by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Mexico agreed to extradite 29 cartel members on Thursday, including former Sinaloa cartel founder Rafael Caro Quintero and former Zetas leader Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, to the United States, amid efforts to avert US tariff threats linked to illegal migration and drug trafficking.
According to a joint statement from the Mexican Attorney General’s Office and the security ministry, the US Justice Department requested the extradition of the cartel members, which Mike Vigil, former DEA chief of international operations, described as “historic.”
Vigil noted that Mexico typically extradites only a few suspects at a time and suggested this larger group was sent “hoping that it will have a positive impact on the tariff negotiations.”
The announcement came as top Mexican officials visited Washington to persuade the Trump administration against imposing 25% tariffs on all Mexican imports starting March 4.
Two high-profile cartel members extradited to the U.S. include Rafael Caro Quintero, whom the United States has pursued for over 40 years following his conviction in Mexico for the 1985 murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena. Miguel Ángel Treviño, known as one of Mexico’s most violent cartel figures, has been wanted by the U.S. since 2013 and is currently facing multiple drug charges in Texas federal courts.
The releases coincide with President Donald Trump intensifying pressure on Mexico to halt the illegal influx of fentanyl into the United States, with tariffs set to be imposed on Tuesday.
“The drugs continue to pour into our country, killing hundreds of thousands of people,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. “We’re losing substantially more than 100,000 people. I mean, dead.”
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest Stories from Worthy News
Hamas has formally rejected Israel’s latest ceasefire proposal, criticizing it as a “partial” deal that fails to guarantee a complete end to the war or a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
The United States may abandon efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine within days if no clear progress is made, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on April 18. Speaking after talks in Paris with European and Ukrainian leaders, Rubio said President Trump is prepared to “move on” from the negotiations in the absence of any clear signs of progress.
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentenced a Christian man to death on Good Friday on controversial charges of blasphemy against Islam, Christians told Worthy News.
Christians across autocratically-ruled Nicaragua “are celebrating Holy Week” leading up to Easter under the watchful eye of police and paramilitary forces, Christians told Worthy News on Good Friday.
Italy’s rightwing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says U.S. President Donald J. Trump has accepted her invitation for an official trip to Rome at a time when the third largest economy in the European Union tries to bridge differences between the EU and the U.S. over trade and security.