Mexico City - Mexican police captured Knights Templar drug cartel leader Servando Gomez on Friday, whose gang tormented western Michoacan state, smuggled drugs to the United States and illegally shipped iron ore to China.
One of Mexico's most wanted fugitives, the man nicknamed "La Tuta" was detained without a shot fired in Morelia, Michoacan's capital, a National Security Commission official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The 49-year-old former teacher was being transferred to Mexico City, where authorities will hold a press conference about the capture, which was the result "of several months of intelligence work by federal police," the official said.
Last year, police mounted a massive manhunt for Gomez in the mountains of Michoacan with help from a "rural defence" force comprised of former vigilantes who took up arms against the Knights Templar.
With his arrest, the authorities have now taken down the four top leaders of the cartel, dealing a huge blow to the criminal organization that once dominated the agricultural and mining state through murder, kidnappings and extortion.
The capture is a victory for President Enrique Pena Nieto amid falling approval ratings and public anger over his handling of violence in the neighbouring state of Guerrero, where 43 students were allegedly killed by a gang in league with local police.
The government has neutralized some of the country's most wanted kingpins since Pena Nieto took office in December 2012, including the head of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who was detained early last year after a 13-year manhunt.
AFP
