Miguel Ángel Caro Quintero (born 1963) is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former leader of the

Sonora Cartel The Sonora Cartel, also known as Caro Quintero Organization, was a Mexico based criminal cartel. Upon the cartel's disintegration, its leaders were incorporated into the Tijuana Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel. By 2007, Sonora Cartel, Colima Cartel ...

, a defunct criminal group based in Sonora.

Career

The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

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) states Caro Quintero created the Sonora Cartel from remnants 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 ...

, which was co-founded by his brother

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 ...

. Rafael Caro Quintero was arrested in Costa Rica in 1985 in connection with the torture and death of DEA Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar. In 1989

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 ...

was arrested, causing the splintering of the

into the

Sinaloa Cartel The Sinaloa Cartel ( es, link=no, Cártel de Sinaloa), also known as the CDS, the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is a large, international organized crime syndicate that specializes in il ...

Tijuana Cartel The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Tijuana'') or Arellano-Félix-Organization (Spanish: ''Organización Arellano Félix'', AFO) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the ...

and

Arrest and conviction

Caro Quintero was previously arrested in 1992 on charges of

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

, he was found not guilty, which the DEA attributes to the use of threats and bribes by Caro Quintero. While imprisoned, it is believed Caro Quintero is still running the Sonora Cartel, where he is being held on charges of racketeering,

drug smuggling The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...

and money laundering. Caro Quintero was arrested in December 2001 in

Los Mochis Los Mochis () is a coastal city in northern Sinaloa, Mexico. It serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of Ahome. As of the 2010 census, the population was 362,613, which was 61 percent of the municipality's population. Los Mochis is th ...

, Sinaloa. Prior to his arrest he has repeatedly stated he is innocent of the charges and has accused the DEA of pursuing a vendetta against him for his brother

's, alleged role in the death of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena. Miguel Caro Quintero is noted as having called into a radio station to profess his innocence, stating: "If I had a cartel, I'd have a lot of money and my brother wouldn't be there (in jail)"; he claimed to be an innocent rancher. He further stated he does not believe his brother was involved in the killing of the DEA agent. Miguel Caro Quintero was arrested in Mexico in 2001 and charged with smuggling

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

and marijuana into the U.S. for over 10 years. He was extradited to the U.S. on February 25, 2009. After his indictment Miguel admitted trafficking more than 100 tons of marijuana, and sending more than $100 million to Mexico. Miguel Caro Quintero pleaded guilty and he was sentenced on February 4, 2010 in Denver to 17 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute marijuana in Arizona and racketeering.

Release and deportation

On 20 July 2019, Caro Quintero was deported from the U.S. to Mexico after completing his sentence. He was deported through

El Chaparral The El Chaparral port of entry or border crossing (''Puerto Fronterizo El Chaparral'') is as of 2012 the main vehicle crossing point from San Diego into Tijuana, Mexico, replacing the former entry point known as Puerta México which stood immediate ...

port of entry in

Tijuana, Baja California Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

. On the Mexican side, Caro Quintero was received by his family members. Mexican authorities did not issue an official statement regarding his status in Mexico.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caro Quintero, Miguel Guadalajara Cartel traffickers Sinaloa Cartel traffickers People from Culiacán People from Badiraguato Municipality Mexican drug traffickers Mexican money launderers Mexican drug war Mexican crime bosses Sonora Cartel traffickers Juárez Cartel traffickers Mexican people imprisoned abroad 1963 births Living people People extradited from Mexico to the United States People from Caborca

Career

Arrest and conviction

Release and deportation

See also

References