29 Individuals, Including New Drug Cartel Leader, Extradited to the United States
After U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on Mexican products, a Mexican drug lord who had been pursued for 40 years with a $26.5 million bounty was extradited to the United States.
On January 29, 2005, after an operation at Puente Grande Prison in Guadalajara, Jalisco, located 450 km west of Mexico City, the Mexican Federal Preventive Police (PFP) is escorting drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero (center).
On the 28th of last month (local time), the New York Times (NYT) and others reported that Rafael Caro Quintero (72), the head of Mexico's notorious drug organization 'Guadalajara Cartel,' appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He pleaded not guilty to charges including drug trafficking and the murder of DEA agents.
Caro Quintero was nicknamed the "narco among narcos" in the 1980s and made enormous profits by smuggling various drugs, including marijuana, into the United States. He was also the mastermind behind the torture and murder of DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena in 1985. Camarena, who was kidnapped while working in Guadalajara, Mexico, was found dead after horrific torture. This incident severely strained U.S.-Mexico relations. The case was also dramatized in the Netflix series "Narcos: Mexico," which depicts the war against Mexican drug cartels.
Arrested in Costa Rica in 1985 and sentenced to 40 years, Caro Quintero was released in 2013 due to a procedural error in his trial. Although this decision was overturned by the Supreme Court two months later, Caro Quintero had already gone into hiding. Upon learning this, the U.S. government was outraged and placed a $20 million bounty (approximately 26.5 billion KRW at the time) on him. He was also listed among the FBI's top ten most wanted fugitives.
Eventually, Caro Quintero was captured by the Mexican Navy in northern Mexico in 2022. During the operation, a Mexican Navy Black Hawk helicopter crashed, killing 14 people. Caro Quintero, who was imprisoned in a Mexican prison, was transferred to the United States on the 27th of last month. Earlier, President Trump had warned that if issues related to synthetic drugs entering the U.S. and illegal immigration were not resolved, a 25% high tariff would be imposed on Mexican products. Following this warning, Mexico handed over 29 individuals wanted by the U.S., including Caro Quintero, all at once. Attention is focused on whether this extradition decision will positively influence negotiations to exempt tariffs.
Meanwhile, major foreign media reported that Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, the head of the emerging drug cartel for whom U.S. authorities had offered a $15 million (approximately 21.9 billion KRW) bounty, was also handed over to the United States. Additionally, it was reported that the number of illegal immigrants apprehended while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in February is expected to reach 8,500. This is only 6% of the 141,000 recorded in February last year and 29.3% of the 29,000 recorded in January this year.
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