MEXICO CITY — Servando "La Tuta" Gomez, who once terrorized western Michoacan state and was one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords , was captured early Friday by federal police, according to a Mexican official.
He was arrested in the capital city, Morelia, without a shot fired, said the official spokesman, who talked on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.
Gomez, 49, was the leader of the Knights Templar cartel, a quasi-religious criminal group that once ruled all of the state, controlling politics and commerce. He evaded capture for more than a year after the federal government took over the state to try to restore order. The Mexican government had offered a $2 million reward for his capture.
The folksy and charismatic cartel leader of puffy cheeks and large nose, known to wear a baseball cap and a gray-haired goatee, was a fugitive also wanted in the United States for conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine.
Read Saturday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.