Jump To Amado Fuentes' Stats
Amado Carrillo Fuentes was the founding member of the Juárez Cartel and in 1986 he took to the skies to grow his organization's wealth and power. Instead of buying small Cherokee Cubs to move a few kilos of cocaine across the U.S. Border, Fuentes employed a technique that earned him the nickname “Lord of the Skies.” Carrillo purchased a fleet of Boeing 727s and transported metric tons of the white stuff, saturating the U.S. with his cocaine and inflating the Juárez Cartel's war chest beyond measure.
Beside employing a totally unique transportation method, Carrillo was known to be a diplomatic negotiator. He was able to carve out agreements with his rivals – essentially creating a cocaine association that kept petty mishmash between cartels out of the mix. This provided his organization an opportunity to concentrate on transportation strategies and to keep attune of U.S. Government operations run by the DEA.
His operation afforded him the luxury of keeping tabs on those that wanted to shut him down. As the mid-90s rolled, Fuentes determined that cooperation between the U.S. and Mexican governments had gained more traction. He reportedly flew around the world seeking safe asylum before deciding to change his appearance through cosmetic surgery. In a hospital in Mexico City, the surgery apparently went poorly as the anesthetic was mis-administered and Carrillo perished under the surgeons scalpel.
Without Amado Carrillo's leadership, the Juárez Cartel began to implode. The normal transition to his brother and family members ran into a road block shortly after his passing. They all met with suspicious or early deaths. By 2004, one of the last remaining member brothers, Rodolfo, and his wife were assassinated. Vicente, the lone surviving brother, has been on the lam since.
