Gunmen marched into the remote mountain hamlet of El Mirado in central Puebla state last Friday and opened fire on an entire family.
Two suspects, who were identified, fled the scene of the massacre.
The Puebla state prosecutor's office yesterday said on Twitter that the investigation was "progressing" as it placed a man in custody in relation with the case.
It did not provide more details about the suspect.
Vicente Lopez, the mayor of Coxcatlan whose municipality oversees the hamlet, said local police detained a man named Carlos in the El Mirador area.
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Lopez has described the mass murder as an act of "vengeance."
The woman's partner, who was also killed, had more wounds than the others and had been stabbed.
The death toll was raised from 11 to 12 after authorities said that the woman was 37 weeks pregnant and that the foetus had not survived.
The rapist is not the suspect who was detained, an official at the prosecutor's office said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly.