Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn say they are considering the death penalty against an alleged Mexican drug lord in a wide-ranging case that involves the 1985 murder of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent.
The 72-year-old Rafael Caro Quintero, sometimes referred to as RCQ or the “Narco of Narcos,” appeared in court on Wednesday to face charges that he allegedly continued a criminal enterprise over some 40 years, according to charging documents.
In addition to continuing a criminal enterprise, prosecutors accuse Caro Quintero of allegedly distributing tons of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine internationally.
Prosecutors also say he orchestrated the torture and killing of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, who he blamed for a raid on one of his marijuana plantations.
Under federal law, continuing a criminal enterprise is a death penalty-eligible offense and carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment, according to Eastern District of New York U.S. Attorney Breon Peace spokesman John Marzulli.
“New York abolished the death penalty for state crimes,” Marzulli told NTD in an email on Thursday. “There are federal crimes that are eligible for the death penalty.”
After Assistant U.S. Attorney Saritha Komatireddy told Judge Frederic Block in court on Wednesday that the death penalty is a possibility for Caro Quintero, the judge assigned Elizabeth Macedonio to serve as his special counsel while Michael Vitaliano acts as his trial lawyer.
Neither Macedonio nor Vitaliano responded to requests for comment.
Caro Quintero is scheduled to appear in court again on June 25. Block has asked for Caro Quintero’s financial disclosure to determine whether he should continue to be represented by a court-appointed, American taxpayer-funded attorney.
“If it is determined that defendant is indigent, they are entitled to court-appointed legal representation paid for by the United States,” Marzulli added.
Caro Quintero, who has pleaded not guilty, didn’t speak in court. His nephew and former top lieutenant, Ismael Quintero Arellanes, also appeared in court on the same day. However, Marzulli said Arellanes is not charged with a crime that is eligible for the death penalty.
Quintero Arellanes was extradited from Mexico to the United States in 2023. He is charged with participating in an international heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine distribution conspiracy from February 2015 through June 2018 and an international marijuana distribution conspiracy from January 1980 through June 2018, as well as using firearms in relation to his drug trafficking organization.
Expelled From Mexico
Caro Quintero was among 29 imprisoned cartel figures expelled from Mexico by the country’s government in late February.According to a Feb. 28 legal memorandum obtained by NTD, U.S. proceedings against Caro Quintero began after his expulsion.
The memorandum requested his permanent detention and described him as “one of the most notorious drug lords of the modern era” and as the leader of a violent drug cartel based in Mexico, labelled as the Caro Quintero drug trafficking organization.
Also expelled and now being held in the United States is Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, the head of the Juarez Cartel.
Under Carrillo Fuentes’s leadership, prosecutors allege that the Juarez Cartel dominated and controlled drug trafficking through the El Paso, Texas-Ciudad Juarez, Texas corridor and used its control of the Texas-Mexico border to deliver multi-ton shipments of cocaine to locations such as New York, Texas, California, and Illinois.
