Mexico’s removal of major drug cartel figures comes as the country seeks to dissuade Trump from slapping 25% tariffs on Mexican goods. The extradition is Mexico’s largest in years.

Mexican authorities on Thursday announced the extradition of 29 cartel figures to the United States.

The handover comes as Mexico tries to avert a looming US tariff threat that US President Donald Trump has linked to illegal migration and drug flows.

What prompted the mass extradition of Mexican drug cartels?

The US Justice Department had requested the extradition, according to a joint statement by the Mexican Attorney General’s Office and the security ministry.

The handover was “historic,” said Mike Vigil, a former chief of international operations at the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Vigil also said that Mexico usually extradited only a few suspects at the same time. He thinks that Mexico sent them to the US ” hoping that it will have a positive impact on the tariff negotiations.”

The announcement coincided with a visit to Washington by top Mexican officials trying to dissuade the Trump administration from imposing 25% tariffs on all Mexican imports that will go into effect on March 4.

Which drug cartel leaders did Mexico send to the US?

The official statement did not include the names of those drug traffickers handed over to the US, but the extradition reportedly included some major cartel figures.

Mexican media reported that drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, the former leader of the now-disintegrated Guadalajara cartel, was among those turned over.

Quintero was on the FBI’s list of 10 most-wanted fugitives until he was arrested by Mexican forces in 2022.

The 72-year-old was accused of ordering the kidnap, torture and killing of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, an undercover DEA agent.

The former leaders of the violent Zetas drug cartel, Omar and Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, were also reportedly extradited.