Politics: US pressure underlies aged capo’s arrest as drug trade and consumption keep expanding
The recent arrest by the Mexican Marines of Caro Quintero, the once-powerful drug kingpin and prime suspect in the 1985 abduction, torture and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena, says a lot about the current state of US-Mexico relations. His capture came three days after President López Obrador’s work visit to Washington D.C., during which Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly asked AMLO for the cooperation of the Navy, as it had all the intelligence necessary to apprehend Quintero, a man long on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.
The arrest was a significant political victory for the government of Joe Biden for various reasons, perhaps most importantly for having forced the Mexican government to make an exception to its "hugs not bullets" policy of avoiding the capture of capos, while sending a clear warning that as in the case of energy policy, Washington has tired of the constant posturing and dodging by the president and his cabinet ministers. The urgency with which Mexican authorities responded to the US demand regarding Caro Quintero is an indication that the message was received, loud and clear, and while it is highly unlikely that López Obrador will publicly concede any changes to its policies, we may see the Armed Forces step up its operations.
While it may be important politically, however, this arrest is essentially insignificant in terms of the drug trade as Caro Quintero had become a very minor player in a business that continues to undergo a major internal restructuring. And despite all such changes and the trickle of arrests, there is the inescapable fact that drug trafficking is a rapidly expanding and increasingly lucrative business with the United States, its most profitable market. While stepped-up US production has taken a big bite out of the market for Mexican marijuana, the cartels continue to respond to massive US demand for cocaine, opioids, benzodiazepines, fentanyl and methamphetamines, for which Mexico has displaced China. Judging by the arrests of some Sinaloa cartel members in Poland and Denmark, Mexican gangs may be penetrating the European market for methamphetamines, as well.
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