Claudia Sheinbaum Says Mexico Will Seek To Extradite Cartel Leaders From The U.S.: 'I Discussed it With Marco Rubio'

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said she will seek the extradition of cartel leaders currently imprisoned in the U.S., framing the pursuit as a "sovereign decision for the safety and peace of our country."

Sheinbaum said she discussed the matter during her meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, although no final decision has been made.

"We talked about some targets we want them to extradite from there and the decision to send an official to the U.S. be it a result of the National Security Law or extradition," she added.

The president went on to say that the requests are a result of analysis regarding national security, as the imprisonment of drug lords such as Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada or Rafael Caro Quintero could catalyze clashes between rivaling cartels.

"We are interested in cases that are very relevant for Mexico where they ask for deportations or extraditions in the same way we are doing," Sheinbaum said.

In another passage of the statement, Sheinbaum said she also brought up the subject of Zambada. "We talked about it, as well as an increase in insecurity in Sinaloa, the increase in crime and details about his capture," she said, noting that Rubio "just heard and we didn't talk about the issue further."

Sheinbaum said this week that judicial officials from her administration will seek to question drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada after he claimed he bribed government officials throughout the decades to advance the Sinaloa Cartel's operations.

However, even if Mexico does end up sending officials, "El Mayo" giving names remains unlikely. A member of the drug lord's family reportedly said in late August that he won't "sing" or incriminate specific people.

The co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel said during his guilty plea that he bribed "military commanders and politicians who allowed us to operate freely." "It goes back to the very beginning when I was a young man starting out and it continued for all those years," he said.