Accused Mexican cartel leader Quintero pleads not guilty to drug charges in U.S. court

Alleged Mexican cartel boss Rafael Caro Quintero pleaded not guilty Friday to drug trafficking charges.

Mexican authorities agreed Thursday to send Quintero and approximately 30 other suspected cartel members to the U.S., including former Zetas cartel leader Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales.

The United States has been trying to secure Quintero's arrest for over 40 years, after he was convicted in Mexico of plotting the 1985 murder of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, according to the New York Times.

Quintero, 72, spent 28 years in Mexican prison for Camarena’s murder, which he denied being involved in, CNN reported. He pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with leading a criminal enterprise, drug trafficking, and illegal firearms use at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Levy in Brooklyn.