Mexican police today said they have arrested a man who identified himself as the son of notorious drug lord Servando Gomez, the leader of the Knights Templar drug cartel.
Suspect Luis Aguilera Esquivel was arrested earlier this week on charges of kidnapping and carrying out an extortion scheme so brazen that he and another man forced the victim to write a promissory note for the protection money and accepted a check as an initial payment.
Carlos Castellanos, the Public Safety Secretary of western Michoacan state, said the suspects were arrested Monday after they picked up the extortion payment.
Castellanos said there was evidence that Gomez, known as "La Tuta," had directly authorized the crime.
Aguilera Esquivel told police he didn't have his father's last name because his mother was not married to Gomez, a founder of the Knights Templar cartel.
The suspects allegedly kidnapped the avocado grower in January, and only released him after he signed a promissory note for the balance of the ransom.
That payment was purportedly due in June, but the suspects demanded a partial payment this month, and allegedly accepted a check for 1 million pesos (USD 75,000) as in initial installment.
They had the check in their possession when they were arrested.
The Knights Templar have been unusually brazen in extending a systematic extortion scheme that forced businessmen, farmers and ranchers in almost every sector of Michoacan state to pay protection money. The cartel was also involved in exporting iron ore to China.
