Rafael Caro Quintero notified of capture for extradition purposes

Gustavo Castillo Garcia

Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday, July 17, 2022, p. 4

The sixth district court for federal criminal proceedings, based in the Prison East, in Mexico City, notified the formal extradition arrest against drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, reported authorities of the Judicial Power of the Federation (PJF), and therefore, the US justice will have 60 days to formalize the request and present the arrest warrants obtained and the evidence against the Sinaloa capo.

The hearing was held by videoconference, since Caro Quintero is imprisoned in the Federal Center for Social Readaptation (Cefereso) number 1, Altiplano.

The extradition procedure could take more than a year to be resolved in court due to the resources that Caro Quintero’s defense could file to try to prevent him from being sent to the United States, federal authorities said.

Meanwhile, the United States justice added in that country, to the accusation presented against Caro Quintero before a California court for drug trafficking and for the homicide committed in 1985 against the anti-drug agent of that country Enrique Camarena Salazar, other charges before a New York Court, in which he is accused of running a continuing criminal enterprisewith an extensive drug production and trafficking network from January 1980 to January 2017.

Caro Quintero, identified as the leader of the Caborca ​​cartel, was arrested on Friday in the municipality of Choix, Sinaloa, during an operation carried out by elements of the special forces of the Secretary of the Navy-Navy of Mexico (Semar).

The judge must decide whether the extradition of the drug trafficker, sentenced in Mexico to 40 years in prison for the murder of Camarena Salazar and the Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar, is appropriate. However, the United States justice intends to prosecute him again for that charge and drug trafficking.

Faced with a resolution ordering his extradition, Caro Quintero’s defense can file appeals for review and request amparos against his surrender, and until these procedures are concluded, the case would be definitively defined.

new accusation

Documents of the Eastern Court of New York, of which the day has a copy, indicate that Caro Quintero is responsible for manufacturing and importing from Mexico into the United States multi-ton quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana.

The capo, considered one of the main fugitives from US justice after the murder of Camarena Salazar, is designated as the responsible for shipping tons of cocaine from South America through Central America and Mexico to the United Statesand for that used corruption as a means and method to achieve its objectives.

The accusation formulated by the prosecutor Robert L. Capers states that drug proceeds were laundered back to Mexico; drug money was often physically transported from the United States to Mexico through clandestine means.

He adds that Caro Quintero had a structure that included numerous members and to preserve and protect your illegal activities used security personnel, who protected the leaders of the transnational organization and participated in violent acts to further the gang’s goals.

Caro Quintero’s organization, identified by the United States authorities with the nicknames of Cease, Don Rafa, Mr, The man, The Curly either the old manI had plaza bosses who controlled certain territories for him and were responsible for transporting drugs through those territories; carriers, such as ship crews, pilots, and truck drivers, who carried drugs from Colombia through Mexico and into the United States; and money launderers.

It also states that the heads of the organization Employed hit men who carried out numerous acts of violence, including murder, assault, kidnapping, and acts of tortureto position the group against rival organizations; preserve and protect the power, territory and criminal enterprises of the Caro Quintero organization; protect its members from arrest and prosecution, silencing potential witnesses and retaliating against anyone who has provided information or assistance to law enforcement authorities.

In the letter it is stated that in January 1980 and January 2017, both dates being approximate and inclusive, within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the United States, the defendant Rafael Caro Quintero committed repeated violations of United States law and for which had substantial income and resources, and whose business received more than $10 million in gross receipts during one or more 12-month periods.