MEXICO CITY (AP) — As Mexican marines closed in on notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero deep within the mountains of his native state of Sinaloa, it was a 6-year-old bloodhound named “Max” who rousted from the undergrowth the person allegedly chargeable for the homicide of a U.S. DEA agent greater than three a long time in the past.

Whereas america’ motivation to seek out Caro Quintero was by no means unsure — therefore the $20 million reward for info resulting in his seize — there was much less certainty in regards to the dedication of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who had made clear his disinterest in pursuing drug lords.

But on Friday, three days after López Obrador and U.S. President Joe Biden met within the White Home, essentially the most wished goal of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was in Mexican custody.

Mexico’s Lawyer Common’s Workplace mentioned in a press release late Friday that Caro Quintero was arrested for extradition to the U.S. and he could be held on the most safety Altiplano jail about 50 miles west of Mexico Metropolis.

“It appears to me that within the non-public talks between President Joe Biden and Andrés Manuel (López Obrador) they absolutely agreed to turning over high-profile drug traffickers once more, which had been suspended,” mentioned safety analyst David Saucedo.

Cooperation between the DEA and Mexico’s marines had led to among the highest-profile captures throughout earlier administrations, however not beneath López Obrador, Saucedo famous.

Each presidents face home stress to do extra towards drug traffickers. With Caro Quintero’s arrest, “Narcos are being captured once more and I imagine that clearly it was what was in actual fact wanted,” Saucedo mentioned.

Samuel González, who based the organized crime workplace in Mexico’s Lawyer Common’s Workplace and now a safety analyst, mentioned the seize could not have a serious impact on the map of organized crime in Mexico, as Caro Quintero was not as highly effective as a long time in the past, and it’d even generate extra violence in territories corresponding to Sonora, on the US border.

However he mentioned that to López Obrador’s profit, the arrest “exhibits proof that there’s no safety of capos” from his administration.

González believes Caro Quintero has lengthy been a thorn within the bilateral relationship, however mentioned that “no doubt” his seize was fruit of the current negotiations in Washington.

“The Individuals by no means stopped urgent for his arrest,” González mentioned.

U.S. Lawyer Common Merrick Garland and U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar each expressed gratitude for Mexico’s efforts to catch the person blamed for the brutal torture and homicide of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in 1985 — a case that introduced a low level in U.S.-Mexico relations.

“This achievement is a testomony to Mexico’s willpower to deliver to justice somebody who terrorized and destabilized Mexico throughout his time within the Guadalajara Cartel; and is implicated within the kidnapping, torture, and homicide of DEA agent Kiki Camarena,” Salazar mentioned in a press release late Friday.

Garland mentioned the U.S. authorities would search his fast extradition.

“My hope is that with the seize of Caro Quintero, that that can mend a number of tensions between the DEA and Mexico”, mentioned Mike Vigil, the DEA’s former chief of worldwide operations.

Mexico’s navy and Lawyer’s Common Workplace led the operation deep within the mountains that straddle the border between Sinaloa and Chihuahua states, many miles from any paved highway. They discovered Caro Quintero, with assist of “Max,” hiding in brush in a spot in Sinaloa known as San Simon.

Caro Quintero got here from Badiraguato, Sinaloa, the identical township as Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the previous chief of the Sinaloa cartel, which got here later. Caro Quintero was one of many founders of the Guadalajara cartel and in keeping with the DEA was one of many main suppliers of heroin, cocaine and marijuana to america within the late 1970s and 1980s.

He blamed Camarena for a raid on an enormous marijuana plantation in 1984. The subsequent 12 months, Camarena was kidnapped in Guadalajara, allegedly on orders from Caro Quintero. His tortured physique was discovered a month later.

Caro Quintero was first captured in Costa Rica in 1985 and was serving a 40-year sentence in Mexico when an appeals courtroom overturned his verdict in 2013. The Supreme Courtroom upheld the sentence, nevertheless it was too late — Caro Quintero had been spirited off in a ready automobile.

Caro Quintero was added to FBI’s 10 most wished listing in 2018 with a $20 million reward for his seize.

López Obrador had beforehand appeared ambivalent about his case.

Final 12 months, the president mentioned the authorized enchantment that led to Caro Quintero’s launch was “justified” as a result of supposedly no verdict had been handed down towards the drug lord after 27 years in jail. López Obrador additionally depicted a later warrant for his re-arrest for example of U.S. stress.

“As soon as he was out, they needed to search for him once more, as a result of america demanded he shouldn’t have been launched, however legally the enchantment was justified,” López Obrador mentioned.

Presidential spokesman Jesús Ramírez mentioned on the time, “The president was simply saying that it was a authorized aberration that the decide had not issued a verdict on Mr. Caro Quintero after 27 years … however he was not defending his launch.”

Whereas Caro Quintero was a fugitive, Mexican reporter Anabel Hernandez interviewed him twice within the mountains of northern Mexico with out revealing the placement. Caro Quintero claimed in these interviews that he was not concerned within the drug commerce.