Drug Lord Rafael Caro Quintero Arrested After Almost 10 Years

Rafael Caro Quintero, the Mexican drug lord behind the killing of a US drug enforcement agent in 1985, has been captured by authorities after almost a decade on the run.

Caro Quintero was arrested during a joint operation by the navy and the attorney general’s office, when a search dog found the former kingpin hiding in the isolated town of San Simon in Sinaloa state. A brief video released by the navy showed Caro Quintero being led away by soldiers following his capture.

The arrest brings to an end a search which lasted almost ten years. Caro Quintero had been released from prison in 2013 after serving 28 years of a 40-year sentence for the kidnapping, torture and murder of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, a US Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

The decision to release the notorious inmate was overturned by the supreme court, but Caro Quintero had already gone into hiding.

Prior to his extended period of imprisonment, Cato Quintero had made his name as one of the co-founders of the feared Guadalajara cartel. Trafficking heroin, cocaine and cannabis over the Mexico-US border, the group reigned over Mexico’s drug trade through the 1970s and 1980s through a campaign of sustained violence.

The arrest was confirmed to have taken place around midday, with the fugitive reportedly surrendering peacefully after realizing there was no escape. In addition to facing further prison time in Mexico, Caro Quintero is also the subject of an extradition request by the US.