For years, Michoacan has had a narco presence, primarily from the La Familia Michoacana cartel, the criminal organization once led by Servando Gomez Martinez, alias “La Tuta.
Over the years, this criminal leader, who once served as a teacher, founded his group, Los Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar), until he was arrested in 2015 by Mexican authorities, and seven years later, a judge sentenced him to 47 years in prison.
Since his arrest, “La Tuta” has been incarcerated in the maximum-security Altiplano prison in the State of Mexico. The Special Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime was the agency in charge of presenting the evidence against Servando Gómez and, in this way, obtaining the conviction.
Los Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar)
It was 2011, and the war against drug trafficking promoted by then President Felipe Calderon had been going on for five years, in which bloodshed and barbarism were a constant.
Michoacán was one of the states most affected by violence. La Familia Michoacana ravaged the population, although its members saw themselves as an organization that protected the weakest and claimed that they only killed those who deserved it, never innocents.
The criminal organization weakened, but a part of it resisted and became Los Caballeros Templarios. This group promoted itself as the “saviors” of Michoacán but instead bled its population in every possible way, as they made extortion their way of life, leaving empty houses and lives cut short. In addition, some hired assassins raped girls and women.
Who is “La Tuta”
Initially a rural teacher, Servando Gómez traded the classrooms for weapons and drugs, left behind his years of teaching, and began the path of drug trafficking. But he was not just another boss. He traced a path, broke the mold, and implemented schemes now used by the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG).
According to the newspaper El País, the drug lord inaugurated narco-propaganda , as he broadcast videos in which he was seen surrounded by characters from the political sphere and others in which he assured that his organization was “a brotherhood founded by a set of laws and codes , dedicated to the protection of the people of Michoacán from organized crime.”
Charismatic, a born leader, Gómez gained notoriety. He set the “bar” high for the other bosses because he did not hide like the rest. He liked to use social networks to promote himself and even recognized that the murder was part of his criminal career.