Mexican Federal Forces Take over from Police in Restive State

Mexican federal forces have taken over police duties in some 20 towns in the restive state of Michoacan, where vigilante groups are fighting a drug cartel, an official said Thursday.

The so-called self-defense groups made up of farmers and other local people have complained that police are ineffective in fighting the cartel called the Knights Templar, which engages in extortion, kidnappings and other crimes.

The takeover of police duties with support from army troops was announced by a senior public safety official of the central government, Monte Alejandro Rubido.

Michoacan, where much of the population lives in poverty, has become the most pressing security issue facing Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto, who inherited a bloody war on drugs from his predecessor in 2012 that has left more than 77,000 people dead since it was launched in 2006.

Federal forces moved into Michoacan on Monday to try to disarm the local vigilante groups and flush out the cartel. The militia have resisted, saying they want to see drug kingpins arrested first.

The government Thursday also announced the arrest of two senior members of the Knights Templar.

Earlier Thursday, vigilante militia said they had returned several hundred acres of land seized from villagers by the Knights Templar cartel.

The symbolic handover of some 654 acres (265 hectares) of land, which included many avocado and lemon orchards, took place in the village square of Tancitaro in the Michoacan highlands.

"Citizens, businessmen, farmers, people in the communities are bewildered by these narcos. Let's get them out of our land," militia leader Estanislao Beltran told AFP at the end of the ceremony.

Civilians first took up arms in February 2013 to oust the Knights Templar from the region, saying local police were either colluding with gangs or unable to deal with the violence and extortion rackets.

Since then, officials have alleged that at least some civilian militias were backed by rival cartel, with critics noting that they used unlawful assault rifles that gangs usually own.

Mexico's federal police and army troops are currently waging a major operation aimed at wresting back control of Michoacan from the Knights Templar gang.

Federal security forces have also clashed with vigilantes who have refused to give up their weapons.

Beltran said Thursday his militia group would not lay down their arms and would continue to try and recover land seized by cartels, demanding the capture of drug lords before any disarmament.