Mexican drug cartel Knights Templar issue new propaganda
An organised crime gang in Mexico calling themselves the Knights Templar has published a code of conduct regarding its mission to tackle injustice and poverty, in what many see as propaganda to convert the group into a social movement.
The organisation, based in the western state of Michoacan, is accused of extortion, drugs trafficking and murders among other crimes, but a 12-page booklet seized by police recently shows it has created its own ideology, reports the Associated Press.
According to the newswire, the group is a splinter organisation related to La Familia, a gang whose leader Nazario Moreno Gonzalez was killed in a shoot-out with police in December 2010.
In an interview, drug trade analyst Jorge Chabat said: "They say they are defending the people against attacks. In the case of Colombia it was the guerrillas; here it is against who knows what."
Last week, the Mexican army discovered a 300-acre plot of marijuana plants in the northern state of Baja California, which it claims is the largest ever found in the nation.
