Mexican Drug Lord, Thought Dead in 2010, Is Reported Killed
The renewed death of Mr. Moreno, 40, whose nickname was “The Craziest One,” will surely add to his legend, particularly in Michoacán State, in western Mexico, where he was strongest and where those gangs have terrorized communities with killings, rapes, extortions and kidnapping.
Mr. Moreno secured a particular place among drug and organized crime capos for his affinity for Christian-style verse, collected in a “bible” that followers often carried. He often justified grisly violence, including beheadings, as acts of affirmation to his cultish code. He was often called El Chayo, a play on the nickname for Nazario and the Spanish word for rosary.
People in western Mexico, who have turned to vigilante groups in the absence of a competent police force, have been talking for the past few years about seeing Mr. Moreno here and there, alive and well and still inspiring awe and terror.
The vigilante groups have smashed shrines built in his honor as they take over policing town by town, with the support of a government bent on bringing them into the fold of federal forces.
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