Enrique Plancarte Solís (14 September 1970 – 31 March 2014) was a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking leader of the
Knights Templar Cartel
The Knights Templar Cartel (Spanish: ''Los Caballeros Templarios'') was a Mexican criminal organization originally composed of the remnants of La Familia Michoacana drug cartel based in the Mexican State of Michoacán.
The Knights Templar Ca ...
, a drug cartel headquartered in the state of
Michoacán. Prior to his tenure in the Knights Templar, he was a top leader of the split-off group
La Familia Michoacana
La Familia Michoacana, (English: ''The Michoacán Family'') La Familia (English: ''The Family''), or LFM is a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Michoacán. They are known to produce large amounts o ...
.
Criminal career
Plancarte Solís was a high-ranking leader of
La Familia Michoacana
La Familia Michoacana, (English: ''The Michoacán Family'') La Familia (English: ''The Family''), or LFM is a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Michoacán. They are known to produce large amounts o ...
drug cartel.
Following the reported death of
Nazario Moreno González in 2010, La Familia Michoacana broke off and formed the
Knights Templar Cartel
The Knights Templar Cartel (Spanish: ''Los Caballeros Templarios'') was a Mexican criminal organization originally composed of the remnants of La Familia Michoacana drug cartel based in the Mexican State of Michoacán.
The Knights Templar Ca ...
,
[El Chango Mendez arrestado.]
(in Spanish) an
organized crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
gang based in the Mexican state of
Michoacán. Plancarte was one of its top lieutenants. His duties were to coordinate the production and smuggling operations of
methamphetamine from
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
into US
[ He was wanted by the governments of Mexico and the U.S.
]
Kingpin Act sanction
On 25 February 2010, the United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...
sanctioned Plancarte Solís under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act
The Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, better known as the Kingpin Act, is landmark federal legislation in the United States intended to address international narcotics trafficking by imposing United States sanctions on foreign persons ...
(sometimes referred to simply as the "Kingpin Act"), for his involvement in drug trafficking along with twenty-one other international criminals and ten foreign entities. The act prohibited U.S. citizens and companies from doing any kind of business activity with him, and virtually froze all his assets in the U.S.
Death
Plancarte Solís was killed in a gunfight with soldiers of the Mexican Navy
The Mexican Navy is one of the two independent armed forces of Mexico. The actual naval forces are called the ''Armada de México''. The ''Secretaría de Marina'' (''SEMAR'') (English: Naval Secretariat) includes both the ''Armada'' itself and ...
on 31 March 2014 in Colón, Querétaro.
Personal life and family
In 2014, the Mexican singer Melissa admitted to being Plancarte Solis' daughter. His cousin Jesús Ramírez Plancarte was arrested by Mexican security forces on 22 May 2014. His nephew Mario Loya Contreras was arrested by the Mexican Federal Police in Apatzingán with four other suspected criminals on 5 June 2014.
See also
* Mexican Drug War
*Mérida Initiative
The Mérida Initiative (named after Mérida (Yucatán), the city where it was agreed upon, also called Plan Mexico, in reference to Plan Colombia) is a security cooperation agreement among the United States, the government of Mexico and the countri ...
*War on Drugs
The war on drugs is a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States.Cockburn and St. Clair, 1 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plancarte Solis, Enrique
1970 births
2014 deaths
Fugitives wanted by Mexico
Fugitives wanted on organised crime charges
La Familia Michoacana traffickers
People of the Mexican Drug War
Mexican drug traffickers
Mexican money launderers
People from Michoacán
People sanctioned under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act
People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Mexico