Mexican Drug Kingpin Indicted on U.S. Charges of Cocaine Conspiracy

One of Mexico’s most powerful drug kingpins--suspected of involvement in the 1985 murder of U.S. drug agent Enrique Camarena--was indicted in Los Angeles on Thursday on federal charges of conspiring to distribute cocaine.

Federal officials in Los Angeles said the indictment of Rafael Caro Quintero, who has been held without charges by Mexican authorities in connection with the Camarena murder for almost two years, could lead to an extradition request by the United States, testing Mexico’s willingness to cooperate in the politically sensitive case.

Caro Quintero, reportedly the head of one of the five most powerful drug families in Mexico, was named in a 23-count indictment charging eight Mexican nationals with involvement in a continuing criminal drug enterprise that imported hundreds of pounds of cocaine into Los Angeles since 1981.

The alleged local head of the organization, Jesus Felix Gutierrez, 38, owner of an East Los Angeles seafood company, was originally charged with three other members of the ring in a one-count cocaine distribution complaint obtained by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in December.

Felix Gutierrez, charged with smuggling cocaine from Colombia and Bolivia into the United States through a drug network operating out of Costa Rica, was also accused Thursday in the superseding 23-count indictment of helping Caro Quintero flee from Mexico to Costa Rica shortly after the Camarena murder.

Camarena and a Mexican pilot who occasionally worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Alfredo Zavala Avelar, were kid naped in Guadalajara on Feb. 7, 1985, and brutally beaten and tortured. Their bodies were found a month later buried at a remote ranch in the Mexican countryside.

The case has led to strained relations between Mexico and U.S. drug authorities, who have grown increasingly irritated at what they perceive as foot-dragging by Mexican officials investigating the Camarena murder.

Government sources, speaking anonymously because of the diplomatic implications of the case, said Thursday they believe that Mexican officials should have already filed some kind of formal charge against Caro Quintero in connection with the Camarena murder.

“The government is very unhappy,” one official said. “Nothing of substance is being done. I don’t know what the game is with the Mexican authorities.”

If convicted in a U.S. court of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, Caro Quintero would face a sentence of 10 years to life plus a possible $4-million fine under toughened federal drug laws that took effect last October.

Officials were dubious Thursday, however, of whether the Mexican government will cooperate in a request for extradition if the U.S. Justice Department decides to seek to have Caro Quintero brought to the United States. One source said Mexico has never granted such a request in a drug case.

Assistant U.S. Attys. Joyce Karlin and Jimmy Gurule, who are prosecuting the case, said Thursday that the indictment was the outgrowth of a two-year investigation by a special Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI task force formed to investigate the Camarena murder.

Charged along with Felix Gutierrez and Caro Quintero are Carlos Felix Gutierrez (Jesus’ nephew), Obdulia Molina, Ricardo Garcia, Arturo de la Torre Zuniga, Jaime Casteneda and Ines Calderon Quintero.

According to the indictment, Jesus Felix Gutierrez, who faces a mandatory life prison sentence if convicted of running a continuing criminal enterprise, set up drug operations in Costa Rica in 1981 and later bought a ranch there. He allegedly sheltered Caro Quintero at his ranch after the Camarena murder.