Fugitive Mexican drug lord says he has no money in legal appeal
Rafael Caro Quintero, a fugitive Mexican drug lord who is on the FBI’s most wanted list for the murder of a federal agent in 1985, has said in a legal appeal that he has no money, is too old to work and has no pension.
The odd plea was filed on Tuesday by Caro Quintero’s lawyers, who are seeking an injunction against his arrest or extradition to the United States for the kidnapping and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agent Enrique Camarena in Mexico in 1985.
The court papers state: “The plaintiff argues insolvency, because he says he is more than 60 years old, is neither retired nor has a pension, and given the fact that he is a fugitive from the law, cannot work or perform any activity to earn money.”
Caro Quintero was convicted of ordering the death of Camarena, who disappeared from street in Guadalajara while walking to meet his wife for lunch. His body was found a month later with signs of extreme torture.
Caro Quintero served 28 years of a 40-year sentence before being freed from prison in August 2013 on administrative grounds.
His release infuriated the US government, and less than a week later a Mexican judge issued a warrant for his rearrest, but by then he had already gone underground.
In 2016, US officials said that Caro Quintero remained active in the drug trade and added his wife, Diana Espinoza Salazar, to its list of drug traffickers.
The treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) said that Espinoza Salazar met the accused drug trafficker in prison and became an integral part of Caro Quintero’s ongoing operations.
OFAC said that Caro Quintero “has continued to engage in drug trafficking activities since his release”.
The United States is offering a $5m reward for information leading to Caro Quintero’s recapture.