By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) - The accused Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero is in talks with U.S. prosecutors over a potential plea agreement, his lawyer said in court on Thursday.
Caro Quintero, 73, pleaded not guilty in February 2025 to charges that include engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise and a cocaine importation conspiracy. The founder of the Guadalajara Cartel, who once reigned over Mexico's criminal underworld, is currently in jail in Brooklyn.
In a hearing in Brooklyn federal court, Caro Quintero's lawyer Elizabeth Macedonio said prosecutors and defense lawyers were "continuing to discuss a disposition short of a trial." She later told reporters that talks were in early stages.
Federal prosecutor Francisco Navarro said in court: "There is currently not a plea offer."
Last August, the U.S. Department of Justice said it would not seek the death penalty for Caro Quintero, who is tentatively scheduled to go on trial on March 8, 2027.
Mexican authorities expelled Caro Quintero in February 2025 as part of their surprise handover of 29 alleged drug kingpins to the United States.
He spent 28 years in prison in Mexico after being convicted of the 1985 murder of former U.S. drug enforcement agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, one of the most notorious killings in Mexico's narcotics wars.
Caro Quintero was released in 2013 on a technicality, but Mexican authorities recaptured him in 2022 as the U.S. sought his extradition. He has denied involvement in Camarena's death.
The violent story of the capo and murdered DEA agent featured prominently in Mexico's 2018 "Narcos Mexico" series.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by David Gaffen)
