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Rafael Caro Quintero is a Mexican criminal and former drug kingpin of the Guadalajara Cartel. One of its cofounders, he is considered the "Narco of Narcos" as his efforts in collaboration with corrupt police officer Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo would eventually led to the rise of Mexico's current drug cartels.
Early life
Caro Quintero was born in an unknown date in 1952 to a farming family. As a young man, he began growing marijuana with a drug lord named Pedro Aviles Perez. Later, he bought his own farms and ran an operation together with drug lord Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and corrupt police officer Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo.
Founding the Guadalajara Cartel
Together with Felix and Fonseca, Caro Quintero decided to bring every marijuana-growing operation in Mexico under one organization, in a manner similar to OPEC. It was called a cartel because they would work together to fix prices of marijuana. Later, they expanded to purchase cocaine from Pablo Escobar.
They ran into many obstacles, including the fallout from Caro Quintero's staged kidnapping of his girlfriend Sara Cosio. Her father was a high-ranking PRI member and government secretary, so Caro Quintero's actions put him and his cartel at risk of investigation(normally, such a thing would not be an issue, since they had most law enforcement in Mexico bought off)
Murder of Kiki Camarena
In 1984, DEA agent Kiki Camarena infiltrated a group of workers heading to Caro's marijuana fields. Although he did not know the exact location, he was able to provide an area that could be searched by aircraft. After it was determined that Camarena was responsible, Caro had him kidnapped, tortured and murdered. These actions would ultimately lead to his arrest as well as that of Fonseca, but Felix would escape. As a result, the DEA opened up a new investigation into the Guadalajara Cartel, Operation Leyenda, to apprehend Felix. Despite his arrest, Caro would continue to operate through family connections.
Release
In 2013, Caro was ordered to be released by a Jalisco state court, on the ground that he had been tried and convicted in federal court of state crimes. In response, the United States Department of Justice decided to pursue new criminal charges against him in order to obtain an extradition warrant. He remains at large, and is believed to still be involved in the illegal drug trade. With a bounty of 20 million USD, he is one of the most-wanted criminals by the United States.
Fictional depictions
He appears in the Netflix series Narcos and Narcos: Mexico portrayed by Tenoch Huerta Mejía.