Washington, DC – Before dawn broke, U.S. law enforcement received custody of 26 fugitives from Mexico accused of a sweeping range of violent and drug-related crimes, in what federal officials described as one of the largest coordinated cross-border extraditions in recent years. The suspects face charges including drug trafficking, hostage-taking, kidnapping, illegal firearms use, human smuggling, money laundering, and the murder of a sheriff’s deputy.
The fugitives, many of them alleged leaders or senior figures in notorious Mexican cartels including the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), and Cártel del Noreste, are accused of importing tonnage quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin into the United States. Some are designated as Foreign Terrorist Organization affiliates or Specially Designated Global Terrorists by the U.S. government.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi said the operation demonstrates a joint commitment between the United States and Mexico to dismantle criminal organizations that operate across borders. She credited Mexico’s National Security team for its cooperation.
Those transferred include Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, known as “Cuini,” a Los Cuinis leader accused of moving multi-ton shipments of cocaine from South America into the United States; Kevin Gil Acosta and Martin Zazueta Perez, security leaders for the Sinaloa Cartel’s Chapitos faction alleged to command armed “sicario” squads; and Abdul Karim Conteh, a Sierra Leone national accused of overseeing a global human smuggling network moving migrants from multiple continents into the U.S. via Mexico.
Other notable defendants include Leobardo Garcia Corrales, alleged Sinaloa Cartel trafficker with close ties to Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán; Luis Raul Castro Valenzuela, charged with kidnapping a U.S. citizen; Juan Carlos Felix Gastelum, linked to meth labs in the Sierra Madre Mountains; Roberto Salazar, wanted for the 2008 killing of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Juan Escalante; and Pablo Edwin Huerta Nuno, accused of controlling a major drug trafficking corridor between Tijuana and Southern California.
The Justice Department confirmed that the defendants will appear in federal courts across the country in the coming days, with most facing statutory maximum sentences of life in prison. The operation involved the DEA, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Homeland Security Investigations, multiple U.S. Attorney’s Offices, and local law enforcement agencies.
Bondi said the transfers represent “severe consequences” for those accused of bringing “violence and drugs to American shores.”
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Key Points
- 26 fugitives from Mexico with alleged ties to major cartels were transferred to U.S. custody
- Charges include drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder of a sheriff’s deputy, and human smuggling
- Defendants will face federal prosecution in multiple U.S. jurisdictions, many facing life sentences