A timeline of arrests, deaths of Mexican druglords

A timeline of arrests, deaths of Mexican druglords

MEXICO CITY — The death of reputed drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva in a shootout with Mexican marines is the latest in a long list of Mexican cartel leaders captured or killed by authorities. Some earlier cases:

— Osiel Cardenas, the former Gulf Cartel drug lord was captured in 2003 after a shootout with Mexican troops in the border city of Matamoros. He was extradited to the U.S. to face drug charges in 2007.

— Ramon Arellano Felix, once Mexico’s most-wanted drug lord, was fatally shot by police in the Pacific coast resort of Mazatlan in February 2002. His brother Benjamin was arrested at a home east of Mexico City a month later and is fighting extradition to the U.S.

— Juan Garcia Abrego, head of the Gulf Cartel. Garcia Abrego was arrested in 1996 in northern Mexico and is serving 11 life terms in the United States.

— Hector Palma, a partner of Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was arrested in 1995 after a plane crash. He was sentenced to 33 years for trafficking drugs and other charges.

— Guzman, possibly Mexico’s most powerful trafficker, was arrested in 1993, but escaped prison in a laundry truck in 2001 and has eluded recapture.

— Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, a founder of Guadalajara cartel, a predecessor of the Sinaloa gang, was arrested in 1989. The Guadalajara gang split, and Guzman took control of Sinaloa’s operations.

— Rafael Caro Quintero was arrested in Costa Rica in 1985 and extradited to Mexico, where he was sentenced to a 40-year prison term for the 1985 torture-slaying of undercover U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena Salazar.

— Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested in 1985 and convicted of trafficking, kidnapping, criminal association, and ordering the murder of Camarena as well as of two U.S. tourists.