Mexico sends another 37 ‘cartel members’ to US in latest offer to Trump

Mexico has sent 37 alleged drug cartel members to the United States, its security minister announced on Tuesday, amid ongoing pressure from the Trump administration to tackle criminal networks involved in cross-border drug smuggling.

Mexican Security Minister Omar García Harfuch confirmed the transfers in a social media post on X, describing those sent as "high impact criminals" who "represented a real threat to the country’s security."

This marks the third such transfer of detained cartel members to the US in under a year, bringing the total number of individuals sent to 92. The move comes as Mexico seeks to address mounting demands from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Among those sent were figures linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, the Beltrán-Leyva cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and the Northeast Cartel – a faction of the notorious Zetas based in Tamaulipas, across from Texas. Mexican authorities stated that all individuals faced pending cases in the US.

The U.S. State Department and Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the transfers.

Trump has entertained the idea of military action on Mexican cartels, language that has only gotten more combative since a U.S. military operation in Venezuela deposed former President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.

Turning his attention to Mexico shortly after the Venezuela attack, Trump said in an interview with Fox News: “We’ve knocked out 97 per cent of the drugs coming in by water and we are going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels.”

Last week, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke with Trump, telling him that U.S. intervention in Mexico was “not necessary,” but emphasizing that the two governments would continue to collaborate.

Last February, Mexico sent 29 cartel figures to the U.S., including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985. In August, a second round saw 26 Mexican cartel figures sent to the U.S. None had the profile of Caro Quintero, but spanning multiple cartels, the figures could help U.S. prosecutors build cases.

After the August transfer, García Harfuch said it was a public safety decision, because Mexico did not want them to continue operating their illicit businesses from inside Mexican prisons.

Another transfer of prisoners to the U.S. had been rumored for weeks. Mexico has sought to assure the Trump administration that it continues to be a willing partner in combating drug traffickers.