Mexico Extradition Of 26 Suspects Of Cartel Members To Mexico

Illustration of the United States - Mexico border. (Wikimedia Commons/Sgt. 1st Class Gordon Hyde)

JAKARTA - Mexico sent more than two dozen suspected cartel members to the United States on Tuesday, amid increasing pressure from President Donald Trump for Mexico to dissolve influential drug organizations in the country.

Mexican authorities have sent 26 detainees wanted in the US for being linked to drug trafficking groups, Mexico's Attorney General's Office and the security ministry said in a joint statement.

Mexico said the US Department of Justice had requested their extradition and would not demand the death penalty for the accused cartel members.

In a statement, the US Embassy said among those extradited there were key figures of the New Generation of Jalisco Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel, two of Mexico's dominant organized crime groups.

"This transfer is another example of what might happen when two governments unite against violence and impunity," US Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said in a statement.

"These fugitives will now be tried in American courts, and citizens of our two countries will be safer," he added.

This transfer is the second time this year. In February, Mexican authorities sent 29 suspected cartel leaders into the US, sparking debate over the political and legal basis behind the action.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's decision to allow large-scale extradition of Mexican citizens has again underscored her efforts to balance circumstances in her efforts to calm President Trump and avoid a unilateral US military action in Mexico.

President Trump has linked tariffs against Mexico to deadly fentanyl trading, with claims the country has not handled drug cartels adequately aggressively. Last week, he ordered the Pentagon to prepare operations against Mexican drug gangs that have been designated as global terrorist organizations.

Meanwhile, President Sheinbaum said the US and Mexico were close to reaching a security deal to expand cooperation in fighting cartels. However, he firmly rejected the assumption that the Trump Administration, Mexico could carry out unilateral military operations in Mexico.