Now more grandfather than Godfather MOST people will have forgotten about Rafael Caro Quintero, the drug lord who walked free from a Mexican prison on August 8th and vanished into the pre-dawn darkness. Not the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Mr Caro, who is now 60, helped sink anti-narcotics co-operation between Mexico and the United States to an all-time low after the torture and murder 28 years ago of the DEA’s Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, for which he was convicted. His release on a technicality, 28 years into a 40-year sentence, has reopened old wounds.According to American officials, Mr Caro and his cronies in the once-dominant Guadalajara gang targeted Mr Camarena in February 1985, partly for his role in a drug bust that cost the drug lords heavily. His body was found in a shallow grave a month after he disappeared. Later the DEA obtained a tape-recording of his hours-long torture, which added to the anger and frustration.On the hunt for the killers, DEA agents watched in fury as a Mexican federal-police commander hugged Mr Caro instead of arresting him at Guadalajara’s airport, allowing him to board a...
via The Economist: The Americas http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21583709-case-highlights-ups-and-downs-cross-border-drug-ties-ghosts-past?fsrc=rss%7Came
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