In the first part of this report, entitled What is the truth about the capture of Caro Quintero?, we document that there was a period of time after the capture of the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, during the which the exact whereabouts of the detainee is unknown.
The official version of the AMLO Government is that he was detained by the Secretary of the Navy (SEMAR) in collaboration with the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR). In a court document, SEMAR later denied involvement in the operation. (Editor’s Note)
From the maximum security prison where he is, Rafael Caro Quintero, accused of drug trafficking and murder of a federal agent, assured to one of his defense attorneys that, during his arrest, the DEA, the United States anti-drug agency, was present, thus denying the version given by the Government of Mexico that there was no interference by said anti-drug agency of the United States Government United in his detention.
“It was the DEA and the Navy and Interpol”, pointed out categorically and without doubts the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel during a telephone conversation with one of his legal representatives, from which the content was obtained, and whose existence and authenticity could be corroborated before the publication of this report.
Kidnapping and homicide of a DEA agent in 1985
Prisoner number 5538, as marked on the inmate’s uniform he now wears in jail d e maximum security, located in the State of Mexico, was arrested in the state of Sinaloa in the Golden Triangle area to comply with an arrest warrant for extradition purposes, issued by the Federal Court of the Central District of California for the kidnapping and homicide of DEA agent Enrique Camarena, which occurred in 1985 in Guadalajara, Jalisco.
After 28 years in prison in Mexico, sentenced for the murder of Camarena, Caro Quintero was released by court order in 1985. Immediately after, he became one of the United States Government’s most wanted criminals. The DEA and the FBI offered the exorbitant reward of $20 million dollars for anyone who provided information that could lead to his arrest. This is the second highest offered by a fugitive, after that of the terrorist Osama Bin Laden, which amounted to $19 million dollars.
AMLO: “Without direct interference from the DEA”
The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador affirmed on July 2022 at a press conference that the DEA did not He was not present at the capture nor did he have any participation in the event. “In the case of the participation of the DEA, as the United States Ambassador pointed out, they had no direct interference,” assured AMLO, who uses nationalism and the non-intervention of the North American government as one of his political banners.
“Did the DEA locate him and inform the Navy?”, was questioned by a journalist at said conference. “No no no. And much less elements (of the DEA) participated. It’s not like before”, said the president, emphatically.
In contrast, the director of the DEA, Anne Milgram, the 16 of July had assured in an official statement: “Our incredible team in Mexico worked together with the Mexican authorities to capture and arrest Caro Quintero, accused in the US of torturing and murdering the special agent Kiki Camarena and many other crimes…”.
Relatives on the “list black” of the OFAC
Caro Quintero confirmed Milgram’s statement in the conversation with one of his lawyers. And he affirmed not only that the DEA was in his detention, but also that his children – he did not specify the names – were made to sign documents from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), of the Treasury Department of the United States. Government of the United States, related to the properties that are in their names, which said government wants to confiscate.
In 1985, OFAC included Elizabeth Elenes, ex-wife of Caro Quintero, and the four children fathered by her: Héctor Rafael, Henoch Emilio, Mario Yibrán and Roxana Elizabeth Caro Elenes on its list of Special Designations, better known as the “black list” , for allegedly being part of the money laundering network in the criminal activities of Caro Quintero. But, in 2021, OFAC announced that it had delisted Elenes and her children.
“It was the DEA”
The conversation between Caro Quintero and the defender, whose name is not mentioned in the dialogue, would have taken place approximately 19 days after his arrest, and it is stated that it was within the framework of the telephone call to which all prisoners are entitled.
Since he was detained, thanks to a series of injunctions filed by his lawyers, court orders have been obtained that protect him, to date, to be extradited to the USA. In the first part of this report, entitled What is the truth about the capture of Caro Quintero?, it was reported that there were contradictions in the official version of how and who had arrested the alleged fugitive drug trafficker. Although publicly and in the official version, the Secretary of the Navy of the Mexican government claimed responsibility for the capture of Caro Quintero, judicially that agency denied any involvement.
The lawyer and the “narco” spoke about this of drug traffickers”, accused in the United States of the murder of Camarena, and of having created a new drug cartel in the years in which he was a fugitive.
“…I am going to send you the letter from the Secretary of the Navy where they say that they did not detain him, that they did not participate in anything”, said the lawyer, to which Caro Quintero responded emphatically “No? Well, it was the DEA and the Navy and Interpol”.
The litigant informed him that he managed to establish contact with his brother, Miguel Caro Quintero, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison in the USA, accused of drug trafficking. After serving his sentence, he was released in 2019, when his brother Rafael was a fugitive.
He also notified him that his defense was already filing international appeals, such as in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, arguing that extradition is not appropriate because no Mexican can be tried twice for the same crime.
“No! and then, listen, they made my children sign at OFAC to give them protection and they are collecting all the things that were in their name,” said Caro Quintero, arguing other alleged abuses of authority.
“I feel like a caged lion…”
In the phone call , “Rafa”, as he identified himself in the conversation, complained that he was very alone in prison and that no one had come to visit him.
“…I need you to come now” , affirmed in a tone of order and complaint, “I am alone! No one has come, some lawyers and my sister and a cousin came, but no I’ve had a visitor and there’s no one to take me out, all day here in the cell!”
-A message for your brother?, asked his lawyer.
-No, well, a big hug for everyone and hurry up to put in papers so they can come…Tell my brother and me there sister, tell the other lawyers to come later – answered the capo.
-Don Rafael, we’ll ask you to tell me all the information you require, both legal, political, and diplomatic. and messages with his family, right now I am personally going to communicate with them to send them the messages…
– I am like a caged lion and I bring a lot of anxiety- said Caro Quintero, and told him He asked his representative to intercede so that they put him with the rest of the prison population of the maximum security prison, and no longer have him isolated.
Another part of the conversation revolved around the medical needs of Caro Quintero.
5538