LA RUANA, Mexico (AP) — Michoacan is burning. A drug cartel that takes its name from an ancient monastic order has set fire to lumber yards, packing plants and passenger buses in a medieval-like reign of terror.

The Knights Templar cartel is extorting protection payments from cattlemen, lime growers and businesses such as butchers, prompting a backlash in the western agricultural state, where some communities are fighting back, taking up arms in vigilante patrols.