Mexico weighs house arrest for aged drug lord

A Mexican official says the government is studying a request to place imprisoned 86-year-old drug lord Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo under house arrest.

Fonseca Carrillo is one the founders of modern Mexican drug trafficking. He is serving a 40-year sentence for the 1985 slaying of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena.

A federal official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said the government is "analyzing the legal aspects of the possibility" of allowing him to serve out his sentence under house arrest instead of prison.

Mexican courts have said Fonseca Carrillo is eligible for the program, as are other aged or ill inmates.

Rafael Caro Quintero, also convicted in Camarena's death, was released by an erroneous judicial ruling in 2013. Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo remains in prison.