Featured Image Credit: FBI/Mexican Government Archive
Topics: Crime, True crime, Drugs, US News
Anish Vij
Topics: Crime, True crime, Drugs, US News
Infamous drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, whose character was featured on Narcos: Mexico has been arrested by authorities.
The 69-year-old was behind the killing of a US drug enforcement agent in 1985.
After a 28-year stint in prison, he walked free in 2013 when a court overturned his 40-year sentence for the 1985 kidnapping and killing of US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena.
On Friday (15 July) it was announced that Caro Quintero was arrested after a search dog named Max found him hiding in brush in the town of San Simon in Sinaloa state.
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Caro Quintero was on the FBI's most wanted list, with a $20m (£16.9m) reward offered for his capture.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement: "There is no hiding place for anyone who kidnaps, tortures, and murders American law enforcement.
"Today's arrest is the culmination of tireless work by DEA and their Mexican partners to bring Caro Quintero to justice for his alleged crimes, including the torture and execution of DEA Special Agent Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena.
"We will be seeking his immediate extradition to the United States so he can be tried for these crimes in the very justice system Special Agent Camarena died defending."
White House senior Latin America adviser Juan Gonzalez also wrote on Twitter: "This is huge."
After initially walking free back in 2013, the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, returned to drug trafficking and unleashed bloody turf battles in the northern Mexico border state of Sonora.
Back then, an appeals court overturned Caro Quintero’s verdict but the Supreme Court upheld the sentence.
Caro Quintero was taken away in a waiting vehicle.
He was one of the main suppliers of heroin, cocaine and marijuana to the US in the late 1970s.
The drug leader blamed Mr Camarena for a raid on a marijuana plantation in 1984.
The following year, the US agent was kidnapped in Guadalajara, allegedly on orders from Caro Quintero.
His body was found just one month later.
Despite President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador maintaining a lack of interest in detaining drug lords to avoid violence, the recent arrest was made just days after he met US President Joe Biden at the White House.
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