Latest news with #GuadalajaraCartel
Fox News
10-04-2025
- Fox News
Mexican drug lord convicted in killing of DEA agent Enrique ‘Kiki' Camarena is freed
A Mexican drug lord was released from custody after being convicted in the 1985 killing of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena. Ernesto "Don Neto" Fonseca Carrillo, one of the co-founders of the Guadalajara Cartel, was freed last weekend after completing his 40-year sentence, a federal agent confirmed to the Associated Press. Fonseca, 94, had been serving the remainder of his sentence under home confinement outside Mexico City since being moved from prison in 2016. The DEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday from Fox News Digital. Rafael Caro Quintero, another Guadalajara Cartel co-founder who also was convicted in the murder, was one of 29 cartel figures Mexico sent to the United States in February. It's unclear if the U.S. is now looking to bring Fonseca into custody. At the time of his murder, the DEA and Camarena had been utilizing a series of wiretaps to make sizeable drug busts inside Mexico. In February 1985, as Camarena left to meet his wife for lunch outside the U.S. consulate in Guadalajara, he was surrounded by officers from the DFS, a Mexican intelligence agency that no longer exists. "Back in the middle 1980s, the DFS, their main role was to protect the drug lords," former DEA agent Hector Berrellez, who led the investigation into Camarena's murder, told Fox News in 2013. The DFS agents then took Camarena, blindfolded and held at gunpoint, to one of Caro Quintero's haciendas nearby. For more than 30 hours, Caro-Quintero and others interrogated Camarena and crushed his skull, jaw, nose and cheekbones with a tire iron. They broke his ribs, drilled a hole in his head and tortured him with a cattle prod. As Camarena lay dying, Caro-Quintero ordered a cartel doctor to keep the U.S. agent alive. The 37-year-old's body was found dumped on a nearby ranch about a month later. In 2013, Caro Quintero walked free after serving 28 years in prison. He was released after a court overturned his 40-year sentence for the kidnapping and killing of Camarena. Caro Quintero was arrested again by Mexican forces in July 2022 after he allegedly returned to drug trafficking.
Fox News
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
After cartels killed my husband, my family waited 40 years for justice. Thanks to Trump, it's finally here
For nearly 40 years, my family has carried an unbearable grief from the brutal murder of my husband, DEA Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Kiki was a devoted father, a loving husband, and a dedicated DEA agent who gave his life to protect American citizens from ruthless drug cartels. He believed in justice, fighting for what was right, and making the world safer for our children. But in 1985, America lost a hero when Kiki was murdered in the most gruesome way imaginable. In February of that year, Kiki was kidnapped by the Guadalajara Cartel. He was tortured for hours — beaten and burned with cigarettes. Rafael Caro Quintero and the other cartel captors refused to let him slip into unconsciousness, injecting him with drugs to keep him awake so he would feel every ounce of their brutality. We held onto hope that he would come home. That hope was shattered when his body was found, discarded as though his life had meant nothing. But Kiki's life—and his sacrifice—meant something, and it still does. And so, for 40 years, my family and I have fought to ensure that his death was not in vain. For too long, justice was out of reach, because Rafael Caro Quintero and other cartel members responsible for Kiki's murder operated with impunity. They built vast criminal empires, flooding U.S. streets with fentanyl and leaving devastation in their wake. Cartels are violent organizations with no regard for human life. They profit from evil—through drug smuggling, human trafficking, terrorizing innocents, and countless other horrific crimes. And yet, for decades, they have operated without facing the full weight of U.S. law. It was in July of 2022, after years in hiding, that Rafael Caro Quintero was finally captured in Mexico. Unfortunately, at that time, the U.S. government did not try hard enough to make him pay for his crimes. But once President Trump was re-elected, we once again had hope. We knew that he believed in our cause, and we had faith that he would keep his promise to hold cartels responsible for their heinous crimes. On his first day back in office, President Trump courageously issued an executive order to designate Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. This classification is more than a legal tool—it is a recognition of the horrors these groups inflict on Americans like my husband. And even more, it helps cut off financing to cartels and their support networks, because the terrorist designation allows families like mine to seek justice against them in court. After Quintero was extradited to the United States earlier this month, my family and I filed a lawsuit against the man who murdered my husband. For the first time in nearly four decades, as he awaits a criminal trial in the United States, we have hope that