Life After the Knights Templar Cartel

"Papa Smurf" a vigilante who now wears a rural police force
uniform.

According to Al Jazeera, the most wanted drug lord in Mexico, who also served as the leader of the Knights Templar Cartel, named Servando "La Tuta" Gomez, was captured in the city of Morelia on a Friday, February 20, 2015. Oddly enough, "La Tuta" was captured without a single round of ammunition being expelled from the barrel of a firearm. Even odder, however, is the fact that Gomez was originally a school teacher who was extremely disappointed by his low pay. He left the school system and began founding numerous drug rehabilitation centers. Now, this may seem like the wrong story for the most wanted drug lord in Mexico, but it was at one of the rehab centers that Gomez met numerous gang members and founded his first gang, "La Familia Michoacana." After running with La Familia for a few years, Gomez left the gang and the Knights Templar Cartel. As leader of the Knights Templar, he reigned in the trade of the illegal drug methamphetamine. Mexico's federal government was unable to stop his domination of the underworld. The Knights Templar were only foiled once Mexican vigilantes began to get involved. Once the "self-defense forces" began to get involved, the Knights Templar's control diminished, eventually leading to the capture of "La Tuta" and others that were aiding his attempts. However, the capture of the cartel's leader does not guarantee peace, as another is likely to take his place. Many of the previously mentioned "self-defense forces" have also realized this and have combined with the federal government to become "rural police forces." These rural forces are supplied by the government and patrol heavily populated areas or event locations. Many have begun to worry that these forces will become corrupt, too powerful, and/or out of control, as has been the case with other self-defense forces in countries such as Columbia. The thing is, these men and women are still the same ones that fought in the old vigilante forces, they hold the same moral values. The only difference is that they are now in government regulated forces. Most do not trust the government anyway, so they will probably continue to follow their own moral code and will not fall to the corruption of Mexico's federal government. I do not have all the information at this time and I will continue to make updates as more information is made available to me.