After four decades on the DEA’s most wanted fugitive list, alleged Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero was transferred to US custody from Mexico this week along with 28 other drug cartel suspects. The transfer comes as President Trump has ratcheted up threats of tariffs and military action against Mexico to force a crackdown on border security and drug trafficking.
US officials called the deportation unprecedented, especially concerning the notorious 72-year-old Caro Quintero who is believed to be behind the 1985 torture and murder of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. The murder escalated the US’ involvement in the drug war and was dramatized in Netflix’s 2018 series Narcos: Mexico.
- Caro Quintero was arraigned in New York yesterday and pleaded not guilty to drug charges along with alleged former Juarez Cartel leader Vicente Carrillo Fuentes.
- In January, Trump signed an executive order labeling six Mexican cartels “foreign terrorist organizations,” which means prosecutors could seek terrorism charges and the death penalty against the men.
Big picture: Mexico-US relations remain tense after Trump’s announcement on Thursday that a 25% tariff on Mexican imports would take effect on March 4.—MM