MORELIA, Mexico – One of the sons of Caballeros Templarios drug cartel boss Servando Gomez Martinez was arrested in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, officials said.Huber Gomez Patiño was arrested in the city of Arteaga on Saturday, the Government Secretariat, Defense Secretariat, Navy Secretariat and Attorney General’s Office said in a joint statement.
The 22-year-old suspect tried to flee after spotting federal law enforcement agents and was captured, federal officials said.
Gomez Patiño, who was armed, told the officers he was Gomez Martinez’s son and threatened to have them killed if they did not release him, the federal agencies said.
The suspect faces firearms and drug charges, officials said, adding that he was turned over to federal prosecutors.
Servando Gomez Martinez took over the Caballeros Templarios cartel’s leadership earlier this year.
Federal security forces killed the cartel’s two top leaders, Nazario Moreno Gonzalez and Enrique Plancarte Solis, in February and March, respectively.
Moreno and other members of the Familia Michoacana gang formed the Caballeros Templarios organization after he was reported killed by the government in 2010.
The Caballeros Templarios cartel, which deals in both synthetic and natural drugs, commits murders, stages kidnappings and runs extortion rackets that target business owners and transport companies in Michoacan.
The cartel uses Michoacan’s 270 kilometers (168 miles) of coastline to smuggle chemical drug precursors for the production of synthetic drugs into Mexico.
The federal government is offering a reward of 30 million pesos (about $2.3 million) for information leading to Gomez Martinez’s arrest.
State officials, meanwhile, said Jose Manuel Chacon, a hitman on the cartel’s payroll, was arrested in the upscale Chapultepec district of Morelia, the capital of Michoacan
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