Notorious Mexican Drug Lord Rafael Caro Quintero Portrayed On ‘Narcos: Mexico’ Captured

A notorious Mexican drug lord was captured by Mexican forces with the help of a search dog named Max. Rafael Caro Quintero is back in the hands of authorities after nearly a decade since the day he walked out of a Mexican prison in 2013. The 69-year-old Quintero was found by a female bloodhound hiding in a brush in the municipality of Choix in the northwestern part of Sinaloa during a joint operation conducted by the Mexican Navy and the Attorney General’s Office. He was sniffed out in a mountainous area near Sinaloa’s border near the state border of Chihuahua around midday last Friday.

According to The Guardian, Quintero’s arrest was captured in a short video segment that was released by the navy. He was seen being held by both arms by men in camouflage uniforms armed with assault rifles. Quintero’s face was blurred out in the video but he could be seen wearing jeans and a baggy khaki jacket over a soaking wet blue shirt. Prior to his arrest, the U.S. government had put up a reward for any information that could lead to his capture amounting to $20 million. Although he is no longer considered a major player in drug trafficking activities, his capture makes for a symbolic impact on the drug cartels and the efforts between both the U.S. and Mexican governments.

Despite the clashes between both countries over security and Mexico’s unwillingness to extradite Quintero to the U.S. prior to his release from incarceration, Mexican security expert Alejandro Hope said his capture would not have been successful without the help of the US DEA. DEA former chief of international operations Mike Vigil said Quintero’s capture is one of the most important arrests of the DEA in the last decade.

“This will hopefully start to mend the frayed relationship between the United States and Mexico in terms of combating drug trafficking,” he added.

Quintero was released in 2013 after serving 23 years in jail. A court managed to overturn his 40-year sentence over a technicality after he was found to be responsible for the kidnapping, murder and torture of a U.S. DEA agent, Enrique Camarena in 1985. Since his release, he returned to drug trafficking and was behind many bloody cartel turf battles in Sonora.

In the Netflix series “Narcos: Mexico”, Quintero is played by Tenoch Huerta.

In a statement from Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the leader has maintained that he has no interest in detaining drug lords and would rather stay away from violence.