This was confirmed by the Navy on Friday (local time). He should now be extradited to the United States. The co-founder of the former Guadalajara cartel, Mexico’s first major drug cartel, has been on the run since 2013. Most recently, he is said to have led the smaller Caborca cartel.
The drug lord, who, like Pablo Escobar in Colombia, was known as the “narco de narcos” (“drug lord of drug lords”) in the 1980s, was arrested by the Navy in the mountain town of San Simón in northwestern Sinaloa state. Tracker Max found him in a bush. A video showed him being taken away, dressed in jeans and a shirt. He will initially be housed in the high-security prison in Almoloya, 85 kilometers west of Mexico City.
US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland thanked the Mexican authorities for the arrest of the 69-year-old in a statement from the US Department of Justice. Immediate extradition will be requested so that he can be tried in the United States.
On the run since 2013
In 1985, Caro Quintero ordered the murder of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, a US Anti-Drug Enforcement Officer. The co-founder of the former Guadalajara cartel, Mexico’s first major drug cartel, has been on the run since 2013.
At that time he was released after 28 of 40 years in prison for alleged procedural errors. Mexico’s Supreme Court reversed that decision, but by then Caro Quintero had already gone into hiding. The State Department in Washington put a $20 million bounty on his head. “The arrest is very, very important to the United States because Caro Quintero was the mastermind behind the murder of our agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena,” former DEA chief of international operations Mike Vigil told Sin Embargo. Caro Quintero is on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List.
A few days ago, López Obrador was received by his US colleague Joe Biden during an official visit to Washington. The arrest of what was once Mexico’s most powerful drug lord could be interpreted as a gesture of goodwill by Mexico towards Washington following tensions over security, investment and migration.
When a Navy helicopter crashed after Caro Quinteros was arrested, also in Sinaloa, 14 passengers died and one officer was seriously injured. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that they all supported the arrest effort. The incident will be investigated.
According to the International Crisis Group, around 200 criminal groups are active in Mexico. They are involved in drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion and petrol theft, among other things. Some are also fighting for control of legitimate businesses like avocado growing. Since the North American state began militarily waging the so-called drug war in 2006, the spiral of violence has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. More than 100,000 people are believed to have disappeared in Mexico.
Source: Nachrichten
