Mexico City, 13 August 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The US Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday said that it had taken into custody 26 suspected members of drug cartels and other criminal organizations extradited by Mexico.

Mexican Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said on X that the suspects posed a threat to public security in his country.

García Harfuch added that the extraditions were carried out at the request of the DoJ "which committed not to seek the death penalty."

The extradited individuals face a range of charges in the United States, including murder, drug smuggling and human trafficking.

"Among the fugitives taken into U.S. custody today are leaders and managers of dangerous drug cartels, such as those designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists, including the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), and Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas)," the DoJ said in a statement.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi said that "these 26 men have all played a role in bringing violence and drugs to American shores" and that "they will face severe consequences for their crimes against this country."

In February, Mexico extradited 29 suspects to the US, including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who in the 1980s was as powerful in Mexico as Pablo Escobar was in Colombia. Mexico also extradited the former head of the Los Zetas drug cartel, Miguel Ángel Treviño, and the former leader of the Juárez cartel, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes.

Mexico had never before extradited so many important drug lords to the United States at once.

Photo: MIA archive