Mexico calls on self-defense groups to join police or disarm

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http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-mexico-self-defense-disarm-20140403,0,6332833.story



Federal police guard the streets as members of a vigilante group observe them in the village of La Ruana, in Mexico's Michoacan state, March 11, 2014.

Mexico calls on self-defense groups to join police or disarm
By Richard Fausset
April 3, 2014, 6:31 p.m.

MEXICO CITY — Citizen "self-defense" groups that have emerged to fight off a ruthless drug cartel in the state of Michoacan should take steps to join the government security apparatus or disarm, Mexican officials said Thursday.

Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said during a press conference in Morelia, the state capital, that government forces have gained the upper hand since thousands of troops and police officers swarmed the western state and arrested several "important criminals” associated with the Knights Templar drug cartel.

The government's most recent quarry was Enrique “Kike” Plancarte, who was fatally shot Monday by Mexican marines in the neighboring state of Queretaro. Another top capo, Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, was killed in a shootout with government forces March 9.

But the presumed operational leader of the group, Servando “La Tuta” Gomez, remains at large.