Over Two Dozen Alleged High-Ranking Cartel Members Extradited To United States In Deal Between Mexico And Trump Administration

Mexico will extradite 26 alleged high-ranking cartel leaders to the United States in a deal with the Trump administration.

“Today is the latest example of the Trump administration’s historic efforts to dismantle cartels and foreign terrorist organizations,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News Digital.

“These 26 men have all played a role in bringing violence and drugs to American shores — under this Department of Justice, they will face severe consequences for their crimes against this country. We are grateful to President Sheinbaum and the Mexican government for their collaboration in this matter,” she added.

BREAKING: Mexico is expelling 26 cartel figures wanted by U.S. authorities in a deal with the Trump administration. https://t.co/bTR9aEkBOx

— The Associated Press (@AP) August 12, 2025

Fox News has more:

Abigael González Valencia, a leader of the “Los Cuinis,” cartel, which is aligned with the notorious Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) and Roberto Salazar, who is accused of participating in the 2008 killing of a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy, are among those being handed over to the U.S.

The Trump administration has classified the CJNG as a terrorist organization.

Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and Security Ministry confirmed the men were being handed over, saying the deal was made after the U.S. Justice Department said it wouldn’t seek the death penalty for any of the men.

The deal comes amid the Trump administration’s focus on border security and attempt to crack down on Mexican cartels that send drugs across the border.

“President Trump’s top priority is protecting the homeland, which is why he took the bold step to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations,” deputy White House press secretary Anna Kelly previously said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“This transfer is yet another example of what is possible when two governments stand united against violence and impunity,” U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said, according to the Associated Press.

“These fugitives will now face justice in U.S. courts, and the citizens of both of our nations will be safer from these common enemies,” he added.

Mexico hands over 26 high-ranking alleged drug cartel figures to US for prosecution https://t.co/Qtlrmk9q0i pic.twitter.com/JArlCRxzzF

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) August 13, 2025

More details from the Associated Press:

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

Also included in the group expelled Tuesday was Servando Gómez Martinez, also known as “La Tuta,” a former school teacher who became one of Mexico’s 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.

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.

Abigael González Valencia is the brother-in-law of CJNG leader Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, a top target of the U.S. government. Abigael González 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 “El Mencho’s” arrest or conviction.

Alongside his two brothers, Abigael González Valencia led “Los Cuinis,” 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.