Mexican drugs lord Rafael Caro Quintero arrested

Rafael Caro Quintero, a drug lord from Mexico, was born on October 24, 1952. He co-founded the Guadalajara Cartel, which has since disintegrated, with Miguel Angel Félix Gallardo and other drug dealers in the late 1970s. He is the brother of Miguel Caro Quintero, a fellow drug dealer who founded and oversaw the defunct Sonora Cartel. Caro Quintero established the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1970s and collaborated with Gallardo, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, and Pedro Avilés Pérez to transport large amounts of marijuana from Mexico to the United States. In 1985, he was responsible for the abduction of Enrique "Kiki" Camarena of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), as well as Camarena's pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar, American author John Clay Walker, and dental student Alberto Radelat. Caro Quintero fled to Costa Rica after the killings but was later apprehended and extradited back to Mexico, where he was given a 40-year murder sentence.

The Tijuana, Sinaloa, and Juárez cartels all absorbed the leaders of the Guadalajara Cartel after his capture, and the Guadalajara Cartel itself disintegrated. Caro Quintero, who had served 28 years in prison, was released from prison in August 2013 after a state court ruled that his trial had been unfair. The day after his release, a Mexican federal court issued an arrest warrant for Caro Quintero in response to pressure from the US government to detain him once more.

For his involvement in drug trafficking and the 1985 homicides, Caro Quintero was wanted. He was a wanted fugitive in Mexico, the US, and several other nations, but he was still at large. Among the fugitives currently on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, the United States offered the highest reward: a $20 million reward for information leading to his capture. On March 27, 2021, Caro Quintero's final attempt to halt his extradition to the US failed. On July 15, 2022, Caro Quintero was taken into custody in Mexico.

On October 24, 1952, Rafael Caro Quintero was born in the village of La Noria, Badiraguato, Sinaloa. He was the oldest son of his parents, Emilio Caro Payán and Hermelinda Quintero, who had twelve children in total. Caro Quintero's father was an agricultural and grazing worker who passed away when he was 14 years old. He helped his mother care for their family while his father was away. He moved to Caborca, Sonora, at the age of 16, where he worked as a livestock grazer after leaving La Noria. He began working as a truck driver in Sinaloa two years later.

Before deciding to completely leave his home state and join the drug trade in the neighbouring state of Chihuahua, he additionally worked on a bean and corn plantation in Sinaloa. Caro Quintero allegedly started growing marijuana on a small scale at the ranch owned by his brother Jorge Luis when he was a teenager. Caro Quintero acquired a number of additional ranches in the neighbourhood in less than five years, growing his wealth and power. He is said to have first worked for drug smugglers Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and Pedro Avilés Pérez before founding the Guadalajara Cartel in the late 1970s with Miguel Angel Félix Gallardo, Juan José Esparragoza Moreno, and other individuals.

He has been referred to as one of the foremost drug traffickers of his generation and has been credited as a pioneer of the drug trade in Mexico. Author John Clay Walker and dental student Albert Radelat were kidnapped, tortured, and killed on January 30, 1985, according to accusations made against Caro Quintero. The two American citizens allegedly stumbled into one of Caro Quintero's private parties while they were having dinner in a restaurant in Guadalajara and ran into him and his men. The American citizens were allegedly taken hostage by Caro Quintero's men and taken to a storeroom, where they were interrogated and subjected to ice pick torture.

John Walker suffered a blow to the head and passed away there and then. When Albert Radelat was taken to a nearby park, taken there, and buried, he was still alive. Six months later, the men's bodies were discovered buried at Zapopan's San Isidro Mazatepec Park. Authorities think Caro Quintero mistook Walker and Radelat for American undercover operatives. Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar, a US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, was killed, and Caro Quintero has been charged with his murder. The El Bfalo ranch, which is 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) and belongs to Caro Quintero, was raided by Mexican authorities in November 1984.

According to reports, the government destroyed over 10,000 metric tonnes of marijuana, incurring a loss of about $160 million. According to reports, Camarena, who had been operating undercover in Mexico, was the one who directed law enforcement to the ranch. Caro Quintero and other high-ranking Guadalajara Cartel members allegedly sought retribution against the DEA and Camarena as a result. Camarena and his pilot, Alfredo Zavala Avelar, were abducted in Guadalajara on February 7, 1985, taken to Quintero's home at 881 Lope de Vega in the Jardines del Bosque colonia, in the western part of the city, brutally tortured, and killed as retaliation. On March 9, 1985, Caro Quintero and his friends, as well as his girlfriend, Sara Cristina Coso Gaona, left Mexico.

After accepting a $300,000 bribe, the head of the Mexican Judicial Police, Armando Pavón Reyes, allegedly permitted Caro Quintero to board a private jet and depart from the Guadalajara airport for Costa Rica. Soon after, Pavón Reyes was fired and accused of accepting bribes and helping to commit the murder of Camarena. Locals in Caro Quintero's hometown of Badiraguato, Sinaloa, remember him as a benefactor to the region in the 1980s.

