The US Justice Department revealed Thursday evening that Mexico has begun extraditing dozens of high-level cartel leaders to the US, as President Trump reiterated that 25% tariffs on Mexican goods will take effect next Tuesday.
"The defendants taken into US custody today include leaders and managers of drug cartels recently designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists," the DoJ wrote in a statement, adding these terrorists are facing charges including racketeering, drug-trafficking, murder, illegal use of firearms, money laundering, and other crimes.
Mexico's Attorney General's Office and Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection released this statement: "This morning, 29 people who were deprived of their liberty in different penitentiary centers in the country were transferred to the United States of America, which were required due to their links with criminal organizations for drug trafficking, among other crimes."
The Mexican government released these photos of 29 cartel leaders...
The Associated Press reported that the extradition of high-level cartel leaders, including Rafael Caro Quintero, a former leader of the Guadalajara cartel involved in the kidnapping and murder of a DEA agent, came after Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente and other Mexican officials met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in recent days.
"As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups, and this Department of Justice is devoted to destroying cartels and transnational gangs," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.
Ahead of the extradition, Trump wrote on Truth Social:
Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels. A large percentage of these Drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China. More than 100,000 people died last year due to the distribution of these dangerous and highly addictive POISONS. Millions of people have died over the last two decades. The families of the victims are devastated and, in many instances, virtually destroyed. We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled. China will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date. The April Second Reciprocal Tariff date will remain in full force and effect.
Trump's 25% tariff threat on Mexico has led to Mexican officials beefing up US-Mexico border security to dismantle human trafficking networks, cartels, and fentanyl production. This all comes as Trump's mandate from the American people is to fix the border crisis and stop the drug overdose crisis, which claims the lives of 100,000 Americans annually.
Last week, US Border Czar Tom Homan told Fox News' Jesse Watters that Trump intends to dismantle the command and control centers of Mexican drug cartels, vowing to "put them out of business" and "wipe them off the face of the Earth."
Readers should understand that the disrupt-and-dismantle strategy is broad, targeting not only Mexican cartels but also transnational criminal organizations spanning from Canada to China.
We must caution that the fight against cartels could get messy, considering the Biden-Harris regime intentionally flooded the nation with thousands of Tren de Aragua terrorists.
Next, the US will likely prepare sanctions on financial institutions to bust cartel funding networks.
This is what 'America First' looks like.
