Rafael Caro Quintero, Top Dea Cartel Target Captured in Mexico
Excerpt:
Just hours after Rafael Caro Quintero was captured by Mexico’s navy in San Simón, Sinaloa, the United States government expressed its desire for the extradition of the alleged kingpin and killer of DEA agent Enrique Camarena.
In an online press release, United States Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said: “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.”’
The US Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, also released a similar statement on the US embassy website echoing these same sentiments. Both US officials expressed their regret at the deaths of the 14 Mexican Marines who died in a helicopter crash in Choix, Sinaloa, in the same operation.
The arrest happens just days after Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador visited Joe Biden in Washington DC, where both nations reaffirmed their commitment to the Bicentennial Framework, a bilateral agreement solidifying cooperation between the United States and Mexico on issues, one of them security.
Mexico’s Attorney General’s office (PGR) released a statement referencing the operation as a “arrest warrant with the end goal of extradition”. Until his extradition, the PGR reported that Quintero will be held at Centro de Readaptación Social Número 1 ( Altiplano), in Almoloya, México State.
Soon after, photos of the transfer of the handcuffed Quintero emerged, showing him flanked by armed agents boarding a government jet on his way to prison.
The arrest of Rafael Caro Quintero is being celebrated as a major victory for the United States. While Quintero did not play as large as role as major cartel leaders such as Ismael Zambada Garcia (El Mayo) or Nemesio Oseguera-Cervantes (El Mencho), he was greatly sought after by US authorities for his role in the 1985 torture and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. United States law enforcement stayed on his trail unrelentingly for decades, with the DEA offering a massive cash reward of 20 million USD for his arrest, much larger than the 15 million and 10 million for kingpins “El Mayo” and “El Mencho”.
Additionally, United States authorities view the arrest as proof that United States security cooperation with Mexico is still working, despite recent hitches.