The leader of the notorious Juarez
drug cartel was arrested at a seemingly routine traffic checkpoint,
Mexican authorities said Thursday. The FBI had offered a $5 million
reward for Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, 51. Known as "The Viceroy," he took
over the Juarez Cartel when his brother, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, died
in 1997 as a result of botched cosmetic surgery. He also oversaw a
brutal turf war with the rival Sinaloa Cartel that is believed to have
killed more than 8,000 people from 2009 to 2011 in Ciudad Juarez, across
the Mexican border from El Paso, Texas.
Carrillo Fuentes was
captured by military and federal police forces in the northern city of
Torreon in Coahuila state, national police said. The Associated Press
reported that he was nabbed following an 11-month investigation, which
had identified a vehicle he used and two homes he'd visited. Mexico's
government accused him of turning the border city of Juarez into one of
the deadliest places on the planet. Besides dozens of charges in Mexico,
Carrillo Fuentes is also charged in U.S. federal court with murder,
attempted murder, drug trafficking and money laundering. Even before a
formal announcement of his arrest was made Thursday, the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration issued a statement congratulating Mexico,
calling Carrillo Fuentes "one of history's most notorious drug
traffickers."
FBI
No comments:
Post a Comment