The former leader of the Juarez cartel, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, aka ‘El Viceroy’, declared this Friday not guilty before the Federal Court of the Eastern District of New York, where he faces charges for belonging to the criminal organization and distribute cocaine to the US, with the threat of the death penalty.
The brief appearance of ‘El Viceroy’ occurred minutes before Rafael Caro Quintero, co -founder of the Guadalajara Cartel, after sending both bosses along with 27 other drug traffickers from Mexico to the United States yesterday.
“This is a very important case, Carrillo Fuentes led the Juarez Cartel and sending thousands of kilos of cocaine to the United States. He was allied with the Sinaloa cartel, but they faced and left a huge spiral of violence, ”said the Prosecutor’s Office on ‘El Viceroy’.
The defendant’s ex officio lawyers refuted the Prosecutor’s Office claiming that he dedicated himself to the lucrative drug trafficking business “mainly due to the enormous drug demand for the United States.”
The preliminary hearing to the ex -leader of the Juarez Cartel is scheduled for March 25.
Lee: Caro Quintero declares not guilty for drug trafficking in the US
Caro Quintero and ‘El Viceroy’ arrived yesterday in the United States as part of an operation that the Department of Justice and the US Department of State, as well as the Attorney General’s Office, have defined as “expulsion” and not as extradition, a fundamental nuance because it opens the door to the death penalty for the accused.
The nuance of expulsion
“Can you explain the difference between expulsion and extradition?” The Judge Robert M. Levy asked during the session, to which the Public Ministry replied that they have been expelled according to the National Security Law of Mexico with the approval of that country, which does not prevent them from applying the death penalty, which would not happen if they had been extradited.
The US Department of Justice has already specified that, because it considers the epidemic of death due to overdose – especially of fentanyl – a terrorist act committed by the leaders of the cartels, the bosses could face the death penalty.
Even in the state of New York, state where capital punishment was abolished in 2004.
In addition, Donald Trump’s administration included weeks ago to cartels in the list of foreign terrorist organizations.
“The Viceroy” was heir to one of the most powerful organized crime groups in the late nineties due to their links with Colombian cartels for the transport of cocaine by air.
Lee: Mexico delivers 29 drug traffickers while negotiating tariff cancellation; Caro Quintero, one of them
He received the leadership of the Juarez Cartel after the death of his older brother Amado Carrillo, ‘The Lord of Heaven’, after complications as a result of plastic surgery.
‘El Viceroy’ wove an important link with the Sinaloa cartel, but this came to an end in 2004 after family conflict between Vicente Carrillo and Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán that marked the beginning of a war between both organizations and left dozens dead in states such as Sinaloa or Chihuahua.
With EFE information
Do you like to inform yourself for Google News? Follow our showcase to have the best stories
