4 min readNew DelhiJul 19, 2022 12:55 PM IST
First published on: Jul 17, 2022 at 09:10 PM IST
Rafael Caro Quitero, an infamous drug lord convicted for torturing and murdering a US Drug Enforcement Administration agent in 1985, was captured by Mexico’s navy on Friday. At least 14 military personnel were killed in the mission as a helicopter crashed in Mexico’s drug-trafficking hotbed, Sinaloa.
“It is probably one of the most important captures of the last decade in terms of importance to the DEA,” Mike Vigil, the DEA’s former chief of international operations, told Reuters.
Who is Caro Quintero, why was he on the FBI’s ‘most wanted’ list?
The ‘narco of narcos’
Caro Quintero, considered one of the godfathers of Mexican drug trafficking, was the co-founder of the Guadalajara Cartel — once considered one of Latin America’s most powerful drug trafficking outfits. The group, according to the Guardian, trafficked cocaine, heroin and marijuana from Mexico to the US during its heydays in the 1970s and 1980s.
He was profiled in Netflix series ‘Narcos: Mexico’ that focused on early days of the Mexican drug cartels.
The Guadalajara cartel had ties with Pablo Escobar and other Colombian cocaine producers. The syndicate, however, disintegrated after a law enforcement crackdown in the wake of kidnapping of the US DEA agent.
However, he was no longer considered a significant player in international drug trafficking operations.
FBI’s ‘most wanted’
The infamous drug lord was added to the FBI’s top 10 most wanted list in 2018, and carried a $20 million reward.
The US accused him of brutal torture and murder of US DAE agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in 1985.
Camarena, according to a CNN report, was killed in retaliation for a raid in 1984 of Caro Quintero’s 2,500-acre marijuana farm by Mexican authorities.
The case had strained US-Mexico relations at that time with the Reagan administration scaling down cross-border trade.
Camarena’s body, with signs of torture, was found dumped in Michoacan state, a month after his abduction.
Later, Caro Quintero spent 28 years in prison of his 40 years sentence for the murder, which he denied carrying out.
In 2013, he was released on a technicality by a Mexican judge, who ruled that he should have been tried in a state and not a federal court. His release angered the US, with Mexico promising to nab him again. Meanwhile, the Mexican Supreme Court overturned the decision to free him.
By that time, however, he had gone underground, and rejoined drug trafficking activities. This prompted the US decision to add him to the ‘most wanted’ list, with a record reward for capture announced for a drug trafficker.
What next?
U S Attorney General Merrick Garland has said that America would seek Caro Quintero’s immediate extradition.
“There is no hiding place for anyone who kidnaps, tortures, and murders American law enforcement. We are deeply grateful to Mexican authorities for their capture and arrest of Rafael Caro-Quintero,” Garland said in a statement, reported by Reuters.
Caro Quintero, it is believed, is being held in the Altiplano prison in Mexico.
Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quitero. (Youtube/FBI) 
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