Fugitive Mexican Drug Lord: I Just Want to Retire

One of Mexico’s most famous drug lords, Rafael Caro Quintero, has ended his silence claiming he did not kill DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena and he is not at war with El Chapo.

Rafael Caro Quintero, the Sinaloa born founder of the Guadalajara Cartel spoke with Mexican journalists Anabel Hernandez from Proceso Magazine. Quintero’s cartel formed the groundwork of what became the Sinaloa Cartel.

In 1985, Camarena became a top target after kidnapping, torturing and murdering Camarena and his pilot Alfredo Zavala. In memory of Camarena’s death, the U.S. government created Red Ribbon Week. A Mexican court convicted Caro Quintero on the charge of murder and sentenced him to a 40-year-prison sentence. Under suspicious circumstances Caro Quintero was released in 2013 before the U.S. Department of Justice could request his extradition. Currently, Caro Quintero is wanted by both Mexican authorities and the U.S. Department of Justice.

“I did not Kill Camarena, I was at the wrong place,” Caro Quintero said in the recorded interview released by Proceso.

When asked about the reason for the interview, Caro Quintero responded.

“I am being attacked by the media, that I am at war and that I am working.” the drug lord responded referring to various articles pointing to his cartel. “I am not working. I stopped being a drug lord 31 years ago; I will never do it again … please leave me alone.”

Breitbart Texas reported in May 2016 that Quintero’s wife had been added to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Kingpin list. According to the information released by U.S. authorities, Quintero had returned to drug trafficking.

Various news outlets have claimed that Caro Quintero had been preparing a move to wrestle power from the Sinaloa Cartel, thus challenging famed drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and his family. Reports of the two drug lords going to war stem from a recent attack at the house where El Chapo’s mother lived. Breitbart Texas reported on the attack but attributed the violence to the rival cartel known as the Beltran Leyva, not Caro Quintero.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.