Part 1 / By Olivier Acuña

MEXICO CITY (Mexico Tribune).- Not long after one of Mexico’s most powerful and legendary drug lords Rafael Caro Quintero was inadvertently and maybe even inexplicably released from jailed to the surprise and dismay of the United States government he called on his colleagues for a secret meeting.

The meeting took place somewhere in Sinaloa, most possibly up in the mountains somewhere in the country of Badiguarato – or also known as Marijuanato because of obvious reasons – and included Joaquín “Chapo” Guzman, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, Juan Jose “El Azul” Esparragoza Moreno and Caro Quintero.

“I’m out and I’m back, which means things will be different from now on and we have to discuss territories and leadership,” he said according to a reliable source in Sinaloa who is a high ranking drug trafficker with close ties to El Mayo.

According to Mexican authorities, after being arrested February 22, Chapo Guzman admitted the meeting took place somewhere in the mountains near Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa.

However, he assures that Caro Quintero said he was no longer going to be involved in the business of drug trafficking, a pill hard to swallow, especially for those who know the Quintero Family and how they´ve maintained power and wealth even during the leaders stint in jail.

When Caro Quintero, 61, was arrested in April of 1985 he supposedly left the Guadalajara Cartel he founded in control of Chapo Guzman and according to rumours when he got out he wanted it back.

“There is plenty of business for everyone to make money,” he said. “I want to begin by controlling Sonora through to Mexicali.”

Gonzalo “El Macho Prieto” Inzunza Inzunza, head of El Mayo’s security and rewarded with the major border crossing of drugs, Mexicali, rejected the proposal. This is why Chapo Guzman gave up his location to the authorities whom killed him December 18, 2013.

According to underground sources, the kill was ordered by El Mayo and not by Chapo Guzman arguing that El Macho Prieto was out of control and needed to be “cancelled”.

Mexico Tribune’s source refutes this saying that it was Chapo Guzman who ordered the death of El Macho Prieto because he didn’t want to give up his territory to Caro Quintero.

“It really doesn’t matter who ordered the death. The truth is that ‘el Chapo’ decided his death and that since he worked for El Mayo he would have to approve it, this is true. But it was ‘el Chapo’ who ordered the death through his contacts in the government,” he said.

“And that is how things are done in Mexico and in Sinaloa everybody knows that most murders are ordered by drug traffickers but carried out by police officials, because they are the only ones that can move around in plain daylight heavily armed and commit murders without fear of persecution,”, said the source.

Many other issues were reviewed at that secret meeting, but the main thing is that Caro Quintero has again taken control of what use to be the Guadalajara Cartel and that today has grown to become the Sinaloa Cartel.

“Caro Quintero really never lost control, despite that he was in jail. He has many relatives that have great power and have many customers in the United States which in the end is what really matters if you want to be anybody in the drug trafficking business,” the source explained.

After the meeting, many rumours started spreading within the drug trafficking underground of Sinaloa and Mexico Tribune’s source says many have been confirmed by top ranking leaders of organized crime.

“There is a strong believe that Caro Quintero negotiated his release with the new government and that he paid millions, maybe hundreds of million dollars to obtain his freedom. And part of the agreement included that he turn ‘el Chapo’ in to the authorities,” he said.

Rumours have it that maybe even Chapo Guzman agreed to turn himself in to the authorities and that he will continue to operate within the confinement of his new home in prison, as did Caro Quintero during 27 years behind bars.

This story will continue…

MexTrib/oab