Drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, accused of the murder of a US DEA agent in 1985, was captured Friday by the Mexican Navy almost a decade after leaving prison and returning to drug trafficking.
Caro Quintero was released in 2013 after 28 years in prison when a court overturned her 40-year sentence for the 1985 kidnapping and murder of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.
The assassination marked a low point in relations between the United States and Mexico. Caro Quintero, a former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, had since returned to drug trafficking and waged bloody turf battles in the state of Sonora, on Mexico’s northern border.
The arrest came just days after López Obrador met with US President Joe Biden at the White House. There have been tensions between the Mexican government and the DEA after Mexico enacted a law limiting the US agency’s operations. But recently, the new head of the DEA in Mexico received a visa, which US officials marked as a sign of progress in the relationship.
Today, Friday, the United States ambassador, Ken Salazar, told a meeting of reporters that there had been progress in the security relationship. “I have been in meetings with the foreign minister and with the security cabinet, along with all of our agencies that have included the new head of the DEA sitting to my right,” Salazar said. “So if we weren’t welcome here in Mexico, that wouldn’t happen.”
Caro Quintero was on the FBI’s most wanted list, with a $20 million reward for her capture through the State Department’s Narcotics Rewards Program. He was added to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list in 2018.
The United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) recognizes Caro Quintero as the true leader of the Sinaloa Cartel after Miguel Félix Gallardo and after the fall of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, who in the past was his pupil.
