Mexican Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said Mexico flew 37 alleged drug cartel members and leaders to the United States on Tuesday to face federal charges. Photo by Sashenka Gutierrez/EPA
Mexican officials have sent another 37 alleged drug cartel members to the United States amid pressure to do so from President Donald Trump.
Mexican Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch announced the transfer of detainees Tuesday.
“This morning, the [Security Cabinet of Mexico] transferred 37 criminal organization operators to the United States who posed a real threat to the country’s security,” Garcia said in a translated post on X.
“The action was carried out in accordance with the National Security Law and under bilateral cooperation mechanisms, with full respect for national sovereignty,” he continued.
“At the request of [the U.S. Department of Justice], a commitment was made not to seek the death penalty,” Garcia added.
Instead, they were flown to Washington, D.C., Houston, New York, Pennsylvania, San Antonio and San Diego, aboard seven military aircraft.
The transfer of the 37 alleged cartel members raises to 92 the number of “high-impact criminals sent to the U.S. during this administration who will no longer be able to generate violence in our country,” Garcia said.
Mexico sent 29 alleged cartel members to the United States in February and another 26 in August.
Among those transferred on Tuesday was alleged Northeast Cartel leader Ricardo Gonzalez Suceda aka El Ricky.
The transfer is the third done so far since Trump was sworn in a year ago and involved alleged members of the Sinaloa, Beltran-Leyva, Jalisco New Generation, Northeast and Zetas cartels that are based in Mexico and operate in the United States.
Trump has threatened to carry out military action against drug cartels operating out of Mexico after the U.S. military on Jan. 3 captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and flew them to New York to face federal drug trafficking and related charges.
The president said the U.S. military has stopped the flow of nearly all drugs coming to the United States by water and wants to do the same to those coming overland.
