FOILED PLANS

Report: Officials Waged 12 Failed Capture Attempts Against Mexican Drug Lord Caro Quintero

Current and former U.S. officials believe that high-level Mexican leaks foiled the previous capture attempts, carried out between 2013 and 2022.

Earlier this month, Mexican authorities arrested Rafael Caro Quintero, the notorious drug lord accused of ordering the death of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent in the 1980s. Now, The Washington Post reports that the eventual arrest comes after a string of 12 failed capture attempts between 2013 and 2022. According to current and former U.S. officials, a U.S. task force worked with Mexican authorities to wage aerial raids which may have been foiled by high-level Mexican leaks. The officials claim that the alleged leaks indicate that the Mexican government was protecting Caro Quintero, a claim that the country’s president denies. The president also said that Mexico planned and carried out the eventual capture, a narrative rejected by U.S. officials who say that they have been providing crucial intelligence for nine years. According to Mexican authorities, previous raids failed because of Carlo Quintero’s sophisticated security web.