Mexico has flown 26 high-ranking cartel figures to the United States in the latest joint operation with the Trump administration, according to The Associated Press. A person familiar with the plan described the transfers as ongoing; Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and Security Ministry later confirmed them. As part of the deal, the U.S. Justice Department pledged it would not seek the death penalty in any of the cases.
The list includes Abigael González Valencia, a leader of the Los Cuinis network closely aligned with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Also among those handed over is Roberto Salazar, who is accused of taking part in the 2008 killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy. The AP’s source requested anonymity because the operation was still underway.
Trade pressure, security cooperation
This is the second mass transfer in recent months. In February, Mexico delivered 29 cartel suspects to U.S. authorities, including Rafael Caro Quintero, long pursued for the 1985 murder of a DEA agent. That earlier move landed just as 25% tariffs on Mexican imports were about to take effect. Late last month, President Donald Trump and President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to delay threatened 30% tariffs for 90 days to keep negotiations alive.
Sheinbaum has signaled more aggressive action against Mexico’s major criminal groups than her predecessor did, while drawing a hard line on sovereignty. She has rejected U.S. military intervention even as security coordination deepens. The new transfers underscore that balance: closer prosecutorial teamwork without conceding to foreign troops on Mexican soil.
Names and networks
González Valencia is the brother-in-law of Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, CJNG’s elusive leader and a top U.S. target. Mexican authorities arrested González Valencia in Puerto Vallarta in 2015, and he has fought U.S. extradition ever since. Los Cuinis, which he led with his brothers, helped finance CJNG’s rise and operations. AP reporting notes the group’s role in moving cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl and details CJNG’s reputation for brutal violence and corruption.
The AP also reports that one of González Valencia’s brothers, José, was sentenced in Washington federal court in June to 30 years after pleading guilty to international cocaine trafficking—an outcome that signals where some of today’s transfers may be headed once U.S. prosecutors take custody.
Policy shift and the courtroom road ahead
The White House has made dismantling cartel leadership a marquee priority this year. According to the AP, the administration labeled CJNG and seven other Latin American organized-crime groups as foreign terrorist organizations—an escalation that could shape future indictments and penalties. That posture, paired with Mexico’s willingness to move high-value detainees, sets up a fast, visible pipeline from Mexican prisons to U.S. courts.
Much now depends on how quickly federal judges can process the incoming cases and how expansive the charges will be. Mexico’s condition that prosecutors forgo the death penalty removes a diplomatic obstacle that often slows cross-border cases. Families on both sides of the border—those of victims and the accused—will be watching closely as arraignments, bail hearings, and plea discussions begin.
What it means for the border
Large, coordinated transfers are not an end state; they’re a bet on deterrence. U.S. officials hope swift, high-profile prosecutions will disrupt the money, logistics, and fear that keep cartels embedded in communities. Mexican authorities, for their part, are measuring whether these handovers reduce pressure at home or simply shift the fight to new fronts. Today’s flights will test whether courtroom speed and political will can outrun the cartels’ capacity to regenerate leadership.
