DEA Website Removes Link to Administrator Statement Alluding to DEA's Involvement in Caro Quintero Capture

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

A DEA Administrator statement, posted on the DEA.gov website regarding RCQ's capture has since been removed from public access.

Shortly after the capture of Rafael Caro Quintero in the mountains of Sinaloa; official statements praising the arrest and mourning the loss of 14 of the Semar Marines that participated came from both sides of the border. One of the first was from DEA Administrator Anne Milgram congratulating the hard work of DEA and their Mexican counterparts. It seemed to confirm their collaboration and involvement in the capture of the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitive.

DEA Administrator Message to Workforce

Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena embodied the very best of DEA: he was a tenacious agent who relentlessly pursued the most dangerous drug cartels operating in Mexico. He fearlessly pursued the most violent and the most dangerous traffickers and put our mission- protecting the safety and health of the American people-- above all else.

Kiki is a hero.

Today, our incredible DEA team in Mexico worked in partnership with Mexican authorities to capture and arrest Rafael Caro Quintero, who is charged in the United States with the torture and murder of DEA Special Agent Kiki Camarena and with many other crimes. For more than 30 years, the men and women of DEA have worked tirelessly to bring Caro Quintero to justice. Today's arrest is the result of years of your blood, sweat, and tears. Without your work, Caro Quintero would not face justice.

Thank you. I am grateful for each and every one of you.

I am grateful also to the men and women of the Mexican Navy, Semar. We mourn the tragic deaths of the 14 Mexican marines who lost their lives today in service to their country.

It is a privilege to work with you every single day and to be a part of our incredible DEA family. Each day, like today, you exceed my highest expectations: I see your heart, your tenacity, and your commitment above all else--including your own personal safety-to protecting the American people. There is no greater mission and there is no greater team.

The legacy of Special Agent Camarena lives on in you and in the righteous and just work you do every day in service of the United States of America. We will never forget

-Anne Milgram

The statementlink can be found on Archive.org of the DEA website from the day it was posted. The same URL now is shown as Not Found and the link from the homepage is gone. The pdf file is still accessible via direct link.

The message to the DEA workforce was initially posted to 

https://www.dea.gov/documents/2022/2022-07/2022-07-16/dea-administrator-message-workforce

Archive.org DEA Link

However, the Homepage link on DEA.gov and the page linking to the full statement have since been removed. The PDF file itself is still viewable via a direct URL link. The only official statement on the DEA website links to DOJ Attorney General Merrick B. Garland's statement. 

"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."'

In the days since his capture, US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar disputed that the DEA was involved. "To clarify, no United States personnel participated in the tactical operation that resulted in the arrest of Caro Quintero," the diplomat said. 

The arrest of Caro Quintero was carried out exclusively by the Mexican government according to President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador. When asked during a press conference, AMLO denied DEA involvement and stated that while at one point, the DEA provided information that was requested by Mexico, it was not acted upon.

It is not known if the message was meant to be internal and was removed for that reason...or because it had alluded to DEA involvement in RCQ's capture.

Proceso provided information from a high-level DEA source stating that the DEA worked to gather intelligence and disrupt the security network around Caro Quintero before working with the Mexican Navy to provide information for his capture.

"A few weeks ago we were able to detect and confirm the location and the area in the mountains where he was hiding. In coordination with the Mexican Navy, we began to design very specific operations to prevent him from escaping or information from leaking out," said the official.

For months after they located the area where Caro Quintero had his lair, US agents traveled frequently to Mexico and negotiations intensified with the Navy -not with the Army, an institution the DEA distrusts- to carry out the capture operation. "Before this one, which finally concluded with his arrest, the Mexican Navy had 13 other opportunities to capture Quintero and failed to do so. This occurred over a period of about four weeks," explains the senior DEA official.

Source Borderland Beat, DEA, DOJ, Proceso