Mexican security forces kill cartel boss reported dead in 2010

Moreno, known as "El Chayo," was killed in a shootout with soldiers on Sunday near Tumbiscatio, a city in Michoacan.

Former federal security spokesman Alejandro Poire announced on Dec. 10, 2010, that Moreno had been killed in a shootout a day earlier near the city of Apatzingan.

Moreno was the one-time leader of the Familia Michoacana drug cartel and was apparently one of the top leaders of the Caballeros Templarios cartel until his death.

The Caballeros Templarios organization was formed by former Familia Michoacana members.

Moreno was one of the most notorious and feared men in Michoacan, where he ran extortion rackets, staged kidnappings and committed "multiple murders," federal security spokesman Monte Alejandro Rubido said.

The official version of events released by former President Felipe Calderon's administration in 2010 was that Moreno's men took his body away, but officials were never able to confirm that the drug lord was dead and the story was discredited as time passed.

Many residents of Michoacan and the Tierra Caliente region said Moreno was alive but did not appear in public, running the Caballeros Templarios, which has a strong presence in the state, along with several other individuals.

The Tierra Caliente region, which takes its name from the high temperatures in the area and straddles Michoacan, Guerrero and Mexico states, has been rocked by a wave of drug-related violence and the appearance of vigilante groups to fight drug traffickers.

Moreno's death was confirmed this time around using fingerprints that were on file.

Investigators plan to run a DNA test on the body to further confirm its identity, officials said.

The security forces had been tracking the drug lord for several weeks, officials said.

The Feb. 7 arrest of a Caballeros Templarios cartel member who told investigators that he took his orders directly from Moreno provided a break in the case.

Authorities arrested Helodoro Moreno Anguiano, a half-brother of the drug lord, 11 days later.

The security forces seized a vehicle and communications equipment believed to belong to Nazario Moreno on March 7.

"With the information obtained, federal forces set up a security zone in the area where the suspected criminal moved around, forcing the subject to reduce his profile and security," the government said in a statement.

Los Caballeros Templarios, which deals in both synthetic and natural drugs, commits murders, stages kidnappings and runs extortion rackets that target business owners and transport companies in Michoacan.

The cartel uses Michoacan's 270 kilometers (168 miles) of coastline to smuggle chemical drug precursors for the production of synthetic drugs into Mexico.

Civilians began arming themselves last year to fight the gang, which operates across Michoacan.

The federal government deployed soldiers and police in Michoacan on Jan. 13 in an effort to end the wave of violence in the state.

Dionisio Loya Plancarte, one of the cartel's top leaders, was arrested by federal forces in late January.