Mexican Court Approves US Extradition of Rafael Caro Quintero

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat

Former Guadalajara Cartel leader Rafael Caro Quintero (left) and US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar (right)

The long battle to extradite drug kingpin Rafael Caro Quintero is finally over, should he be arrested.

A Mexican tribunal court approved Caro Quintero for extradition after denying a motion he had issued to prevent Mexican authorities from sending him to the US. Caro Quintero's defense team argued that being extradited to the US meant he would face double jeopardy.

In Mexico, Caro Quintero was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the 1985 murder of US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique Camarena Salazar and the Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar. In the US, Caro Quintero is also wanted for Camarena's murder, and the US government has publicly express over the years that he will be tried for his death should he be extradited. Caro Quintero argued that this was double jeopardy.

According to Article 15 of the Extradition Treaty between Mexico and the U.S., the Mexican government will not extradite a Mexican national unless multiple conditions are met. Among them include that the Mexican national does not face double jeopardy (i.e. being charged for Camarena's murder in Mexico and then in the US).

However, the tribunal court responded by denying Caro Quintero's motion and explained that although the US extradition request does contain the Camarena murder charge, it also includes other charges like drug trafficking and money laundering, which in itself makes the extradition request legitimate.

In addition, it is worth nothing that the murder charge Caro Quintero would face in the US is different than the one he was convicted for in Mexico. In Mexico, he was convicted of murder at the state-level with no aggravating factors.

But in the US, Caro Quintero is facing a federal violation of 18 U.S. Code § 115. This code covers a specific type of murder: whoever kills or attempts to kill any officer or employee of the United States. This aggravating factor in the murder charge was enough for the court to rule it is not double jeopardy.

Caro Quintero, the former leader of the Guadalajara Cartel, was freed from a Mexican state jail on a legal technicality in 2013, but an arrest warrant was issued by federal authorities a few months after his release. He is currently a fugitive and is believed to be in hiding in Mexico.

Sources: El Sol de Mexico; El Economista; El Financiero; LII; Borderland Beat analysis