MEXICO CITY (AFP) – Mexico extradited some of its most notorious imprisoned drug lords to the United States (US) in a bid to avert sweeping tariffs, including a cartel kingpin wanted for decades over the murder of a US undercover agent.
Rafael Caro Quintero, who allegedly ordered the kidnap, torture and killing of US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena in the 1980s, and several other top gang figures were among 29 suspects handed over.
Caro Quintero was on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s list of 10 most-wanted fugitives until his capture in 2022.
The surprise extraditions come as Mexico scrambles to seal a deal with Washington to avoid being hit with trade duties that Trump has linked to illegal migration and drug flows.
It follows Trump’s designation of eight Latin American drug trafficking organisations – including six Mexican cartels – as terrorist organisations. “As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups, and this Department of Justice is devoted to destroying cartels and transnational gangs,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
“We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law in honour of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers – and in some cases, given their lives – to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels,” she added.
The handover of so many suspects at the same time was “historic”, former chief of international operations at the DEA Mike Vigil, told AFP.
In the past, Mexico would extradite only a few suspects at once, he said, adding, “They’re certainly hoping that it will have a positive impact on the tariff negotiations.”
The DEA was “celebrating” Caro Quintero’s extradition in particular, he said.
The suspects also included the former leaders of the ultra-violent Zetas cartel, Omar and Miguel Angel Trevino Morales. Former Juarez cartel boss Vicente Carrillo and a brother of Nemesio Oseguera, head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organisations, were also on the list.
The announcement came as a high-level Mexican delegation, including the foreign, defence and security ministers, visited Washington for talks with counterparts, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The two countries agreed to take a “series of coordinated actions” to tackle drug trafficking, the Mexican government said.
The aim was to reduce fentanyl deaths as well as the illegal trafficking of firearms, it said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has pledged to collaborate with Washington, while rejecting any “invasion” of her country’s sovereignty.
