On Wednesday, June 17, 2026, Rafael Caro Quintero, co-founder of the now-defunct Guadalajara Cartel, appeared at a new hearing in his ongoing case in New York. During the session held at the Eastern District Court in Brooklyn, the U.S. prosecution requested that the jury for his trial be kept anonymous.<\/p>\n
The hearing focused on classified documents and evidence to be presented during the trial, according to La Jornada. The prosecution also asked Judge Frederic Block to keep the jurors\u2019 identities confidential, a request formally submitted the night before.<\/p>\n
Specifically, the government wants the names, addresses, and workplaces of both potential jurors and the final panel to remain undisclosed to the defense and prosecution teams. Additionally, they proposed that jurors be transported daily to and from the courthouse by the U.S. Marshals Service and remain isolated from the public while at the court.<\/p>\n
These measures, the prosecution argues, are essential to protect the trial\u2019s integrity and ensure jury impartiality by preventing harassment, intimidation, or interference. The case involves charges of exceptional gravity, and Caro Quintero is believed to have the means and history to disrupt judicial proceedings\u2014including the murder of a U.S. federal agent and continuing criminal activity while imprisoned in Mexico.<\/p>\n
Despite these concerns, prosecutors left open the possibility of negotiating a plea deal with Caro Quintero during Wednesday\u2019s hearing. So far, he has pleaded not guilty to all charges.<\/p>\n
The Mexican national faces accusations in the U.S. of leading a criminal enterprise; murder\u2014including the 1985 kidnapping, torture, and killing of DEA Special Agent Enrique \u2018Kiki\u2019 Camarena; two counts of international drug distribution; and illegal use of firearms to promote drug trafficking.<\/p>\n
Known as the \u2018Narco of Narcos,\u2019 Caro Quintero was extradited from Mexico to the U.S. alongside 28 other cartel leaders, including Vicente Carrillo Fuentes and the Trevi\u00f1o Morales brothers, co-founders of the Zetas cartel.<\/p>\n
This high-profile case highlights ongoing challenges in cross-border justice and the complexities of dismantling entrenched criminal networks. For communities affected by cartel violence and those navigating life between Mexico and the U.S., the trial\u2019s outcome could have significant implications for law enforcement and justice efforts on both sides of the border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Wednesday, June 17, 2026, Rafael Caro Quintero, co-founder of the now-defunct Guadalajara Cartel, appeared at a new hearing in his ongoing case in New York. During the session held at the Eastern District Court in Brooklyn, the U.S. prosecution requested that the jury for his trial be kept anonymous. The hearing focused on classified […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internacional"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1489,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1488\/revisions\/1489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}