Mexico has handed over 26 high-ranking cartel figures to the US in the latest deal with the White House as it highlights concerns over criminal networks sending drugs across the border.
On Tuesday, August 12, Mexico's attorney general's office and security ministry said in a joint statement that authorities sent 26 prisoners who were wanted in the US for ties to drug-trafficking groups.
The transfers were carried out after a promise from the US Justice Department that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty in any of the cases.
Those being surrendered to the US custody include Abigael González Valencia, a leader of "Los Cuinis," a group closely aligned with the notorious CJNG.
Roberto Salazar, who is accused of participating in the 2008 killing of an LA County sheriff's deputy, was also among those who were handed over to the US.
It marked the second time in months Mexico had expelled cartel figures accused of narcotics smuggling, murder and other crimes amid mounting pressure from the Trump administration to curb the flow of drugs across the border.
In February, Mexico expelled 29 cartel figures, including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a US DEA agent in 1985.
Mexico president Claudia Sheinbaum has shown a willingness to cooperate more on security matters than her predecessor, specifically being more aggressive in pursuit of Mexico’s cartels.
However, she has drawn a clear line when it comes to Mexico's sovereignty, rejecting suggestions by President Donald Trump and others of intervention by the US military.
The Trump administration made dismantling dangerous drug cartels a key priority, designating CJNG and seven other Latin American organised crime groups as foreign terrorist organisations.
