A rising drug cartel from the state of Michoacan de Ocampo, located on the Southern Pacific coast of Mexico, is having a hard time establishing its operations in Costa Rica. Old-fashioned police work by members of Fuerza Publica, the Organization of Judicial Investigations (OIJ in Spanish) and the Drug Control Police (PCD in Spanish) is thwarting the nefarious work of the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar), a criminal organization that primarily focuses on international drug trafficking and money laundering.

These Knights Templar of Michoacan are not in any way affiliated with the religious military order founded in the 12^th century that used to guard the Holy Sepulchre and other interests in the Holy Land. This cartel is a reorganization of La Familia Michoacana, a fearsome and successful organization that was dismantled by Mexican law enforcement at the height of  the bloody Drug War.

Multiple Arrests

According to news reports by Diario Extra, the OIJ has used confidential informants to listen to establish wiretaps and listen to the telephone conversations of the Knights Templar. OIJ agents allege that the conversations clearly indicated that the group moved large quantities of cocaine from Colombia to Costa Rica for further traffic to North American destinations.

The OIJ recently performed a series of raids in the provinces of Alajuela, Limon and San Jose, where many Ticos were rounded up as suspects of working for the cartel. Two Mexican suspects are believed to be responsible for the murder of a Guatemalan businessman and his companion, a beautiful model who had worked in Costa Rica and Panama before her career was cut short by hail of gunfire.

The seizures and confiscations by OIJ give an idea as to how the Knights Templar laundered millions of dollars in profits. A man picked up in the raids had multiple storage closets filled with designer clothes and Italian shoes, an expensive Swiss watch valued at more than $20K, brand new SUVs, and a ledger filled with transactions and receipts from various private banks in Costa Rica where millions of dollars were deposited, withdrawn and transferred to other accounts on a daily basis.

Fine horses were also allegedly used to help the Knights Templar launder their ill-gotten profits. Eight magnificent Spanish thoroughbreds with their respective pedigrees were rescued during the raids; an OIJ spokesman told the press that these animals are valued at more than $100K, and that caring for them is going to cost Tico taxpayers quite a bit of money since they require plenty of space, exercise, fine pastures, veterinarian care and supervision, etc.

The Flight Attendant and the Money Seized

Fuerza Publica officers recently intercepted a woman wearing the traditional uniform of an airline stewardess, who arrived in the Juan Santamaria International Airport and got through the security checkpoints without worries. Once out on the road, however, she was approached by alert members of Fuerza Publica working with the PCD.

Once detained, the woman was found to have strapped $160K to her slim waist. Further investigations by the OIJ revealed that the woman was on a courier mission for the Knights Templar office in Costa Rica and the money was intended for them at a time when they most need it. The flight attendant is now in custody, where she will spend at least three months before her trial.

Cross-Country Operations

According to AntimafiaDuemila, a respected Italian publishing network dedicated to study and analysis of organized crime in Italy and around the world, the Knights Templar have only been operating since 2011. In that short time, however, they have quickly taken over the international operations of La Familia Michoacana:

“The Family, still, does not limit its operations to Mexican territory. International chapters and operational offices are present in the United States, the Netherlands, Belgium, Costa Rica, and even China. The official recognition of The Family as an international drug trafficking group began in July 2009, with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) referring to the organization as the newest (Mexican) drug cartel.”

As more information about the Knights Templar becomes available, some peculiar details are emerging. Members are to follow a strict oath of affiliation, promising to combat poverty, tyranny and injustice in their home state of Michoacan. They are allowed to drink liquor, but they are swiftly dealt with if they are ever wasted to the point of embarrassing themselves. They are warned not to be caught in adulterous affairs, they must always honor their mothers and all women in their families, and they must be prepared to die upholding the values of the cartel. They also claim responsibility for the summary execution of thieves and kidnappers in their beloved home state.

One thing that worries Mexican authorities about the Knights Templar is their rhetoric with regard to separatism. Over the last few decades, Southern Mexico has emerged as a region that deeply mistrusts their federal government and its ties to the United States. The people are fed up with corrupt and inept public officials, and they are likely to lend their support to organizations like the Knight Templars since they preach autonomy and perform community outreach programs that directly benefit the people. Mexican drug cartels are known to gain the favor of their communities in an effort to minimize intrusion by informants and the police.

In the meantime, the DEA has appealed to law enforcement in Costa Rica for assistance in deporting one of the Mexican nationals recently arrested here, as he is the suspect of multiple homicides in the United States.