By Gangsters Inc. Editors
Mexican authorities transferred 37 high-value fugitives to U.S. custody late Tuesday night, sending some of the country’s most violent cartel figures north to face federal charges ranging from narcoterrorism to drug trafficking, human smuggling, arms dealing, and money laundering.
The defendants are accused of moving industrial quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine into the United States, while financing their operations through extortion, kidnapping, weapons trafficking, and cryptocurrency-based money laundering schemes.
Among those now in U.S. hands are alleged leaders, enforcers, and financial operatives tied to cartel organizations officially designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists, including the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas), and Cártel del Golfo, along with allied groups such as La Línea and remnants of the Beltrán-Leyva Organization.
Pacifying a crazed U.S. president
Donald Trump’s Attorney General Pamela Bondi called the transfer a major escalation in the U.S. campaign against cartel power. “This is another landmark achievement in the Trump Administration’s mission to destroy the cartels,” Bondi began her official statement with some brown-nosing to her boss. “These 37 cartel members will now pay for their crimes against the American people on American soil.”
- READ: No death penalty for Mexican drug lords “El Mayo” Zambada and Rafael Caro Quintero, orders Pam Bondi
The transfer marks just the third time Mexico has invoked its National Security Law to expel fugitives directly to the United States, and the largest such operation to date. Previous transfers in February and August of 2025 involved 29 and 26 fugitives, respectively.
This might be in reaction to U.S. president Donald Trump’s increasingly erratic and threatening behavior. He has threatened to invade Mexico (as well as Canada and Greenland), while actually executing a plot to takeover Venezuela’s oil industry under the false pretense that the country was one of the chief exporters of fentanyl to the U.S.
- READ: Can UFC star Conor McGregor get President Trump to order the DEA to back off the Kinahan Cartel?
Why not pacify Trump’s temper tantrum by handing over some of the criminals Mexico already had locked up in its prisons? Among them are some notorious names.
Pedro Inzunza Noriega (“Sagitario”)
Inzunza Noriega and his son were the first Sinaloa Cartel leaders charged in the U.S. with narcoterrorism. As leaders of the Beltrán-Leyva faction, prosecutors say they operated one of the largest fentanyl production networks ever identified, trafficking tens of thousands of kilograms into the U.S. A December 2024 raid seized more than 1.65 tons of fentanyl, the largest known seizure in world history. His son was killed during a capture operation in November 2025; Inzunza Noriega was arrested a month later.
Maria del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez
Navarro-Sanchez is the first Mexican national charged in the U.S. with providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors allege she supplied CJNG with grenades and assisted in human smuggling, firearms trafficking, narcotics distribution, and bulk cash movements. CJNG is believed to control large segments of the global drug trade while funding itself through violence, extortion, and corruption.
Eduardo Rigoberto Velasco Calderon & Eliomar Segura Torres
Both men are accused of operating money laundering networks that moved cartel drug proceeds from the U.S. to Mexico via cryptocurrency. The organizations allegedly serviced both CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel, collecting commissions on every successful transfer.
Heriberto Hernández Rodriguez
A former commander within Cártel del Noreste, Hernández Rodriguez is accused of overseeing drug trafficking, assassinations, kidnappings, and weapons procurement. Authorities allege he commanded hundreds of sicarios over a 16-year period and supervised stash houses that funneled tons of marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine into the United States.
Juan Pablo Bastidas Erenas (“Payo”)
A senior lieutenant in the Beltrán-Leyva faction, Bastidas allegedly spent more than two decades moving cocaine from Colombia into the U.S. via Mexico. Prosecutors link him to fentanyl and meth trafficking, weapons smuggling, money laundering, kidnappings, torture, and murder. He was captured by Mexican military forces in May 2025.
Juan Carlos Alonso Reyes
Alonso Reyes ran “The Office,” a brazen Tijuana-based drug distribution hub that functioned as a 24-hour retail outlet for American buyers. So openly did it operate that its location once appeared on Google Maps. Hundreds of internal carriers allegedly moved fentanyl and meth across U.S. ports of entry under his direction before Mexican authorities shut the operation down in January 2024.
Julio Cesar Mancera Dozal
Mancera led a Sinaloa-aligned smuggling organization that trafficked hundreds of pounds of cocaine into Southern California using vehicles equipped with sophisticated hidden compartments. His network extended from Tijuana into Los Angeles, Orange County, and Riverside.
Juan Pedro Saldivar-Farias (“Z-27”)
A former Zetas regional commander and plaza boss in South Texas, Saldivar-Farias is charged with running a continuing criminal enterprise. Authorities estimate multi-ton marijuana shipments crossed his territory weekly, with cocaine flowing monthly. Those who failed to pay cartel “piso” taxes were kidnapped, tortured, or killed. He faces life in prison.
Ricardo Cortez-Mateos (“Billeton”)
A former Cartel del Golfo figure, Cortez-Mateos is charged with importing large quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine into the United States. Indicted in 2021, he faces up to life in prison if convicted.
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