Nazario Moreno González

Nazario Moreno González (8 March 1970 – 9 March 2014), commonly referred to by his aliases El Chayo ('Nazario' or 'The Rosary') and El Más Loco ('The Craziest One'), was a Mexican drug lord who headed La Familia Michoacana before heading the Knights Templar Cartel, a drug cartel headquartered in the state of Michoacán. He was one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords.

Very few details are known of Moreno González's early life, but the authorities believe that religion played a major role in his upbringing. Although born in Michoacán, Moreno González moved to the United States as a teenager, but fled back into Mexico about a decade later to avoid prosecution on drug trafficking charges. In 2004, the drug boss Carlos Rosales Mendoza was captured, and Moreno González, alongside José de Jesús Méndez Vargas, took control of La Familia Michoacana. Unlike other traditional drug trafficking organizations in Mexico, his organization also operated like a religious cult, where its own members were given "bibles" with sayings and conduct guidelines. Moreno González reportedly carried out several philanthropic deeds to help the marginalized in Michoacán. Such deeds helped him craft an image of protector, saint, and Christ-like messianic figure among the poor, and gave La Familia Michoacana a level of influence among some natives.

The Mexican government reported that Moreno González was killed during a two-day gunfight with the Mexican federal police in his home state in December 2010. After the shootout, however, no body was recovered. Rumours thus persisted that Moreno González was still alive and leading the Knights Templar Cartel, the split-off group of La Familia Michoacana. Four years later, on 9 March 2014, his survival was confirmed. Mexican authorities located him again, this time in the town of Tumbiscatío, Michoacán, and attempted to apprehend him. A gunfight ensued resulting in Moreno González's death. Subsequent forensic examination confirmed his identity.