Dozens Of Mexican Cartel Fugitives Flown To The U.S. To Face Justice

A group of 37 cartel members accused of committing crimes across the United States was flown in from Mexico Tuesday night as the Trump administration looks to crack down on the criminal organizations and increase pressure on the Mexican government.

Among the dozens of cartel members were human smugglers, arms traffickers, and alleged members of the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Cártel del Noreste, Cártel del Golfo, Gulf Cartel, La Linea, and the former Beltrán-Leyva Organization, according to the Department of Justice.

The FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration said that Mexico participated in the transfer of the fugitives, which was the largest of its kind and the third time the Mexican government has used its National Security Law to send fugitives north. Mexico’s cooperation signals a new willingness to crack down on cartel crimes alongside the United States.

“This is another landmark achievement in the Trump Administration’s mission to destroy the cartels. These 37 cartel members – including terrorists from the Sinaloa Cartel, CJNG, and others – will now pay for their crimes against the American people on American soil. We are grateful for this collaboration with our international partners and will deliver swift, comprehensive justice for members of Foreign Terrorist Organizations who have spent years preying on the American people,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement after the operation.

Credit: Department of Justice

One of the individuals transferred was Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez, who allegedly provided CJNG with grenades and engaged in illegal immigrant smuggling, firearms trafficking, bulk cash smuggling, and narcotics trafficking for the cartel, according to the Justice Department.

Additionally, Eduardo Rigoberto Velasco Calderon and Eliomar Segura Torres were brought over after they allegedly laundered drug money for the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion and the Sinaloa Cartel by transferring the funds through cryptocurrency transactions, according to the DOJ.

Heriberto Hernández Rodriguez was also brought over from Mexico. He’s a member of Cártel del Noreste and is allegedly responsible for drug trafficking, kidnappings and assassinations, and procuring weapons for the cartel, according to the DOJ.

The cartel member allegedly commanded hundreds of sicarios and ordered the killings of multiple people between 2006 and 2022.

He also allegedly headed security for the cartel’s stash houses in Mexico, “which served as staging points for thousands of kilograms of marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine to be transported into the United States for distribution,” the DOJ said.

The first Sinaloa cartel leader to be hit with terrorism charges, Pedro Inzunza Noriega, was also brought to the U.S. He also faces drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, allegedly worked together to produce and traffic tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl into the United States as they led “one of the largest and most sophisticated fentanyl production networks in the world,” according to the DOJ.

Mexican authorities raided multiple drug sites allegedly controlled by the father and son duo in December 2024, seizing 1,500 kilograms of fentanyl, which was the largest known seizure of fentanyl in world history.

The son was killed during a capture operation last year in Mexico, before his father was captured by the Mexican military weeks later.

The transfer comes as President Donald Trump continues to threaten U.S. military action against cartels operating in Mexico.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke with Trump last week, saying such an operation would be “unnecessary.”