Rubén Payán Adame, the nephew of José Gil Caro Quintero, alias “Don Pepe”, one of the leaders of the Caborca Cartel, was arrested this Friday in Bacalar, Quintana Roo, during an operation carried out by the Mexican Navy.
The actions were supported by personnel from the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime assigned to the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic of Mexico (FGR), following up on operations carried out by the Caborca Cartel in the south of Quintana Roo.
At the time of his arrest, Payán Adame was found in possession of a firearm and some bags of drugs. Once secured, he was transferred in a Navy aircraft to Mexico City, where his legal status would be determined.
During the early hours of the morning, members of the Semar carried out a series of searches in the town of Xul-Ha, where the presence of members of the cartel formed in Sonora by Rafael Caro Quintero, currently imprisoned in the maximum security prison “El Altiplano,” had been detected.
The person arrested in Quintana Roo is the nephew of José Gil Caro Quintero, the brother of the historic drug trafficker who is facing extradition proceedings in the United States.
The drug trafficker identified himself as Lázaro López Alfaro, 40 years old; however, when the database was checked, it was verified that he was Rubén Payán Adame, a chief operative of the Caborca cartel in Quintana Roo.
The nephew of “Don Pepe” is said to be in charge of coordinating the arrival of drug shipments to the south of the state through clandestine airstrips in the municipalities of Bacalar and Othón P. Blanco, according to initial reports.
Indications are that Rubén Payán Adame is the nephew of José Gil Caro Quintero “Don José” and/or “El Pelo Chino,” leader of the Caborca Cartel in southeastern Mexico.
Strikes against the Caborca Cartel
On February 13, Carlos “N,” the alleged brother of Rafel Caro Quintero, was indicted for his probable participation in crimes against health and possession of a firearm for the exclusive use of the authorities.
Omar García Harfuch, secretary of Citizen Security (SSC) of the CDMX, stated that Carlos “N” was arrested in the Miguel Hidalgo district on February 6. He explained that the alleged criminal is originally from Badiraguato, Sinaloa, and is a member of a criminal group that operates in the north of the country.
After his arrest, the 61-year-old man was transferred to the FGJ CDMX in an SSC armored vehicle. National Guard troops were guarding the site. The National Registry of Arrests records the arrest in the Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood shortly after noon.
The Mexico City Attorney General’s Office (FGJ CDMX) explained that Carlos “N” was remanded in custody on February 13, and two months were set for the complementary investigation.
However, after the news was released, people close to the capo and his family denied that he was part of the family. It was journalist Jorge Morales, who directs the media outlet 60 Segundos, who assured that he contacted the drug trafficker’s relatives to clarify the relationship between the man secured in CDMX and Rafael Caro Quintero.
“This person is not related to them,” Morales said in an interview with journalist Ciro Gomez Leyva.
As for drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, he was recaptured in June last year in Sinaloa at the request of the US government, who accuses him of the kidnapping, torture, and murder of a DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agent Enrique Kiki Camarena in 1985.