mexico city — Mexico City (AFP) – Mexico Mexico has sent 37 more members of Mexican drug cartels to the United States, Mexico’s security minister said Tuesday. Trump administration Pressure is increasing on governments to crack down on criminal networks they say are smuggling drugs across borders.
Mexican Security Minister Omar García Harfush wrote in a social media post on X that the people transferred were “high-impact criminals” who “represent a real threat to the country’s security.”
This is the third time in less than one year that Mexico Detained cartel members were sent to the United States At a time when the country is trying to confront the increasing threats from US President Donald Trump. Garcia Harfush said the government sent 92 people in total.
A video released by Mexican authorities shows a line of handcuffed prisoners surrounded by heavily armed and masked officers being loaded onto a military plane at an airport on the outskirts of Mexico City.
“As pressure increases, and as demands from the White House increase, (Mexico’s government) needs to resort to extraordinary measures, such as these transfers,” said David Mora, a Mexico analyst at the International Crisis Group.
The US State Department and Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tuesday’s transfer included a handful of VIPs from… Sinaloa CartelBeltran Leyva Cartel, Jalisco New Generation CartelNortheast Cartel, a remnant of the notorious Zetas and based in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas, across from Texas. Mexican authorities said they all had pending U.S. cases.
Among those transferred were Maria del Rosario Navarro Sanchez, The first Mexican citizen to face charges In the United States to provide support to a terrorist organization, after being accused of conspiring with a gang.
Trump has publicly expressed the idea of military action against Mexican cartels, language that has become more combative since the US military operation in Venezuela. Deposed former president Nicolas Maduro Earlier this month.
Turning his attention to Mexico shortly after the attack on Venezuela, Trump said in an interview with Fox News: “We got rid of 97% of the drugs coming in by water, and now we’re going to start getting on land, as far as the cartels go.”
Mexico last week President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke with TrumpHe told him that American intervention in Mexico was “not necessary,” but stressed that the two governments would continue to cooperate.
Last February, Mexico sent 29 cartel figures to the United States. Including drug lord Rafael Caro Quinterowho was behind the murder of a US Drug Enforcement Administration agent in 1985. In August, the second round saw 26 Mexican cartel figures sent to the United States. None had a Caro Quintero file, but these numbers include multiple gangs, and these numbers could help US prosecutors build cases.
After the transfer in August, García Harfush said it was a public safety decision, because Mexico did not want them to continue running their illegal businesses from inside Mexican prisons.
Rumors have circulated for weeks about another transfer of prisoners to the United States. Mexico has sought to reassure the Trump administration that it remains a willing partner in the fight against drug traffickers.
“For the Trump administration and the Trump base, what ultimately matters is some victories that Trump can take back and say, ‘Look, this is what I’m getting out of Mexico,’” Mora said.
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Associated Press reporter Fabiola Sanchez contributed to this report from Mexico City.
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