The Mexican army says it has found 120 plastic helmets worn by members of the Knights Templar drug cartel during initiation ceremonies for new members, the Associated Press reported.

This style of helmet is worn in rural Mexico by people portraying centurions in plays during Easter week. The helmets were found in a rural area in the Michoacán department in western Mexico.

The Knights Templar emerged in 2010, announcing itself on banners strung across the country. The Knights’ leaders claimed this was the new name of La Familia Michoacana, an organized crime syndicate that is the main producer of methamphetamine to the United States.

The rename was also a rebrand, according to those banners, which stated that the Knights were committed to “Safeguarding of order, preventing robberies, kidnappings and extortions,” The Monitor, a newspaper in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, reported. In about a year, however, the Knights Templar earned a reputation for violence and drug trafficking.

Then again, the name may be fitting.

The Knights take their name from the original Knights Templars, which were founded during the Middle Ages. Although the 13^th-century Knights were a charitable organization, they were also the most vicious crusaders.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

• 'Don't mess with Texas': State gets Rio Grande gunboat fleet
• Pentagon admits it dumped some 9/11 remains in a landfill
• Franklin Graham apologizes for questioning Obama's faith
• White House hosts dinner for Iraq war vets: Enough tribute?

Mexican authorities have arrested one of the leaders of the powerful Knights Templar drug cartel on the outskirts of Mexico City during an operation involving dozens of marines.

Ariel Pineda Jiménez or Pinedo Jiménez, known as "El Cepillín," was detained in Xochimilco on Tuesday evening after "intense naval intelligence work," according to a statement by the Secretary of the Navy.

Pineda Jiménez, who allegedly operated in the central state of Guanajuato, is on the Mexican attorney general's list of most-wanted for his involvement in kidnapping and murder, Mexico's Milenio magazine reported.

A convoy of at least five trucks carrying armed personal shut streets in the area to safeguard the population, Milenio reported.  At least 50 marines were used in the operation, it said.

Sources told the magazine that Clinica Ditox, a center for drug addicts and alcoholics, was also searched as part of the operation.

Los Caballeros Templarios, or The Knights Templar, which was formed in 2011 after splitting off from La Familia cartel, is thought to control a large part of the methamphetamine and marijuana trade in the west of Mexico. El Cepillín is the stage name of a popular clown, children's entertainer and TV personality in Mexico.

• One killed every half hour in Mexico drug-related violence

The operation was part of the ongoing war on drugs launched by the country's president, Felipe Calderon, in December, 2006.  Since then, an estimated 47,515 people have been killed in the violence, the country's attorney general's office (link in Spanish) reported last week.

F. Brinley Bruton, London-based senior writer and editor

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Brother keeps hope alive as cruise search is halted
• Report: UK soldiers accused of abusing Afghan youths
• Syria's 'Big Brother' looms over a tense capital
• Coast guard told cruise ship captain to 'go aboard'
• Turkey condemns Perry's 'Islamic terrorists' comments
• Famine sparks suicide rumors among Mexico's Tarahumara