Family of drug lord Carrillo awaits return of corpse
for funeral preparations

By ANDREW DOWNIE
Copyright 1997 Special to the Chronicle

EL GUAMUCHILITO, Mexico The family of Mexico's most feared
drug lord waited patiently inside the family ranch Tuesday as
employees set out chairs and picked weeds in preparation for the
funeral of cocaine billionaire Amado Carrillo Fuentes.

Carrillo's wife and children he is believed to have six
were inside the pale blue, onestory building waiting for word on
when the funeral may take place, a federal official said.

Trucks loaded with folding tables and metal stands arrived at the
Carrillo family home on the edge of El Guamuchilito, a tiny
farming community about 45 minutes from Culiacan. Other vehicles
loaded with empty boxes and cleaning materials left the Finca
Santa Aurora, the ranch named after Carrillo's mother, Aurora
Fuentes.

Fuentes and two of her daughters were still in Mexico City on
Tuesday, waiting for her son's body to be released by the federal
attorney general's office. The office has still not definitively
ruled that the corpse is that of Carrillo, the reputed head of
the Juarez drug trafficking cartel.

Carrillo reportedly died Friday morning in Mexico City after
eight hours of surgery aimed at removing fat deposits around his
midriff and changing his features. His body was flown to Culiacan
Saturday, but federal authorities ordered it returned to the
capital for more tests.

The Mexican government said Monday night it was carrying out DNA
analysis that would allow it to conclusively confirm the corpse
was that of Carrillo.

Authorities showed the body, dressed in a suit and lying in an
open casket, to photographers Monday night but did not say when
it would be released or flown back to his home town.

But while Mexican authorities have expressed doubt about whether
the body is that of Carrillo, a senior official from the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration said in Mexico City that he was
convinced the body was Carrillo's.

"I'll bet my badge," said the official, speaking on condition of
anonymity. "I'll say it's him."

He added that the fingerprints on the corpse match those of
Carrillo's.

No one, however, was able to say when the corpse, still bruised
from the surgery, might be handed over to the family.

"We don't know when they we are going to get the body," said one
man at the ranch. The man, who did not give his name, said the
family was preparing to bury their son and wanted the house and
its grounds to look its best.

Carrillo is to be buried in a small chapel in the back of the
ranch alongside his father, Vicente, and brother Cipriano.
Already, dozens of wreaths line the walls of the building, many
of them, reports said, sent from other major Mexican drug
traffickers.

Andrew Downie is a freelance journalist based in Mexico City.