Hey DEA: Nyah Nyah !
When Rafael Caro Quintero, the 29 year old millionaire drug kingpin from Sinaloa was arrested in Costa Rica with his teenage girlfriend for being a suspect in the torture and murder of a US DEA agent in Guadalajara, Mexican society at large was captivated by his charm and humor.
How a young drug baron, born dirt poor in a Sierra Madre mountain village had done so much for the underpriveleged and had managed to outsmart and laugh at US and Mexican authorities for a decade, surprised them.
This is the interview Caro Quintero gave the Mexican press, from Reclusorio Norte Prison in Mexico City in April 1985. Vague like a good mafioso, and humorous like a typical Mexican, he regaled the public with a "Press Conference" never before seen in the annals of Mexican crime.
Press Question: How was your childhood?
Rafael Caro Quintero: "A bit sad, and I cant explain to you in detail everything that happened. I have 9 brothers and sisters"
P: Can you describe how your family is?
RCQ: No I cannot.
P: What would you like to talk about?
RCQ: "well, ive had a bad stay here, the truth. I dont have anything, no food, nothing. The Warden wanted to talk to me yesterday and told me the problems were solved but I dont see anything happening"
P: What do you expect from Life?
RCQ: Nothing. Everything going forward, is what I expect. Life has treated me good, I'm still alive.
P: What Dreams Do You Have?
RCQ: I cant explain but Im just happy that I am well and alive. After the bad, comes the good!.
P: What do you think about Politics and Politicians?
RFC: I dont know anything about those topics.
P: Do you feel a sense of satisfaction?
RCQ: Yes, of course, Im very happy. I feel content with the time ive lived and the time ill keep on living.
P: Do you consider yourself a lucky man?
RCQ: Well yes, thank God I am.
P: Excuse me, but how did you get into Cattle Ranching and Agriculture?
RCQ: I've always liked all that.
P: When you meditate, or reflect, what do you think about?
RCQ: Nothing much, everything is moving forward. About the years Im going to keep living.
P: We've seen you smile many times, do you consider yourself charming?
RCQ: "No, not charming, Im just confident, sure of myself. Im here locked up but I will be free. My (problem), well, its nothing, I dont owe anything. They didnt catch me with anything. I dont know the reason why I'm being treated the way I'm being treated. The warden is a person that has something against me, something personal, I dont know why..."
P: You think with you, theyre (the government) is trying to solve an even bigger problem?
RCQ: From what Im seeing, yes. They have me wearing this *signals to his jacket and pants* for days on end. Im sick since i've gotten here.
P: Sick from what?
RCQ: I have a cold, and a fever and all that.
P: Have you seen a doctor?
RCQ: Well yeah, but he said he would come back in five or ten minutes and it took him three or four days.
P: Are you in love?
RCQ: *smiles* I always live in love.
P: Really?
RCQ: Of course, yes.
P: Many women or just one?
RCQ: I love all women because I was born of a woman.
P: Do you consider yourself a bad person?
RCQ: No, no. If anything my heart is for the world.
P: You've never done any harm to anyone?
RCQ: No, and I dont plan on doing any either.
P: As a Mexican citizen, Caro, what do you think of the crisis the country is going through?
RCQ: "Its going to keep getting worse because we don't see anything clear happening. Right now, everyone is looking at my problem, that is a political one, when my problem calms down...if a kilo of Sugar costs 100 pesos, when they stop watching me, its going to cost 200 pesos! Right?"
P: Why do you say that your problem is a political one?
RCQ: Because Ive done nothing, sir, nothing of what they accuse me of. And I see everything as being hard. The treatment we've received is not how you treat a person.
P: Have you seen anyone in your family?
RCQ: Nobody, sir, I dont have opportunity to do anything.
P:You have become one of the most famous men in the country and your fame has traveled around the world. What do you think of your newfound fame?
RCQ: Its a very bad ting that shouldnt have happened, because Im a person just like any other, like any other man from the country, a farmer. Thats what I am.
P: Has prison depressed you?
RCQ: Well no, sir, Im still the same, because he who owes nothing, fears nothing.
P: Do you fear being killed?
RCQ: I dont have anyone to kill me. First of all, enemies, I have none. If anything, I have friends. Thats why I feel bad, for the treatment ive received here. We're all human. Im made of flesh and bone, living flesh, just like any other person.
P: Are you religious?
RCQ: I believe in God, first of all.
P: What do you think of the Mexican Campesinos (farmers, people of the country). You worked in the Cattle industry?
RCQ: I think theyre all pure noble people, like me and my colleagues and Senor Ernesto (Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, fellow drug kingpin, business partner and compadre) and all his people. We're all people who help Mexico, meaning that we put schools, clinics, we bring electricity to the ranches and villages, potable water. What the government doesnt do, we do ourselves. We dont do it to receive anything, or to be noticed by the world. We only do it because it makes us feel good to help.
P: With what funds did you pay for such works?
RCQ: I had businesses fattening cattle. I have many cattle ranches, in which I make a lot of money. Here they tell you its all from drug trafficking, but its not like that.
P: In reality, how rich are you?
RCQ: No, im not rich. I dont have....ok, I live well, like people, thank God, since I was born, but no, I'm not rich. (Caro's wealth was estimated at $650 million dollars)
P: Can you calculate how much your fortune is?
