Family of ailing jailed Mexican drug lord asks for medical care

The family of a Mexican drug trafficker jailed for the torture and killing of a U.S. drug enforcement agent says he may have cancer and could die if officials do not allow him access to a hospital.

Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, 77, considered a godfather of Mexican drug smuggling, was arrested in 1985 and convicted of criminal association in the killing of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique Camarena when he led the Guadalajara cartel.

Camarena's death, and the torture and killing of two U.S. tourists a week earlier by Fonseca and colleagues, strained U.S.-Mexican relations for years.

Fonseca's daughter, Arcelia Fonseca, told reporters Wednesday that prison officials have refused to take him to a hospital.

"We're not asking that he be freed," she said. "What we are asking is that he be given medical attention or he will die."

Officials could not be reached for comment at the maximum security prison outside Mexico City where he is held.

Fonseca was widely seen as a mentor to his nephew, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, one of Mexico's most important drug traffickers before he died during surgery to change his appearance in 1997.

In 2001, Fonseca was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the torture slayings of the tourists, who stumbled into a meeting of drug bosses at a restaurant. He also has been sentenced for drug trafficking and kidnapping.