Convicted of DEA Agent's Murder Caro Quintero Ordered Released

by Chivis Martínez for Borderland Beat

Federal District-After 28 years of being in prison , a federal court in Guadalajara acquitted and ordered the release of Rafael Caro Quintero, one of the historical leaders of drug trafficking in Mexico. (photo below from 2005)

The court finds he was improperly tried for the 1985 torture and murder of agent DEA, Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar.  According to official sources, the First Appellate Court granted an injunction in favor of the drug lord because he felt the American's murder, which occurred in February 1985, should have been tried in state, not in the federal court as it was. 

The legal finding focused on the fact that agent Camarena did not hold a diplomatic or consular  status necessary to litigate the case in federal court.

Court officials court notified its decision to the Second Unit Court of Jalisco,  they in  turn issued the order of release in favor of drug trafficker.  At  the federal level and there is no new case against Caro Quintero, because all processes accumulated in a single file, the same one that has just been acquitted.  

Therefore, prison authorities  at the state prison in El Salto, Jalisco,  determined that he would be released, he left the prison at dawn, hours before the court ruling was made public. 

Caro Quintero ordered Camarena kidnapped, tortured and killed, purportedly because he was angry about a raid on a 220-acre (89-hectare) marijuana plantation in central Mexico named "Rancho Bufalo"  which  was seized by Mexican authorities due to at Camarena's intelligence.

The raid netted up to five tons of marijuana a lost to the cartel of an estimated $8 billion in lost sales.

 

In November 1984, 450 soilders with helicopter support raided the ranch and seized the marijuana crop.

 

Camarena, had gained the trust, and friendship, of Caro Quintero, Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo aka "El Padrino", and Manuel Salcido, considered the premier capos.  He became close friends with them all but particularly Felix Gallardo.  Camarena promised them they would be protected from the region of  TJ to Guerrero and he guaranteed them  impunity. 

 

It was in March of 1984 that the capos discovered it was Camarena that betrayed him.  He was ordered picked up, tortured and killed.

 

After pressure by Washington, with the Mexican government and the DEA working together they captured the three men suspected of Camarena's killing.  This posed a serious problem to the cartel as their leaders were incarcerated.  It was Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno aka "El Azul", that suggested the solution of distribution of territories.

 

Azul was one of the most respected capos, hence the suggestion was accepted and the territories were divided into four major cartels:

 

Tijuana Cartel: operated by Arellano-Felix and Jesus "Chuy" Labra

Sinaloa Cartel: operated by Joaquin "el Chapo" Guzman Loera and Hector Luis Palma Salazar

Golfo Cartel: operated by Juan Garcia Abrego

Juarez Cartel: operated by Amado Carrillo Fuentes aka "Lord of the Skies"

Caro Quintero was  born in La Noria, Badiraguato, Sinaloa. Quintero was a co-founder, with Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo,, of the Guadalajara Cartel and Sonora Cartel. Upon the cartels' disintegration, its leaders were incorporated mostly into the Tijuana cartel and Sinaloa Cartel.

Camarena (at left) was kidnapped, in Guadalajara, the capital city of Jalisco  and a major drug trafficking hub. His body and that of his Mexican pilot, both reflecting signs of extreme torture, were found a month later, buried in shallow graves. 

Camarena was subjected to some of the worse known methods of torture in drug war history.  A physician was forced to revive Camarena when he was on the brink of death to subject the agent to further torture.

In June of this year the US Government placed sanctions  on those involved in the Camarena murder, including Caro Quintero.

Camarena is considered a hero by the DEA Agency, American officials accused their Mexican counterparts of letting Camarena's killers get away. Caro Quintero was eventually hunted down in Costa Rica.

Mexican journalists and some politicians are referring to the release as an outrage and that the justice system is characterized as a joke.  

Upon release of the drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, the Government of Jalisco watch to maintain order against possible criminal reconfiguration between criminal groups, said the governor, Sandoval Aristotle.

 "I repeat, today marks a shame, the federal courts today decided to grant this freedom and we will act according to our faculties and powers remain calm and of course the order, monitoring and responding to any situation much relevant information ... ".

U.S. was not given prior notification, “The Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration learned today that at dawn Rafael Caro Quintero was released from prison," said Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr.

The DEA, meanwhile, said it "will vigorously continue its efforts to ensure Caro-Quintero faces charges in the United States for the crimes he committed.

Caro Quintero faces charges in the United States, but Mexico's Attorney General's Office said it was unclear whether there was a current extradition request.

Apparently, the U.S. had requested his extradition for the Camarena killing — something Caro Quintero can't be tried twice for — but may not have filed extradition requests for pending U.S. drug charges.

"We have  continued to make clear to Mexican authorities the continued interest of the United States in securing Caro Quintero's extradition so that he might face justice in the United States”, was the statement from  the Department of Justice. ..continued next page..

Video is from the Camarena Legacy Foundation-In the video his family speak about Kiki's life and the murder, his oldest son was only 11 years old at the time of his father's death.

Caro Quintero is still listed as one of the DEA's five top international fugitives, and U.S. authorities believe he may have continued to control the laundering of drug money from behind bars.

"Caro Quintero continues to launder the proceeds from narcotics trafficking and he maintains an alliance with drug trafficking organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel, most notably with Esparragoza Moreno's network," said Treasury Department spokesman John Sullivan, referring "El Azul who is allegedly a top leader of the Sinaloa cartel. (above left)

In a statement by  Adam Szubin, Director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, he said "Caro Quintero has used a network of family members and front persons to invest his fortune into ostensibly legitimate companies and real estate projects in the city of Guadalajara". Caro Quintero has spent almost his entire sentence at a prison on the outskirts of that city, Mexico's second-largest city.

Ernesto Fonseca "Don Neto"

A report in Mileno stated that Caro Quintero’s co-defendant had also been released. Federal authorities are disputing the report that the drug lord Ernesto Fonseca, "Don Neto", who was convicted along with Rafael Caro Quintero for the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena, had been released.

The sources explained that the drug dealer is still held at the prison in Puente Grande, Jalisco, where he is serving a sentence for the murder of the agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

"He is serving his sentence, is not out of prison," prison spokesperson said.

On Friday aftenoon, José Luis Guizar, Rafael Caro Quintero's lawyer, said in addition to his client, the drug lord Ernesto Fonseca, "Don Neto" had also earned his freedom and said  that "Don Neto" was released from prison in Puente Grande, Jalisco, at dawn.

In a telephone interview the attorney said that the release was confirmed by family members. However, there did not appear to be a confirmation from the court that there was an order of release. And while further commenting, the lawyer said that so far he had no information to explain why Fonseca was released..

According to the attorney, Fonseca was moved to Mexico City where he will receive medical care; he is in poor health from kidney failure.

For their part, authorities of the Federal Judiciary Council (CJF) denied that the drug trafficker obtained his freedom.  Only the release of Caro Quintero has been confirmed.   So as so often the case in Mexico, it is unclear.

Click to Enlarge