Mexico Sends Dozens More Cartel Members to US
The letters "CJNG" for the group's formal name, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, covers the facade of an abandoned home in El Limoncito, in the Michoacan state of Mexico. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)
Mexico’s security minister said Tuesday that the country has transferred another 37 alleged drug cartel members to the United States, as the Trump administration increases pressure on regional governments to dismantle criminal networks accused of trafficking drugs across the border.
Mexican Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said in a post on X that those sent to the U.S. were “high-impact criminals” who “posed a real threat to the country’s security.” According to the Associated Press, this marks the third transfer of detained cartel figures in less than a year, bringing the total number sent to the United States to 92.
The latest group includes members of the Sinaloa Cartel, the Beltrán-Leyva cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and the Northeast Cartel — a Zetas splinter group based in the border state of Tamaulipas, across from Texas. Mexican authorities said all of the individuals face pending cases in U.S. courts.
President Trump has publicly raised the possibility of taking military action against Mexican cartels, using increasingly aggressive language in recent weeks. Following a U.S. military operation in Venezuela earlier this month, Trump said in a Fox News interview that the United States has “knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water” and would now focus on land-based trafficking tied to cartels.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke with Trump last week, saying that U.S. intervention in Mexico was “not necessary,” while stressing that both countries would continue cooperating on security issues.
In February, Mexico transferred 29 cartel figures to the United States, including Rafael Caro Quintero, the drug lord responsible for the 1985 killing of a U.S. DEA agent. Another 26 suspects were sent in August. While none of those were as prominent as Caro Quintero, officials said the transfers spanned multiple cartels and could strengthen U.S. prosecutions.
After the August transfer, García Harfuch said the move was made for public safety reasons, explaining that Mexico did not want cartel leaders continuing to run criminal operations from inside its prison system.
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