Mexico’s Security Minister Omar García Halfucci said the United States had promised not to impose the death penalty on the suspects.
Published January 21, 2026
Mexico has sent 37 more suspected members of Mexican criminal organizations to the United States, the country’s security minister announced, as US President Donald Trump hints at a ground offensive against drug cartels in the region.
Tuesday’s extradition of suspected drug cartel members was the third major extradition to the United States in the past year, bringing the total number of suspects transferred to 92.
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An image posted to X by Mexico’s Security Minister Omar García Harfucci showed fully armed Mexican security personnel lined up next to the plane as several armored vehicles believed to be transporting the suspects arrived.
“This transfer stopped 92 serious criminals from being sent to the United States and inciting violence in our country under the current administration,” Harfucci told X.
The suspects were flown on seven Mexican military planes to Washington, Houston, New York, Pennsylvania, San Antonio and San Diego, the minister said.
The exchange comes amid rising tensions with Washington over cartel activity and repeated threats by President Trump to attack cartels within Mexico’s borders, regardless of permission from the Mexican government.
The Mexican military said in a statement that the people Mexico deported on Tuesday were wanted by U.S. authorities for suspected ties to criminal organizations and could pose a threat to public safety.
Mexican lawmakers and legal experts dispute the political and legal basis for the government’s transfer of prisoners to the United States.
Security Minister Harhouf stressed that the transfer was carried out “in accordance with Mexico’s national security law, on the basis of bilateral cooperation mechanisms with the United States, and in full respect for national sovereignty.” He also said Mexico had obtained a promise from the United States that the suspects would not face the death penalty if convicted.
Among those sent to the United States in recent deportations is the father of Pedro Inzunza Noriega, second-in-command of Mexico’s powerful Beltrán Leyva cartel, who was arrested in December 2025 after being named by the United States in the first terrorism indictment against a Mexican drug trafficker.
The transfers come as President Trump ramps up pressure on Mexico over drug cartels, saying ground strikes against trafficking networks would also follow recent U.S. attacks on ships in the Pacific and Caribbean region that have killed more than 110 people since September.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has denied U.S. military intervention in Mexico to fight drug cartels, noting that the president’s policies against drug crime have led to a 50 percent drop in fentanyl seizures at the Mexican border.
