Mexican drug lord free after 28 yrs.
2013-08-10T00:00:00ZMexican drug lord free after 28 yrs.The Associated Press
MEXICO CITY - Infamous drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero walked free Friday after 28 years in prison when a court overturned his 40-year sentence for the 1985 kidnap and killing of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, a brutal murder that marked a low point in U.S.-Mexico relations.
The court ruled that Caro Quintero was improperly tried in a federal court for a crime that should have been treated as a state offense. Prison officials were notified of the ruling on Thursday, and an official at the Jalisco State Prosecutors' Office said the 61-year-old drug lord left prison before dawn on Friday.
News media were not alerted until hours after the release, and it was unclear whether U.S. authorities had received prior notification.
Caro Quintero still faces active charges in the United States, and Mexico's Attorney General's Office said it did not know if there was an extradition request.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico did not immediately comment on the release or court ruling, which came on Wednesday.
Caro Quintero is considered the grandfather of Mexican drug trafficking. He established a powerful cartel based in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa that later split into some of Mexico's largest cartels, including the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels.
Caro Quintero is still listed as one of the DEA's five top international fugitives, and U.S. authorities believe he continued to control the laundering of drug money from behind bars.
"Caro Quintero continues to launder the proceeds from narcotics trafficking, and he maintains an alliance with drug-trafficking organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel, most notably with Esparragoza Moreno's network," said Treasury Department spokesman John Sullivan, referring to Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno, who is allegedly a top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
In June, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions against 18 people and 15 companies that allegedly moved money for Caro Quintero.
Caro Quintero ordered Enrique Camarena kidnapped, tortured and killed, purportedly because he was angry about a raid on a 220-acre marijuana plantatation.
The court ruled that Caro Quintero was improperly tried in a federal court for a crime that should have been treated as a state offense. Prison officials were notified of the ruling on Thursday, and an official at the Jalisco State Prosecutors' Office said the 61-year-old drug lord left prison before dawn on Friday.
News media were not alerted until hours after the release, and it was unclear whether U.S. authorities had received prior notification.
Caro Quintero still faces active charges in the United States, and Mexico's Attorney General's Office said it did not know if there was an extradition request.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico did not immediately comment on the release or court ruling, which came on Wednesday.
Caro Quintero is considered the grandfather of Mexican drug trafficking. He established a powerful cartel based in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa that later split into some of Mexico's largest cartels, including the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels.
Caro Quintero is still listed as one of the DEA's five top international fugitives, and U.S. authorities believe he continued to control the laundering of drug money from behind bars.
"Caro Quintero continues to launder the proceeds from narcotics trafficking, and he maintains an alliance with drug-trafficking organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel, most notably with Esparragoza Moreno's network," said Treasury Department spokesman John Sullivan, referring to Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno, who is allegedly a top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
In June, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions against 18 people and 15 companies that allegedly moved money for Caro Quintero.
Caro Quintero ordered Enrique Camarena kidnapped, tortured and killed, purportedly because he was angry about a raid on a 220-acre marijuana plantatation.
