Servando "La Tuta" Gomez Martinez was detained Friday in Morelia, the capital of the western state of Michoacan, and was to be transferred to Mexico City, police said.

His capture was the result "of several months of intelligence work by federal police," an official said.

The 49-year-old had a 30-million-peso ($2-million) bounty on his head and was wanted for organized crime, kidnapping, homicide and robbery.

Gomez, a former schoolteacher who until 2009 was still on the education system's payroll, was the leader of the powerful drug cartel "Caballeros Templarios" (Knights Templar). The gang once ruled Michoacan, trafficking drugs - especially methamphtamine and cocaine - and extorting business and political leaders. The cartel also ran the state's international port and made millions in profit from exporting illegally mined iron ore.

Gomez had evaded authorities since a massive manhunt was launched in Michoacan last year, as part of an effort by President Enrique Pena Nieto to regain control of the violence-ridden state. In recent years the region has been terrorized by clashes between Knights Templar members and armed vigilantes who have been trying to drive them out.

Gomez is also wanted by the United States for methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking. In addition, the Justice Department says he is implicated in the 2009 murder of 12 Mexican federal police officers.

Fourth head honcho

By arresting Gomez, police have now taken down four leading lights in the Knights Templar cartel, after Nazario "El Chayo" Moreno and Enrique "Kike" Plancarte were killed by troops in separate operations last March. Another key gang member, Dionisio Plancarte, was arrested in January 2014.

The Knights emerged from a split in the once dominant cartel in the region, La Familia. It's believed Gomez started out transporting marijuana in the early 2000s before rising to become a top La Familia leader. He was a founder member of the Knights in 2010, calling the group a "brotherhood" that was fighting a war against poverty, tyranny and injustice.

Gomez' arrest comes one year after Mexican marines captured Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, the notorious leader of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the most powerful drug smuggling gangs in the world.

More than 85,000 people have died in drug-related killings in Mexico since 2007.

nm/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)