In a 2013 interview, the mayor of the town, Angel Robles Bauelos, claimed that Caro Quintero helped electrify Badiraguato and paid for the construction of a 40-kilometre (25-mile) highway. Prior to the construction of the highway, the mayor recalled, getting into and out of Badiraguato would take days. Caro Quintero was detained in Alajuela, Costa Rica, on April 4, 1985, while resting in a mansion only 800 metres (1.2 miles) from Juan Santamara International Airport, and was later extradited to Mexico on suspicion of taking part in the murder of Camarena. He received a 40-year sentence for killing Camarena and other offences.

The DEA continues to list Caro Quintero as a wanted fugitive, and the US also hopes to prosecute him. The Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 maximum security prison in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico, housed Caro Quintero for his initial detention. Mexican law at the time prohibited inmates from serving more than 40 years in prison, even though Caro Quintero was facing a maximum sentence of 199 years. He was moved to Puente Grande, a maximum security facility in the state of Jalisco, in 2007.

He was given permission to be transferred to another prison in Jalisco in 2010 by a federal judge. After the early 1990s saw the dissolution of Caro Quintero's Guadalajara Cartel, its surviving leaders went on to found their own drug cartels: in Tijuana, a sizable family established the Tijuana Cartel; in Chihuahua, a group led by Amado Carrillo Fuentes established the Juárez Cartel; and the remaining faction relocated to Sinaloa and established the Sinaloa Cartel.

Following his death, Caro Quintero's brother Miguel established the Sonora Cartel, a division of the Sinaloa organization. The U.S. government thinks Caro Quintero used at least six members of his family as fronts to launder millions of dollars through a gas station, construction company, shoe factory, restaurant, and real estate development firm, among other businesses.

After serving 28 years in prison, a court ordered Caro Quintero's immediate release in the early hours of August 9, 2013. The Jalisco state court ruled that Caro Quintero was wrongfully tried in a federal courtroom for crimes that should have been dealt with at the state level. When Caro Quintero was given his 40-year sentence in the 1980s, he was convicted of murder (a state crime) and not drug trafficking.

Rosala Isabel Moreno Ruiz, a state judge and magistrate, filed the motion that led to the Jalisco state court's decision (a federal one). [A 1] After Caro Quintero had served time for additional crimes he had committed while serving as the Guadalajara Cartel's leader, the magistrate ordered his release. Caro Quintero's release infuriated President Barack Obama's administration; the US Department of Justice expressed "extreme disappointment" with the drug lord's release and announced that they would pursue Caro Quintero for outstanding charges in the US.

Although they shared the same disappointment, the Association of Former Federal Narcotics Agents claimed that Caro Quintero's release was caused by the corruption that plagues Mexico's judicial system. Jess Murillo Karam, the attorney general of Mexico, also voiced his concern about the case, saying he was "worried" about Caro Quintero's release and that he would look into whether there were any additional charges pending in Mexico. The United States government petitioned the Mexican government, and on August 14, 2013, a federal court granted the Office of the General Prosecutor (Procuradura General de la Repblica, PGR) an arrest warrant against Caro Quintero.

The U.S. government has a maximum of 60 days after Caro Quintero is again detained by Mexican authorities to submit a formal extradition request. The Attorney General of Mexico has made it clear that, even if Caro Quintero is apprehended, he cannot be extradited to the United States for the murder of Camarena because, according to Mexican law, no one can be tried twice for the same crime. However, U.S. attorneys may contend that double jeopardy was inapplicable and that Caro Quintero's initial trial was invalid in the first place.

Since Mexico has no laws allowing for the death penalty, the United States must present additional criminal charges in order for Mexico to agree to Caro Quintero's extradition. Mexico must also agree that Quintero will not be subject to the death penalty in the event of a conviction. On August 9, Caro Quintero was released from prison, but he was not seen again.

However, there were rumours that he had travelled to Badiraguato, Sinaloa, where he was born. The Mexican military searched for Caro Quintero on March 7, 2018, using Black Hawk helicopters to drop Marines into the mountain communities of La Noria, Las Juntas, Babunica, and Bamopa, all of which are located in the Badiraguato Municipality. One of Interpol's top 15 most wanted fugitives was Caro Quintero. He would have been swiftly extradited to Mexico if he had been detained abroad.

For his capture, the US government offered a $20 million reward. The charges against Caro Quintero for the kidnapping and qualified homicide of DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena and Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar were filed against him in 2015; on May 26, 2020, his attorney filed an appeal to dismiss those charges, claiming Caro Quintero had no chance of obtaining the financial resources required to survive a new trial. The plaintiff claims insolvency in court documents because he claims to be over 60, not retired or receiving a pension, and unable to work or engage in any other form of employment due to his status as a wanted fugitive from justice.

The First Collegiate Court in Criminal Matters in Mexico City received the appeal. Former Guadalajara Cartel boss Ernesto Fonseca, known as "Don Neto," was convicted and later placed under house arrest due to his advanced age. He is accused of planning the murder of Camarena and the pilot with Caro Quintero. In June 2020, it was revealed that the Los Salazar affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel, "Don Neto," who had become a significant player in Sonora's drug trade, had been convicted and later placed under house arrest due to his advanced age.

