Prime Suspect in Murder of U.S. Drug Agent Is Extradited to Mexico

Rafael Caro Quintero, prime suspect in the murder last month of U.S. drug enforcement agent Enrique S. Camarena, arrived back here Friday night after his deportation from Costa Rica, police said.

He was driven away in a squad of armored vehicles, accompanied by about 500 policemen.

Caro Quintero, 32, captured Thursday at an estate outside Costa Rica, was accompanied by 17-year-old Sara Cossio, niece of a prominent Mexican ruling party official, who said on television Friday that the suspected drug trafficker kidnaped her because he loved her.

Although seven Mexicans, six of them police, stand accused of Camarena’s murder, U.S. officials have repeatedly said they suspect Caro Quintero of being the organizer of the crime. He also is a suspect in the death of Alfredo Zavala Avelar, a Mexican pilot who flew missions for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Cossio said on Costa Rican television she had been treated well at the luxury house near San Jose airport where Caro Quintero, she and five others had been staying.

They had stayed at three mansions since fleeing Mexico, dining regularly at the best restaurants and traveling around in limousines, she said.

Earlier Friday, a U.S. official said it was hoped that documents seized when Caro Quintero was arrested may lead police to others involved in the murders of Camarena and Zavala Avelar.

“We feel there might possibly be evidence that would permit us to assist the government of Mexico in arresting others involved in the murder of Enrique Camarena,” said Donald Clements, DEA official at the U.S. Embassy here.

Police who arrested Caro Quintero also found $150,000 in travelers checks plus jewelry and several weapons, according to Clements.

He added that the case is now in Mexico’s hands and that Washington does not now plan to seek Camarena’s extradition to the United States.

Caro Quintero had last been seen in public on Feb. 9 at the Guadalajara airport where he embraced a ranking police officer and then boarded a private plane. According to Clements, Caro Quintero entered Costa Rica illegally on March 17.

Mexican authorities say Caro Quintero is a major drug trafficker based in Guadalajara, and that he had vowed many times to kill Camarena, who was kidnaped Feb. 7 near the U.S. Consulate General in Guadalajara. Zavala Avelar was abducted later that day.