Mexico has decided to extradite 29 drug trafficking cartel members to the United States. They include super boss Rafael Caro Quintero, who was responsible for the murder of Kiki Camarena, a U.S. DEA agent who was tortured and brutally murdered in 1985.
This “unprecedented” demonstration of security cooperation between the two countries comes as senior officials from Mexico are in Washington, D.C., in an effort to counter the Trump administration’s threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on all Mexican imports, starting next week.
The drug lords were picked up from the nation’s major prisons and brought to the U.S. aboard different planes. The narcos will now be sorted into eight U.S. correctional institutions. They belong to five criminal groups designated earlier this month by the Trump administration as “foreign terrorist organizations.”
The convicts transferred to the United States on Thursday will be tried for drug trafficking, murder, organized crime and carrying firearms. “We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law in honor of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers — and in some cases, given their lives — to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
Among the drug traffickers turned over to the U.S., which included Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, former leader of the Juarez cartel and brother of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, “El senor de los cielos,” and “Los Zetas” cartel founders Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales and Oscar Omar Treviño Morales, one name in particular caught the attention of all insiders. That of “Rafa” Caro Quintero, on the FBI’s top ten most wanted list.
Quintero had regained his freedom in 2013, after 28 years in prison, when a court overturned his 40-year sentence for the 1985 kidnapping and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. The brutal murder marked perhaps one of the lowest points in U.S.-Mexico relations.
However, despite the very long prison term, once free “Rafa” immediately turned back to the drug business, sparking bloody turf battles in the state of Sonora until his arrest in 2022. Last month, a nonprofit group representing the Camarena family had sent a letter to the White House urging the Trump administration to renew extradition requests for the Mexican super boss.
The news about Caro Quintero’s surrender to the United States was warmly greeted by DEA officials. “This moment is extremely personal for the men and women of DEA who believe Caro Quintero is responsible for the brutal torture and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena,” the acting head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration”, Derek Maltz, said.
The extradition of the 29 drug cartel members coincided with a visit to Washington by Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente and other senior officials, who met with government authorities, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to discuss the now infamous tariffs.
In exchange for postponing tariffs on imports, Trump had insisted that Mexico take tough measures against drug traffickers, illegal immigration, and fentanyl production.
