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Mexican troops have arrested notorious drug lord Rafael Caro-Quintero nearly a decade after he was released from prison and returned to the drug trade.
A Mexican Navy official confirmed Caro-Quintero's arrest on Friday, but did not provide further details. Caro-Quintero was released from prison in 2013 after serving 28 years of a 40-year sentence for his involvement in the 1985 kidnapping and murder of Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has maintained that he is not interested in imprisoning drug lords and prefers to avoid violence.
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Caro-Quintero was the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel and the DEA claims he returned to the drug trade and ordered bloody attacks in Mexico's northern border state of Sonora.
Caro-Quintero accused Camarena of robbing a marijuana plantation in 1984 and allegedly ordered his kidnapping the following year. Camarena's body was found a month later with evidence of torture and abuse.
The FBI added Caro-Quintero to its Top 10 Most Wanted list in 2018 and offered a reward of up to $20 million for information leading to Quintero's arrest and/or conviction.
Attorney General Merrick Garland released a statement about his arrest and said the US would request his extradition.
Garland's statement noted, "There is no hiding place for anyone who kidnaps, tortures and murders American law enforcement officers. We are deeply grateful to the Mexican authorities for their capture and arrest of Rafael Caro-Quintero."
Garland paid tribute to the "tireless work of the 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."
Garland noted that the US wants him to be tried in a US court. "We will request his immediate extradition to the United States so that he can be tried for these crimes in the justice system that Special Agent Camarena died defending."
Garland also appears to confirm reports from Mexico that the helicopter that returned the Mexican naval team — which had participated in the operation to capture Caro-Quintero — was killed when their helicopter crashed. "We mourn the 14 Mexican servicemen who gave their lives in the service of their country and extend our condolences to the loved ones they have left behind."
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An appeals court overturned Caro-Quintero's verdict. The Supreme Court upheld the verdict, but Caro-Quintero had disappeared before the verdict could be applied.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is a story in development.
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