World
Mexico extradites dozens of cartel leaders and members to US, including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero
Mexico has begun the process of extraditing dozens of high-level cartel leaders and members to the U.S., including Rafael Caro Quintero, a former leader of the Guadalajara cartel involved in the kidnapping and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in 1985.
The founders of Los Zetas, Miguel and Omar Morales, also known as Z-40 and Z-42, will be extradited to the U.S. as well.
The extraditions were done at the request of the U.S. government as President Donald Trump’s tariff deadline looms. One of the president’s demands is for Mexico to crack down on dangerous cartels and fentanyl production and distribution.
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“This morning, 29 people who were deprived of their liberty in different penitentiary centers in the country were transferred to the United States of America, which were required due to their links with criminal organizations for drug trafficking, among other crimes,” Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection wrote.
“The custody, transfer and formal delivery of said people is carried out under institutional protocols with due respect for their fundamental rights, in accordance with our Constitution and the National Security Law and at the request of the United States Department of Justice.
“This action is part of the tasks of coordination, cooperation and bilateral reciprocity, within the framework of respect for the sovereignty of both nations.”
President Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico, and now officials like Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum are working with the U.S. to take on drug cartels and fentanyl. (Reuters)
The Associated Press reported that the removal of the Mexican drug lords coincided with a visit to Washington, D.C., by Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente and other top economic and military officials, who met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The meeting was the latest in ongoing negotiations with the U.S. over trade and security relations, which have radically shifted since Trump returned to the Oval Office Jan. 20.
Negotiations resulted in the handover of one of the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives, Caro Quintero, who walked free in 2013 after serving 28 years in prison. Caro Quintero was released when a court overturned his 40-year sentence for the 1985 kidnapping and killing of DEA agent Camarena.
This image released by the FBI shows the wanted poster for Rafael Caro Quintero. (FBI via AP, File)
Caro Quintero was arrested again by Mexican forces in July 2022 after he allegedly returned to drug trafficking. He was the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, and the DEA alleges he had returned to drug trafficking and ordered bloody attacks in the northern Mexico border state of Sonora.
Caro Quintero blamed Camarena for a raid on a marijuana plantation in 1984, allegedly ordering his kidnapping the following year. Camarena’s body was found a month later with evidence of torture and abuse.
The FBI added Caro Quintero to the Top 10 Most Wanted list in 2018 and offered a reward of up to $20 million for information leading to Quintero’s arrest and/or conviction.
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Cartels sell rainbow fentanyl pills, the DEA says. (Drug Enforcement Administration)
In January, a nonprofit group representing the Camarena family urged the Trump administration to renew longstanding U.S. requests for Mexico to extradite Caro Quintero, the AP learned after obtaining a copy of the letter from a person familiar with the family’s outreach.
“His return to the U.S. would give the family much-needed closure and serve the best interests of justice,” the letter said.
Since taking office, Trump has threatened to impose trade tariffs on Mexico, and several Mexican cartels have been designated by the State Department as foreign terrorist organizations.
The U.S. had sought the extradition of Caro Quintero shortly after his arrest in 2022. But the request remained stuck at Mexico’s foreign ministry for unknown reasons as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s predecessor and political mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, curtailed Mexican cooperation with the DEA to protest undercover U.S. law enforcement operations in Mexico targeting senior political and military officials.
The removal of the Treviño Morales brothers also marks the end of a long process that began after the capture in 2013 of Miguel Treviño Morales and his brother, Omar, in 2015. The process went on for so many years that Mexico Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero described the lags as “truly shameful.”
The Treviño Morales family, accused by American authorities of running the violent Northeast Cartel from prison, have charges pending in the U.S. for alleged participation in a criminal organization, drug trafficking, gun offenses and money laundering.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Iranians mourning the country’s supreme leader condemned U.S. strikes that Washington called retaliation for Iran’s attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. At a tightly controlled state funeral in Mashhad — one of Iran’s most conservative cities, where opponents of the government were unlikely to be found in the crowd — mourners voiced defiance and called for revenge.
