Glimmer of Hope from Living in Terror Under Mexico's Knights Templar Cartel John Holman - Al Jazeera
go to original March 16, 2015

Security forces have captured Mexican drug lord Servando Gomez - also known as "La Tuta" - whose violent Knights Templar cartel had terrorised the southwestern state of Michoacan with a campaign of kidnapping and extortion.La Tuta's arrest has revived hopes that life might now return to normal in the region. Al Jazeera's John Holman reports from Apatzingan. (Al Jazeera English)

If any state in Mexico is emblematic of the country’s struggle with organized crime, drugs and corrupt government, it's Michoacan. As such it's been a regular stop for international journalists in Mexico.

At one time or another we've almost all passed through; whether to follow the atrocities of the Knights Templar cartel and it's predecessor La Familia, the uprising of citizen vigilantes or to document the influxes of federal troops trying to dampen down the frequent outbreaks of violence.

But despite the constant media attention, at times it's felt – at least for this reporter - that we are only hearing the half of what was really going on in the state. People may talk, but when your neighbor or work mate could be a cartel informer, sharing everything you know - especially with a journalist - is for many simply not an option.

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