Rafael Caro Quintero
Rafael Caro Quintero (born October 24, 1952 in La Noria, Municipio Badiraguato , Sinaloa , Mexico ) is a former Mexican drug trafficker and co-founder of the Guadalajara cartel , which was one of the most wanted drug lords in the 1980s. He is the brother of Miguel Caro Quintero - the later head of the Sonora cartel - and the godson of Ernesto Fonseca "Don Neto" Carrillo .
Life
Rafael Caro Quintero is said to have worked for Pedro Avilés Pérez at the age of 12 . Avilés Pérez was the first major drug lord in Sinaloa and the first Mexican drug trafficker to use airplanes to smuggle marijuana and heroin into the United States. At the age of 24, Quintero was producing up to six tons of marijuana a year. On September 15, 1978 Avilés Pérez was killed in a shooting by the Mexican Federal Police . Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo took over the reins of the organization, which until then had never had a defined identity and was on the verge of crumbling. He founded the Guadalajara cartel together with Ernesto Carrillo and Rafael Quintero .
During the 1980s, Quintero is said to have temporarily forced over 4,000 people to work on his hemp plantations in Chihuahua state . In November 1984 450 soldiers stormed his ranch El Búfalo .
Enrique Camarena aka "Kiki" was a Mexican with US citizenship and has been investigating undercover for the DEA since 1981 . He had succeeded in serving his way up in Quintero's organization. On February 7, 1985, Quintero-bribed police arrested Camarena as he was leaving the US consulate in Guadalajara, and he succumbed to torture three days after his abduction. When the body was found in a field in March 1985, Quintero fled. Anti-terrorist units picked him up in a finca in Costa Rica and he was handed over to the Mexican authorities. Investigators confiscated villas, shops and luxury cars all over the country. Quintero's estimated net worth was $ 2 billion.
In 1988 a commission of inquiry headed by Senator John Kerry produced a report. Accordingly, the CIA had close ties with the Guadalajara cartel in the course of the so-called Iran-Contra affair . The drug lords are said to have supported the Contra rebels in Nicaragua and were given access to the American market in return. According to this report, the key figure had been Quintero. The contra-guerrillas were trained on his ranches in Mexico and planes took off from his airfields to take drugs to the USA and weapons to Nicaragua.
In December 1989 Quintero was sentenced to a maximum of 40 years for murder, kidnapping, formation of a criminal organization, cultivation and trafficking in marijuana and cocaine.
On August 9, 2013, at the age of 61, after 28 years in prison, he was released from prison by a court for formal irregularities. The United States Department of State suspended $ 5 million on November 5, 2013 for information leading to his arrest. The current reward is currently (June 2018) $ 20 million.
Cultural reception
- Caro Quintero is mentioned in the first episode of the television series El Chapo .
- He was played by Tenoch Huerta in the Netflix series Narcos: Mexico .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b A Mexican capo is released. August 10, 2013, accessed March 25, 2013 .
- ^ Peninsular Digital - Genealogía del Narcotráfico (1 de 5) - Primera generación: El inicio
- ↑ Politico dossier - Al "Cochiloco" lo mataron los colombianos
- ^ Mexico's oldest drug lord just left prison. VICE, July 28, 2016, accessed January 10, 2017 .
- ↑ Berliner Kurier - Free again after 28 years The drug lord who wanted to pay Mexico's debts
- ↑ Latin America News - Accursed Inheritance
- ^ Narcotics Rewards Program: Rafael Caro-Quintero. US Department of State, November 5, 2013, accessed March 25, 2014 .
- ↑ https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/rafael-caro-quintero
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Caro Quintero, Rafael |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Mexican drug dealer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 24, 1952 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | La Noria, Municipio Badiraguato , Sinaloa |