Captured drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero has been told the process to extradite him from Mexico to the US is underway.
A judge based in Mexico City told Caro Quintero, who is wanted in the US for the torture and killing of DEA agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena in 1985, of the accusations against him via video-link on Saturday.
Caro Quintero is being held in a high-security prison 50 miles west of the capital.
He was one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives after being released from a Mexican jail on a technicality in 2013 after being jailed for nearly 30 years for the murder of Mr Camarena and a Mexican pilot.
On Friday, US attorney general Merrick Garland said “immediate extradition” would be sought.
The US government has 60 days to file a formal request and provide evidence to support it.
The judge handling the case will then determine whether or not it proceeds.
Caro Quintero’s lawyers are likely to file appeals to try to delay the process, which tends to be lengthy, though its speed depends heavily on the political will of the countries involved.
Caro Quintero, 69, was caught on Friday in the mountains of his home state of Sinaloa in a joint operation by the Mexican Navy and the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
BOOM Rafael "Caro" Quintero is captured by Mexican marines, according to reports. The arrest comes right after the Mexican president met with Biden, and follows a ramped up reward campaign by the DEA. Caro Quintero has been fighting those loyal to the Chapitos in Sonora.
1)— Ioan Grillo (@ioangrillo) July 15, 2022
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Some 14 marines involved in the operation died when the Black Hawk helicopter they were in crashed.
The drug trafficker was one of the founders of the Guadalajara Cartel and, according to the DEA, one of the main suppliers of heroin, cocaine and marijuana to the US in the 1970s and 1980s.
He blamed Mr Camarena for a raid on a marijuana plantation in 1984.
In 1985, Mr Camarena was kidnapped in Guadalajara, allegedly on Caro Quintero’s orders.
His tortured body was found a month later.
Caro Quintero was first captured in Costa Rica in 1985.
