He would then devour the mans buttock flesh in tamales after it had been cooked in lemon and served on toast. A similar event took place in 2015 when hopefuls of La Familia Michoacana were forced to eat their rivals after torturing them and cutting them up while alive. At this time it only operated as a wing of the Gulf Cartel but officially formed as a stand-alone rival group in 2010. The local authorities haven't been able to dismantle this trafficking group because of its experience. The body of the founder of one of Mexico's most violent drug cartels, La Familia Michoacana, has been discovered on a motorway with signs of torture. The federal authorities have known that the group smuggles high grade marijuana and cocaine from Guanajuato, traveling up to the border and passing under secret tunnels. The CJNG, led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, El Mencho, denounced in a video broadcast on social networks that those who executed the 20 victims were hosts of the leader of the Familia Michoacana, Medardo Hernndez Vera alias el Cien or Lalo Mantecas; They pointed to the coordination with Daniel Correa, head of the cell that bears his last name. [6][17][18] Upon his arrest, Rosales Mendoza was taken into custody to Mexico City and kept in La Palma prison until he was taken to Puente Grande, a maximum security prison in the western state of Jalisco, on 28 October 2004 for 10 years. The group's hitmen say they had the "divine right" to kill and have been known to dismember enemies, such as members of rival gangs. Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. Officials are now working to identify the victims. Mexico Daily Postreports that 10 men were killed at the scene while another died in hospital and a further 10 were detained. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. They immediately went to war with the Los Zetas and proudly claimed responsibility for a swath of mass killings, including the massacre of 15 Mexican cops in a single ambush. El Universal put the death toll at 11. He is described as the operational chief of the cartel in an October 2009 Justice Department indictment for conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine to the United States. According to plea documents, from September 2007 through October 21, 2009, Rueda-Medina held a leadership position within LFM, a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate based in the Mexican State of Michoacn. When Rosales Mendoza founded the first cells of La Familia Michoacana in the 1980s, the Milenio Cartel was competing with the organization for the control of the production and distribution of narcotics in the state of Michoacn. Specifically, Rueda-Medina pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute a Schedule II controlled substance and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. DEA agents have received tips saying the groups move up to 2 tons of high grade marijuana to a central hub in Atlanta, then up through I75 to Detroit where it is repackaged into small quantities and spread throughout the city. The Department of Justices Office of International Affairs also provided assistance in bringing the defendant to the United States to face charges. History. Police believed that the 40-year-old Moreno also known as "El Chayo" or "The Doctor" was killed in a clash Thursday between cartel gunmen and federal police, said Alejandro Poire, the government spokesman for security issues. In 2016, he was caught for a third time and extradited to the US to face charges relating to his leadership of the cartel. Her husband is accused of being involved in a series of crimes including murders, kidnappings, and even bomb attacks on military personnel. In 2017, a former leader of the gang, Marciano Chano Millan Vasquez, was jailed in San Antonio for 29 killings in Mexico while working for the group. Garca was arrested by authorities in Tierra Caliente after she was caught transporting big quantities of drugs. MND Staff. [12][25] Authorities suspect Ignacio Andrade Rentera (El Cenizo), a former mob lieutenant who now runs the Knights Templar Cartel. In response, law enforcement deployed personnel to various locations throughout the state of Michoacan. [51], On July 11, 2009, a cartel lieutenantArnoldo Rueda Medinawas arrested. View our online Press Pack. The government claims that that La Familia has been severely weakened after four years of fighting off its rivals and security forces. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. The shooting took place when members of the Attorney Generals Office of the State of Mexico and members of the National Guard fought with armed members of La Familia Michoacana. [15][16] As of 2011, La Familia Michoacana still exists, mostly active in Estado de Mexico,[17][18] despite the killing of its founder and leader Nazario Moreno Gonzlez. A note found at the scene where the bodies were dumped stated Vengan por otro, los estamos esperando (Come for another, we are waiting for you). However, according to DEA officials, it claims to oppose the sale of drugs to Mexicans. News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. He was found dead in a parking lot on 28 December 2015. President Caldern stated that the country's drug cartels had grown so powerful that they now posed a threat to the future of Mexican democracy. Secure .gov websites use HTTPSA lock ( The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Dallas Police Department and the Garland Police Department; the U.S. On the same day as the shooting, a Bengal Tiger was spotted walking the streets of Tecuala in the western Mexican region of Nayarit. But it was his practice of eating human flesh that thrust him into international headlines two years ago. [54][56] Based on these charges, on December 14, 2010, Godoy Toscano was impeached from the lower house of Congress and therefore lost his parliamentary immunity; he fled and remains a fugitive. The monkeys owner was reportedly part of the regional leader of