Mexico has extradited infamous drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, along with 28 other cartel members, to the United States, marking a significant victory in the fight against organized crime, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
Caro Quintero, long considered the founder of the Guadalajara Cartel, is accused of orchestrating the 1985 kidnapping, torture, and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena Salazar.
His role in the attack, which was allegedly in retaliation for a raid on his massive marijuana plantation the year before, was dramatized in the Netflix series Narcos.
After serving 28 years in a Mexican prison, Caro Quintero was released on a legal technicality in 2013, only to have that decision overturned by the country’s Supreme Court. Rather than returning to custody, he resumed drug trafficking operations as a senior leader in the powerful Sinaloa Cartel. He remained one of the DEA’s most wanted fugitives until his dramatic capture in July 2022, when a Mexican Navy dog found him hiding in the bushes. The operation ended in tragedy when 14 Marines died in a helicopter crash.
DEA Acting Administrator Derek S. Maltz called Caro Quintero’s extradition a long-awaited moment for law enforcement. “This cartel kingpin unleashed violence, destruction, and death across the United States and Mexico. Today, he has arrived in the United States where justice will be served,” he said. “This is a victory for the Camarena family and sends a clear message to cartel leaders: No matter how far you run, justice will find you.”
Quintero is scheduled to appear in a New York court on Friday.
Alongside him, 28 other cartel figures were also extradited, having been held in different Mexican correctional facilities. The DOJ identified them as leaders and high-ranking members of organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Los Zetas, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, and the Gulf Cartel.
Among them are Martin Sotelo, accused of murdering a North Carolina deputy sheriff in 2022, and Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, an alleged leader of CJNG. Two senior figures from Los Zetas, Ramiro Perez Moreno and Lucio Hernandez Lechuga, were also transferred.
The DOJ said these individuals were responsible for trafficking massive amounts of drugs—including cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine—into the United States, as well as carrying out brutal acts of violence.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed to prosecute them “to the fullest extent of the law” in honor of law enforcement officers who have sacrificed their lives in the fight against cartels. “As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups, and this Department of Justice is devoted to destroying them,” she said.
The extraditions, described by acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove as a result of “strong White House negotiations,” mark a significant escalation in U.S. efforts to combat drug trafficking and cartel violence.
