Recognizing the deep corruption and cartel affect inside Mexico’s authorities, President Trump has pressured Mexico not solely to extradite cartel prisoners for sentencing within the U.S., but additionally to research politicians with cartel ties, and extradite them as effectively.
Thus far, Mexico has expelled 55 high-ranking cartel figures in two main transfers: 29 in February and 26 this week. Notable figures embrace Abigael González Valencia, a frontrunner of Los Cuinis and brother-in-law of CJNG boss “El Mencho”; Servando “La Tuta” Gómez, former head of the Knights Templar cartel; Roberto Salazar, needed for the 2008 homicide of a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy; and Rafael Caro Quintero, implicated within the 1985 homicide of a U.S. DEA agent. Others have ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, CJNG, and different violent teams.
The Trump administration has designated CJNG, Sinaloa, MS-13, and 6 different cartels as overseas terrorist organizations, with Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi pledging extreme penalties for these extradited. Mexico’s Safety Minister Omar García Harfuch stated the transfers had been meant to cease cartel bosses from operating operations from jail.
The extraditions occurred in opposition to the backdrop of Trump’s tariff threats, which he suspended for 90 days after opening negotiations with President Claudia Sheinbaum. Whereas Sheinbaum has cooperated on safety, she insists the selections are sovereign and rejects any prospect of U.S. navy intervention. Mexican officers keep the transfers are unrelated to commerce talks, but Trump’s technique is clearly yielding outcomes.
In keeping with sources, Secretary of State Marco Rubio repeatedly pressed Mexico to research politicians suspected of cartel ties, warning that tariffs may return if it didn’t act. Among the many names raised was Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila, a member of Sheinbaum’s Morena get together.
In Could 2025, the U.S. authorities revoked Ávila’s vacationer visa together with that of her husband, Carlos Torres Torres. The governor introduced the choice on social media, calling it “an administrative choice, not an accusation,” and emphasizing that “there isn’t any crime, there isn’t any offense.” The U.S. Embassy declined to supply causes, citing confidentiality of visa data.
On the similar time, investigative outlet Semanario Zeta reported that Torres and his brother, Luis Alfonso Torres Torres, had been below investigation for gas theft and trafficking (“huachicol”), allegedly involving stolen gas smuggled from Texas into Mexico. Luis Torres beforehand served as administrator of the Tijuana customs workplace below President Felipe Calderón. Throughout his tenure, allegations surfaced that tens of millions of {dollars} had been funneled via customs to Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Including to the controversy, a 2019 {photograph} resurfaced exhibiting Governor Ávila embracing Emmanuel “El Botas” Serrano, an alleged operative of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada of the Sinaloa Cartel, throughout her mayoral marketing campaign in Mexicali. Her workplace dismissed the picture as meaningless, stating that “lots of of individuals strategy to take a photograph” throughout campaigns.
The visa cancellation of a sitting Mexican governor marked an unprecedented diplomatic rift. Analysts word it displays a broader Trump administration coverage of imposing journey restrictions on Mexican politicians suspected of “drug corruption.”
Oscar El Blue Ramirez, a journalist and immigration correspondent specializing in Mexican cartels, stated current investigations into cartel actions have solely superior due to strain from President Trump.
“If it was Biden, there can be no investigation in any way,” Ramirez argued. Since Trump returned to workplace, he added, two main cross-border tunnels have been closed. These tunnels, he speculated, had been used to site visitors giant portions of fentanyl, cocaine, and even “unique extracontinental migrants” from nations reminiscent of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Iran. Ramirez famous that one of many sealed tunnels is now below Nationwide Guard management.
He contrasted Trump’s strategy with that of President Sheinbaum, accusing her of utilizing liberal ideology to deflect blame. In keeping with Ramirez, Sheinbaum has framed Trump’s anti-cartel marketing campaign as an try by “the white man” and america to invade Mexico and undermine its sovereignty.
He described this narrative as misinformation, recycled from historic grievances about U.S.-Mexico relations, and claimed it was supposed to rally nationalist sentiment amongst younger individuals whereas shielding corruption and political allies.
Ramirez additionally criticized the Mexican liberal press, saying it strengthened Sheinbaum’s message, and drew parallels with U.S. left-wing actions. He pointed to teams reminiscent of La Raza and Chicano activists who burn American flags whereas waving the Mexican flag, which he argued violates Mexico’s personal structure. Articles 54 and 288, he stated, prohibit tampering with the nationwide flag and prescribe federal jail sentences for such actions. In his view, this activism sends a distorted political message in america and damages Mexico’s picture overseas.
In keeping with Ramirez, circumstances alongside the border have “considerably” improved below Trump. He described the change as dramatic, noting that each Mexican residents close to the wall and U.S. border communities really feel safer. “You keep in mind when residents had been saying, ‘Oh my God, it’s so harmful, we can not have a life, armed males are crossing via our properties’? Now you don’t see that,” he stated.
Ramirez credited the cooperation between Mexico’s Nationwide Guard and U.S. forces for sealing open border gaps and responding swiftly to incursions. In a single case, he recalled, a person making an attempt to scale the wall was pressured again after a U.S. helicopter intercepted him.
He added that cartel-related protests that when erupted repeatedly on the border have additionally declined. The technique of dismantling cartel networks, he stated, is “taking the heads off the snakes.” Nonetheless, Ramirez argued that actual progress will solely come by concentrating on corruption on the political stage. “We have to eradicate the soiled politicians,” he stated, emphasizing that cartel energy endures via its political safety.
Every time, he defined, when Trump threatened to strengthen the border or ship U.S. forces, the Mexican authorities responded by transferring cartel bosses. However, Ramirez warned, “now she doesn’t have any extra” leaders left at hand over. For him, the following step is evident: expose and extradite corrupt politicians in order that future elections can produce “actual officers to characterize our nation.”
A crackdown on serving governors or legislators would mark a dramatic escalation of anti-cartel cooperation, however it additionally poses political dangers for Sheinbaum, as allegations contain members of her personal get together. Washington has lengthy accused Mexico of protecting politicians linked to organized crime, however constitutional protections and prosecutorial independence make such circumstances tough to pursue.
