HomeMexicoServando Gomez Martinez, alias 'La Tuta'

Servando Gomez Martinez, alias "La Tuta," was a former high-ranking member of the Familia Michoacana, who split from the group following the supposed death of top commander Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, alias "El Chayo," in December 2010. Following a two-year manhunt for La Tuta, the drug lord was captured by an elite police force in February 2015.

History

Gomez was originally a schoolteacher from Arteaga, Michoacan, which inspired his other alias, "El Profe" or the professor. As recently as December 2010, he was still on federal payroll for his teaching job.

In the public arena, Gomez was a fervent promoter of the Familia’s vigilante ideology, and claimed the group’s ultimate purpose was to protect Michoacan from unwelcome outsiders, namely, the Zetas, a rival criminal gang that trained the original members of the Familia before the group became independent.

During a phone interview with a local TV program, "Voz y Solucion," in 2009, Gomez praised President Felipe Calderon and the Army, then claimed the Familia’s only grievances were with the Zetas and the Federal Police for "attacking our families." Members of the Familia followed a strict behavioral code and those who disobeyed were "made to pay," he added, unlike the Zetas, about whom he said: "Most of them are drug addicts."

La Tuta Factbox

DOB: February 6, 1966

Group:  Knights Templar

Criminal Activities: Drug trafficking, extortion, illegal arms possession

Status: Captured

Area of Operation: Michoacan, Mexico

After his split from the Familia -- whose remnants were led by Jose de Jesus Mendez, alias "El Chango" -- Gomez  headed the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar), a drug trafficking organization with the same quasi-religious sensibility and faux-moral codes as the Familia. The Caballeros announced their appearance in March 2011, and for a while seemed ascendent over the Familia, with Mendez in jail and many analysts considering the old group to be effectively out of action. However, the government soon came down hard on the Knights Templar. The organization also faced pressure from the multiple citizen militia groups that formed in Michoacan throughout 2013 and 2014.

Gomez's nephew, girlfriend, mother and brother were all arrested between July and August 2009. That same year, a New York grand jury indicted Gomez for drug trafficking. While Gomez continued to release statements to the public via social media, including one vow that he would never surrender, he was arrested in Morelia, Michoacan in February 2015.

In many respects, La Tuta's capture spelled the end for the Knights Templar as a powerful crimininal organization in Mexico.

Criminal Activities

La Tuta is reportedly charged by Mexican authorities with methamphetamine and marijuana trafficking, as well as posession of military weaponry and ammunition. La Tuta's Knights Templar are also heavily involved in extortion operations in Michoacan.

Geography

Prior to his capture, La Tuta was based in Michoacan and Guerrero, and coordinated drug shipments through Baja California.

Allies and Enemies

La Tuta professed to standing up against other Mexican drug trafficking groups such as the Zetas, who inflicted harm on the general population. With the backing of government security forces, self-defense groups have driven the Knights Templar out of several cities in Michoacan. It is believed a significant number of Knights Templar operatives have moved on to other criminal groups, including the self-defense forces.

The Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG) is the newest criminal group challenging the supremacy of the Knights Templar in southwest Mexico.

Prospects

La Tuta is reportedly wanted in the United States not only on drug trafficking charges, but also for either being a terrorist or belonging to a terrorist organization. This classification is typically reserved for members of illegal Colombian armed groups the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). However, considering chilly US-Mexico relations surrounding extraditions, it remains to be seen if La Tuta will ever face prison time in the United States.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BELTRAN LEYVA ORG / 12 AUG 2021

Mexico's process of criminal fragmentation has been a slow burn. Many of the country's mightiest criminal groups have been unable…

GULF CARTEL / 30 AUG 2021

It was a Saturday, around 12:30 p.m. local time, when a caravan of three vehicles loaded with well-armed men and…

CRIMINAL MIGRATION / 15 FEB 2023

In Mexico's hotly contested Tierra Caliente region, one priest is caught between the CJNG and a smattering of violent criminal…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…