Mexico can extradite 'murderer' drug lord depicted in Netflix drama Narcos to the United States


Mexican court rules that fugitive drug lord depicted in Netflix drama Narcos can be extradited to US for 1985 murder of DEA agent

  • The First Collegiate Court in Criminal Matters in Mexico ruled Friday that Rafael Caro Quintero can be extradited to the United States
  • The fugitive drug kingpin in wanted by the United States for the 1985 kidnapping and murder of DEA special agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena 
  • Caro Quintero was released in 2013 after serving 28 of the 40 years he had been sentenced to for the killings of Camarena and Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala 
  • The United States is offering a $20 million reward for information leading to Caro Quintero’s arrest 

An alleged Mexican drug lord depicted in Netflix drama Narcos can be extradited to the US over the 1985 murder of a US Drugs Enforcement Agency Agent.

A Mexican court rejected court filing from fugitive drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero which Monday sought to prevent his extradition to the US for the kidnapping and killing of Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena.

A panel of judges from the First Collegiate Court in Criminal Matters ruled against Caro Quintero’s appeal. His lawyer argued that an extradition to the U.S. would equate to Caro Quintero being prosecuted twice for the killings of Camarena and Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala.

‘It is inevitable to conclude that there are no elements to analyze in detail and less, to be in a position to decide if the facts that motivate the provisional detention requested by the United States have already been tried in this country,’ the judges wrote in their opinion. 

Fugitive drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero could be extradited to the United States for face charges for the 1985 murder of DEA agent Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena

Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena, an agent for the DEA, was kidnapped, tortured and killed in Mexico in 1985

Rafael Caro Quintero (left)  is on the FBI’s top ten most wanted list for his role in ordering the kidnapping, torture and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena (right) in February 1985. A Mexican court on Friday ruled that Caro Quintero can be extradited to the United States 

U.S. military personnel carry the coffin containing the body of DEA Special Agent Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena following her 1985 murder

U.S. military personnel carry the coffin containing the body of DEA Special Agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena following her 1985 murder 

A Jalisco court ordered the release of Caro Quintero on August 9, 2013 after he had served 28 of the 40 years he had been sentenced to, ruling that he was improperly tried for the killing of the DEA special agent. 

But on August 14, a federal court acted on pressure from the United States and issued a warrant for the arrest. 

The FBI listed Caro Quintero on its top 10 most wanted list on April 12, 2008. The U.S. government has offered a $20 million reward for information leading to his capture. 

He has been on the run ever since and has formed his own drug cartel, which has been embroiled in a battle with the Sinaloa Cartel. 

Caro-Quintero, who is known as the ‘Narco of Narcos,’ was one of the co-founders of the Guadalajara Cartel. 

The defunct criminal organization became a focus of the DEA in the 1980s.

Caro Quintero, pictured in an undated photo, is currently on the run, but there is a $20 million reward for his capture and conviction in the United States

Caro Quintero, pictured in an undated photo, is currently on the run, but there is a $20 million reward for his capture and conviction in the United States

The gang sought revenge on Camarena after the Mexican military raided a 2,500-acre marijuana farm in 1984. 

Caro-Quintero and the two other cartel leaders, Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and Ernesto Fonseca, kidnapped the then 37-year-old Camarena in broad daylight on February 7, 1985 as he left the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara.

Zavala, who worked for the Mexican government and DEA, was kidnapped the same day in a separate incident.

Camarena was tortured at a residence that belonged to Caro-Quintero. 

Camarena and Zavala’s bodies were found on March 5, 1985, wrapped in plastic and dumped at an abandoned property in La Angostura, a city in the state of Michoacán.  

Zavalas was missing eight teeth, six on the upper jaw and two on the lower.

The lives of the cartel and their victims are featured in Netflix’s ‘Narcos: Mexico’ series.  

In April, a federal district court judge in New York City entered a judgment that called for the seizure and forfeiture of five properties in Mexico that were purchased by drug kingpin.

United States District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano ordered the seizure of the properties, including three homes, a ranch and a warehouse, which are located in the western Mexican city of Guadalajara.

The properties were obtained with the drug trafficking money earned by Caro-Quintero’s gang, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, according to a joint statement issued by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Eastern District of New York.

A forfeiture complaint presented October 11, 2019 indicated that between January 1980 and March 2015, Caro Quintero’s organization shipped multiple tons of marijuana and multiple kilos of methamphetamine and cocaine from Mexico to the United States. 

Advertisement

Leave a Reply