José de Jesús Méndez Vargas
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José de Jesús Méndez Vargas (born 28 February 1974), commonly referred to by his alias El Chango ("The Ape"), is a Mexican
drug lord A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin or narcotrafficker is a high-ranking crime boss who controls a sizable network of people involved in the illegal drug trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they are normally not directly ...
and former leader of the now disbanded
La Familia ''La familia'', (English: ''The Family'') is a 1969 Mexican telenovela produced by Televisa and originally transmitted by Telesistema Mexicano. Cast *Virginia Gutiérrez *Jorge Lavat *Irma Lozano *Enrique Aguilar Enrique Aguilar Zermeño ( ...
drug cartel A drug cartel is any criminal organization with the intention of supplying drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the ...
, headquartered in the state of
Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...
. Méndez took control of the cartel after its former leader,
Nazario Moreno Nazario may refer to * Ronaldo Nazario (born 1976), Brazilian former footballer * Nazario (given name) * Nazario (surname) * Nazário, a municipality in Brazil * Nazario Collection, a cache of carved stones at Guayanilla, Puerto Rico *San Nazario, V ...
, was allegedly killed in a shootout with
Mexican Federal Police The Federal Police ( es, Policía Federal, PF), formerly known as the (Federal Preventive Police) and sometimes referred to in the U.S. as "Federales", was a Mexican national police force formed in 1999 and folded into the National Guard in 2019. ...
on December 9, 2010. His protection was the responsibility of twelve gunmen he called the "Twelve Apostles". His leadership, however, was disputed by
Servando Gómez Martínez Servando Gómez Martínez (born February 6, 1966), commonly referred to by his alias La Tuta (The Teacher) for once being a teacher, is a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Knights Templar Cartel, a criminal organization based in the sta ...
and
Enrique Plancarte Solís Enrique Plancarte Solís (14 September 1970 – 31 March 2014) was a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Knights Templar Cartel, a drug cartel headquartered in the state of Michoacán. Prior to his tenure in the Knights Templar, ...
who left the organization and formed the
Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...
.


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 t ...
sanctioned Méndez 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 a ...
(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.


Arrest

Méndez was captured at a road checkpoint on June 21, 2011 by Mexican Federal police in the state of
Aguascalientes Aguascalientes (; ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Aguascalientes), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. At 22°N and ...
. The Mexican government had offered a $30 million pesos (US$2.1 million) bounty for information leading to Méndez's capture. On 8 April 2014, a Mexican federal court rejected Méndez's
writ of amparo In most legal systems of the Spanish-speaking world, the writ of ("writ of protection"; also called , "appeal for protection", or , "judgement for protection") is a remedy for the protection of constitutional rights, found in certain jurisdicti ...
(equivalent to an
injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...
) to prevent his extradition to the United States, where he is wanted in a New York federal court for drug trafficking offenses.


See also

*
War on Drugs The war on drugs is a Globalization, global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of prohibition of drugs, drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the Unite ...
* 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 ...
*
List of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords This is a list of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords as published by Mexican federal authorities on 23 March 2009. According to a ''BBC Mundo'' Mexico report, the 37 drug lords "have jeopardized México national security." As of 8 January 2016, ...


References


External links


Mexico captures top drug cartel leader
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on
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(Video) Living people La Familia Michoacana traffickers Mexican crime bosses People of the Mexican Drug War Mexican drug traffickers Mexican money launderers Mexican prisoners and detainees 1974 births People sanctioned under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act People from Michoacán {{crime-bio-stub