Mexico extradites 26 suspected heads of the Mexican cartel to US
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Mexico has extradited 26 suspected leaders of Mexican cartels, including Sinaloa Cartel members, to the US on charges ranging from drug trafficking to murder. The move follows months of pressure from Washington.
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Mexicans soldiers escort Juan Francisco Sillas Rocha, aka “El Sillas” or “El Rueda”, allegedly one of the main collaborators of the leader of the drug cartel “Arellano Felix,” Fernando Sanchez Arellano, during his presentation to the press in Mexico City, on November 7, 2011. (YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Mexico has extradited 26 suspected leaders and high-ranking members of Mexican cartels, including prominent figures from the Sinaloa Cartel, to the US on charges ranging from drug trafficking to murder.
The transfer followed months of pressure from US President Donald Trump, who threatened steep tariffs if Mexico failed to stem the drug flow.
The extradition, confirmed by Mexico’s secretary of security and civilian protection, was carried out at the request of the US Department of Justice (DOJ), which pledged not to seek the death penalty.
The suspects face charges related to drug trafficking, kidnapping, illegal firearms use, human smuggling, money laundering, and the killing of a sheriff’s deputy.
Trump has made dismantling Mexican cartels a priority since his first day in office, designating them as a terrorist organization and signing an executive order to combat what he called a “campaign of violence and terror.” The recent operation follows similar action in February, when Mexico extradited 29 accused cartel members to the US.
Profiles of extradited cartel leaders
Among those now in US custody is Abigael González Valencia, described by the DOJ as a leader of Los Cuinis, “a major Mexican drug cartel responsible for trafficking multiple tons of cocaine from South America, through Mexico, into the United States.”
Also extradited are Kevin Gil Acosta and Martín Zazueta Pérez, identified as leaders of a Sinaloa Cartel faction heavily involved in fentanyl trafficking. According to court documents, they used military-grade weapons, including grenade launchers, in attacks on Mexican government and military forces.
Servando Gómez Martínez, known as La Tuta, former leader of the Knights Templar cartel and a former schoolteacher, was also transferred. He is serving a 55-year sentence in Mexico for crimes including kidnapping and drug trafficking.
US praises Mexico’s cooperation
US Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson expressed gratitude to President Claudia Sheinbaum for her “leadership in strengthening the partnership” with Trump and the US “against our common enemies.” Johnson emphasized that the extraditions demonstrate what is possible “when two governments stand united against violence and impunity.”
This comes just days after Sheinbaum condemned American threats of military intervention into Mexico under the guise of combating the cartel.
“The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military. We cooperate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion. That is ruled out, absolutely ruled out,” Sheinbaum stated, adding, “It is not part of any agreement, far from it. When it has been brought up, we have always said no.”
