1. Rafael "Rafa" Caro Quintero was born on October 24,1952 and is a Mexican drug lord who co-founded the now-disintegrated Guadalajara Cartel with Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo and other drug traffickers in the late 1970s.
36 Facts About Rafael Caro Quintero
1. 2.
Rafael Caro Quintero is the brother of fellow drug trafficker Miguel Caro Quintero, founder and former leader of the defunct Sonora Cartel.
3.
Rafael Caro Quintero was responsible for the kidnapping of United States Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, Camarena's pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar, the American writer John Clay Walker, and dentistry student Alberto Radelat in 1985.
4.
Caro Quintero was wanted for his involvement in drug trafficking as well as the 1985 murders.
5.
Rafael Caro Quintero was at large as a wanted fugitive in Mexico, the United States, and several other countries.
6.
Caro Quintero lost his final appeal to avoid extradition to the United States on March 27,2021.
7.
Rafael Caro Quintero was arrested in Mexico on July 15,2022, and was extradited to the United States on February 27,2025.
8.
Rafael Caro Quintero was born in La Noria, Badiraguato, Sinaloa, on October 24,1952.
9.
Rafael Caro Quintero's father worked in agriculture and grazing and died when Caro Quintero was 14.
10.
Rafael Caro Quintero worked at a bean and corn plantation in Sinaloa before deciding to leave his home state altogether to join the drug trade in the neighboring state of Chihuahua.
11.
In less than five years, Caro Quintero managed to buy several other ranches in the surrounding areas and began to amass larger amounts of money and influence.
12.
Rafael Caro Quintero is said to have first worked for the drug traffickers Pedro Aviles Perez and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo before forming the Guadalajara Cartel with Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno, and others in the late 1970s.
13.
Rafael Caro Quintero has been cited as a pioneer of the drug trade in Mexico and has been described as one of the pre-eminent drug traffickers of his generation.
14.
Caro Quintero is known to frequent the area of Badiraguato, Sinaloa, Mexico; he has previous ties to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, and Costa Rica.
15.
Caro Quintero has been accused of ordering the abduction, torture, and murder of writer John Clay Walker and dentistry student Albert Radelat on January 30,1985.
16.
Caro Quintero is alleged to have then ordered his men to seize the US citizens and take them to a store room, where they were tortured with ice picks and interrogated.
17.
The authorities believe that Caro Quintero had mistaken Walker and Radelat for US undercover agents.
18.
Caro Quintero has been accused of involvement in the murder of US Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar.
19.
In retribution, Camarena and his pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar were kidnapped in Guadalajara on February 7,1985, and taken to a residence owned by Caro Quintero located at 881 Lope de Vega in the colonia of Jardines del Bosque, in the western section of the city, brutally tortured, and murdered.
20.
Caro Quintero left Mexico on March 9,1985, with his associates and girlfriend, Sara Cristina Cosio Gaona.
21.
Locals from Badiraguato, Sinaloa, Caro Quintero's hometown, recall that Caro Quintero was a benefactor in the 1980s.
22.
The town's mayor, Angel Robles Banuelos, said in a 2013 interview that Caro Quintero financed the construction of a 40-kilometre-long highway in Badiraguato and helped electrify the area.
23.
Rafael Caro Quintero was sentenced to 40 years for the murder of Camarena and other crimes.
24.
Caro Quintero was first imprisoned at the Federal Social Readaptation Center No 1 maximum security prison in Almoloya de Juarez, State of Mexico.
25.
Caro Quintero's brother, Miguel Caro Quintero, succeeded him and formed the Sonora Cartel, which branched out of the Sinaloa organization.
26.
The United States government believes that Caro Quintero ran his criminal empire behind bars through at least six of his family members.
27.
Rafael Caro Quintero created a front that laundered millions of dollars through a gas station, construction company, shoe factory, restaurant, and real estate development companies, among others.
28.
When Caro Quintero was given his 40-year sentence in the 1980s, he was convicted of murder and not for drug trafficking.
29.
On March 7,2018, the Mexican military used Black Hawk helicopters to search for Caro Quintero, dropping Marines into the mountain villages of La Noria, Las Juntas, Babunica, and Bamopa, all in the Badiraguato Municipality, but their hunt was unsuccessful.
30.
Caro Quintero was among the 15 most-wanted fugitives of Interpol.
31.
Caro Quintero had eluded authorities for almost a decade, but justice has no expiration date.
32.
On July 24,2016, while still on the run, Caro Quintero gave an interview to Proceso magazine.
33.
Rafael Caro Quintero told the reporter that he was no longer a drug trafficker, and peace was the only thing he desired.
34.
Caro Quintero claimed to be suffering from a prostate-related illness and to have not been speaking to his wife, Diana, or any of his children.
35.
Rafael Caro Quintero denied allegations of being a senior leader in the Sinaloa cartel or being active in the drug trade.
36.
Caro Quintero is portrayed in Narcos: Mexico by Tenoch Huerta.