By Bridget Heath
Caro Quintero is one of America's most wanted criminals; he served prison time in Mexico for the 1985 killing of drug enforcement administration agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. The DEA is offering a $20 million reward for his capture on charges of kidnapping and murdering a US Federal agent. Caro Quintero allegedly holds an active key leadership position directing the activities of the Sinaloa cartel and the drug trafficking organization within the region of Badiraguato, Sinaloa, Mexico. Raphael Caro Quintero was born in the community of la Noria, Badiraguato Sinaloa October 3rd 1952 his parents Emilio and Hermelinda Quintero had 12 children and Raphael Caro Quintero was the oldest. His father worked in agriculture in grazing and passed away when Caro was 14 years old he worked and helped his mother take care of the family.
At 16 he left la Noria and settled in Caborca Sonora where he worked in livestock grazing a couple of years later he worked as a truck driver and Sinaloa he also worked for a bean and corn plantation and Sinaloa before deciding to leave his home state and join the drug trade in the neighboring state of Chihuahua.
When he was a teenager Caro Quintero began to grow marijuana on a low scale at a ranch owned by his brother George Luis in less than 5 years Caro Quintero managed to buy several other ranches in the surrounding areas and began to amass larger amounts of money and influence. It's believed that the first people he worked for were 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 seventies. He has been cited as a pioneer of the drug trade in Mexico and has been described as one of the preeminent drug traffickers of his generation.
It is alleged that Caro Quintero ordered the abduction, torture, and murder of John Clay Walker and his dentistry student Albert Radelat on January 30th and 1985 the two Americans were dining in a Guadalajara restaurant when the encountered Caro Quintero and his men and the accidentally walked into one of Caro Quintero's private parties. It's alleged that Caro ordered his man to seize the Americans and take them to a store room where they were tortured with ice picks and interrogated. John Walker died on the scene from blunt Force trauma to the head. Albert was still alive and he was wrapped in tablecloths taken to a park near the city and buried The men's bodies were found 6 months later buried at the San Isidro Mazatepek Park in Zapaopan. It's alleged these two men were believed to be us undercover agents by Quintero.
In November 1984 the Mexican authorities raided a 2500 acre ranch known as El Bufalo in the state of Chihuahua owned by Caro Quintero. It's reported that the authorities burn more than 10,000 tons of marijuana totaling a loss of about 160 million. Camarena who had been working undercover in Mexico was said to be responsible for leading authorities to the ranch. This allegedly prompted Caro Quintero and other high-ranking members of The Guadalajara cartel to seek revenge against the DEA and Camarena. In retribution, Camarena and his pilot Alfredo Zavala Avalor were kidnapped in Guadalajara on February 7th 1985 taken to a resident owned by Quintero located at 881 Lopez de Vega in Colonia of Jardine's del Bosque and Western section of the city, brutally tortured, and murdered.
Caro Quintero then left Mexico in March of 1985 with his associates and his girlfriend Sarah Christina Cosio. Guyana a former Mexican judicial police chief Armando Pavon Reyes received a bribe of $300,000 reportedly allowed Caro to flee from the airport in Guadalajara and a private jet to seek refuge in Costa Rica the police chief was fired shortly afterward and was charged with bribery and complicity in the Camarena murder.
On April 4th 1985 Caro Quintero was arrested in his Alla Jewella Costa Rica Mansion while sleeping just 800 feet from the Juan Santa Maria international airport and was extradited to Mexico on charges of involvement and Camarena's murder. He was sentenced to 40 years for the murder of Camarena and other crimes the US also hoped to try Caro Quintero, and the DEA still list him as a wanted fugitive
Caro Quintero was first imprisoned at the federal social Re-adaptation center number one maximum security prison in Almoloya De Juarez state of Mexico even though Caro Quintero was to face a maximum of 199 years in prison, Mexican law during that time did not allow for inmates to serve more than 40.
In 2007 he was transferred to another maximum security prison known as Puente Grande in the state of Jalisco in 2010 a federal judge granted him the right to be transferred to another prison in Jalisco.
Caro Quintero's Guadalajara cartel fell apart in the early 1990s and it's remaining leaders went on to establish their own drug trafficking organizations in Tijuana a large family formed the 21 of cartel in Chihuahua a group controlled by a Amado Carrillo Fuentes form the Juarez cartel and the remaining faction move to Sinaloa and form the Sinaloa cartel under the traffickers Joaquin El Chapo Guzman and Ismael El mayo Zambada. Caro Quintero's brother Miguel Caro Quintero succeeded him and formed the Sonora cartel which branched out of the Sunlow organization. The United States government believes Caro Quintero did run his criminal empire from behind bars through at least six of his family members he had a front for laundering millions of dollars through a gas station, a construction company, shoe factory, restaurant, real estate development country companies among others.
In the early hours of August 9th 2013 a tribunal ordered the immediately release of Caro Quintero after he served 28 years in prison. It was concluded that he had been tried improperly. The release of Caro Quintero outraged the administration of the United States President Barack Obama the United States department of Justice said they were extremely disappointed with the drug Lord's release and stated that they were going to pursue Caro Quintero for pending charges in the United States. A Mexican federal court issued an arrest warrant against Caro Quintero on August 14th. Caro Quintero is still wanted from his previous affiliations with drug trafficking and involvement in the 1985 murders. He remains at large, as a wanted fugitive in Mexico, the United states, and several other countries.. the United States is offering a $20 million bounty for his arrest the highest such value of all fugitives currently listed in FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives list.
Caro Quintero lost his final appeal to avoid extradition to the United States on March 27th 2021.
My encounter was 2015. I put my vehicle on the internet and a man called me and we met up in a public place. A Mexican gentleman came over to me. I introduced myself and asked if he was interested in my truck and he said yes.
He then proceeded with the typical Mexican flirting with calling me "Bonita" which means pretty. And I told him I'm not interested in anything like that you know I'm married and I'm just here to sell my truck. So I went ahead and opened the hood and he checked it out. Said he needed to take it for a test drive so I hopped in and we went for a test drive. He was very pleasurable very nice and we went down a freeway for about a mile to the next exit and turn around and came back but needless to say the hair on the back of my neck stood up and it was really awkward for me I didn't say anything I just played it cool and we went back to where we met up. And the Mexican gentleman wanted to haggle about the price because my vehicle was from another state. He was worried my vehicle would not pass inspection, and that it needed paint job so just typical complaints of a normal customer for a used vehicle. Needless to say I did not sell my vehicle that day and drove it for another 6 years.
After I got home about 6 to 8 months later I finally had the internet full time.. and was searching on the FBI's website and saw the gentleman on the 10 most wanted that had come to meet me about my car. I submitted a tip online and never heard anymore again.
I'm glad things ended up the way they did. That was the scariest rides I ever took in my vehicle.
Editor's note: this article ran in Serial Killer Magazine and is reproduced as written. Two things about it. First, Rafael Caro Quintero is not a serial killer and has no entry in this archive's roster; he is a drug trafficker, and the killing the article turns on is the 1985 abduction and murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena. Second, the article is out of date at its close. It was written while he was at large after the 2013 release, and says so. He was recaptured by the Mexican navy in July 2022 and sent to the United States on 27 February 2025, where he faces charges in Brooklyn. The closing passage is the author's own account of believing she met him in 2015 while selling a car, and of filing a tip. It is her recollection, nothing corroborates it, and it should be read as such.