Rafael Caro Quintero 2022: Mexican narco kingpin accused of the 1985 murder of DEA agent Kiki Camarena, captured

The source was not authorized to speak publicly and agreed only to confirm the action if not quoted by name. Further details about the capture were not immediately available.

Caro Quintero was released in 2013 after 28 years in prison when a court overturned his 40-year sentence for the 1985 kidnapping and murder of US Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. The brutal murder marks a low point in US-Mexico relations. Camarena was working in the agency’s Guadalajara office at the time, having previously worked in field offices in Fresno, California and his hometown of Calexico, California.

Caro Quintero, the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, had meanwhile returned to the drug trade and unleashed bloody turf wars in the northern Mexican border state of Sonora.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has claimed he is not interested in arresting drug lords, preferring to avoid violence.

An appeals court overturned Caro Quintero’s verdict, but the Supreme Court upheld the verdict. By then it was already too late; Caro Quintero was taken away in a waiting vehicle.

He was on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, with a $20 million reward for his capture through the State Department’s Narcotics Rewards program. He was included in the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted Lists in 2018.

Caro Quintero was one of the major suppliers of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana to the United States in the late 1970s. He blamed Camarena for a 1984 marijuana plantation raid. In 1985, Camarena was kidnapped in Guadalajara, allegedly on the orders of Caro Quintero. His tortured body was found a month later.

The DEA did not immediately comment.

Attorney General Merrick Garland released a statement on the arrest of Rafael Caro-Quintero:

“There is no hiding place for someone who is kidnapping, torturing and murdering American law enforcement agencies. We are deeply grateful to the Mexican authorities for the arrest and arrest of Rafael Caro-Quintero. Today’s arrest is the culmination of the DEA and its Mexican partner’s tireless work to bring Caro-Quintero to justice for his alleged crimes, including the torture and execution of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena Demanding that the United States bring him to justice for these crimes Justice System Special Agent Camarena died in defense We mourn the loss of the 14 Mexican soldiers who gave their lives serving their country and speak to the families of their loved ones have left behind, our condolences.”