According to officials and sources, drug cartel Kingpin is known to have moved his role to his role as a top target for his role in the murder of DEA agents.
Rafael Caro Quintero was one of the 29 cartel members that the Mexican government released to US custody after President Trump threatened to slap imports from Mexico with 25% tariffs if he was not even different to cracking down on illegal immigrant drug smuggling.
“Obviously, this is one of the biggest days of decades for DEA agents,” Ray Donovan, former head of the New York DEA office, told the Post. “This is very close and important to all DEA agents.”
“This is bigger than Chapo for me and all other DEA agents,” Donovan adds, referring to Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who believes he has been captured. “This was personal.”
Derek Martz, the administrator of the DEA, said there was “one name” in his agency Quintero's group “better than others for men and women.”
Quintero, 72, arrives at the Big Apple Thursday night and is likely to be moved to Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, Donovan said.
Cartel Kingpin is expected to be charged with drug trafficking charges in Brooklyn federal court on Friday, sources said.
Quintero was convicted in Mexico as the mastermind behind the murder of US DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in 1985 and had been sitting in the Guadalajara prison for the past two years, sources said.
He was sent to New York, and some of the other cartel members were taken to other US cities.
“The defendants who have obtained custody in the United States today include leaders and managers of drug cartels recently designated as foreign terrorist organizations, and specially designated global terrorists,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.
The DOJ noted that many of the defendants had long-standing extradition requests during the Biden administration that they were “unrespected” and that the Mexican government followed as a direct result of ordering drug cartels to be designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
“They are no longer criminals,” Donovan said. “They are terrorists.”
“I think that drug trafficking will change, as we know it will change,” he said.
“This action is part of the work of coordination, cooperation and bilateral interaction within the framework of respect for the sovereignty of both countries,” the Mexican government said.
Donovan pointed out that transferring custody of Mexican drug lords is easier if they are labeled as terrorists, as they don't have the legal protection that they are being handed over.
The Justice Department said it would assess whether terrorist accusations are suitable for 29 people.
Quintero follows the same path as “El Chapo.” He moved to the US and was held in 2017 at the Max Security Wing. Major City Correctional Center In Manhattan. He was sentenced to life in prison in US District Court.
Donovan said he saw similarities between “El Chapo” and Quintero's US custody.
RCQ's arrest could result in some closure for the wife of a still-lived Slain DEA agent and the son, a San Diego-based judge, sources said.
There are pending accusations against Quinterrorism in New York, Texas and California, but there is none for murder, sources said.
“When he goes to trial, the Kiki murders will come out and the fact that he ordered the murder will be revealed,” Donovan said.
“As President Trump has made it clear, the cartel is a terrorist group, and the Justice Department is dedicated to destroying cartels and cross-border gangs,” Attorney General Pam Bondy said in a statement.
“We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest of the law, paying tribute to brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers and in some cases have given their lives to protect innocent people from the violent cartel tragedy. We will not rest until we have secured American justice.”
The transfer of custody of cartel members was announced by both the US and the Mexican government on the same day Trump announced on March 4 that he plans to impose a 25% tariff on Mexican goods.
“Drugs are still poured into our country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday.
“We cannot allow this tragedy to harm the United States, and therefore it will take effect as planned until the tariffs scheduled to come into effect on March 4th are suspended or seriously limited,” the president added.
