Mexico transfers 26 cartel figures wanted by U.S. authorities in deal with Trump administration
WASHINGTON — Mexico sent 26 high-ranking cartel figures to the United States Tuesday in the latest major deal with the Trump administration as American authorities ratchet up pressure on criminal networks smuggling drugs across the border.
Those being handed over to U.S. custody include Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, a leader of 'Los Cuinis,' a group closely aligned with notorious cartel Jalisco New Generation or CJNG, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Another person, Roberto Salazar, is wanted in connection to the 2008 killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy, the person said. Other defendants have ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, the Los Zetas cartel and other violent drug trafficking groups.
They were being flown to American soil after the Justice Department agreed not to seek the death penalty against any of the defendants or against any cartel leaders and members transferred to the U.S. in February, the person said. The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an operation that was still ongoing.
Mexico's Attorney General's Office and Security ministry confirmed that 26 defendants were transferred but didn't identify them. Mexican security officials had planned a news conference for Wednesday.
It's the second time in months Mexico has expelled cartel figures accused of narcotics smuggling, murder and other crimes amid mounting pressure from the Trump administration to curb the flow of drugs across the border. In February, Mexico handed over to American authorities 29 cartel figures, including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985.
The February transfers came days before 25% tariffs on Mexican imports were to take effect. Late last month, President Donald Trump spoke with Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and agreed to put off threatened 30% tariffs for another 90 days to allow for negotiations.
Sheinbaum has shown a willingness to cooperate more on security than her predecessor, specifically being more aggressive in pursuit of Mexico's cartels. But she has drawn a clear line when it comes to Mexico's sovereignty, rejecting suggestions by Trump and others of intervention by the U.S. military.
The Trump administration made dismantling dangerous drug cartels a key priority, designating CJNG and seven other Latin American organized crime groups foreign terrorist organizations. Since the new designations in February, the Trump administration has begun bringing terror charges in some cartel related cases.
Abigael Gonzalez Valencia is the brother-in-law of CJNG leader Nemesio Ruben 'El Mencho' Oseguera Cervantes, a top target of the U.S. government. Abigael Gonzalez Valencia was arrested in February 2015 in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco and had been fighting extradition to the United States since then. The U.S. government has offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to 'El Mencho's' arrest or conviction.
Alongside his two brothers, Abigael Gonzalez Valencia led 'Los Cuinis,' which financed the the founding and growth of the CJNG, one of the most powerful and dangerous cartels in Mexico. CJNG traffics hundreds of tons of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States and other countries and is known for extreme violence, murders, torture, and corruption.
One of his brothers, Jose Gonzalez Valencia, was sentenced in Washington's federal court in June to 30 years in a U.S. prison after pleading guilty to international cocaine trafficking. Jose Gonzalez Valencia was arrested in 2017 under the first Trump administration at a beach resort in Brazil while vacationing with his family under a fake name.
Alanna Durkin Richer And María Verza, The Associated Press
Verza reported from Mexico City.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
25 minutes ago
- CTV News
DeSantis announces plans for second immigration detention facility in north Florida
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference about a recent immigration enforcement operation, at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Enforcement and Removal Operations, May 1, 2025, in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, file) TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is preparing to open a second immigration detention facility at a state prison in north Florida, as a federal judge decides the fate of the state's holding center for immigrants at an isolated airstrip in the Florida Everglades dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz.' DeSantis announced Thursday that the new facility is to be housed at the Baker Correctional Institution, a state prison about 43 miles (69 kilometers) west of Jacksonville. It is expected to hold 1,300 immigration detention beds, though that capacity could be expanded to 2,000, state officials said. After opening the Everglades facility last month, DeSantis justified opening the second detention center, dubbed 'Deportation Depot' by the state, by saying U.S. President Donald Trump's administration needs the additional capacity to hold and deport more immigrants. 'There is a demand for this,' DeSantis said. 'I'm confident it will be filled.' Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Kate Payne, The Associated Press
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
As Canada wildfires choke U.S. with smoke, Republicans demand action. But not on climate change
The Statue of Liberty is visible through haze due to Canadian wildfire smoke during sunset Aug. 5, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) The sternly worded statements and letters are filled with indignation and outrage: Republican U.S. lawmakers say Canada has done too little to contain wildfires and smoke that have fouled the air in several states this summer. 'Instead of enjoying family vacations at Michigan's beautiful lakes and campgrounds, for the third summer in a row, Michiganders are forced to breathe hazardous air as a result of Canada's failure to prevent and control wildfires,' read a statement last week from the state's GOP congressional delegation, echoing similar missives from Republicans in Iowa, New York, North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. They've demanded more forest thinning, prescribed burns and other measures to prevent fires from starting. They've warned the smoke is hurting relations between the countries and suggested the U.S. could make it an issue in tariff talks. But what they haven't done is acknowledge the role of climate change — a glaring and shortsighted omission, according to climate scientists. It also ignores the outsized U.S. contribution to heat-trapping gases from burning fossil fuels like coal and gas that cause more intense heat waves and droughts, which in turn set the stage for more destructive wildfires, scientists say. 'If anything, Canada should be blaming the U.S. for their increased fires,' said Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. On Tuesday, the Canadian government announced almost $46 million in funding for wildfire prevention and risk assessment research projects. But Corey Hogan, parliamentary secretary to the federal energy and natural resources minister, said international cooperation is needed. 'There's no people that want to do more about wildfires than Canadians,' Hogan said. 