Mexico has extradited a group of high-ranking cartel leaders and members to the United States, including Rafael Caro Quintero. Caro Quintero is a former leader of the Guadalajara cartel and was involved in the 1985 kidnapping and murder of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.
Miguel and Omar Morales, founders of Los Zetas (also known as Z-40 and Z-42), are also among those extradited to the U.S.
These extraditions occurred at the U.S. government’s request, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s looming tariff deadline. A key demand from the president is that Mexico intensify its efforts to combat dangerous cartels and the production and distribution of fentanyl.
According to a statement from Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection, “This morning, 29 individuals, who were being held in various penitentiary centers across the country, were transferred to the United States of America. These individuals were wanted for their connections to criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking and other crimes.”
The statement continued, “The custody, transfer, and formal delivery of these individuals are being conducted under established institutional protocols, with full respect for their fundamental rights, in accordance with our Constitution and the National Security Law, and at the request of the United States Department of Justice.”
“This action is part of the ongoing coordination, cooperation, and bilateral reciprocity efforts, within a framework of respect for the sovereignty of both nations.”
The Associated Press reports that the extradition of these Mexican drug lords coincided with a visit to Washington, D.C., by Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente and other high-ranking economic and military officials, who met with U.S. counterparts.
This meeting is the latest in ongoing discussions between the U.S. and Mexico regarding trade and security relations, which have significantly changed since Trump’s return to office on January 20.
These negotiations led to the handover of Caro Quintero, who was once on the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives list. He had been released in 2013 after serving 28 years of a 40-year sentence for Camarena’s kidnapping and murder, only to have the sentence overturned.
Caro Quintero was rearrested by Mexican authorities in July 2022 after allegedly returning to drug trafficking. As the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, he is accused of resuming drug trafficking activities and ordering violent attacks in the northern Mexican state of Sonora.
Caro Quintero reportedly blamed Camarena for a 1984 raid on a marijuana plantation and allegedly ordered his kidnapping the following year. Camarena’s body was discovered a month later, showing signs of torture.
The FBI added Caro Quintero to its list in 2018, offering a reward of up to $20 million for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.
In January, a nonprofit group representing the Camarena family urged the Trump administration to renew its requests for Mexico to extradite Caro Quintero, according to the AP, which obtained a copy of the letter from a source familiar with the family’s outreach.
“His return to the U.S. would provide the family with much-needed closure and serve the interests of justice,” the letter stated.
Since taking office, Trump has threatened to impose trade tariffs on Mexico, and several Mexican cartels have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the State Department.
The U.S. had sought Caro Quintero’s extradition shortly after his 2022 arrest. However, the request remained pending with Mexico’s foreign ministry due to reasons unknown. It is believed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had curtailed cooperation with the DEA in protest of undercover U.S. law enforcement operations in Mexico targeting senior political and military figures.
The extradition of the Treviño Morales brothers concludes a lengthy process that began with the capture of Miguel Treviño Morales in 2013 and his brother, Omar, in 2015. Mexico Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero has described the delays in their extradition as “truly shameful.”
The Treviño Morales family is accused by American authorities of managing the violent Northeast Cartel from prison and faces charges in the U.S. related to participation in a criminal organization, drug trafficking, weapons offenses, and money laundering.
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