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Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Rafael Caro Quintero Extradition Delay, There Will Be An Amparo Trial

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 


Yesterday, judges ruled on two of Rafael Caro Quintero’s amparo filings. In one, a judge ruled that he cannot be deported from Mexico to the US until his other amparo claims against extradition have been reviewed and ruled on.




Two Amparos Down, More Still To Go 

On July 16, 2022, Rafael Caro Quintero was officially notified of the provisional arrest warrant for extradition purposes inside Altiplano prison. This notification is the first step outlined in the US-Mexico extradition treaty. 

In response, Caro Quintero’s legal team filed requests for a number of injunctions (or "amparos," as they are known in Mexico). One of these was an injunction appeal filed on July 16, 2022, on his behalf by his sister Beatriz Angélica Caro Quintero. Another was an appeal against authorities keeping him in prison incommunicado.


On July 18, 2022, President Obrador Lopez said in his morning press conference that Caro Quintero’s legal team "are asking for the protection of the gentleman through amparo appeals [...] for his release, arguing that there were errors in the procedure.”



This comes as no surprise, as this is almost always the case when cartel leaders are arrested and extradition is requested. When the US requested the extradition of Joaquín Guzmán, “El Chapo”, his legal team filed a number of amparos in 2014, after his second arrest, and again in 2016, after his third arrest. 

These amparos are usually predicated on small, legal technicalities related to actions taken during the arrest process. 


The first ruling on one of these appeals came on July 18, 2022. The ruling was in regards to the appeal filed by the sister, which argues that the Mexican government cannot deport or expel Rafael Caro Quintero out of Mexico (presumably to the US) without having completed the standard extradition procedure that was outlined in the extradition treaty between the two countries. 



This appeal was potentially made in response to the US Attorney General Merrick Garland’s public statement in which he said the US would seek Caro Quintero’s “immediate extradition.”


After his sister filed the appeal, the court clerk brought the amparo to Rafael Caro Quintero in Altiplano prison and there he ratified (aka signed off on) it. Then, the amparo was brought before Judge Francisco Reséndiz Neri, Seventh District Judge for Criminal Matters in Jalisco. 



After reviewing it, the judge ruled against any potential deportation or expulsion from the country, "without the corresponding extradition procedure having been followed in accordance with the Extradition Treaty between Mexico and the United States" and “the interested party must remain in the place where he is, at the disposal of this amparo jurisdictional body, [...] until the present amparo trial is resolved."


Another ruling came shortly after, this one from Judge Guillermo Francisco Urbina Tano in Mexico City, who ruled that Rafael Caro Quintero cannot be held by authorities incommunicado. This appeal and subsequent ruling is standard fare for cartel leader legal proceedings.




The Death Penalty Question 


Some states in the US have the death penalty whereas the Mexican government “opposes the death penalty as a matter of principle and has a strong policy of protecting its nationals abroad including in the United States,” according to Mexican Embassy spokesman Ricardo Alday. 


Within the extradition treaty signed by the two nations, Mexico is given the option of asking the US for assurances that the person being extradited will not face the death penalty. 


Article Eight of the 1978 U.S.-Mexico Extradition Treaty states that extradition may be refused by Mexico unless the U.S. "furnishes such assurances… that the death penalty shall not be imposed, or, if imposed, shall not be executed."



For some context, let's look at how this issue was dealt with in the Chapo case. One of the US states requesting his extradition was Texas, a state known for the death penalty. Texas had also indicted Chapo back in 2012 in a case that had as one of his charges conspiracy to commit murder. The potential that the death penalty might be imposed became one of the key legal grounds that Chapo’s team of attorneys focused on. 


US officials seemed to fully anticipate and accept assurances against the death penalty would have to be given; with former Chief of Operations at the DEA, Michael Braun saying “the U.S. will have to agree not to execute Guzmán after he’s convicted, before we can ever hope to get our hands on him.”


Then, Mexico’s foreign ministry stated that it had been “given ‘sufficient guarantees’ by the U.S. government that Guzman would not be executed. [...] A U.S. Justice Department official confirmed that the United States had agreed not to seek the death penalty,” and thus, the extradition went forward. 



It's interesting to note that Chapo was prosecuted for a homicide related charge during his US trial. Within the ten counts he was brought up on, Count One - Violation 27 was Conspiracy to Commit Murder, of which the jury found him guilty. 


But it should be noted that within the state of New York, a person found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder - even if its in the first degree - faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, not the death penalty. 


Later on, the judge in Chapo’s New York trial hinted at his inability to give Chapo the death penalty, saying that “even if the law had allowed him any leeway, he would have imposed the harshest sentence available.”





