U.S. Prosecutors charge nephew of infamous Sinaloa drug lord for trafficking ring

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February 10, 2020 (NYP).- Federal prosecutors have charged the nephew of a notorious Mexican drug lord for participating in a trafficking ring that flooded the US with heroin, meth, cocaine and weed — and they want to haul him to New York to face justice.

The US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn on Monday unsealed charges against Ismael Quintero Arellanes, after Mexican soldiers nabbed him late last month, and said it is seeking his extradition from Mexico.

The 46-year-old is an associate of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s Sinaloa Cartel and his uncle, Rafael Caro Quintero, orchestrated the 1985 murder of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, officials say.

“This indictment and arrest are indicative that the walls are closing in on members of the Sinaloa Cartel, like Ismael Quintero Arellanes and DEA’s arch nemesis Rafael Caro Quintero,” DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan said in a news release.

The 67-year-old Caro Quintero — whose role in the 1985 abduction, kidnapping and murder Camarena was depicted in the hit Netflix series “Narcos: Mexico” — remains at large.

Caro Quintero has been a fugitive since 2013, when a Mexican judge sprang him from prison on a technicality. He is on the FBI’s “Top 10 Most Wanted” list — with a $20 million reward for his capture.

His nephew is charged with conspiring to distribute heroin, meth and cocaine between 2015 and 2018, and with taking part in a marijuana distribution conspiracy from 1980 to 2018, according to a court papers.

If convicted in the charges, Quintero Arellanes will face a 20-year mandatory minimum prison sentence and a maximum penalty of life behind bars.

Source: NYP

The Mazatlan Post