Infamous drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero captured by Mexican forces: reports
Global News
Caro Quintero, the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, walked free in 2013 after 28 years in prison when a court overturned his 40-year sentence for the murder of a DEA agent.
Infamous drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985, has been captured by Mexican forces nearly a decade after walking out of a Mexican prison and returning to drug trafficking, an official with Mexico’s navy confirmed Friday.
The source was not authorized to speak publicly and agreed to confirm the action only if not quoted by name. No further details about the capture were immediately available.
Sources with knowledge of the case also confirmed the capture to Reuters and the Washington Post.
Caro Quintero walked free in 2013 after 28 years in prison when a court overturned his 40-year sentence for the 1985 kidnapping and killing of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. The brutal murder marked a low point in U.S.-Mexico relations.
Caro Quintero, the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, had since returned to drug trafficking and unleashed bloody turf battles in the northern Mexico border state of Sonora.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has maintained that he is not interested in detaining drug lords and prefers to avoid violence.
An appeals court overturned Caro Quintero’s verdict, but the Supreme Court upheld the sentence. It was too late by then; Caro Quintero was spirited off in a waiting vehicle.
He was on the FBI’s most wanted list, with a $20 million reward for his capture through the State Department’s Narcotics Rewards Program. He was added to the FBI’s top 10 most wanted list in 2018.
Costco has sued the U.S. government to ensure it will receive refunds if the Supreme Court rejects President Donald Trump's bid for sweeping authority to impose tariffs.
Footage of the incident, shared on social media, shows the man shimmying down a tree into the lion enclosure.
Initial tests showed it was up to code, but investigators later found seven failed safety standards, which officials said suggested contractors skimped to make greater profits.
The 2025 news cycle was 'dominated by social unrest, debates about the regulation of online content, and concerns over digital wellbeing,' OUP said while announcing the decision.
Lawmakers from both parties said Sunday they support congressional reviews of recent U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs.
Hundreds more are missing following flooding and landslides in the past week, which killed at least 604 people in Indonesia, 366 in Sri Lanka and 176 in Thailand, authorities said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials held talks with a Ukrainian delegation to further hash out the details of a proposed peace framework.