Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo (August 1, 1930), commonly referred to by his alias Don Neto, is a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the

Guadalajara Cartel The Guadalajara Cartel ( es, Cártel de Guadalajara) also known as The Federation ( es, La Federación, link=no) was a Mexican drug cartel which was formed in the late 1970s by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fo ...

, a defunct criminal group based in Jalisco. He headed the organization alongside

Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (born January 8, 1946), commonly referred to by his aliases ''El Jefe de Jefes'' ("The Boss of Bosses") and ''El Padrino'' ("The Godfather"), is a convicted Mexican drug lord Kingpin. He was one of the founders of th ...

, and

Rafael Caro Quintero Rafael Caro Quintero (born October 24, 1952) is a Mexican drug lord who co-founded the now-disintegrated Guadalajara Cartel with Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and other drug traffickers in the late 1970s. He is the brother of fellow drug traffi ...

. Fonseca Carrillo was involved with drug trafficking since the early 1970s, primarily in

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

, and later moved his operations to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Fonseca is the uncle of former

Juárez Cartel The Juárez Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Juárez''), also known as the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, is a Mexican drug cartel based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, across the Mexico—U.S. border from El Paso, Texas. The cartel is one of ...

leader,

Amado Carrillo Fuentes Amado Carrillo Fuentes (; December 17, 1956 – July 7, 1997) was a Mexican drug lord who seized control of the Juárez Cartel after assassinating his boss Rafael Aguilar Guajardo. Amado Carrillo became known as "''El Señor de Los Cielos''" ...

Early life

Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo was born in

Badiraguato Badiraguato is a small city and seat of the Badiraguato Municipality in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. It stands at . According to 2010 census, the city reported 3,725 inhabitants. The hamlet of ''La Tuna'', located 110 kilometres to the North o ...

, Sinaloa. Sources disagree on his exact date of birth. According to the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

(DEA), he was born in 1942. Other sources say he was born on August 1, 1930. His son, Gilberto Fonseca Caro was shot and killed on February 13, 1983, outside the Arena Coliseo in Tijuana following a boxing match.

Drug trafficking

Fonseca and other narcotics traffickers created and operated ''El Búfalo (The Buffalo)'', a ranch in Jalisco which is one of the largest marijuana plantations in history by square footage.

Charges and arrest

The United States

(DEA) in 1982 indicted Fonseca in a money laundering operation in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

. Prior to the DEA's receiving permission to

wiretap Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...

the phones where Fonseca was thought to be hiding, Fonseca fled back to Mexico. On April 7, 1985, Fonseca was located in Puerto Vallarta by the

Mexican Army The Mexican Army ( es, Ejército Mexicano) is the combined land and air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National ...

, his villa was surrounded, and he surrendered. Fonseca was later linked to, and admitted taking part in, events surrounding the 1985 murder of DEA agent

Kiki Camarena Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar (July 26, 1947 – February 9, 1985) was an American intelligence officer for the United States (DEA). In February 1985 Camarena was kidnapped by drug traffickers hired by Mexican politicians in Guadalajara, Mexic ...

, who was kidnapped and tortured by the Guadalajara cartel. Fonseca did not admit to killing Camarena and stated he was outraged that the agent was beaten. Fonseca was found guilty of the murder by the Mexican judicial system, and was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

House arrest

Fonseca was transferred from prison to house arrest in July 2016, because of his old age and declining health, with about nine years remaining on his 40-year sentence.Mexico court orders drug lord Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo freed
Associated Press. 31 March 2017.

In media

Fonseca-Carrillo is portrayed in '' Narcos: Mexico'' by

Joaquín Cosío Joaquín Cosío Osuna (born 6 October 1962) is a Mexican actor and poet. He is best known for roles such as Rubén "Mascarita" in ''Matando Cabos'' (2004), General Medrano in ''Quantum of Solace'' (2008), Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo in '' Narco ...

References