Mexican officials sparked outrage after they released a notorious drug lord convicted of killing a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent from prison.
Rafael Caro Quintero 60 stepped out of a Jalisco state prison early Friday after serving 28 years of a 40 year sentence he was given for the 1985 kidnapping and killing of DEA agent Enrique Camarena officials said.
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A Mexican federal court ordered the early release after it found Caro Quintero a founding member of one of the country s earliest and biggest drug cartels was not properly tried for state crimes.
But the U.S. Department of Justice said the court s decision was deeply troubling.
HECTOR GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images Rafael Caro Quintero 60 was released from the Puente Grande State prison in Zapotlanejo Jalisco State Mexico on Friday. Caro Quintero had served 28 years of the 60 year sentence he was given for the 1985 kidnapping and killing of a DEA agent.RELATED MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS MOVE DEEPER INTO U.S.
The Department of Justice and especially the Drug Enforcement Administration is extremely disappointed with this result the agency said in a statement.
Some experts argued that the move was part of Mexico s effort strengthen defendants rights. The country is known to use illegal evidence such as coerced confessions and questionable testimony.
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But others such as Edward Heath the DEAs regional director for Mexico at the time of the Camarena killing were more skeptical.
Uncredited/AP Rafael Caro Quintero was sentenced to 60 years behind bars for the kidnapping and killing of a Drug Enforcement Administration agent before his early release on Friday.He said the move highlighted a growing lack of cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico s new government under its president Enrique Pe a Nieto. And Heath now a private security consultant wasn t confident that there was any legal rationale behind Caro Quintero s release.
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There s some collusion going on he said. This guy is a major trafficker. This guy is bad a mean son of a gun.
Camarena was abducted in Guadalajara before his body and that of his Mexican pilot were found a month later. Both corpses which were buried in shallow graves showed signs of torture.
Caro Quintero was eventually nabbed in Costa Rica for the killing. He still faces charges in the United States but it was unclear if there was an extradition request.
With News Wire Services
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