{"id":46039,"date":"2025-08-12T22:52:05","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T03:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=46039"},"modified":"2025-08-12T22:52:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T03:52:27","slug":"mexico-transfers-26-cartel-figures-wanted-by-u-s-authorities-in-deal-with-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=46039","title":{"rendered":"Mexico transfers 26 cartel figures wanted by U.S. authorities in deal with Trump administration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Mexico<\/a> sent 26 high-ranking cartel figures to the United States on Tuesday in the latest major deal with the Trump administration as American authorities ratchet up pressure on criminal networks smuggling drugs<\/a> across the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those handed over to U.S. custody include Abigael Gonz\u00e1lez Valencia, a leader of \u201cLos Cuinis,\u201d a group closely aligned with notorious cartel Jalisco New Generation, or CJNG. Another defendant, Roberto Salazar, is wanted in connection with the 2008 killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff\u2019s deputy. Other prominent figures have ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and other violent drug trafficking groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transfers are a milestone for the Trump administration, which has made dismantling dangerous drug cartels a key Justice Department priority. It is the second time in months that Mexico has expelled cartel figures accused of narcotics smuggling, murder and other crimes amid mounting pressure from the Trump administration to curb the flow of drugs onto American streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese 26 men have all played a role in bringing violence and drugs to American shores \u2014 under this Department of Justice, they will face severe consequences for their crimes against this country,\u201d Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. \u201cWe are grateful to Mexico\u2019s National Security team for their collaboration in this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cartel figures were put on planes to the U.S. after the Justice Department agreed not to seek the death penalty against any of the defendants or against any cartel leaders and members sent to the U.S. in February. That transfer was of 29 cartel figures, including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis transfer is yet another example of what is possible when two governments stand united against violence and impunity,\u201d U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said in a statement. \u201cThese fugitives will now face justice in U.S. courts, and the citizens of both of our nations will be safer from these common enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The February transfers came as Mexican officials were trying to head off the Trump administration\u2019s threat of imposing tariffs on Mexican imports. Late last month, President Donald Trump<\/a> spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum<\/a> and agreed to put off threatened 30% tariffs for another 90 days to allow for negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheinbaum has shown a willingness to cooperate more on security than her predecessor, specifically being more aggressive in pursuit of Mexico\u2019s cartels. But she has drawn a clear line when it comes to Mexico\u2019s sovereignty, rejecting suggestions by Trump and others of intervention by the U.S. military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also included in the group expelled Tuesday was Servando G\u00f3mez Martinez, also known as \u201cLa Tuta,\u201d a former school teacher who became one of Mexico\u2019s most-wanted drug lords as head of the Knights Templar cartel. He was captured in 2015 and sentenced to 55 years in a Mexican prison in June 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gomez led the quasi-religious criminal group that once exercised absolute control over Michoacan and he liked to appear in interviews and videos. The cartel orchestrated politics, controlled commerce, dictated rules and preached a code of ethics around devotion to God and family, even as it murdered and plundered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abigael Gonz\u00e1lez Valencia is the brother-in-law of CJNG leader Nemesio Rub\u00e9n \u201cEl Mencho\u201d Oseguera Cervantes, a top target of the U.S. government. Abigael Gonz\u00e1lez Valencia was arrested in February 2015 in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, and had been fighting extradition to the United States since then. The U.S. government has offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of \u201cEl Mencho.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside his two brothers, Abigael Gonz\u00e1lez Valencia led \u201cLos Cuinis,\u201d which financed the the founding and growth of the CJNG, one of the most powerful and dangerous cartels in Mexico. CJNG traffics hundreds of tons of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the United States and other countries and is known for extreme violence, murders, torture and corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of his brothers, Jos\u00e9 Gonz\u00e1lez Valencia, was sentenced in Washington\u2019s federal court in June to 30 years in a U.S. prison after pleading guilty to international cocaine trafficking. Jose Gonz\u00e1lez Valencia was arrested in 2017 under the first Trump administration at a beach resort in Brazil while vacationing with his family under a fake name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nbcnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Mexico sent 26 high-ranking cartel figures to the United States on Tuesday in the latest major deal with the Trump administration as American authorities ratchet up pressure on criminal networks smuggling drugs across the border. Those handed over to U.S. custody include Abigael Gonz\u00e1lez Valencia, a leader of \u201cLos Cuinis,\u201d a group closely aligned with notorious cartel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":46040,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[34317,2861,1638,3201,21964,2259],"class_list":["post-46039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-drug-cartel-senior-leader","tag-drugs","tag-mexico","tag-smuggling","tag-the-united-states","tag-transfer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46039"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46042,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46039\/revisions\/46042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}