He is accused of planning the murder of Camarena and the pilot with Caro Quintero. In June 2020, it was revealed that the Los Salazar affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel had become a significant player in Sonora's drug trade. Rafael and Miguel Caro Quintero, however, had recently turned down invitations to join the Sinaloa Cartel because of a dispute with the sons of the organisation's imprisoned former leader Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmán over control of the organisation. Despite this, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the de facto leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, who was now ill, was said to be friendly with both of them.

Mike Vigil, a former DEA agent, continued to minimise Caro Quintero's involvement in the drug trade by saying, "He will fall before he dies of old age." On March 27, 2021, a Mexican court allowed the former DEA agent to be extradited to the United States on murder charges stemming from the 1985 killing of Enrique Camarena. On July 15, 2022, Caro Quintero was taken into custody in the community of San Simón, a part of the Choix Municipality of Sinaloa, and later transferred to the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1, also known as the "Altiplano," a maximum security federal prison. A report of a Mexican Navy Black Hawk helicopter crashing in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, coincided with the announcement of the capture. Out of the fifteen people aboard, fourteen died in the crash.

Press reports contained conflicting information: the Mexican Navy denied any connection; a U.S. official following the raid told CBS News that the crash was related to the operation but added that Quintero was not on board. According to a press release from the Mexican Navy Secretariat, a search and rescue dog named "Max" was responsible for finding Caro Quintero hiding in the underbrush. As a result of these reports, US Attorney General Merrick Garland released a statement addressing both the Los Mochis helicopter crash and the arrest of Caro Quintero in Choix: Anyone who abducts, imprisons, and kills members of the American law enforcement community has nowhere to hide.

Rafael Caro-s contained conflicting information: the Mexican Navy denied any connection; a U.S. official following the raid told CBS News that the crash was related to the operation but added that Quintero was not on board. According to a press release from the Mexican Navy Secretariat, a search and rescue dog named "Max" was responsible for finding Caro Quintero hiding in the underbrush. As a result of these reports, US Attorney General Merrick Garland released a statement addressing both the Los Mochis helicopter crash and the arrest of Caro Quintero in Choix: Anyone who abducts, imprisons, and kills members of the American law enforcement community has nowhere to hide. Rafael Caro-Quintero's capture and arrest by Mexican authorities are greatly appreciated.

The DEA and their Mexican allies have been working nonstop to bring Caro-Quintero to justice for his alleged crimes, including the torture and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Today's arrest is the result of their efforts. In order to have him tried for these crimes in the very justice system that Special Agent Camarena died defending, we will be asking for his immediate extradition to the United States. We offer our condolences to the loved ones they left behind and join in mourning the 14 Mexican service members who gave their lives in the line of duty for their nation.

We are grateful that Rafael Caro Quintero, a long-time drug trafficker, was apprehended by SEMAR and the Mexican government. This accomplishment demonstrates Mexico's resolve to prosecute a person who terrorised and destabilised Mexico while he was a member of the Guadalajara Cartel and is suspected of being responsible for the kidnapping, torturing, and murder of DEA agent Kiki Camarena. Justice never expires, even though Caro Quintero managed to elude the law for almost ten years. Another success for the U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communities is holding Caro Quintero accountable for his crimes. On our shared security, I look forward to working even more closely with our Mexican partners.

The families, friends, and comrades of the Mexican marines who gave their lives in the line of duty are in our thoughts and prayers. We will pay tribute to their bravery and sacrifice as we work to increase security for our two countries. While still evading capture, Caro Quintero spoke with Proceso magazine on July 24, 2016. He asserts that he did not murder Enrique Camarena in this interview. He revealed to the reporter that "El Chapo" Guzmán and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada paid him separate visits after his release from prison. He says he told them he didn't want to work for the company again.

He also disclosed to the reporter that he was no longer a drug dealer and that his only goal in life was peace. In April 2018, Huffington Post journalist Anabel Hernández paid Caro Quintero a visit at his residence in Mazatlán, Sinaloa. Despite having security guards, Caro Quintero was unable to maintain his lavish lifestyle as a powerful drug lord; he was now residing in a run-down mountain home and appeared to be ageing and frail. He reiterated during the interview that he wanted to be left alone and that he spends his days searching for drones.

Additionally, he claimed he had not been speaking to his wife, Diane, or any of his children because of a prostate-related illness. He denied claims that he participated in the drug trade or was a senior leader in the Sinaloa cartel. Mike Vigil, a former DEA agent who oversaw international operations and actively pursued Mexican drug gangs,

called Caro Quintero "a shell" of his former self and said it was "ludicrous" to look into claims that he might be in charge of the Sinaloa Cartel. We currently have no knowledge that he is actually collaborating with anyone, according to Vigil. Sajid, Caro Quintero's cousin, was detained by US authorities in October 2017 and pleaded guilty to charges of drug

trafficking and money laundering on January 25, 2018, in a California courtroom. It was acknowledged that Sajid may have started these allegations to reach a plea agreement with prosecutors. Highlights Topics/Keywords  (“Rafael Caro Quintero - Wikipedia”)