Rafael Caro Quintero is a Mexican drug trafficker and one of the co-founders of the now defunct Guadalajara Cartel, . FILE - This image released by the FBI shows the wanted poster for Rafael Caro-Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985. Still at large. They accuse him of trafficking methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and marijuana. That was the information we shared with the Mexican Marines.. Born in La Noria, Sinaloa, on October 3, 1952, he is widely considered to be one of the godfathers of the Mexican drug trade; upon his release from prison, one Mexican newspaper referred to him as the "narco of narcos." Yet he is 61-years-old, and the . U.S. officials, who put him on the FBI's Top 10 most wanted fugitives list and put a $20 million bounty on his head, said he allied with the drug trafficking organization Sinaloa Cartel. ", First published on July 15, 2022 / 5:17 PM. "I believe in Sonora, in general, there could be calm, and yes, relief for us, because I believe the disappearances will diminish," said Cecilia Duarte, an activist with a team of volunteer searchers in Sonora who look for the clandestine graves of the disappeared. Wanted by the United States for his role in the 1985 murder of DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, Caro Quintero was arrested on July 15 in the northern state of Sinaloa. It was from this prison however that "El Chapo" escaped from in 2015. a US drug enforcement agent in 1985 - has been caught eight years after fleeing jail and unleashing a vicious turf war with rival drug lords. Rafael Caro-Quintero is wanted for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of a Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in 1985, in Mexico. One of the escapees was their leader "El Neto," and his second-in-command, "El Chilin" was killed during the event. The Obama White House issued a statement declaring we remain as committed today in seeing Quintero and others involved in this crime face justice in the United States as we were in the immediate aftermath of Kiki Camarenas murder., But Caro Quintero, for his part, claimed that he had officially retired from the bloody business. According to Lpez Obrador, Caro Quinteros release was justified because the drug lord had spent 28 years behind bars without a verdict from the correct judge. He has listed various birthdays spanning October to November or March of 1952. SCARS, TATTOOS, OR MARKS:Unknown. Infamous drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985, was captured Friday by Mexican forces nearly a decade after walking out of a Mexican prison and returning to drug trafficking, according to the Mexico's navy. The available information indicated it suffered an "accident," the cause of which had not yet been determined, the statement said. Rewards are offered for information leading to capture of fugitives on the list; the reward is a minimum of $100,000 for all fugitives, currently exceeded in the cases of Jason Derek Brown at $200,000, Jose Rodolfo Villarreal-Hernandez at $1,000,000, and Rafael Caro Quintero at $20,000,000. The authorities had been tipped off by an undercover DEA agent and Caro Quintero, who was enraged at the loss, immediately began to plot his revenge. He was arrested in a Costa Rican mansion where he had fled and extradited back to Mexico where he was sentenced to 40 years of jail time as the suspected orchestrator of Camarenas murder. In a 2016 interview with a Mexican journalist, he swore I was a drug trafficker 31 years ago, and from that moment I am telling you that when I lost the crops from [Buffalo Ranch], there I ended that activity.. 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After seeing Caro Quintero walk out of a Mexican prison once already, Mr Vigil said he hopedthe government would not risk a repeat Guzman twice escaped from Mexican maximum security prisons and would agree to a likely USextradition request. I was a drug trafficker 31 years ago, and from that moment I am telling you that when I lost the crops from [Buffalo Ranch], there I ended that activity., In May 2020, The Yucatan Times reported that Caro Quintero's lawyers had filed a plea on his behalf to waive his fugitive status and extradition to the U.S. Rafael Caro Quintero was considered the Narco of Narcos. The bloodthirsty drug lord thought he was untouchable, but he overstepped his bounds when he brutally murdered an American agent. The 69-year-old was captured by Mexican forces yesterday nearly a decade after walking out of a Mexican prison and returning to drug trafficking, Mexico's navy said. . Did you encounter any technical issues? AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), abc.net.au/news/mexico-captures-infamous-drug-lord-rafael-caro-quintero/101244564, Get breaking news alerts directly to your phone with our app, Wikipedia:United States Drug Enforcement Administration, Aviation industry awaits answers why Qantas issued 'unusual' mayday alert, Are the climate wars really over? Authorities believe Caro Quintero ordered the kidnap of drug enforcement agent Enrique Camarena, 37, and his pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar on February 7, 1985, in Guadalajara with the help of corrupt officials. HEIGHT: 60 Without your work, Caro Quintero would not face justice.. DEA agents based in Mexico worked with Mexican authorities to locate and arrest Quintero, DEA administrator Anne Milgram said in a note to the agencys workforce Friday evening. There had been tensions between the Mexican government and the DEA after Mexico enacted a law limiting the U.S. agency's operations. But recently, the DEA's new head in Mexico received a visa, which the USofficials marked as a sign of progress in the relationship. However, the US agency's new head in Mexico had recently received a visa, which