World
Beloved musicians among victims in deadly Bahamas plane crash; aviation authority grounds flights
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A devastating double-aviation crisis in the Bahamas, including a deadly North Andros plane crash and a separate aircraft fire on Friday, prompted the government to suspend flight operations for a local airline and launch a federal safety probe.
Shortly after 1 p.m. local time Friday, a Cessna 402 aircraft with Bahamian registration departed Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau bound for San Andros Airport.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) said the plane “encountered difficulties” and crashed into bushes prior to landing.
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Authorities said 10 people were killed in a Bahamas plane crash on Friday. (Our News Bahamas via AP)
First responders, including the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Airport Authority and emergency medical personnel, rushed to the dense brush where the aircraft went down.
The Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union confirmed in a statement Saturday that 10 people died in the crash, including prominent members of the “The Pond Band” and a local DJ, whose artistry the union said “touched so many lives and helped to enrich the cultural fabric of The Bahamas.”
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said a sole survivor was pulled from the wreckage.
“Ann and I are praying for the families who are now facing unbearable grief,” Davis wrote in a statement on X. “We are also praying for the survivor, whose recovery and care will remain in our thoughts.”
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The identities of those killed in the crash have not yet been released.
While the AAIA’s preliminary reports initially indicated seven people were on board, officials are still establishing the facts of the flight manifest.
Just hours before the fatal crash in North Andros, a Flamingo Air flight en route to Mayaguana was forced to turn back to Nassau after the pilot reported a concern, according to the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Aviation (MoET).
After the aircraft landed and passengers safely deplaned, the plane caught fire on the runway.
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FILE – The Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate following two aircraft incidents Friday. (iStock)
Following the two back-to-back safety incidents, the Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas (CAAB) temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate, according to MoET officials.
“The suspension is a precautionary safety measure and should not be treated as an adverse compliance action against Flamingo Air,” the agency wrote in a statement.
FILE – The plane crashed in North Andros on Friday after taking off from Lynden Pindling International Airport. (Melissa Alcena/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Investigators from the AAIA and inspectors from the CAAB remain at the scene in North Andros as they work to determine what caused the Cessna 402 tragedy.
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Flamingo Air did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on •Updated
Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu nominated businessman Vasile Tofan on Saturday as the country’s next prime minister to replace Alexandru Munteanu, who resigned earlier this month over differences with the ruling majority.
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In a video posted to social media, Sandu said Tofan’s primary responsibility, after his candidacy is approved by the country’s parliament, would be to move the country further towards its path of “integration” into the European Union.
He should also “strengthen the resilience of state institutions and society”, and “revive the economy”, added Sandu.
The Moldovan businessman now has two weeks to secure parliamentary backing, a prospect he hopes to achieve after submitting his government programme and his ministerial cabinet nominations.
Tofan had been mentioned as a possible prime minister last year even before the appointment of Munteanu.
Igor Grosu, who heads Sandu’s Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) which won the last parliamentary elections in September, announced on Friday that he had selected him as his candidate to replace the outgoing premier.
He said Tofan shared “the same objectives” as him and PAS, specifying that “EU accession in the years to come, institutional reform and economic growth”, were among the biggest points of agreement.
The nominee for prime minister, who graduated Harvard Business School and turns 44 on Sunday, has a degree in public management from the Netherlands and is a managing partner at Horizon Capital, a private equity firm with assets primarily in Ukraine and Moldova.
He has also chaired the board of directors of Moldova’s Purcari winery, considered the crown jewel of the country’s winemaking sector.
Munteanu, another businessman who like Sandu previously worked at the World Bank, had been chosen to boost the economy and bring it closer to the EU, but turbulence with PAS saw him vacate his post less than a year into holding office.
He resigned on 3 July after less than eight months, stating that he could no longer carry out his mandate “according to (his) principles and (his) convictions”.
The EU last month officially launched a first round of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Both countries became official EU candidate countries on 23 June 2022.
Additional sources • AFP
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