Caro Quintero, 72, who had been in a Mexican prison for decades for the 1985 murder of DEA agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena, is the co-founder of the Guadalajara cartel, once considered one of the most powerful criminal groups in Latin America.

Just as a high-level Mexican delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente, met the day before in Mexico City with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, news broke of the extradition of the drug traffickers in the biggest surrender in a decade.

The move comes amid bilateral security and trade talks aimed at reaching an agreement on the tariff issue, just days before the 25 percent tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on products from Mexico and Canada take effect.

Despite Trump’s continuous allegations that the fight against drug trafficking, especially fentanyl, is insufficient, Mexico reported the capture of 13,139 people for high impact crimes between October 1 last year and February 24, 2025.

It also seized 112.8 tons of narcotics, including 1,260 kilograms and 1,324,924 fentanyl pills.

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