Mexican drug kingpin Miguel Angel Caro-Quintero didn’t get past his first year of high school, and he struggles with grammar and spelling in his native Spanish language.
But Caro-Quintero, now 46, began making money in the illegal-drug business in his late teens, and by his mid-20s he was leading the notorious Sonora Cartel in Mexico, federal court records say.
During the 1980s, Caro-Quintero conspired with associates in the U.S. to harvest, traffic and sell 100 tons of marijuana. The drugs were transported from Colorado and Arizona to other states, netting $100 million for the drug organization.
On Friday in U.S. District Court in Denver, Caro-Quintero pleaded guilty to racketeering and marijuana-trafficking charges that could land him in federal prison for 10 to 20 years. He is expected to be sentenced Feb. 4.
He frequently smiled and appeared cheerful when Judge Philip Brimmer asked him if he had any discomfort with the plea agreement.
“No, sir, everything is perfect,” he said in Spanish.
The plea agreement encompasses charges in both the federal districts of Colorado and Arizona.
The marijuana was grown on ranches in Mexico and harvested by workers who were housed on the farms.
The drugs were flown in Cessna airplanes from Mexico into the Utah desert and trafficked by Caro-Quintero’s associates in the U.S. to different states.
Caro-Quintero assumed a prominent role in the Sonora Cartel after his brother, Rafael Caro-Quintero, was arrested for participating in the 1985 murder of Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.
His brother is serving a 40-year sentence in Mexico for the crime.
Miguel Caro-Quintero was indicted by federal grand juries in the 1990s but not extradited from Mexico to Denver until February because he was doing time in a Mexican prison on weapons-possession charges.
Caro-Quintero’s guilty plea comes during Red Ribbon Week, a national drug-prevention program commemorating Camarena’s brutal torture and murder.
“The guilty plea of Miguel Caro-Quintero is another step to closing the book on this once powerful and brutally violent criminal band of family members and associates,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Sweetin. “He will now face justice for the misery and destruction he caused in both the United States and Mexico. This is yet another illustration that DEA and our courageous partners in Mexico are successfully attacking violent criminal organizations at every level.”
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
