Mexico has extradited 29 alleged drug traffickers to the US amid mounting pressure from the Trump administration to crack down on fentanyl smuggling or face tariffs.
The 29 inmates were being held in various prisons across the country and include Rafael Caro Quintero, the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, who is wanted by the US for the murder of US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena in 1985.
The move on Thursday follows the designation of Mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) by US President Donald Trump in January.
Trump has continuously threatened Mexico with tariffs to push it into stepping up efforts to tackle drug cartels, while the Mexican government led by President Claudia Sheinbaum is doing what is possible to stave them off.
"As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups, and this Department of Justice is devoted to destroying cartels and transnational gangs," US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
The Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection (SSCP), a Cabinet-level agency of the government responsible for supervising public safety and security, released a statement on the extradition of the high-profile criminals, pledging their handover as a means of cooperation with the US.
"This action is part of the bilateral coordination, cooperation and reciprocity efforts within the framework of respect for the sovereignty of both nations," it said.
Collaboration against cartels
Caro Quintero, nicknamed "El Narco de Narcos" or "The Narco of Narcos," for his power and role as the co-founder of the Guadalajara Cartel, the most powerful drug cartel in Latin America during the 80s, has evaded US imprisonment for decades.
Charged with the torture and murder of Camarena, he spent 28 years in a Mexican prison since his arrest in 1985.
He walked free in 2013, however, when a court overturned his 40-year sentence.
He returned to drug trafficking until he was arrested by Mexican forces in 2022. Last week, Sheinbaum confirmed that the United States had been operating drones spying on Mexican cartels as part of a collaboration that has existed for years.
Mexican authorities have recently announced a series of major drug seizures and announced the arrest last week of two prominent members of the Sinaloa Cartel, which was among the groups designated as terrorist organisations by Trump.