those responsible for my husband's death will truly be held accountable. I want the cartels who killed my husband to pay a price for their crimes. But what about the other families who have lost loved ones to cartel violence and are still waiting for justice? I'm speaking out because I want to inspire the other families to take action too. President Trump's historic designation of several Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations clears a path for many families to pursue justice, but not for all. More families like mine, who have lost loved ones to cartel violence, would have the opportunity to hold the cartels accountable for their crimes if the administration would expand the foreign terrorist designation list. In particular, the Juárez and La Línea cartels, responsible for the brutal massacre in 2019 of nine American citizens in LaMora, Mexico, including six children, are some of the most dangerous cartels in Mexico and should be the first ones added. My fight—Kiki's fight—does not end with Quintero's arrest or with this lawsuit. President Trump stands with us. His administration could add Juárez, La Línea, and other cartels to the terrorist designation list to protect and bring justice to even more Americans. We owe it to Kiki and to the thousands of other victims to honor the lives lost with actions that make our country safer. For 40 years, I have waited for justice. Now, I'm determined to ensure that every American victim of the cartels' ruthless brutality and terrorism can get the justice they deserve.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Yahoo
Family of slain DEA agent Enrique ‘Kiki' Camarena details 40-year journey for justice
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The road for justice continues for the family of slain U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena forty years later. The family is suing the Guadalajara Cartel members responsible for his murder after President Donald Trump designated cartels as terrorist organizations. This is happening at the same time Rafael 'Caro' Gallardo, one of the cartel's leaders, is facing federal murder charges. 'My brother was out here, trying to do good and get rid of these marijuana fields, but it continued and it continued and these cartels still to this day continue,' said Myrna Camarena. 'Is there ever going to be an end?' Retail theft bust at Las Americas outlet mall leads to 80 arrests Camarena, Kiki's sister, said that the lawsuit's goal is justice for her brother. In 1985, her brother was kidnapped, brutally interrogated and murdered by the Guadajalara Cartel. Camarena was also working for the DEA when her brother was kidnapped. She said it was a Sunday when her boss knocked on her door and broke the news that her brother was missing. 'He says, 'Your brother has been taken.' He didn't use the word 'kidnapped.' He used the word 'taken.' I said, 'What do you mean? He's a policeman. He can't be taken. He can defend himself,'' Camarena recalled. ''He's been kidnapped,' he says. And I don't remember that I fainted.' A month later, she got the news that Kiki's body was found. He was found next to the pilot who flew him over a marijuana field operated by the Guadalajara Cartel to collect evidence. For Camarena, the discovery of her brother's body was the start of a road to get justice for her brother. 'Why him? What did he do other than his job?' said Camarena. Three cartel leaders were held responsible for Kiki's death, Miguel Angel Felix-Quintero, Ernesto Fonseca-Carillo and Caro Gallardo. The family filed a lawsuit against all three and the Sinaloa Cartel last week, seeking compensation for substantial physical, emotional and psychological damages. It comes as Caro Gallardo is facing federal charges for Kiki's murder. Reports say he could face the death penalty. 'We have waited 40 years for this. 40 years and he's finally here,' said Camarena. It's something she says her mother would've loved to have seen. New bill to limit federal district judges 'When my mother was on her death bed she said, 'I wish I could be here when he's arrested and brought to the us.' But she didn't make it,' she said through tears, 'so that makes it even harder.' She said that when Gallardo was extradited to the U.S., she prayed and told her mom that she had gotten her wish. Kiki's death has not been in vain. Since his passing, his life has been honored every year in October at schools around the country with Red Ribbon Week, where students pledge to be drug-free. There is also a school named after him in Chula Vista. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Yahoo
Death penalty possible for Mexican drug lord Caro Quintero, Brooklyn federal prosecutors say
