The founder of the former Guadalajara Cartel was charged Thursday by US authorities over drug trafficking and murders, including that of an American drug enforcement agent.
Separately, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and FBI placed Rafael Caro Quintero — who is on the run — on the 10 Most Wanted List, offering $20 million in reward money for information leading to his capture.
The suspected drug trafficker, known as “the narco of narcos,” was already convicted in Mexico over his role in the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena — who was abducted, tortured and killed in Mexico in 1985.
In 2013, a Mexican court ordered his release after serving 28 years of his 40-year sentence.
The decision was overturned by Mexico’s supreme court, but Quintero had already gone into hiding.
In a July 2016 interview with the Mexican daily Proceso, “Rafa” — sometimes considered the father of modern drug trafficking — denied any involvement in the murder of Enrique Camarena.
The indictment covers the period stretching from January 1980 to January 2017, according to the document seen by AFP. It also includes accusations that he was behind several tonnes of cannabis and kilograms of cocaine that entered the US in 2015 and 2016.
The United States in January 2017 successfully extradited one of the biggest drug lords of all time, former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. He is currently detained awaiting trial in Brooklyn, New York.
AFP