DENVER—A Mexican drug kingpin who led a fearsome cartel for more than a decade has pleaded guilty to U.S. drug and racketeering charges.
Miguel Angel Caro Quintero pleaded guilty in Denver federal court Friday to one count of racketeering in Colorado and one county of conspiracy to distribute marijuana in Arizona. He faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced at a future date.
Prosecutors said the 46-year-old led the Sonora Cartel, which smuggled thousands of tons of marijuana and cocaine from Mexico to the United States in the 1980s.
Caro Quintero’s brother, Rafael Caro Quintero, played a role in the 1985 torture-slaying of undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique Camarena Salazar. Rafael Caro Quintero is in prison in Mexico.
