The world’s ‘first billionaire drug lord’ who lived like a king in prison with guns, silk shirts and cowboy hats has been captured by Mexican troops after fleeing.

A disheveled-looking Rafael Caro Quintero was seen being dragged away in handcuffs after a sniffer dog found him hiding a bus in footage shared by Mexican forces.

4

4

The joint operation between the Navy and the San Simon District Attorney’s Office in Sinaloa state saw a Black Hawk helicopter go down in an accident.

The once-feared kingpin – known for his ruthless tactics and love of money – was secretly released from a Mexican prison in 2013 on legal grounds and returned to dealing drugs.

His life was portrayed in the infamous Netflix series Narcos: Mexico.

FIRST BILLIONAIRE DRUG LORD

Caro Quintero co-founded the Guadalajara Cartel – one of Mexico’s deadliest drug gangs – in the late 1970s and helped smuggle millions of dollars worth of heroin and cocaine into the United States.

He was imprisoned in 1985 for the kidnapping and murder of US drug enforcement agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena and sentenced to 40 years behind bars in Mexico.

It is understood he ordered the hit after blaming Camarena for a 1984 raid on his 540-hectare marijuana plantation named “Rancho Bufalo” in northern Mexico.

The raid yielded between 2,500 and 6,000 tons of the green stuff, making it the largest marijuana seizure in history at the time and costing him between $3.2 billion and $8 billion in price tag. today, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The US government has claimed that Caro Quintero makes at least $5 billion a year, according to reports from Forbes.

The drug lord is also said to have commissioned American writer John Clay Walker and dental student Alberto Radelat in the same year.

Until his capture, Caro Quintero was on the FBI’s most wanted list and had a bounty of £16.8million on his head.

Rumor has it that Caro Quintero offered to pay off Mexico’s $80 billion foreign debt in exchange for his freedom, Forbes reports.

Many news outlets have reported that the Mexican pivot has lived a lavish life in prison.

He reportedly shared two entire cell blocks designed for 250 inmates with another drug lord.

He had them remodeled, installed kitchens, fitted out living rooms and dining rooms as well as offices and marble bathrooms.

For Caro Quintero, he had a carpeted master bedroom with satin sheets all to himself and closets stocked with silk shirts, cowboy boots and cowboy hats, according to the Los Angeles Time.

MIDNIGHT EXIT

In 2013, a Mexican judge let Caro Quintero free in 2013 on a technicality after 28 years in prison.

Mexico’s Supreme Court eventually upheld the conviction on appeal, but by then the 69-year-old had already fled.

According Sky Newshe went underground and reportedly returned to drug trafficking and formed the Caborca ​​Cartel, which waged bloody wars in the state of Sonora.

Footage of the former don’s arrest showed chaperoned Caro Quintero being handcuffed by Mexican marines.

He was dressed in jeans and a soaked blue shirt, a baggy khaki jacket and looked completely dazed.

The White House celebrated the capture of Caro Quintero.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, “There is no hiding place for anyone who kidnaps, tortures and murders American law enforcement.

“Today’s arrest is the culmination of tireless work by the DEA and their Mexican partners to bring Caro Quintero to justice for his alleged crimes, including the torture and execution of Special Agent of DEA Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena.

“We will seek his immediate extradition to the United States so that he can be tried for these crimes in the very justice system that Special Agent Camarena died defending.”

4