Journalist Issues Warning After Mexico Extradites 26 Cartel Members to U.S.: 'Politicians Should Be Shaking'

Mexico extradited this week a new group of individuals wanted in the United States on organized crime charges. Mexican officials confirmed that most of the 26 people handed over to U.S. authorities were former cartel members, including close associates and relatives of high-ranking figures from some of the country's largest criminal organizations.

According to an expert on organized crime in Mexico, at least seven or eight of those extradited are considered major players who could provide key information to U.S. prosecutors, similar to other recent cooperating witnesses who have implicated current and former Mexican officials in cartel-related corruption cases.

Óscar Balderas, a journalist specialized in organized crime, said that because the U.S. Justice Department has agreed not to seek the death penalty in these cases, some of those extradited may be reaching cooperation agreements with U.S. authorities.

"Politicians who know they've had dealings should be shaking," Balderas said. "On that list, there are seven or eight real heavyweights who could cause serious trouble. They could keep more than a few politicians in Mexico up at night."

Tuesday's transfer was the second of its kind this year. In February, Mexican authorities extradited 29 cartel figures to the U.S., including infamous drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero and former Los Zetas leaders Miguel and Omar Treviño Morales.

Balderas also suggested these two waves of extraditions may indicate Mexico is running low on high-value criminal figures to hand over and may soon have little left to offer the Trump administration amid its ongoing crackdown on drug trafficking cartels.

As reported by El País, 11 of the 26 individuals extradited have ties to the Sinaloa Cartel or one of the major factions fighting for control following the July 2024 arrests of Joaquín Guzmán López, son of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Among those 11 are Kevin Alonso Gil Acosta, alias "El 200," a leader within the security personnel of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, current leader of Los Chapitos, and Martín Zazueta Pérez, another top member of Iván Archivaldo's security team.

Hernán Domingo Ojeda López, alias "El Mero Mero," was also extradited. Mexican authorities identify Ojeda López as the uncle of Ovidio "El Ratón" Guzmán López, another son of El Chapo who has been cooperating with U.S. prosecutors for months under a plea deal.

Juan Carlos Félix Gastélum, known as "El Chavo Félix" and son-in-law of El Mayo, was also extradited. The U.S. Department of Justice states that El Chavo Félix is "one of the main operators for the Sinaloa Cartel's clandestine methamphetamine labs located in the Sierra Madre mountains of Sinaloa and Durango, involved in manufacturing and distributing large quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine into the United States."

The rest of those extradited include leaders from the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Los Zetas, La Familia Michoacana, and the Arellano Félix organization.

Notable among those outside the Sinaloa Cartel are Abigael González Valencia, known as "El Cuini," right-hand man and brother-in-law to CJNG founder Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias "El Mencho," and Servando Gómez, known as "La Tuta," former leader of the once-powerful Knights Templar cartel.