The nephew of drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, Ismael Quintero Arellanes, alias “Fierro” or “El Mayel,” was extradited to the US government, where he is wanted for criminal association, health offenses, and illegal possession of weapons.
The Mexican Attorney General’s Office (FGR) announced the extradition of Quintero Arellanes to the United States, where the U.S. District Court wanted him for the Eastern District of New York.
It was reported that Ismael Quintero, also known as “El Mayel,” was part of a criminal organization in which he was responsible for the logistics of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana trafficking from Mexico to the United States.
The Attorney General’s Office also noted that he was in charge of manufacturing and transporting these drugs for shipment to the United States.
“The defendant conspired with members of drug trafficker Caro Quintero’s organization to flood the United States with large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana,” U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue said in February 2020.
According to Mexican authorities, “El Mayel” was in charge of the security and protection of his uncle, Guadalajara Cartel co-founder Rafael Caro Quintero, who was arrested on July 15, 2022, after being released from prison on a controversial injunction granted by a collegiate court in the state of Jalisco in August 2013.
Ismael Quintero Arellanes was handed over to US authorities at Mexico City’s International Airport (AICM), according to the Attorney General’s Office (FGR).
Arrested in February 2020 during an operation carried out by the Mexican Attorney General’s Office, the Mexican Secretariat of the Navy (Semar), and the Mexican Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) in the state of Sinaloa, Quintero Arellanes sought to stop his extradition to the United States through an injunction.
Following his arrest, he was transferred to Mexico City, where he was presented before a judge at the Reclusorio Norte. Quintero Arellanes said he was a simple farmer and had never carried firearms.
At the time, U.S. authorities claimed that the capture indicated that “the walls are closing in on the members of the Sinaloa Cartel“; however, the focus was on Rafael Caro Quintero, accused of running a criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking for three decades.
The legal process with which Quintero Arellanes sought to avoid his extradition to the United States even reached the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), which admitted the review of his amparo in September 2022.
The appeal was turned over to the First Chamber, where ministers heard the appeal and decided to deny the amparo, which meant that his judicial process was again in the hands of a Court.
Finally, the Fifth Collegiate Court in Criminal Matters determined that Ismael Quintero could be extradited to the United States.
Currently, his uncle, Rafael Caro Quintero, is imprisoned in the Centro de Readaptación Social (Cereso) No. 1, El Altiplano, in Almoloya, State of Mexico, where he is in a judicial process to avoid his extradition to the United States without a trial.
At the time of his capture last year, Caro Quintero was one of the 10 most wanted fugitives by the FBI, with charges including the kidnapping and murder of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.
As part of his trial, in November 2022, Washington obtained the seizure of real estate located in Guadalajara, which the drug trafficker acquired through profits amassed from drug sales.