Some 1,800 Federal Police gathered in the west Mexico state of Michoacan in order to track down the leader of drug trafficking organization the Caballeros Templarios.

With Mexican security forces' arrest of 36 alleged members of the Familia Michoacana drug trafficking organization, and the deaths of another 15, the rift between two leaders of the group has spilled into public view.

In an audio recording attributed to Servando Gomez Martinez, alias "La Tuta," the Familia Michoacana leader pleads with his followers to fight to the death against government invaders and rivals like the Zetas criminal organization. The speech, played during Primer Noticias de Carlos Loret de Mola and covered by El Diario, includes rhetoric more often heard coming from guerrillas in the jungle than urban-based drug dealers, but it is consistent with the Familia's quasi-religious ideology. "Compañeros," Gomez says, evoking a Fidel Castro-like tone, "Pay close attention to your weapons; keep them by your side. Tell all your 'compañeros' not to forget anything -- food or anything else." The Familia is holed up in strongholds in the Michoacan state, and may also possibly be at war with itself. A section, which calls itself the Knights Templar, may have broken from the pack, creating a more chaotic situation in that already embattled state.

Citizens of the Mexican state of Michoacan woke on Thursday morning to banners hanging from bridges, monuments, and school gates proclaiming the emergence of a new group, the Knights Templar (Los Caballeros Templarios), who are apparently taking the place of the brutal Familia Michoacana cartel.

The Familia Michoacana announced Monday that they were disbanding. Dozens of fliers and banners appeared in the towns Patzcuaro, Quiroga, Santa Clara del Cobre and Apatzingan. Local paper Sol de Morelia reports that in Lazaro Cardenas, banners appeared above major highways and close to other key locations like the Federal Police station and the military's naval academy. Dozens of photocopied fliers were scattered in the streets of state capital Morelia, where authorities removed 25 banners hung across the city.

In a study issued December 13, 2010 by the Strategic Studies Institute, George W. Grayson traces the origins of the Familia Michoacana, a drug-trafficking organization in Mexico known for its strange, cult-like ideology.

From the executive summary:

"This monograph examines the profound changes sweeping Michoacán in recent years that have facilitated the rise and power of drug traffickers; the origins and evolution of La Familia, its leadership and organization, its ideology and recruitment practices, its impressive resources, its brutal conflict with Los Zetas, its skill in establishing dual sovereignty in various municipalities, if not the entire state; and its long-term goals and their significance for the United States. The conclusion addresses steps that could be taken to curb this extraordinarily wealthy and dangerous criminal organization."

A pdf of the report can be downloaded here.

Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies this week stripped lawmaker Julio César Godoy Toscano of his legal immunity, paving the way for the lawmaker’s prosecution on charges of money laundering and protecting the criminal organization known as the Familia Michoacana. The lower legislative house voted 384-2 on Monday to withdraw Godoy's protection.

At the height of its power, the Familia Michoacana’s brutal tactics, strong base of operations and pseudo-religious ideology made it a formidable operation and a point of fascination for outsiders. However, the group has suffered a series of heavy blows, most notably the death of leader Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, alias "El Chayo," in December 2010, and is now thought to have been largely supplanted by a splinter group known as the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar).

The Familia and the Caballeros draw on their strategic location in Michoacan state, access to one of the country's most important ports, and sophisticated modus operandi. They use a perverse and self-serving quasi-religious ideology to keep recruits coming. The Familia emerged in the early 2000s as a strange mixture of drug traffickers and former vigilantes, helped by the Zetas, the armed wing of the Gulf Cartel, which has since split and formed its own organization.