Mexican judge stops extradition to the US of drug lord Caro Quintero

First modification: 07/18/2022 – 23:33

Mexican drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero cannot be deported from his country to the United States. At least not right away.

The Seventh District Court for Amparo in Criminal Matters in the state of Jalisco responded favorably to the lawsuit filed by the offender’s sister, Beatriz Caro, who alleged that the transfer would occur “without having followed the corresponding extradition procedure of according to the Extradition Treaty between Mexico and the United States of America”.

The magistrate replied that the capo cannot be handed over to the authorities of the neighboring country until the indicated expulsion process has been completed. Therefore, he determined that the man should remain in the maximum security prison, west of the Mexican capital, where he is being held.

“The suspension is granted outright for the effect that it is not executed and the interested party remains in the place where he is,” indicated the judge’s resolution.

The suspension will be in force until the amparo proceeding is fully resolved, with an indefinite duration.

Caro Quintero, 69, was arrested by the Mexican Navy last Friday, July 15, in Sinaloa, northwestern part of the country, in the middle of an operation with a high cost, since a helicopter used in the mission crashed and 14 soldiers died.

At that time, the United States Government applauded the arrest and the attorney general, Merrick Garland, demanded his extradition “immediately”, a request that began on Saturday, July 16. But now that request will have to wait.

These types of processes are usually long-lasting and their agility depends largely on the political will of the countries, as well as on the legal requirements that the accused can rely on to slow down the deportation.

In the case of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, the process took a year.

Caro Quintero, the most wanted man by the DEA

The drug trafficker has been identified as the most wanted by the Drug Control Administration (DEA), as he is considered the alleged perpetrator of the torture and murder of his agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarera, which occurred in 1985.

For information leading to his whereabouts, the US agency offered $20 million, the highest figure the DEA had put on the table for the capture of a fugitive.

Founder of the Guadalajara Cartel, Caro Quintero was one of the main capos in the 1980s and one of the first to ship drugs on a large scale to the United States.

The charges for which he is claimed in that country are related to organized crime, criminal association and kidnapping and murder of a US official.

Caro Quintero amassed a large fortune from his illegal activities and founded the drug cartel together with Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, alias ‘Don Neto’.

Although authorities say he had returned to a life of crime, he did not have the same power as he did more than 30 years ago when he was one of the main drug traffickers into the United States.

With AP and EFE