La Familia Michoacanassecurity team whose head was called El Gorilla and who fled during the police raid on Tuesday, June 14. Function: _error_handler, File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/page/index.php Stunning footage has captured the moment Brazilian protesters thought they had won their push for a military coup only to be arrested minutes later. Moreno is considered the ideological leader of La Familia, setting a code of conduct for its members that prohibits using hard drugs or dealing them within Mexican territory. The accused drug lord, who is currently on trial in New York, was once considered the most powerful drug trafficker in the world. At least three members of La Familia were killed and three others were captured during the operation, Mexican national security spokesman Alejandro Poire said Friday. Rueda-Medina was arrested in Michoacn, Mexico on July 11, 2009, and was extradited to the United States on January 27, 2017. Among those arrested was the presumed leader of the cartel, Jaime Luis 'El Pozolero' - who is accussed of kidnapping a woman in Tenancingo last year. Authorities seized various weapons including 20 assault rifles,handguns, ammunition and vehicles in the operation, and also took the body of the monkey away. But no one seems to know what provoked the cartel's most recent attacks against civilians and public officials in Guerrero. Below we take a look at some of the main gangs that have terrorised Mexico since the inception of the states war on the cartels in 2006. Function: _error_handler, File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/user/popup_harry_book.php "Moreno started as a migrant in California, continued trafficking marijuana on the border and became the leader of one of the most violent criminal organizations in the history of Mexico," the report says. Mexican animal rights group Animal Lawyers warns that organized criminals often mistreat the exotic pets that they keep, many of whom are unable to adapt to the new habitat they find themselves in. La Familia Michoacana was one of the strongest and fastest growing cartels in Mexico.[24]. [51] 20 municipal officials have been murdered in Michoacn, including two mayors. In 2016 his brother, said to be the financial brains behind the criminal empire, was captured. The principal mission of OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, dismantle and prosecute high-level members of drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations and enterprises. Seized during the arresting phase was over 62 kilograms (137lb) of cocaine, 330 kilograms (730lb) of methamphetamine, 440 kilograms (970lb) of marijuana, 144 weapons, 109 vehicles, two clandestine drug laboratories, and $3.4 million in U.S. My office will continue to devote our time, energy, focus and expertise to helping disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations with our law enforcement partners in the United States and abroad to stem the flow of deadly drugs into our country and stop the violence inflicted by people like Rueda-Medina. On February 25, 2010, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned Rueda-Medina under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation (Kingpin Act) for his involvement in drug trafficking. Mexican federal policestand by a blockade set up by gunmen overnight in Morelia as the government hunted down La Familia drugcartel leaders. The pet monkey of a drug gang member dressed up in a bulletproof vest and camouflaged jacket has been killed in a bloody shootout which also left 11 other cartel members dead. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. The Sinaloa cartel found infamy after the exploits of its long-time leader Joaquin El Chapo Guzman came to international prominence. "It purportedly originated to protect locals from the violence of drug cartels. Pictures of the narco monkey went viral online, with many social media users assuming at first that they were fake. Only one of the officials a former mayor remains in prison. His strategy of direct confrontation and law enforcement is not popular with some segments of Mexican society, where battling violent drug gangs has brought out several human rights charges against the Mexican military. He was first captured in 1993 and jailed for 20 years only to escape in 2001. Police were led to a number of different locations including the warehouse in Tenango del Valle. Inside the history of cannibalism in Mexican drug cartels, where teen enforcers are fed crack before feasting on the organs of their victims. And in a particularly twisted initiation ritual, young members of the Jalisco New Generation cartel were forced to eat the hearts of murder victims. [28][29][30][31][32][33] La Familia's boss and spiritual leader Nazario Moreno Gonzlez, (a.k.a. The Mexican government's dossier describes him as the brains behind a large number of killings. [6][8] The cartel was founded by Carlos Rosales Mendoza, a close associate of Osiel Crdenas. The announcement was made by Special Agent in Charge Clyde E. Shelley, Jr. of the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas. The Mexican justice department stated in a report that Gonzalez Moreno has made Eldredge's book Salvaje de Corazn (Wild at Heart) required reading for La Familia gang members and has paid rural teachers and National Development Education (CONAFE) to circulate Eldredge's writings throughout the Michoacn countryside. [45] La Familia Michoacana became a rival of its splinter group Knights Templar. It was the Sinaloa group which pioneered the use of tunnels dug underneath the Mexico-US border to send their drugs into America. Reporting from Mexico City . In 2006, El Universal newspaper said it had interviewed two La Familia leaders, identifying one as "The Craziest One." 12 Mexican federal officers were tortured and killed in retaliation for La Minsa's capture DALLAS The leader of "La Familia Michoacn" (LFM) Mexican drug cartel was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade to serve more than 43 years in federal prison and fined $5 million for offenses related to his leadership role within LFM. Line: 479 Overshadowed by the criminal activity and the media skills of the Jalisco Nueva Generacin Cartel (CJNG) and its satellite groups, La Familia Michoacana returns these days to the front pages due . [9] He also formed an alliance with Osiel Crdenas Guilln, then leader of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, and merged with his organization. La Resistencia gang was originally created by Sinaloa Cartel leader Ignacio Coronel Villarreal in 2010 soon after the rival gang Los Zetas began encroaching in Michoacn.Originally, La Resistencia was composed of gunmen from the Milenio Cartel which was loyal to the Sinaloa Cartel. Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert and Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal are in charge of the prosecution. Mexican authorities put a $2 million bounty on Moreno's head in March 2009. Reports suggest that Rosales Mendoza's organization can be traced back to the 1980s[7] and that was possibly a vigilante group to counter corruption and local crime, but the organization eventually became involved in the production and distribution of narcotics throughout the Mexican state of Michoacn. La Familia has a strong rivalry with both Los Zetas and the Beltrn-Leyva Cartel, but strong ties with the Sinaloa Cartel of Joaquin Guzman. In addition, authorities will investigate the likelihood that the spider monkey a protected species was illicitly trafficked by thedruggang. An official website of the United States government. Moreno was one of them, Poire told reporters, describing him as the leader and founder of an organization that had "terrorized the population" of Michoacan since its founding, "not only trafficking and producing drugs, but also extorting, kidnapping, and murdering people.". At least four other officers and two Mexican Marines were killed by LFM operatives responding to the arrest of Arnoldo Rueda-Medina. [3] Carlos Rosales Mendoza dies. For other inquiries, Contact Us. The alleged death of Nazario Moreno Gonzlez on December 9, 2010, led to a split among cartel leaders Jos de Jess Mndez Vargas, Enrique Plancarte Sols, and Servando Gmez Martnez. [13][19][20] Mndez Vargas was captured on June 21, 2011, by Mexican police in the state of Aguascalientes. Mexican authorities said Friday that they believe a top leader of the violent La Familia cartel was . "The indoctrination of this group consists of courses in self-improvement, values, ethical principles and morals in keeping with the purposes of the criminal organization. By May 2020, all 39 non-Jalisco New Generation cartels operating in Guerrero were splinter cartels. And the U.S. Department of the Treasury included his name on a list last year when announcing new sanctions against those who made financial deals with the cartel. LFM used a sophisticated network of individuals in Mexico and the United States, according to plea documents, to distribute the methamphetamine in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and to collect proceeds from the methamphetamine sales. Local media described a message found at the gruesome scene: "La Familia does not kill for money, does not kill women, does not kill innocents. After Alpizar's arrest, La Familia Michoacana declared war in the state of Mexico. Crteles y mafias. More than 28,000 people have been killed in drug-gang violence since. [58][60], Since the start of "Project Coronado," the investigation has led to the arrest of more than 1,186 people and the seizure of approximately $33million. The U.S. announcement singled out the Hurtado brothers as co-leaders of La Nueva Familia Michoacana criminal organization. La Familia Michoacana, (English: The Michoacn Family) La Familia (English: The Family), or LFM[3][4] is a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Michoacn. Line: 208 [53] When that failed, cartel members attacked Federal Police installations in at least a half-dozen Michoacn cities in retribution. Mexico State, however, is the turf of the rival cartel La Familia Michoacana. The FGJ . The exact number of the victims and their identities remain unknown. Stunnedpolicecame across the bizarre and gruesome scene following a firefight between authorities and cartel members in the town of Texcaltitlan, central Mexico, just over 60 miles southwest of the capital, Mexico City. On July 13, 2009, a group of 12 officers were kidnapped, tortured, and murdered. November 17, 2022. Intelligence reports indicate that the cartel is "heavily involved in the production of methamphetamine" for export to the United States, according to the DEA, in addition to the distribution of cocaine and marijuana. The ritual ranged from dismembering people they intended to kill to sometimes serving up the heart, he said, according to the MailOnline. Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, List of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords, "A Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border", As ATF nominee, U.S. Attorney Jones faces distrust from some agents, judges, prosecutors, "La Familia, un cartel que se volvi un Estado paralelo", "A Mexican Cartel's Swift and Grisly Climb", "Teetotal Mexican drugs cartel claims divine right to push narcotics", "Mexicans march in support of 'Craziest' kingpin", "Mexico offers $2 million for top drug lords", "Prevn arrecie lucha por lugar del 'Chayo' en Michoacn", "La Familia Michoacana Retreats, Offers to Disband", "Matan a alcalde mexicano antes de elecciones en su estado", "Los Caballeros Templarios responsables del asesinato del Alcalde Ricardo Guzmn", "Surgieron cuatro grupos del narco en 2011; el chapo es el mas poderoso", "Templarios dominan Michoacn, donde habr elecciones el da 13", https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13586, "One capo falls, others move in - Mexico Unmasked". 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