The Mexican government on Thursday extradited nearly 30 high-ranking cartel operatives to the United States, including a notorious drug lord U.S. officials have sought for four decades, according to a statement from Mexican authorities.
The mass handover marks one of the most significant efforts in the history of the drug war to bring cartel figures before American courts.
The move coincided with a high-level Mexican delegation’s arrival in Washington for security talks with senior U.S. officials amid ongoing tensions between the two countries. While the U.S. government did not immediately comment, Mexico’s foreign ministry issued a statement emphasizing that the action was part of a broader framework of “coordination, cooperation, and bilateral reciprocity within the framework of respect for the sovereignty of both nations.”
Among those extradited was Rafael Caro Quintero, a founding member of the Sinaloa cartel convicted in Mexico for orchestrating the 1985 murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena. Also transferred to U.S. custody was Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, a former leader of the brutal Zetas cartel who was captured in 2013.
The Trump administration had ramped up diplomatic and economic pressure on Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in recent weeks, even suggesting military action against drug cartels operating within Mexico’s borders. The announcement of the extradition coincided with an announcement from Trump on his Truth Social account that tariffs on Canada and Mexico would begin next week.
