leading up to a possible trial in the Eastern District Court of New York, Brooklyn. Judge Frederic Block gave the Department of Justice 90 days to determine whether to propose the death penalty as punishment for the defendant.
The 30-minute hearing was devoted to matters related to the conditions of his incarceration, details about the defendant's defense team, and orders regarding the handling of evidence in preparation for a possible trial.
Caro Quintero faces charges of leading a criminal conspiracy that includes murder conspiracy for the kidnapping, torture, and murder of DEA agent Enrique Kiki Camarena in Guadalajara in February 1985—prosecutors and the DEA have emphasized this as the primary reason for prosecuting the defendant—as well as other charges of conspiracy to distribute international narcotics and another for the use of firearms in connection with drug trafficking. If convicted, he faces life in prison or even the death penalty.
In one of the documents federal prosecutors argue for his imprisonment until trial, they emphasize that “the defendant is one of the most significant drug traffickers of the modern era. The defendant earned his nickname “ El Narco de Narcos” through his pioneering role in establishing the Guadalajara Cartel , which later became the Sinaloa Cartel .” Prosecutors insist that he “flooded the streets of the United States” with cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin, and used murder as “a tool to protect his organization.” Therefore, they claim, to “protect the community” from someone so dangerous, he must remain imprisoned until trial.