NEW YORK — The death penalty is on the table for notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, the so-called 'narco of narcos' who orchestrated the torture and murder of a DEA agent in 1985, according to federal prosecutors. 'It is a possibility. The decision has not yet been made, but it is going through the process,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Saritha Komatireddy said in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday. About 30 DEA agents lined the benches to watch Caro Quintero, 72, and Ismael Quintero Arellanes, his cousin and right-hand man, appear before Judge Frederick Block for an update on his case. Caro is accused of masterminding the kidnapping, torture and murder of DEA Agent Enrique 'Kike' Camarena in 1985, and was one of the founding members of the notorious Guadalajara Cartel, the predecessor of the Sinaloa Cartel. Camarena's killing was depicted in the Netflix series 'Narcos.' Block formally assigned veteran defense lawyer Elizabeth Macedonio as Caro Quintero's 'learned counsel' — meaning she'll represent him in any death penalty-related proceedings. The decision to seek the death penalty falls to U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi. Macedonio won an acquittal in 2015 for Bonanno crime family member Vincent Asaro, after he was put on trial for his alleged involvement in the infamous 1978 Lufthansa heist at Kennedy Airport depicted in Martin Scorsese's 'Goodfellas.' The drug lord is currently also represented by court-appointed defense lawyer Michael Vitaliano, and he expects to apply for taxpayer-funded counsel for the duration of his defense. Block said he'd have to see what prosecutors say about his assets before making a decision on whether taxpayers will foot the bill for his trial defense. 'I don't know whether the government's tied up his assets. I don't know what's available, what's not available,' he said. Caro Quintero, who at one point topped the FBI's list of most wanted fugitives, was arrested in Mexico in a dramatic 2022 capture. He and 28 other cartel figures were expelled from Mexico last month. Their expulsion has been viewed as a show of cooperation from Mexican officials to stave off the Trump administration's threats to apply tariffs on Mexican goods. He was hauled to Brooklyn and arraigned Feb. 28 on charges including allegations he led a criminal enterprise, engaged in murder conspiracy, international narcotics distribution conspiracy, and unlawful use of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. Caro Quintero is locked up in the Special Administrative Measures, or SAMS unit of the MDC Brooklyn, which houses high-risk inmates who the feds worry might pass deadly instructions to their cohorts in the outside world. He's slated to return to court June 25. _____
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Yahoo
Death penalty possible for Mexican drug lord Caro Quintero: Brooklyn feds
The death penalty is on the table for notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, the so-called 'narco of narcos' who orchestrated the torture and murder of a DEA agent in 1985, according to federal prosecutors. 'It is a possibility. The decision has not yet been made, but it is going through the process,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Saritha Komatireddy said in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday. About 30 DEA agents lined the benches to watch Caro Quintero, 72, and Ismael Quintero Arellanes, his cousin and right-hand man, appear before Judge Frederick Block for an update on his case. Caro is accused of masterminding the kidnapping, torture and murder of DEA Agent Enrique 'Kike' Camarena in 1985, and was one of the founding members of the notorious Guadalajara Cartel, the predecessor of the Sinaloa Cartel. Camarena's killing was depicted in the Netflix series 'Narcos.' Block formally assigned veteran defense lawyer Elizabeth Macedonio as Caro Quintero's 'learned counsel' — meaning she'll represent him in any death penalty-related proceedings. The decision to seek the death penalty falls to U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi. Macedonio won an acquittal in 2015 for Bonanno crime family member Vincent Asaro, after he was put on trial for his alleged involvement in the infamous 1978 Lufthansa heist at Kennedy Airport depicted in Martin Scorsese's 'Goodfellas.' The drug lord is currently also represented by court-appointed defense lawyer Michael Vitaliano, and he expects to apply for taxpayer-funded counsel for the duration of his defense. Block said he'd have to see what prosecutors say about his assets before making a decision on whether taxpayers will foot the bill for his trial defense. 'I don't know whether the government's tied up his assets. I don't know what's available, what's not available,' he said. Caro Quintero, who at one point topped the FBI's list of most wanted fugitives, was arrested in Mexico in a dramatic 2022 capture. He and 28 other cartel figures were expelled from Mexico last month. Their expulsion has been viewed as a show of cooperation from Mexican officials to stave off the Trump administration's threats to apply tariffs on Mexican goods. He was hauled to Brooklyn and arraigned Feb. 28 on charges including allegations he led a criminal enterprise, engaged in murder conspiracy, international narcotics distribution conspiracy, and unlawful use of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. Caro Quintero is locked up in the Special Administrative Measures, or SAMS unit of the MDC Brooklyn, which houses high-risk inmates who the feds worry might pass deadly instructions to their cohorts in the outside world. He's slated to return to court June 25.
