Mexico kills drug lord thought dead for three years

Officials in Mexico say that they have killed a drug lord who was reported to have been shot dead three years ago.

Nazario Moreno, known as El Mas Loco - The Craziest One - was the founder of the La Familia cartel and regarded as the spiritual leader of its offshoot, the brutal Knights Templar.

His death was first announced after a 2010 shootout, but no body was found and he was reportedly seen alive since.

Police said he was finally tracked down and shot dead in Michoacan state.

"From a fingerprint analysis we have confirmed 100% that this was Nazario Moreno Gonzalez," said Tomas Zeron, the head of investigations at the federal prosecutor's office.

'Dangerous person'

Government security spokesman Alejandro Rubido said security officials had been tracking Moreno for some time.

"Anonymous tips indicated that Nazario Moreno was not only living, but continued operating at the head of a criminal group conducting extortion, kidnapping and other crimes," he said at a news briefing in Mexico City.

"This person was known as dangerous," he said, with police believing he had committed multiple murders since his reported death.

Mr Rubido said Moreno was stopped by police on Sunday morning in the village of Tumbiscatio in Michoacan state.

"When he was asked to turn himself in, he opened fire and was killed," he said.

Moreno, 43, was the founder of the La Familia cartel, which dominated the drugs trade in Michoacan but was believed to have been severely weakened by his reported death.

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Knights Templar drug cartel

• First emerged in 2011 as an offshoot of La Familia Michoacana drug cartel
• Takes its name from a Christian military order from the Middle Ages
• Claims to protect Michoacan residents from kidnappings, extortion and robberies committed by rival gangs
• Controls much of the methamphetamine and marijuana trade in western Mexico

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