11:00 am CST Update: Milenio newspaper just put out an article about an hour ago which says that the federal judge who ruled that RCQ cannot be deported or expelled from the country until the end of his trial now “declines to continue with the case”. 


What this really means is that Judge Reséndiz Neril, who is located in Jalisco, “declined jurisdiction” to continue hearing the case - namely because RCQ is being held in a prison in the state of Mexico, outside of his jurisdiction. That being said, Judge Reséndiz Neril’s ruling on the amparo still stands so basically nothing has changed.



Sources: El Economista, Proceso, El Universal, Forbes Article 1, Article 2, The Washington Post, Santa Maria Times, Insight Crime, CI Brief, The Marshall Project


35 comments:

  1. Hey HEARST, just a suggestion, I understand you're busy and things can become overwhelming but I got an idea. Is there anyway you guys can create an article titled " RCQ Updates" and include the hyperlinks to the previous articles while also adding the newer related RCQ stories. Maybe even eliminating the comment board in order to keep it strictly information based. Can the article be kept at the top of the page so it doesn't get pushed down as new articles make their way? Again, just a suggestion. I don't want to come off as a "limosnero y con garrote" if it's too much work and it can't be done, it's completely understandable. I appreciate the work you do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great idea.

      I wish there was a way to pin a post to the top of the main page. And then we could use that post to hyperlink to all the RCQ related articles like you are suggesting but I don't think Blogger (which is what BB is run through) allows for posts to be pinned to the top.

      If anyone knows how that can be done in Blogger though, let me know with a comment.

      Delete
    2. Hearst, Sol, X and the rest, thank you for keeping us informed. I was so proud of yall when I saw you were referenced in The Sun. I'm from Northeast Ohio but I spent many years in AZ, especially in the Zeta days... BB truly is one of the only non-biased Mexican news outlet . God bless.

      Delete
    3. No, thank you for reading and commenting.You may not realize it, but comments like these mean a lot.

      Also, The Sun mentioned BB?

      Delete
    4. https://youtu.be/Axjqd2cOYGc

      Hearst once a month AMLO's cabinet gives their stats and updates on national security. It's definitely informative, I don't know if you're willing to watch, possibly even post. If you skip to around the 57 minute mark that's where they get into more detail and show slides of the criminals Al's who have been apprehended by federal government agencies.

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    5. Yeah. I almost always get one or two new stories originating from those monthly updates. I try to use their slides, give timestamps for spots in the video and use the official transcript when I can. But I tend to focus on just a single incident per post rather then an overview of all the arrests they review because I thought you guys might get bored.

      I also find I have to Google every arrest they mention in order to get an idea of what really happened.

      Tell me what you guys prefer to read though. Just a selection of the arrests, with more details or a overview of many arrests, with few details?

      Delete
  2. If Caro Q. Can come up with big Bribes. The curupt judge in Mexico will set him free and Obrador will be laughing at USA.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. There's no saving this one, he's done. AMLO did not like the feeling of that girthy thang going in him in the White House.

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    2. 6:33 watch the bribe work. Because the government of Mexico don't want him to sing like a Canary, or like the ninos/reddit home alone kids, would say "he snitched" boo hoo.
      FBI will bring him sodas, chips he will talk his life story.

      Delete
    3. 7:38 He can't sing unless he's offered a deal.

      Delete
    4. An old man locked up, will sing big time. He needs to get everything off his chest. Also if he does bribe Mexico, he will secretly be let go, then a week later will tell the DEA that he escaped.

      Delete
  3. Anyone educate me on this matter: the gulf cartel leader Osiel was involve killing this DEA agent that Qaro being accused of? Or is it different event?

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    Replies
    1. I don't think Osiel killed any DEA or any American agents. There was incident where he's easily could have but chose not to involved an informant great YouTube on it

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    2. He threatened an FBI agent and pointed an assault rifle at him but that's the extent of it.

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    3. Osiel's guards pointed guns at some undercover FBI agents who told Osiel to think better about it, they were let go.
      Osiel was about 18 years old in tamaulipas when Camarena was getting murdered in Guadalajara

      Delete
  4. They all go north once the gringos want them..
    They can have 100 amparos but they will ALL get rejected
    Onother Mexican capo will bite the dust and all but the government protected Mayo will fall in the hands of the gringos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This dude is obsessed with the gringos. Funny tho how they think they can end the cartels in Mexico but can’t end all the Mexican American gangs homegrown in the US even after hitting them with injunctions and RICO.

