NEW YORK (Reuters) – 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.
U.S. 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.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Christian Plumb)
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