Reuters/Mexico City
Outraged by the release of an infamous Mexican drug boss jailed for ordering the brutal 1985 murder of a US drug enforcement agent, the US may soon face the galling prospect of watching his accomplices walk free.
A Mexican court on Friday cut short Rafael Caro Quintero’s 40-year sentence for orchestrating the killing of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena, ending his 28-year stay behind bars after ruling he should have been tried at a state level rather than on federal charges.
The decision dealt a painful blow to the DEA, which said it was “deeply troubled” by his early release and would push for him to be tried in a US court.
Caro Quintero’s lawyer also is seeking the release of Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, who ran the Guadalajara cartel alongside Caro Quintero, and was convicted and imprisoned for planning Camarena’s abduction and murder with fellow Guadalajara drug lord Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo.
Carrillo’s lawyer said he had already presented an appeal for his client’s release, and expected him to be freed in about two weeks.
“Rafael shouldn’t have been tried or sentenced at a federal level for that crime,” attorney Jose Luis Guizar said. “This is the same situation, but even more so, because of (Fonseca Carrillo’s) age and illness ... the law is the same for everyone.”
Gallardo’s lawyers are widely expected to follow suit, in a case that has worried the White House, which on Sunday said it feared Quintero’s release could result in others involved in Camarena’s killing being freed.
“We have seen reports that another individual connected to Camarena’s killing could also be released,” White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said, reading a statement. “We remain as committed today in seeing Quintero and others involved in this crime face justice in the US as we were in the immediate aftermath of Camarena’s murder and will work closely with the Mexican authorities on this.”
The three aging drug lords hold a special place in Mexican narcotics lore. They were the leaders of the Guadalajara cartel, a forerunner of the Sinaloa cartel, which is led by Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman, the country’s most-wanted drug kingpin.
Camarena, an undercover DEA agent behind a string of successful drug busts, was killed at the drug bosses’ behest in 1985, triggering the biggest homicide operation in the DEA’s history and damaging US-Mexican relations.
At the time, the US was furious about the perceived lacklustre effort to catch Camarena’s killer. Ironically, the release of Caro Quintero comes as Mexico seeks to overhaul its ragged legal system, which has long been seen as antiquated and lagging international standards.