Mexico sends 37 more drug cartel suspects to US amid Trump attack threats

According to Mexico’s security minister, the country has received 37 more alleged Mexican members as a result of US President Donald Trump’s threat of ground attacks against drug cartels in the area.

The total number of suspects transferred to the US has increased to 92 with the handover of alleged drug cartel members on Tuesday, marking their third significant transfer in the previous year.

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As several armored vehicles, presumably carrying the suspects, arrived, accompanied by rows of fully-armed Mexican security personnel lined up next to a plane, according to images posted by Mexican Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch on X.

92 high-impact criminals have been transferred to the US under this administration, preventing them from provoking violence in our nation, according to Harfuch on X.

According to the minister, seven Mexican Armed Forces aircraft transported the suspects to Washington, Houston, New York, Pennsylvania, San Antonio, and San Diego.

The most recent swap took place as a result of President Trump’s repeated threats to attack cartels within Mexico’s borders with or without the Mexican government’s approval, which are causing an increase in tension with Washington.

According to Mexico’s military, those who were transferred by the US on Tuesday were wanted because of their alleged connections to organized crime and risked public safety.

The political and legal justifications for the government’s prisoner transfers to the US have been contested by Mexican lawmakers and legal experts.

According to security minister Harfuch, transfers were made “in accordance with Mexico’s National Security Law and in accordance with bilateral cooperation arrangements with the US, with full respect for national sovereignty.” Additionally, he claimed that Mexico had received assurances from the US that the suspects would not face the death penalty if found guilty.

Pedro Inzunza Noriega, the father of Mexico’s powerful Beltran Leyva cartel, was one of the people who was recently transferred to the US. He was detained in December 2025 after being named in the US’s first terrorism indictment against a Mexican drug trafficker.

Trump has put more pressure on Mexico over drug cartels, and he has said land attacks against trafficking networks will follow recent US attacks on ships in the Pacific and the Caribbean region, which have caused more than 110 fatalities since September.