Perhaps not coincidentally, the timing of tariff discussions was closely followed by the transfer of wanted criminals
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has denied that the transfer of 26 alleged cartel members to the United States was part of any kind of deal with Washington and was instead about her country’s own security priorities.
This week’s expulsion marked the second time Mexico had sent top criminals to the US this year: in February, Mexican authorities handed over 29 cartel members, including druglord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was responsible for the murder of a DEA agent in 1985. The latest transfers took place after US authorities vowed that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty in any of the cases.
But despite the claims from Sheinbaum and others in her government, analysts say these transfers are less about Mexico’s national security and more about appeasing Donald Trump, who has made going after drug cartels a hallmark policy of his administration – even going so far as to designate several Mexican criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations.
“I think [Sheinbaum] believes she can depressurize by sending a bunch of narcs that are already in custody … as an offering to placate Washington’s thirst for Mexican criminals,” said Tony Payan, a Mexico expert at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. “They’re simply being put on a plane and offered on a silver platter.”
