One of the most high-profile events in the bilateral relations between Mexico and the U.S. this year took place in early 2025, when officials extradited dozens of drug traffickers wanted by the United States.
In two separate transfers, the Mexican government extradited a total of 55 prisoners, including leaders of some of Mexico's most powerful criminal groups past and present: Rafael Caro Quintero, founder of the Guadalajara Cartel; Servando Gómez Martínez, known as "La Tuta," the former head of the Knights Templar cartel; and brothers Miguel Ángel and Omar Treviño Morales, who led the Zetas paramilitary drug organization, along with other key figures tied to the Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels.
Months after the extraditions, a new Wall Street Journal report revealed additional details about the operations. For the first time, it confirmed that Mexico expelled the 55 prisoners on national security grounds, allowing officials to bypass requirements to notify the prisoners' legal representatives and to comply with orders from the Trump administration, which, according to a source familiar with the matter, threatened Mexico with punitive tariffs if Sheinbaum did not intensify her government's drug-trafficking enforcement.
According to the report, the extraditions were coldly calculated and planned by the Mexican government to avoid any setbacks. In September, Sheinbaum said the actions were taken "for the security and peace of our country" and framed them as part of a collaboration with the U.S. As noted in the report, the prisoners had no idea where they were being sent, and a series of precautions were taken to keep the operations secret.
According to sources who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, the undercover mission was carried out with the help of 2,000 Mexican special forces. Officials feared that if any information leaked, the prisoners might try to flee or file legal appeals. Authorities also worried that cartels could attempt to kill their own leaders rather than risk them revealing secrets to U.S. investigators.
"Never in the history of our agency have we seen this level of bad guys being removed from Mexico," Derek Maltz, then interim head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said in an interview.
Weeks before the first extradition operation on Feb. 27, officials who spoke to the outlet said Mexican authorities planned to take over more than a dozen prisons to prevent information leaks.
The measures included replacing prison directors, switching catering companies to avoid poisoning attempts, hiring new vendors for camera-surveillance systems, replacing prison guards with special forces, and isolating inmates to stop them from sharing information.
According to the report, La Tuta was among the prisoners most closely monitored. As his transfer date approached, authorities tracked communications among Gómez's family members and watched bank activity by his closest associates, looking for transactions that might signal escape plans.
Mexico's financial intelligence unit froze bank accounts tied to shell companies that funded informant networks and covered payments for lawyers, according to another person familiar with the operation who spoke to The Wall Street Journal.
However, even as swift and secret as the operations were, lawyers challenged the removals, arguing they bypassed due process and the legal steps required under Mexico's extradition treaties. Mexican officials who spoke to the outlet said cartel leaders threatened government personnel, and their attorneys filed legal appeals after the extraditions, though none prevailed.
Among the strongest opponents were the Treviño Morales brothers, who, according to Mexican authorities, had successfully blocked extradition attempts 133 times through court appeals since their 2013 arrest.
A third transfer of Mexican cartel figures to the U.S. is now under discussion, according to people familiar with the plans who spoke to the outlet.
© 2025 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
