Why Did Mexico Hand Over 26 Alleged Cartel Members to US? Know Real Reason

In a renewed push to curb transnational organised crime amid mounting US pressure, Mexico has expelled 26 alleged high-ranking cartel members to the United States, according to an Al Jazeera report.

A joint communique from Mexico’s attorney general’s office and its security ministry confirmed that the extradition was initiated at the request of the US Justice Department, which also provided guarantees that the death penalty would not be imposed on any of the individuals.

This coordinated transfer comes as the Trump administration steadily ratchets up pressure on Mexico to take stronger action against criminal syndicates tied to drug trafficking and human smuggling, Al Jazeera reported.

A key facet of that pressure campaign has been economic: the imposition of higher tariffs on certain Mexican exports to the United States. Trump has justified these measures as necessary to “hold Mexico ‘accountable’ for the ‘extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs’,” echoing his administration’s broader rhetoric.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has sought a delicate equilibrium in her dealings with Washington–working cooperatively on security challenges, while firmly safeguarding her nation’s sovereignty. Notably, she has strongly opposed any form of US military intervention on Mexican soil, Al Jazeera added in its report.

This latest extradition follows a similar transfer earlier this year. In February, Mexico handed over 29 alleged cartel figures–including Rafael Caro Quintero, accused in the 1985 killing of a DEA agent–to US authorities. That decision came amid Trump’s threat of a sweeping 25 per cent tariff on Mexican imports, although the final version of the threat was later scaled back.

Currently, Mexican-made vehicles and other products not covered under the existing US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) face a 25 per cent tariff in the US, while steel, aluminium and copper exports are taxed at 50 per cent.

However, at the end of July, the Trump administration granted a 90-day extension of tariff exemptions for goods that fall under USMCA provisions, easing immediate economic pressure.

Since assuming office, the Trump administration has taken the unconventional step of designating the CJNG (Jalisco New Generation Cartel) and seven other Latin American criminal groups as “foreign terrorist organisations”, heightening their legal and diplomatic impact on cartel enforcement.

One of those extradited in this most recent move is Valencia, the brother-in-law of CJNG leader Nemesio Ruben “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes–who remains one of the most wanted fugitives in both Mexico and the US. Valencia had been arrested in Mexico in February 2015 and had since been resisting extradition to the United States.

With inputs from ANI

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