Jose Jesus Mendez Vargas, alias 'El Chango'

Believed to be a former operative for the Gulf Cartel, Jose Jesus Mendez Vargas, alias 'El Chango,' was considered the right hand man of Nazario Moreno, alias 'El Mas Loco,' and coordinated the group’s methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking. His security detail was known as the “Twelve Apostles,” another nod to the Familia Michoana's twisted religious ideology. Recruits to the Familia reportedly had to study Mendez's teachings, which include interpretations of Biblical stories, as an initiation ritual. Mendez was arrested June 21, 2011.

The Mexican government had offered a 30 million peso reward (about $2.3 million) reward for his capture, alongside a 2 million peso reward (about $160,000) for intelligence about his whereabouts. He had previously been targeted by the Zetas in assassination attempts, allegedly for trying to create a Familia cell in Mexico City in 2008.

Following the death of Moreno in December 2010, Mendez began feuding with Servando Gomez Martinez, alias "La Tuta." Mendez remained with the Familia's old guard, while Gomez formed his own faction, dubbed the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar), in March 2011. The two rival cells battled fiercely in Michoacan, reportedly causing Mendez to seek aid from the Familia's former bitter rivals, the Zetas.

Resources

William Finnegan, "Silver or Lead," New Yorker, 31 May 2010
Steve Fainaru and William Booth, "A Mexican Cartel's Swift and Grisly Time," Washington Post, 13 June 2009
George W. Grayson, "La Familia: Another Deadly Mexican Syndicate," Foreign Policy Research Institute, February 2009
Alejandro Suverza, "El Evangelio Segun la Familia," Nexos, January 2009