A Mexican federal judge has granted drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero an injunction against any extradition attempt by the Mexican government to the United States. “The requested definitive suspension is granted,” says the ruling filed in the First District Court for Amparo Matters and Federal Trials in the State of Mexico under file 1204/2022.
The founder of the Guadalajara Cartel, called the “narco de narcos”, was arrested for extradition purposes on July 15. He is accused by Washington of the kidnapping, torture and murder of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, a special agent of the US Drug Enforcement Agency in 1985, among other crimes.
Caro Quintero, the most wanted by the DEA, has two arrest warrants against him within Mexican territory and an extradition request by the US government to try him.
Although he obtained a definitive suspension, Judge Abigail Ocampo’s decision does not free him from his incarceration in a Mexican federal prison and allows the Attorney General’s Office to challenge his decision before a court of law.
If an allegation is filed by the Prosecutor against this suspension, a collegiate court will be in charge of determining whether or not to modify the ruling granted today on Monday, August 1.
The Mexican drug trafficker has been defended by a court-appointed attorney since July 29, when the Federal Institute of Public Defenders appointed him a public defender.
Yesterday, Monday, August 1, it transpired that since the public attorney accepted the assignment, he requested access to the complete file, to the records of the amparo claim and to the first outright suspension that a federal judge from Jalisco granted to Caro Quintero.
