Mexico’s Federal Police have arrested two suspected members of the Caballeros Templarios drug gang, one of whom is allegedly chief chemist in charge of the group's methamphetamine production in Apatzingan.
According to La Cronica de Hoy, 24-year-old Nery Salgado Harrison, alias “Yupo,” was arrested on Sunday outside the city of Apatzingan, Michoacan, which is a bastion of the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar). Salgado was allegedly in charge of producing and distributing methamphetamine for the group.
According to the reports, Salgado has claimed that the Caballeros have taken control of many of the drug “plazas” belonging to the Familia Michoacana, a drug gang the Caballeros broke away from earlier in 2011. He also said they had entered into an alliance with La Resistencia and the Gulf Cartel against the Zetas.
Articulo 7 notes that Salgado himself was the head of the Apatzingan plaza, and directed the production of methamphetamine in clandestine drug labs.
Police said they had also arrested 27-year-old Nestor Irepan Ramirez Munoz, alias “El Silver,” another Caballeros member who is wanted in connection with the murder of 21 people in the Michoacan town of Quiroga in June.
The Caballeros and the Familia Michocana have suffered heavy blows in recent months as the Mexican authorities push to end the dominance of these particularly violent organizations.
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