Justice officials said on Tuesday, August 12, that Mexico has sent 26 wanted fugitives to the United States, including alleged Mexican drug cartel kingpins, amid pressure to crack down on cross-border fentanyl smuggling. "These fugitives are collectively alleged to have imported into the United States tonnage quantities of dangerous drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl and heroin," the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement.
US officials released a list of those extradited and currently in their custody, saying they are fugitives wanted for "violent and serious crimes" including drug trafficking, kidnapping, human smuggling and the murder of a Los Angeles sheriff's deputy in 2008, among other crimes.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi called the transfer "the latest example of the Trump administration's historic efforts to dismantle cartels and foreign terrorist organizations." The transfer was made "at the solicitation of the US Department of Justice," which "agreed not to seek the death penalty for the prisoners in its country," according to a joint statement from the Attorney General of Mexico and Mexico's Secretariat of Security and Civilian Safety.
The US embassy in Mexico said in a statement that kingpins from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel are among those who were extradited – both groups which were designated as terrorist organizations by the US in February.
"These fugitives will now face justice in US courts, and the citizens of both of our nations will be safer from these common enemies," US Ambassador Ronald Johnson said in a statement, praising the government of Mexico "for demonstrating resolve in the face of organized crime."
Among the drug dealers sent to the United States in Tuesday's transfer was Los Cuinis leader Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, whose cartel is accused of trafficking tons of cocaine from South America through Mexico and into the United States. It also included the Sinaloa Cartel's Leobardo Garcia Corrales, who is accused of trafficking fentanyl into the United States in exchange for weapons "such as AK-47s, grenades and submachine guns," US DOJ officials said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's government defended the move, saying some drug lords regain freedom through judicial corruption. The transfer is the second such instance since Trump returned to the White House in January. In late February, Mexico transferred 29 accused narcotraffickers to the United States, including prominent cartel kingpin Rafael Caro Quintero, who was accused of kidnapping and killing DEA special agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena in 1985.
The US currently has other kingpins in custody, including Sinaloa Cartel founder Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who received a life sentence, and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who is awaiting trial. Sheinbaum has pledged to collaborate with Washington on tackling drug trafficking, while rejecting any "invasion" of her country's sovereignty.