Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
- Rafael Caro Quintero pleaded not guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges.
- He was extradited with 28 others, marking a significant handover by Mexico.
- Quintero previously served 28 years in Mexico for a DEA agent's murder.
NEW YORK — Rafael Caro Quintero, an alleged cartel boss who spent decades in prison in Mexico for the murder of a U.S. drug enforcement agent, pleaded not guilty in a U.S. court on Friday to drug trafficking charges that could result in his execution.
Mexican authorities handed over Caro Quintero and 28 other suspected cartel members to the U.S. on Thursday as part of its biggest handover in years.
President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Mexican goods starting on March 4 over what his administration sees as insufficient progress on stemming fentanyl and U.S.-bound migrant flows.
Caro Quintero, 72, pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with leading a criminal enterprise, drug trafficking and illegal firearms use at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Levy in Brooklyn.
Caro Quintero's Guadalajara Cartel was once one of Latin America's most powerful drug groups and evolved into the modern-day Sinaloa Cartel.
He spent 28 years in prison in Mexico for the 1985 murder of former DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, for which he denied involvement.
Also appearing in Brooklyn federal court on Friday will be alleged Juarez Cartel boss Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, who was charged in 2019 with drug trafficking and ordering the murders of rival cartel members.
The other suspects extradited on Thursday face charges in federal courts in Manhattan, Texas, Illinois, California, Arizona, North Carolina and Washington, D.C.
Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, accused of co-founding the Sinaloa Cartel alongside Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzman, is also awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in Brooklyn federal court. A lawyer for the septuagenarian Zambada told Reuters this week he would be willing to plead guilty if he is spared the death penalty.
