Servando Gómez, Mexican Drug Lord Known as La Tuta, Is Captured

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican police said on Friday that they had captured the leader of the Knights Templar drug gang, a former teacher who taunted the authorities by conducting interviews from hiding and releasing videos in which he talked about his close relationships with his state’s political bosses.

Servando Gómez, known as La Tuta (the Teacher), was one of the most-wanted drug kingpins still at large in the country. He had been thought to be hiding out in the remote western part of Michoacán, his home state. But he was captured in the state capital, Morelia, early Friday morning without a shot being fired, the police said. He was eating a hot dog at a street stand when he was apprehended, local news reports said.

The disappearance of 43 students in September in the state of Guerrero, which borders Michoacán, revealed how deeply some of the gangs have infiltrated local politics. According to the federal government, the students, who attended a rural teachers’ college, were arrested by the police in the city of Iguala and handed over to the local drug gang, Guerreros Unidos. Officials have said that the mayor and his wife, who are now in custody, were part of the drug gang.

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The New York Times