Under pressure from Trump, Mexico extradites 29 drug suspects
Extradition comes as Mexico seeks deal with Washington to avoid being hit with tariffs
Mexico on Thursday extradited 29 alleged drug traffickers to the United States, its government announced, as it faces mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump to tackle drug smuggling.
The mass extradition comes as Mexico seeks a deal with Washington to avoid being hit with tariffs that Trump has linked to illegal migration and fentanyl flows.
The US Justice Department requested the handover, the public security ministry and the public prosecutor's office said in a joint statement, without naming the suspects.
According to Mexican media, the former leaders of the ultra-violent Zetas cartel, Omar and Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, as well as veteran drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, who is accused of murdering an undercover US agent, were among those handed over.
Caro Quintero was on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's list of 10 most-wanted fugitives until his capture in 2022.
He was accused of ordering the kidnap, torture and killing of Drug Enforcement Administration special agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena.
The extraditions follow Trump's designation of eight Latin American drug trafficking organizations -- including six Mexican cartels -- as terrorist organizations.
The announcement came as a high-level Mexican delegation, including the foreign, defense and security ministers, visited Washington for talks with counterparts, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has pledged to collaborate with Washington, while rejecting any "invasion" of her country's sovereignty.
