Mexico has extradited 26 high-ranking cartel figures to the US in the latest major deal with the Trump administration as US authorities ratchet up pressure on criminal networks sending drugs across the border.
Authorities sent 26 prisoners who were wanted in the US for ties to drug-trafficking groups, Mexico’s attorney general’s office and security ministry said in a joint statement on Tuesday. The transfers were carried out after a promise from the US justice department that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty in any of the cases.
Those being handed over to US custody include Abigael González Valencia, a leader of “Los Cuinis” a group closely aligned with notorious Jalisco New Generation cartel or CJNG. Another person, Roberto Salazar, is accused of participating in the 2008 killing of a Los Angeles county sheriff’s deputy, the person said.