US officials marked as a sign of progress in the relationship. He was added to the FBI's top 10 most wanted list in 2018. Caro Quintero was one of the primary suppliers of heroin, cocaine and marijuana to the US in the late 1970s. Camarenas body, which showed signs of torture, was found a month later. This prison has been the home of nearly all high-level cartel leaders arrested in Mexico including "El Chapo" and Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo. However, he is still reported to be a wanted fugitive as allegations against his life of crime are still pending. Rafael Caro Quintero, once one of Mexico's most powerful drug traffickers, has been added to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List. / CBS/AP. Additionally, Caro-Quintero allegedly holds an active key leadership position directing the activities of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Caro-Quintero Drug Trafficking Organization within the region of Badiraguato, Sinaloa, Mexico. Their deaths came after the helicopter was involved in the operation resulting in the drug lords capture, but confusion remains around what brought the helicopter down. MEXICO CITY Mexican Marines on Friday captured fugitive drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, a top target of U.S. law enforcement who was convicted in the 1985 killing of a DEA agent, an event that . Consequently, on February 7, 1985, Camarena was grabbed off the streets of Guadalajara in broad daylight. In Netflixs Narcos, Rafael Caro Quinteros downfall begins when he starts to use cocaine himself and becomes increasingly paranoid and unpredictable. We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. An official website of the United States government. EYE COLOR:Brown But a federal judge in Mexico ruled Monday that Caro Quintero's extradition could not be fast-tracked and his case must go through the proper process. Special Agent Camarena was devoted to stopping drug trafficking and breaking the cycle of drug-related crime. Details around the crash of a military helicopter close to where Rafael Caro Quintero was arrested in Sinaloa remain murky, and the U.S and Mexico can't agree on whether the U.S. helped efforts to net the most-wanted drug boss. "So if we weren't welcome here in Mexico, that wouldn't happen.". The FBI wanted poster for Rafael Caro Quintero. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Caro Quintero, whose exact age is unknown but is believed to be in his 60s, is wanted by US authorities for allegedly kidnapping and conspiring to murder Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent Enrique Camarena Salazar in 1985. 2:37 We saw that report of the 4 skulls being shipped from Mexico, but not info yet on if it was cartel related or just shipped without the proper paperwork/etc. He was at large as a wanted fugitive in Mexico, the United States, and several other countries. Also, this prison where the break happened is a state prison. A mid-level member of the Caborca cartel an independent criminal organisation allegedly founded in Sonora by Rafael Caro Quintero after his 2013 prison releasesaid his arrest will not have any effect on the cartels illegal operations. 1 maximum security prison Almoloya de Jurez, State of Mexico. He was added to the FBI's top 10 most wanted list . It is said that Quintero was not on board, but 14 military personnel there were killed, whereas one remains in hospital with serious injuries. He began growing and selling cannabis in the 1970s while still a teenager, before moving into cocaine trafficking to become "widely considered to be one of the godfathers of the Mexican drug trade," per InSight Crime. Quintero was . This isn't the first riot at the prison, with 11 killed in August of the past year in the prison and the surrounding area. He was added to the FBI's top 10 most wanted list in 2018. In reality, Caro Quinteros web began to unravel in November of 1984, when Mexican authorities raided his enormous Buffalo Ranch marijuana farm in Chihuahua which cost him an estimated $2.5 billion to $5 billion in street sales of the drug. Rafael Caro Quintero is still alive. The United States Department of States Narcotics Rewards Program is offering a reward of up to $20 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Rafael Caro-Quintero. "We didn't see a lot of effort (to capture Caro Quintero) in the last several years, especially when (Lpez Obrador) came in and immediately started to dismantle a lot of the infrastructure and the bilateral relationships between the U.S. and Mexico relative to drug trafficking," Vigil said. Vigil called Caro Quintero's arrest a surprise, considering Lpez Obrador's stated disinterest in going after drug cartel leaders, but he added that the DEA would never stop looking for someone who killed an agent. WANTED: RAFAEL CARO-QUINTERO NAME: Rafael Caro-Quintero ALIASES: DOB: October 24, 1952 POB: Mexico NATIONALITY: Mexican CITIZENSHIP: Mexico HEIGHT: 6'0" WEIGHT: 160 pounds HAIR COLOR: Grey EYE COLOR: Brown SCARS, TATTOOS, OR MARKS: Unknown Rafael Caro-Quintero is a Mexican drug trafficker who founded the now-disintegrated Guadalajara Cartel with Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo and other drug . In 1985, Caro Quintero with associates allegedly murdered two Americans, John Clay Walker and Alberto Radelat, who an increasingly paranoid Caro Quintero mistakenly thought to be DEA agents. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Camarena Salazar was kidnapped, tortured and murdered in retaliation for a raid in 1984 of Caro Quinteros 2,500-acre marijuana farm by Mexican authorities, according to the DEA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBLcYJ7C4F0. claimed he has been subject to torture and isolation. 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