      Delete

    2.  "... El monte es mi casa, mi familia, [mi protección], mi tierra, el agua que bebo..."

      "...Si él se exhibiera o yo lo hiciera, ya nos habrían agarrado. –¿Algunas veces ha sentido cerca al Ejército? –Cuatro veces. El Chapo más. –¿Qué tan cerca? –Arriba, sobre mi cabeza. Hui por el monte, del que conozco los ramajes, los arroyos, las piedras, todo. A mí me agarran si me estoy quieto o me descuido, como al Chapo. Para que hoy pudiéramos reunirnos, vine de lejos. Y en cuanto terminemos, me voy. –¿Teme que lo agarren? –Tengo pánico de que me encierren. –Si lo agarraran, ¿terminaría con su vida? –No sé si tuviera los arrestos para matarme...."
      -Mayo Zambada

      Government protected Mayo? Well according to Mayo himself he is not protected. He claims his protection is living in rural hillside communities. He's almost been apprehended on 4 occasions and his biggest fear is being caught...

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    3. 11:31 he's all show and pendejos like you believe it haha
      Mayo paid the gringos 1.5 billion so they can release his snitch son and give him a slap on the wrist..
      Even vicentillo said they were government protected INFORMANTS and was crying about it when they caught him in Mexico city..
      Vicentillo wanted to take his case to trial on the fact that he's a government protected INFORMANT
      Look up his case its all in black and white 😉

      Delete
    4. 10:40 they could end gangs and cartels if they wanted to but it's ALL A BIG business..
      Government needs drugs,gangs and cartels because it's part of the money making machine..
      The 🇺🇸 acts like Mexicans are the reason USA is flooded with drugs but that's not the case.
      USA needs a scapegoat to blame and its 🇲🇽..
      Without China there would NOT be any hard drugs like illegal pills, fentynil, or methanfetimine..
      Without Colombia Peru or Bolivia there would be NO COCAINE..
      But yea, let's Blane EVERYTHING on the Mexicans 🤣
      All a big show. There's no such thing as war on drugs.

      Delete
    5. 10:40 they don't want to stop the flow of drugs, they just replace the big shot callers.
      They all get fucK[=D at the end

      Delete
    6. Well, someone should tell that to z40. He's still in Mexico with him getting extradited no where in sight.

      Delete
    7. El Mayo been gone for a while now. Way gone, such as pacific island, no network access, not on the map. He can afford it. So he dont care bout the details now, green lighted his kids, Russo cut loose.

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    8. 1230 So what makes you more credible? Why should I believe you over the interview? What Intel do you have access to that should make me believe you over the man himself? If he has government protection then why is he running and hiding and not seeking plea deals like his brother and son? Now explain to me how you can have government protection but still end up in prison? How is 13 years in prison a slap on the wrist? ... I'm only citing what came from the horses mouth. I'm not claiming to know more than what I've read but for some reason you think your version is better? If anything you're the random pendejo who thinks he has physic powers and a crystal ball that allows him to see what us other pendejos don't... 🤣🤣🤣🤣 You need to get outta here with your pothead conspiracies you fucken idiot.

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    9. When you move as much weight as he did 13 years (85%) is a slap in the wrist compared to people who get caught with a few kilos and do the same amount of time or more.

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  5. What you don't realize is that amlo is not pro USA. He has a relationship due to courtesy and due to the fact that Mexico is a neighboring state. He has more of a socialist mindset and disagrees with many of USA policies. Rafa has a better chance than ever, and hopefully things work in his favor

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    1. According to the melolengo in here AMLO is a puppet to the cartels, he speaks gibberish every morning, he's lazy and does nothing for Mexico, he gives hugs to thugs and jumps when Biden tells him to. All while he's significantly downsized DEA presence, changed the constitution to prevent corruption, extradited more criminals in 3 years than the last 3 presidents combined, created more social and economic programs and opportunities and the list is endless. You're absolutely right though, AMLO is not down with the U.S intervention in Mexican affairs.

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    2. I too agree Lopez Obrador is being puppeted by higher-ups in the military and the Cartels. If he tried to deflect he would get Plata o Plumo.

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    3. All countries are puppets to USA!

      Delete
    4. 11:37 💯👍

      Delete
  6. It would be funny if a Judge lets him walk out of jail and he escapes the USA for another 10 years .
    Dont lose hope Rafa Quientero it can happen .
    "Si se Puede Si Se Puede"

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  7. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 chapos face🤣🤣🤣 pinche lloron no que muy bravo y que todos se la pelaban? He a bitch snitch, dicen que entre mas grande tu arma de fuego mas grande tu miedo

    ReplyDelete

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