Houston Chronicle, 4/27/2010
An aging drug kingpin targeted since 1978 was finally extradited from Mexico to Texas, where prosecutors contend his syndicate pumped tons of drugs and millions of dollars through Houston, California, Arizona and elsewhere.
Juan Jose Quintero Payan, 68, is the alleged head of the Quintero syndicate, based in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The organization is tied by name and blood to the traffickers who helped kidnap, torture and murder DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena a generation ago. Quintero is the uncle of notorious Mexican trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, who has been imprisoned in Mexico for his role in Camarena’s killing in 1985.
