XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: hugo@fuobama.com   
      
   By Joshua Partlow and Gabriela Martinez, Sunday, March 9, 2:46 PM   
      
   MEXICO CITY — How many times will Nazario Moreno die?   
      
   Mexican authorities said on Sunday that fingerprint tests had   
   confirmed “100 percent” that the leader of the Knights Templar   
   drug cartel, who reportedly had been killed in 2010, had died in   
   an early morning shootout. The head of criminal investigations   
   at the Mexican attorney general’s office said that further tests   
   would continue but they knew this time Moreno was really dead.   
      
   A security official in Michoacan state said that the Mexican   
   navy led the operation in the village of Naranjo de Chila and   
   that others had been killed or injured.   
      
   “Undeniably, this is a major blow to that organization,” said   
   the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he   
   was not authorized to discuss the matter.   
      
   Moreno’s suspected death was first reported by the Associated   
   Press.   
      
   Killing and extortion by the Knights Templar in Michoacan led to   
   a citizen uprising during the past year. Militias have been   
   seizing towns and villages under cartel control, a movement that   
   has challenged the authority of the Mexican state.   
      
   The Moreno mystery is one of many strange aspects of the Knights   
   Templar, a drug gang that moves methamphetamine and whose   
   members cast themselves as holy warriors. The group is a spinoff   
   of the La Familia cartel. Inspired by Catholic crusaders of the   
   Middle Ages, gang members wear white cloaks with red crosses,   
   build shrines to Moreno and revere his religious writings.   
      
   Moreno’s demise was first alleged to have occurred in December   
   2010 during a gun battle with federal police. The government   
   announced that he had been killed but his body was not   
   recovered. Since then, residents and officials in Michoacan have   
   said openly that they think Moreno survived, and many people say   
   they have seen him. The day-to-day leadership of the cartel   
   passed to a former schoolteacher named Servando Gómez, a.k.a.   
   “La Tuta.”   
      
   Moreno’s apparent survival burnished his legend as a mythical   
   and cultlike figure in Mexico’s drug wars.   
      
   On Sunday, Moreno’s body had been moved to the city of   
   Apatzingan and was under military control. Authorities had known   
   for some time that Moreno frequented Naranjo de Chila and were   
   waiting for intelligence to confirm that he was there, the   
   security official said.   
      
   Moreno’s death is a significant development in the conflict in   
   Michoacan. The militia leaders have said they will stop only   
   when the government has killed or captured top cartel leaders.   
      
   In recent months, President Enrique Peña Nieto’s government has   
   sought to legitimize the militia members by registering them.   
   They control a wide swath of Michoacan, including the city of   
   Apatzingan.   
      
   “We know that there are other [Knights Templar] leaders that   
   continue to operate,” the official said. “We think we are going   
   to see internal divisions now.”   
      
   The government has been increasing pressure on the Knights   
   Templar. Hundreds of police and soldiers recently raided illegal   
   iron-ore mines in the port city of Lazaro Cardenas. The cartel   
   was using the mines to fund its activities.   
      
   Mexico recently captured the leader of the Sinaloa cartel,   
   Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, in a military operation in Mazatlan.   
      
   http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/mexican-   
   authorities-claim-to-kill-knights-templar-drug-cartel-leader-   
   nazario-moreno/2014/03/09/df38e284-a7d0-11e3-8a7b-   
   c1c684e2671f_story.html   
      
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)