Mexico extradited 26 more drug traffickers wanted by US authorities to the US last night, under pressure from President Donald Trump for the neighboring country to break up the drug trafficking network, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The extradited prisoners are suspected of having ties to drug cartels, the Mexican Attorney General's Office and the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection announced in a joint statement, the world agency specified.
Mexico announced that the US State Department had requested the transfer of members of criminal groups, explicitly declaring that it would not seek death sentences for them.
The extradition is the second of its kind this year, after 29 people were transferred to US territory in February, including drug lords Rafael Caro Quintero and Vicente Carrillo Fuentes. Then a debate flared up about the political and legal basis for such an action, Reuters recalls.
The authorization given by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for the second group extradition speaks of her desire to deter Trump's intention to send US troops to Mexico to counteract local cartels that are marketing huge quantities of the deadly fentanyl into the United States, Reuters points out.
The US Embassy in Mexico said in a statement that the group of extradited includes members of the cartels in the states of Jalisco ("New Generation") and Sinaloa (of the same name) - the two leading criminal groups in Mexican territory. The defendant in the US is currently one of the co-founders of "Sinaloa" - Ismael Zambada, known as El Mayo.
"This extradition is another example of what is possible when two governments unite against violence," said US Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson.
"These fugitives will now face American justice, and the citizens of both our countries will feel safer," he added.
Sheinbaum has already said that the United States and Mexico are moving closer to a security agreement that would expand bilateral cooperation in the fight against drug cartels, Reuters reports.