'But I think this also underlines the international challenges that are brought on by climate change ... we need to globally tackle this problem.' The country has 'been fighting wildfires in this country at unprecedented rates since 2023,' when Canada saw its largest wildfire on record, said Ken McMullen, president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs. This year's first fire started in April, one of the earliest on record, and 2025 is now the second-worst year. As of Thursday, more than 700 wildfires were burning across the country, two-thirds of them out of control, with more than 28,000 square miles (72,520 square kilometres) burned in 4,400 wildfires so far this year, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. That's almost five times the surface area that's burned so far in the U.S. this year. Most wildfires are started by people, sometimes on purpose but mostly by mistake, though McMullen said lightning is the culprit in many of Canada's fires, especially in remote areas. McMullen said he has no interest in debating the role of climate change, but data show that something has changed. Sloughs and basins have dried up and water that once lapped at people's back doors in Canada's lake communities now is often hundreds of feet away. 'People can make up their own mind as to why that is,' he said. 'But something clearly has changed.' Denying climate change U.S. President Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax — a belief echoed by many in the GOP — and his administration has worked to dismantle and defund federal climate science and data collection, with little to no pushback from Republicans in Congress. He's proposed to revoke the scientific finding that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare — the central basis for U.S. climate change action. He's declared a national energy emergency to expedite fossil fuel development, canceled grants for renewable energy projects and ordered the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, aimed at limiting long-term global warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) above preindustrial levels. The Associated Press reached out to more than half a dozen Republicans who criticized Canada but none returned phone calls or emails. Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine said the wildfires are jeopardizing health and air quality in her state, too, but faulted Republicans for failing to meet the crisis head on — beginning by acknowledging climate change. 'Rather than accept this reality and work together to find proactive, common-sense solutions for preventing and mitigating these fires, Republicans are burying their heads in the sand,' she said. Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore, a Democrat, criticized her Republican colleagues' letter to Canada's U.S. ambassador, saying those 'who are in denial about climate change shouldn't be writing letters prescribing people's actions to try to contain it.' Difficult solutions McMullen, the Canadian wildfire expert, said battling the fires isn't as simple as many seem to believe. The country and its territories are vast and fires are often in remote areas where the best — and sometimes only — course of action if there are no residents or structures is to let them burn or 'it is going to just create another situation for us to deal with in a year or two or 10 or 20 years from now,' McMullen said. Prescribed burns to clear underbrush and other ignition sources are used in some areas, but aren't practical or possible in some forests and prairies that are burning, experts said. McMullen has advocated for a Canadian forest fire coordination agency to help deploy firefighters and equipment where they're needed. But as for stopping worsening fires, 'I don't think there's much they can do,' said University of Michigan climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck. He noted that hotter temperatures are melting permafrost in northern Canada, which dries out and makes the vast boreal forests far more likely to burn. Instead, the two countries should collaborate on climate change solutions 'because our smoke is their smoke, their smoke is ours,' Overpeck said. 'As long as this trend of warming and drying continues, we're going to get a worsening problem. 'The good news is ... we know what the cause is ... we can stop it from getting worse.' ___ Tammy Webber, The Associated Press The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
U.S. producer prices increase in July as costs of services and goods surge
U.S. producer prices increased more than expected in July amid a surge in the costs of services and goods, suggesting a broader pickup in inflation in the months ahead. The producer price index for final demand jumped 0.9 per cent last month after being unchanged in June, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI rising 0.2 per cent. Services prices soared 1.1 per cent, the largest gain since March 2022, amid strong increases in machinery and equipment wholesaling, costs of portfolio management, hotels and motels, and road transportation of freight. Good prices vaulted 0.7 per cent, the biggest gain since in January. There were strong increases in the prices of vegetables, meat and eggs. With the July report, the BLS ended the calculation and publication of approximately 350 indexes, including data from the PPI Final Demand-Intermediate Demand, special index, industry and commodity classifications. The agency has suffered years of underfunding under both Republican and Democratic administrations, a situation worsened by an unprecedented campaign by President Donald Trump's White House to remake the federal government through deep spending cuts and mass layoffs of public workers. The resource constraints have impacted the closely watched employment report and also resulted in the suspension of data collection for portions of the CPI basket in some areas across the country. This has raised concerns about the quality of the government-produced economic data, long viewed as the gold standard. The nomination of Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni, a critic of the BLS, to head the statistics agency, is also adding another layer of worry over data quality. U.S. consumer prices increase moderately in July while data quality concerns rise In the 12 months through July, the PPI increased 3.3 per cent after advancing 2.4 per cent in June. The pass-through from Trump's sweeping tariffs has so far been limited, but the PPI report supported economists' expectations for the import duties to drive up inflation in the coming months. The government on Tuesday reported a mild increase in consumer prices in July, though rising costs for services like dental care and airline tickets caused a measure of underlying inflation to post its largest gain in six months. While financial markets have priced in an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve next month, rising services inflation and the expectation tariffs could still significantly boost goods prices left some economists doubtful of a resumption in policy easing in the absence of labor market deterioration. The U.S. central bank left its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range last month for the fifth-straight time since December. Prior to the PPI report, economists estimated the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, excluding the volatile food and energy components, increased 0.3 per cent in July after a similar gain in June. That would raise the year-on-year increase in the so-called core PCE inflation to 2.9 per cent from 2.8 per cent in June. Core PCE inflation is one of the measures tracked by the Fed for its 2 per cent target.
