Mexico on Thursday began to hand over to U.S. authorities major figures in the country’s criminal underworld, part of a surprise extradition of nearly 30 jailed convicts or others accused of ties to violent drug cartels.
Some are aging gang leaders who reigned over international trafficking rings decades ago focused on cocaine and heroin. Others are much younger leaders engaged in moving large quantities of deadly fentanyl into the U.S. more recently.
Mexico’s attorney general’s office and the security ministry confirmed that officials were handing over 29 cartel figures to the U.S. The decision follows ongoing threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose across-the-board tariffs on Mexican goods.
Jose Angel “El Guerito” Canobbio, a high-ranking figure in Sinaloa’s fentanyl-trafficking Chapitos wing, is also being turned over, according to a Mexican security source.
Reuters reported the unusual handover, Mexico’s largest in years, before Mexican security officials confirmed it in a statement, which did not include the names of the people being sent to the U.S.
