Amado Carrillo Fuentes

Amado Carrillo

Amado Carrillo Fuentes
Born Amado Carrillo Fuentes
December 17, 1956
Guamuchilito, Sinaloa, Mexico
Died July 3, 1997(1997-07-03) (aged 40)
Mexico City, Mexico
Other names El Señor de los Cielos
Occupation Drug lord
Employer Head of Juárez Cartel
Known for drug trafficking and weapons
Net worth Over $25 Billion (estimated)
Predecessor Rafael Aguilar Guajardo
Successor Vicente Carrillo Fuentes
Religion Catholic
Spouse(s) Candaleria Leyva Cardenas
Children Vicente Carrillo Leyva
Relatives

Amado Carrillo (December 17, 1956 – July 3, 1997) was a Mexican drug lord who seized control of the Juárez Cartel after assassinating his boss Rafael Aguilar Guajardo.[1][2] Amado Carrillo became known as "El Señor de Los Cielos" (Lord of the Skies) because of the large fleet of jets he used to transport drugs. He was also known for laundering money via Colombia to finance his large fleet of airplanes. He is regarded as one of the wealthiest criminals in history, with an estimated net-worth of over US $25 billion.

He died in July 1997 in a Mexican hospital after undergoing extensive plastic surgery to change his appearance.[3][4][5] In his final days Carrillo was being tracked by Mexican and U.S. authorities.

Family relations and alliances

Carrillo was born to Walter Vicente Carillo Vega and Aurora Fuentes in Guamuchilito, Navolato Sinaloa. He was the first of six sons: Amado, Cipriano, Enrique B., Vicente, José Cruz, Enrique C., and Jorge. He also had five sisters: María Luisa, Berthila, Flor, Alicia and Aurora. These children were the nieces and nephews of Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, a/k/a "Don Neto", the Guadalajara Cartel leader. Amado got his start in the drug business under the tutelage of his uncle Ernesto. Amado later brought in his brothers and eventually his son Vicente José Carrillo Leyva.

Carrillo's father, Vicente Carrillo Vega, died in April 1986; his brother, Cipriano Carrillo Fuentes, died in 1989 under mysterious circumstances.

Career

Initially, Carrillo was part of the Guadalajara Cartel, sent to Ojinaga, Chihuahua to oversee the cocaine shipments of his uncle, Don Neto, and to learn about border operations from Pablo Acosta Villarreal "El Zorro de Ojinaga" (The Ojinaga Fox) and Rafael Aguilar Guajardo.[6][7]

Death and conspiracy theories

The pressure to capture Carrillo intensified among U.S. and Mexican authorities, and perhaps for this reason, Carrillo underwent facial plastic surgery and liposuction of his abdomen to change his appearance on July 3, 1997 at Santa Mónica Hospital in Mexico City. However, during the operation, he died of complications apparently caused by a medication or a malfunctioning respirator. Two of Carrillo's bodyguards were in the operating room during the procedure. On November 7, 1997, the two physicians who performed the surgery on Fuentes were found dead, encased in concrete inside steel drums, with their bodies showing signs of torture.[8]

Juárez Cartel after Carrillo

On the night of August 3, 1997, at around 9:30 p.m., four drug traffickers walked into a restaurant in Ciudad Juárez, pulled out their guns and opened fire on five diners, killing them instantly.[9] Police estimated that more than 100 bullet casings were found at the crime scene. According to a report issued by Los Angeles Times, four men went to the restaurant carrying at least two AK-47 assault rifles while others stood at the doorstep.[9][10] On their way out, the gunmen claimed another victim.[11] The victim was Armando Olague, a prison official and off-duty law enforcement officer, who was gunned down outside the restaurant after he had walked from a nearby bar to investigate the shooting. Reportedly, Olague had run into the restaurant from across the street with a gun in his hand to check out the commotion. It was later determined that Olague was also a known lieutenant of the Juarez cartel.[11] Mexican authorities declined to comment on the motives behind the killing, stating the shootout was not linked to the death of Amado Carrillo Fuentes. Nonetheless, it was later stated that the perpetrators were gunmen of the Tijuana Cartel.[9][12] Although confrontations between narcotraficantes were commonplace in Ciudad Juárez, they rarely occurred in public places. What happened in the restaurant threatened to usher in a new era of border crime in the city.[11]

In Ciudad Juárez, the PGR seized warehouses they believed the cartel used for storage of weapons and cocaine. PGR agents seized over 60 properties all over Mexico belonging to Carrillo, and began an investigation into his dealings with police and government officials. Officials also froze bank accounts amounting to $10 billion belonging to Carrillo.[13] In April 2009, Mexican authorities arrested his son, Vicente Carrillo Leyva.[14]

Funeral

Carrillo was given a large and expensive funeral in Guamuchilito, Sinaloa. In 2006 Governor Eduardo Bours asked the federal government to tear down Carrillo's mansion in Hermosillo, Sonora.[15] The mansion, dubbed "The Palace of a Thousand and One Nights" still sits unoccupied.

Television

As part of the 2013 nighttime programming, Latin-American channel Telemundo aired the series El Señor de los Cielos 2013 and El Señor de los Cielos 2 2014 "El Señor de los Cielos 3" 2015 (The Lord of the Skies 1, 2, 3, and 4) with Mexican actor Rafael Amaya playing the starring role of Aurelio Casillas (Amado Carrillo Fuentes).[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mark Getty (February 2004). "Mexico's Forgotten Disappeared: The Victims of the Border Narco Bloodbath". Frontera NorteSur. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
  2. ↑ Héctor A. González (February 21, 2007). "Los prófugos del salinato". El Diario (in Spanish). Retrieved 2010-09-25.
  3. ↑ Sam Dillon (November 7, 1997). "Drug Barons and Plastic Surgeons: Who's Dead, Who's Hiding?". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  4. ↑ "Amado Carrillo Fuentes". Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  5. ↑ "DEA Map of Juarez Cartel operations". PBS Frontline. February 1997. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  6. ↑ Poppa, Terrance (2009). "Amado Carrillo Fuentes". Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  7. ↑ DEA Congressional Testimony, August 8, 1995 Archived May 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Moore, Molly (7 November 1997). "Top Mexican Surgeons Found Entombed in Concrete Drums". tech.mit.edu. Washington Post via The Tech. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 Times Wire Services (5 August 1997). "Gunmen Kill 6 People at Ciudad Juarez Restaurant". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  10. ↑ 2 September 1997. "More gunfire in Ciudad Juarez leaves at least three dead in bar". The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 Sharp, John (July 1998). "Crime: Line of Fire" (PDF). Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  12. ↑ "Serían los Arellano responsables de las seis ejecuciones en Ciudad Juárez". La Jornada (in Spanish). 6 August 1997. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  13. ↑ Phil Gunson (July 17, 1997). "This is the face of Amado Carrillo Fuentes". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-12-22.
  14. ↑ Mexico catches drug baron as U.S. tightens border Reuters, April 2, 2009.
  15. ↑ Michel Marizco (April 4, 2006). "Narco-Power". Border Reporter.
  16. ↑ Infante, Victoria (6 July 2012). "Rafael Amaya está listo para ser el 'Señor de los Cielos'". The Huffington Post (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.

External links

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