Thread: Prison for $100,000,000 in drug deals

News Release [print friendly page]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 2010
Contact: Mike Turner
Number: 720-895-4214

Miguel Angel Caro-Quintero Sentenced to Federal Prison for Trafficking Massive Amounts of Marijuana from Mexico to the United States

FEB 5 -- DENVER – Miguel Angel Caro-Quintero, age 46, a resident and national of the Republic of Mexico and a reputed member of the Sonora Cartel, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge Philip A. Brimmer to serve 204 months (17 years) in federal prison, followed by 2 years of supervised release, for his role in operating a large scale marijuana trafficking organization in Colorado. He was sentenced to 60 months (5 years) for his involvement in a Arizona drug trafficking organization, to run concurrently with the Colorado sentence. The defendant had previously admitted to trafficking more than 100 tons of marijuana from 1985 through 1988, resulting in more than $100,000,000 in payment being sent to Mexico. Caro-Quintero, who appeared at the hearing in custody, was remanded. The announcement regarding the sentences was made today by United States Attorney David Gaouette and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Sweetin.

Miguel Angel Caro-Quintero was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver in 1990. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Arizona in 1994. He was arrested in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, in December 2001. He was then extradited to the United States on February 25, 2009. Prior to his extradition, Caro-Quintero was held in custody pending extradition, and served a prison sentence in Mexico for weapons possession crimes. The defendant and his older brother, Rafael Caro-Quintero, were identified as significant foreign narcotics traffickers under The Kingpin Act in June 2000, subjecting them and their associates to economic sanctions. Rafael Caro-Quintero was accused of being the mastermind behind the kidnapping and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena in 1985, and was prosecuted by the Mexican government. Rafael Caro-Quintero was convicted in Mexico and is serving a 40 year prison sentence for the murder of the DEA Special Agent.

According to the stipulated facts admitted at the change of plea hearing in the District of Colorado case, beginning in 1985, Miguel Angel Caro-Quintero and others knowingly engaged in a series of racketeering acts constituting in a sustained and persistent pattern of activity in which:

Tons of marijuana were grown or acquired in Mexico;
Shipments of hundreds of pounds of marijuana repeatedly were brought into the United States from Mexico;
The marijuana shipments were transported from state to state within the United States;
The shipments were broken down into smaller loads;
The divided loads of marijuana were delivered to sub-distributors at a number of locations in the United States;
The marijuana was marketed for cash at a number of locations, including Colorado;
The cash proceeds were collected and counted;
A portion of the gross cash sales was transported to Mexico; and
Cash proceeds transported to Mexico were delivered to the defendant in payment for the marijuana he provided.
Caro-Quintero generally managed operations within Mexico, including growing and harvesting ton-quantity crops of Marijuana in Mexico to supply and re-supply the drug trafficking venture. The defendant acquired land and farming equipment. Caro-Quintero hired workers who processed, stored, and moved marijuana crops in Mexico. The Mexican side of the venture required farms, buildings, and vehicles.

According to the stipulated facts regarding the District of Arizona case, Caro-Quintero admitted to working with others in a conspiracy to deliver approximately 3,000 pounds of marijuana to buyers in Arizona in 1994. The marijuana delivered in Arizona was provided to the would-be buyers by the defendant on credit, in anticipation of later payment. The defendant subsequently had conversations with undercover investigators posing as customers regarding the quality of the marijuana and the price and payment arrangements for more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana.

“This is an outstanding example of law enforcement teamwork involving not only agencies within this country but also in the Republic of Mexico,â€

"The defendant had previously admitted to trafficking more than 100 tons of marijuana from 1985 through 1988, resulting in more than $100,000,000 in payment being sent to Mexico."

So how much has he trafficked since 1988?