SEATTLE - Mexican authorities handed over to U.S. officials Rodrigo Omar Pérez, the nephew and alleged associate of jailed drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, co-founder of the now-disintegrated Guadalajara Cartel. He is set to face federal conspiracy drug charges in Arizona, the Mexican Attorney General's Office said.
Paez Quintero was arrested in the state of Jalisco back in April 2023 and accused of leading a a drug-trafficking organization based in Caborca, Sonora. He allegedly supervised a series of unlawful activities, including laundering money for the Caborca cartel between 2017-19.
Paez, also known as "El R" was imprisoned in the maximum security federal prison known as "El Altiplano," a famous facility that houses high-profile delinquents such as Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, a.k.a "El Jefe de Jefes" and Paez's uncle, Rafael Caro Quintero, also known as "El Narco de Narcos."
A Mexican judge authorized Paez's extradition last year, but he contested the order and exhausted his appeals earlier this month. One of his arguments against being extradited to the United States was because of the "well-known human rights violations that Mexicans suffer when being held in an American prison."
Paez is not the only Caro Quintero family member to have been extradited to the United States in recent months. Ismael Quintero Arellanes, also known as "Fierro" was extradited to the U.S. on March 2023 to face charges of conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.
The United States Attorney's Office also said that Quintero Arellanes served as Rafael Caro Quintero's top lieutenant and head of security, relying messages and orders between him and other members to facilitate drug trafficking activities.
"El Jefe de Jefes" served 28 years in prison before being freed in 2013 after a Mexican judge threw out his conviction and a 40-year sentence on murder and kidnapping charges in connection to the death of U.S. Drug Administration Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena in 1985. Rafael Caro Quintero was re-arrested in 2022 and his extradition to the U.S. remains pending.
According to the independent, member-supported nonprofit news organization El Paso Matters, official records show Mexico extradited 1,389 people to the U.S. from 2000 until June 1, 2022. Out of those, two of every five causes occurred during former President Felipe Calderón's Mexican Drug War. Out of the most notable extraditions in recent years are the ones of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán in 2017 as well as one of his sons, Ovidio Guzmán, in 2023.
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