Emilio Quintero Payan (1951-5 May 1993) was a boss of the Guadalajara Cartel of Mexico. He received Nogales and Hermosillo as a part of the Mexican government's 1989 deal with Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, and he was killed in a police operation in 1993.
Biography[]
Emilio Quintero Payan was born in Sinaloa, Mexico in 1951, and he became an important leader within the Guadalajara Cartel. Quintero ran heroin, cocaine, and marijuana smuggling operations from his home state, and his nephew Rafael Caro Quintero would be responsible for the murder of DEA agent Kiki Camarena. Quintero was said to enjuoy killing, and he was one of the most powerful heads of the cartel. In 1989, the Mexican federal government negotiated with the imprisoned Guadalajara Cartel leader Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo to divide up his territories between his capos, and Quintero received Nogales and Hermosillo as a part of the plan. Quintero received police protection for years, but he was targeted in a 1993 crackdown on organized crime; his ally Rafael Aguilar Guajardo was killed in April 1993, and he was tracked down a month later. On 5 May 1993, he was shot dead in a suburban shopping center on the outskirts of Mexico City while carrying the credentials of an anti-drug agent, a failed attempt to mask his identity.