In this government photo provided by Mexico’s Navy Secretariat, agents escort drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero in Sinaloa state, Mexico, Friday, July 15, 2022, captured deep in the mountains of his home state. It was a 6-year-old greyhound named “Max” who pulled Caro Quintero out of the brush. (Mexican Navy Secretariat via AP)
In this government photo provided by Mexico’s Navy Secretariat, agents escort drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero in Sinaloa state, Mexico, Friday, July 15, 2022, captured deep in the mountains of his home state. It was a 6-year-old greyhound named “Max” who pulled Caro Quintero out of the brush. (Mexican Navy Secretariat via AP)
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, captured by Mexican forces, was notified this weekend that proceedings had begun to extradite him to the United States for crimes including the 1985 killing of a DEA agent.
A Mexican federal official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make statements, confirmed to The Associated Press on Sunday that the notification was made on Saturday and was done virtually.
A Mexico City-based judge has informed Caro Quintero, wanted in the United States for the 1985 torture and murder of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, of the charges against him. He is being held in a maximum security prison 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of the capital.
Caro Quintero has been one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives since he was released from a Mexican prison in 2013 on a technicality after serving nearly three decades for killing Camarena and a Mexican pilot.
Saturday’s notice was the first step in the legal process to extradite him to the United States. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday that “immediate extradition” would be sought.
The US government now has 60 days to file a formal extradition request and provide evidence to support it. The judge hearing the case will then decide whether or not it will continue.
During this period, Caro Quintero’s lawyers are likely to file appeals to try to delay the extradition process.
Extradition processes are usually lengthy, although their speed depends largely on the political will of the parties.
Caro Quintero, 69, was captured Friday in the mountains of his home state of Sinaloa in a joint operation by the Mexican Navy and federal prosecutors. Fourteen Marines who were involved in the operation died when the Black Hawk helicopter they were in crashed. The reasons for the accident are still being clarified.
The drug trafficker was one of the founders of the Guadalajara cartel and, according to the DEA, one of the main suppliers of heroin, cocaine and marijuana to the United States in the 1970s and 1980s.
He accused Camarena of raiding a marijuana plantation in 1984. In 1985, Camarena was kidnapped in Guadalajara, allegedly on the orders of Caro Quintero. His tortured body was discovered a month later. Caro Quintero was first caught in Costa Rica in 1985.
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