E. Eduardo Castillo
FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2014 file photo, an armed man belonging to the Self-Defense Council of Michoacan, (CAM), stands guard at a checkpoint set up by the self-defense group at the entrance to Antunez, Mexico. Mexico essentially legalized the country’s growing “self-defense” groups Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, while also announcing that security forces had captured one of the four top leaders of the Knights Templar drug cartel, which the vigilante groups have been fighting for the last year. The government said it had reached an agreement with vigilante leaders to incorporate the armed civilian groups into old and largely forgotten quasi-military units called the Rural Defense Corps. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)
January 27, 2014 - 1:21 PM
MEXICO CITY - A Mexican official says soldiers and federal police have captured one of the four top leaders of the Knights Templar drug cartel in Michoacan state, which has seen fighting between the gang and vigilante groups that have sprung over the past year.
The 58-year-old Dionicio Loya Plancarte had a 30-million peso ($2.25 million) reward on his head from the Mexican government for drug, organized crime and money-laundering charges. Known as "El Tio," or The Uncle, he was considered one of the country's three dozen most-wanted drug lords in the late 2000s.
An official at the federal Attorney General's Office who is not authorized to be quoted by name says Loya Plancarte was arrested Monday.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014