Forty years after the invitation, torture and brutal murder of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, one of the people responsible for his death finally went on a perpae walk as he left the plane in the waiting hands of our agent. Criminals spent decades in Mexico under the protection of government officials.
One of the leaders of the Guadalajara cartel, Rafael “Elrafa” Caro Quintero, claiming the ringleader behind the murder of US drug enrichment officer Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, arrived in New York on Thursday night as part of a group of 28 Top Drug Roads and as part of a group of one murder suspects the US Department of Justice wanted. Mexican authorities handed over the group the same day their security cabinet was set to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his staff. The meeting comes as the Trump administration publicly calls Mexico a drug state and threatens them with tariffs, sanctions and other punitive measures.
At the time of the PARP walk, federal agents used Camarena handcuffs provided by his family.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, Caro Quintero spent 28 years in a Mexican prison for his role in the Camarena murder. In 2013, under a suspicious ruling by a Mexican judge, authorities released him despite being sentenced to 40 years in prison. The release took place over the weekend, and by the time U.S. authorities were informed of the sentence and were about to be handed over to him, Karo Quintero was gone. After initially denying it, Karo Quintero returned to cartel life. Due to widespread corruption within the Mexican government, Caro Quintero operated with almost complete immunity while living in Western Mexico, particularly Sonora, Durango and Sinaloa.
Breitbart Texas reported that he had founded his own criminal organization called the Caborca Cartel. After first attempting to work with the Sinaloa cartel but having problems with Chapitos, Caro Quintero sided with the La Linea fact of the Juarez Cartel, and for a short time he fought various lawn wars to control the two Sonoran corridors to Arizona.
In 2018, the FBI added Caro Quintero to the most wanted list, offering a $20 million reward for his capture.
FBI Most Wanted List
It wasn't until 2022 that the Mexican government rebooted Karo Quintero. However, after his arrest, the drug lord managed to tie the extradition process together with the help of legal manipulation and various Mexican politicians.
One politician linked to Caro Quintero and allegedly linked to Camarena's murder is Manuel Bartlett Diaz, who recently served as director of the Mexican Federal Electrical Commission and an intimate ally of former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Bartlett was Secretary of the Interior from 1982 to 1988, and was one of the links between the Guadalajara Cartel and the Mexican government.
“As President Trump has made it clear, the cartel is a terrorist group, and the Justice Department is dedicated to destroying cartels and cross-border gangs,” Attorney General Pamela Bondy said in writing. “We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest of the law, paying tribute to brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers and in some cases have given their lives to protect innocent people from the violent cartel tragedy. We will not rest until we have secured American justice.”
“The FBI and our partners will scrutinise the edge of the planet to bring terrorists and cartel members to justice,” added FBI Director Kash Patel. “The days of hurting Americans and walking freely are over.”
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist for the Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded with Cartel Chronicles Project, Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart Management of the Breitbart News Foundation. You can follow him Twitter And on Facebook. You can contact him iortiz@breitbart.com.