RCQ: No, that I cannot do.
P: Being a Cattle Rancher allowed you to travel the world?
RCQ:Yes, to many places. All they talk about is drug trafficking, not from Cattle Ranching. What ive made having fleets of tractor trailers. I have Brick making factories. We make about 100,000 bricks daily. But they dont talk about any of that. Its all "drug trafficking", from what I've heard!
P: Then nothing is from Drug Trafficking?
RCQ: Well, no. Not like they say, no.
P: What do you mean by "they say"
RCQ: Well, say for example I do have all that. That I may have seven, eight houses. Say, two of them are from drug trafficking, but the other six arent..."
P: Why did you dedicate yourself to Drug Trafficking?
RCQ: I liked it.
P: Why? Because you earned easy money?
RCQ: *laughing* Nothing is easy, Senorita.
P: How long ago did you start?
RCQ: A year ago? Two?
P: Do you feel remorse?
RCQ: Well what can I say? I dont feel regret. Whats done is done and Im here. What do you want me to do?
P: What is your true relations to Don Neto (Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo)
RCQ: Yes, I know him since I was born.
P: And what relationship do you have with him?
RCQ: We're compadres but business partners we've never been. Its false everything they say.
P: Have you tried drugs?
RCQ: No, never and dont plan on trying any.
P: Excuse me, Caro, but do you have politician friends?
RCQ: No, I dont have anything.
P: What your relationship with Felix Gallardo (Miguel Felix Gallardo, Mexico's cocaine king)
RCQ: None, I dont know him.
P: Did you help people, using drug trafficking as your means? Is that why you liked it?
RCQ: Well no, not because of that. I always wanted to help the poor because I suffered a lot as a child, and im still suffering. But i feel good and comfortable helping poor people. I do a lot of charity that MUST be done. In exchange for what? Nothing. Just so I can feel good.
P: Why didnt they ever arrest you?
RCQ: Because they never wanted to. I was there, and they could of caught me.
P: Do you have friends in the Federal Judicial Police?
RCQ: No.
P: So about Pavon Reyes, not true? (Comandante Pavon, bribed by Caro with 60 million pesos)
RCQ: No, its not true
P: So Pavon is unjustly imprisoned here?
RCQ: Many, not just him. Pavon has nothing to do with me and I have nothing to do with him.
P: What about your confession? (RCQ declared bribing Pavon so he could flee Guadalajara airport in plain view of US drug agents)
RCQ: Yes, but how they treated me (torture), how was I not going to say that? AND MORE!
P: Is it true you took over the best cell?
RCQ: Go see it ! *laughs* oh how decorated it is *sarcastically*. You can go see it anytime you like.
P: Is it true you got divorced?
RCQ: I cant talk about that. Private lives...
P: What do you say to teen drug addicts?
RCQ: That they stop. Its the only thing I can say, because drugs lead nowhere.
P: Are you going to retire from the Drugs business?
RCQ: Yes Im going to retire. I wanted to be in it, (the biz) but I didn't make it.
P: Why did you go to Costa Rica?
RCQ: They told me it was a peaceful country. And from what Ive seen it is.
P: Did you know there were DEA agents working in Mexico?
RCQ: No, I never knew. Because I dont spend time as an investigator or playing spy.
P: What did you do so they wouldnt catch you?
RCQ: Never any big jobs. I was barely starting out.
P: Working with "Weed"?
RCQ: What can I say? Ive always worked with it and I cant say anything more.
P: You work a lot. But in WHAT to make so much money?
RCQ: If I told you everything we'd be here all day.
P: How do you explain that the DEA has said that you are one of the major drug traffickers in the country?
RCQ *does not answer*
P: Have you travelled to other countries?
RCQ: To the United States, Costa Rica, many countries. I dont know Colombia. Europe, yes, many countries.
P: The US asks for your extradition
RCQ: Yeah what else do they want? I also want a lot of things...
P: They are going to make an official extradition plea. Did you commit a crime in the US?
RCQ: No, negative, I dont owe the US anything. Everything is a negative. I never commited a crime there. I dont remember how many times I went to the United States but I owe nothing. If I owe anything I owe it to Mexico. And what? Doesnt Mexico have laws where I can pay what I owe? When they caught me, they didnt find anything on me, first of all. Im going to keep working in Agriculture and with my Cattle Ranches.
C: Are you going to marry?
RCQ: Depends on how women treat me. If one doesnt love me, Ill find another. Whichever loves me is the one ill stay with. Right now I dont even like myself *laughs*.
C: Do you agree with the violence and revolutions in Nicaragua and El Salvador?
RCQ: No, no of course not. Guns are not the solution and fighting youre not going to achive everything. Whoever believes that, lives in ignorance.
C: Did they find arms on you when you were detained?
RCQ: My gun , used for security at the house, thats it.
C: The Gun was of gold and rubies?
RCQ: If I have weaknesses, they are women and gold.
C: Have you ever shot at anyone?
RCQ: Never and I dont plan on. If when we should of fired, we didnt. The commandos stormed in guns blazing like we were common delinquents. But we're just regular people.
C: You dont consider yourself a delinquent?
RCQ: No because I havent been nor do I plan on being.
So ended the Press Conference with Rafael Caro Quintero. The confused , vague, humorous and hurt Cattle Rancher/ boss of the Guadalajara Cartel.
