Guadalajara Cartel Founder Case: Extradition Underway to Bring Notorious Rafael Caro Quintero From Mexico to U.S.

Mexico has already received a formal request from the United States to extradite Guadalajara Cartel founder Rafael Caro Quintero.

According to Daily Mail, Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador confirmed Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Justice had submitted a request for the extradition of Caro Quintero.

The request comes a month after the Guadalajara Cartel founder's arrest by security forces in Mexico's state of Sinaloa. Caro Quintero has managed to delay his transfer to U.S. authorities after filing three motions in court, including the one challenging the pending extradition.

Cases of Guadalajara Cartel Founder Rafael Caro Quintero

In his press briefing at the National Palace on Tuesday, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador confirmed that Rafael Caro Quintero had filed some writs of "amparos" in the Prosecutor's Office and the Judiciary following his arrest.

A judge earlier granted an injunction to Caro Quintero that prevented his extradition to the U.S. at the moment. The injunction means the Guadalajara Cartel founder cannot be handed over to U.S. authorities without a trial being held first.

Caro Quintero also filed an appeal against acts of torture inside the Altiplano prison earlier this month. The Guadalajara Cartel founder complained about "torture" inflicted on him inside the maximum-security prison in the state of Mexico.

The lawsuit noted that Caro Quintero had suffered mistreatment and humiliation after being confined in the Altiplano prison following his arrest.

The lawsuit alleged that the infamous drug lord was a victim of "incommunicado detention, segregation, isolation, captivity with physical and psychological torments, mistreatment, abuse of authority, torture and life-threatening injuries."

A judge immediately ruled in favor of the Guadalajara Cartel founder, ordering jail authorities to stop these acts. The judge also directed the responsible authorities to issue a report on the compliance of the protection measures within a period of not more than 24 hours.

Lopez Obrador has denounced the "treacherous interference" by the U.S. agencies after anonymous statements by Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents to the press in which they expressed their lack of trust in Mexico's Secretary of National Defense.

The Mexican president also dismissed reports that there were about 14 previous attempts to arrest the Guadalajara Cartel founder since 2013 that were hindered by the Mexican authorities.

"We have great confidence in the Armed Forces of Mexico, the Army, and the Navy, and we do not accept those comments because they are a lack of respect for our country, our sovereignty," Lopez Obrador noted.

Arrest of Guadalajara Cartel Founder Rafael Caro Quintero

Rafael Caro Quintero is one of the founders of Guadalajara Cartel, along with Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo. He was considered a pioneer in Mexico's drug underworld during the 1980s.

Caro Quintero had already spent 28 years in prison for the brutal murder and torture of former DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar.

The Guadalajara Cartel founder was allegedly angry about a raid in Rancho Buffalo at Camarena's demand. Mexican authorities had seized the said marijuana plantation located in Chihuahua state.

Camarena was kidnapped in Guadalajara in February 1985. A month later, his lifeless body was discovered, with signs showing that he was tortured.

Caro Quintero, who was arrested in Costa Rica in the same year, has denied involvement in the killing of Camarena. In 2013, he was released by a Mexican judge on a technicality.

After his release, Caro Quintero reportedly resumed his role as a violent drug trafficker. U.S. officials then put him on the FBI's Top 10 most wanted fugitives list and set a $20 million bounty on his head.

The Guadalajara Cartel founder was arrested again in Sinaloa last July 15. The U.S. government hailed the arrest and said it would waste no time requesting his extradition.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Mary Webber

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