Mexico captures notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero

Mexico, Jul 16: The Mexican military captured notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero on Friday, after he spent five years on the FBI's Most Wanted list for the torture and murder of an American anti-narcotics agent in 1985.

Caro Quintero spent 28 years in prison for the murder of Enrique "Kiki" Camarena and other crimes but walked free in 2013 on a technicality. He quickly returned to drug trafficking and was named one of the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives with a bounty of $20 million (€19.8 million) — the highest amount on the list.

The kingpin co-founded the Guadalajara cartel, one of Latin America's most powerful drug trafficking organizations during the 1980s, which also remains active today. His escapades were dramatized in the 2018 Netflix series "Narcos: Mexico."

"It is probably one of the most important captures of the last decade in terms of importance to the DEA," said Mike Vigil, a former chief of international operations with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

He added: "This will hopefully start to mend the frayed relationship between the United States and Mexico in terms of combating drug trafficking."

The war on drugs continues

Just hours after Caro Quintero's arrest, a Mexican navy Blackhawk helicopter carrying 15 people crashed in his home state of Sinaloa. The accident killed 14 people on board. The government did not clarify whether the helicopter was involved in the capture of the fugitive drug lord.

Cecilia Duarte, an activist in the neighboring state of Sonora who works with a team of volunteers to locate clandestine graves of the disappeared, said Caro Quintero's capture could help pacify the Guadalajara cartel's turf wars with the sons of "El Chapo."

"I believe in Sonora, in general, there could be calm, and yes, relief for us, because I believe the disappearances will diminish,'' Duarte said.

But she added that Caro Quintero is just one figure in Mexico's bloody war on drugs. "The conflict doesn't end," she said.

Source: DW