Tuesday that the Honduran suspect and a companion had been “neutralized” in the city of Altar after they opened fire on security forces. Neutralized is a term used in Mexican law enforcement to mean killed.

They said the Honduran suspect, who, like the others, was not identified by his full name, had an outstanding desertion order from Honduras’ presidential honor guard. Drug cartels in Mexico often recruit former military personnel from Central and South America.

Prosecutors said they had also arrested two other suspects in Quets’ murder. One of them was identified as “Delta”, a gang that works for the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa drug cartel.

He and another suspect are being held for investigation on weapons and drug charges.