Mexican Police Kill Top Cocaine Trafficker

INTERNATIONAL June 1993

A high-level cocaine trafficker was slain by Mexican police in early May (Tim Golden, "Leading Cocaine Trafficker Is Slain In Mexico," New York Times, 5/4/93, A9).

The death of 42-year-old drug trafficker Emilio Quintero Payan was hailed by U.S. and Mexican drug enforcement officials. One U.S. official described Payan as the "most important drug trafficker in Mexico." Mexican police have recently made several major cocaine seizures and moved to unmask corrupt police alleged to have worked with drug traffickers.