11 of 37 Mexican nationals extradited to U.S. being prosecuted in Texas

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Eleven of 37 Mexican nationals extradited to the U.S. from Mexico are being prosecuted in Texas. The extradition was the largest transfer of fugitives in U.S.-Mexican history. Several extradited were captured by the Mexican military.

Thirty-seven Mexicans were extradited to 16 districts in 13 U.S. states and the District of Columbia in response to arrest warrants the districts issued. Texas received the most: nine in the Western District and two in the Southern District.

The U.S. Attorney for the Western District says several prosecutions stem from a multiagency investigation into cartel operations, including the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación and Sinaloa Cartel. Both were among several transnational criminal organizations designated as foreign terrorist organizations last year. Gov. Greg Abbott previously designated them and other groups as FTOs in Texas.

One of the fugitives extradited to the district, a woman, is the first Mexican national to be charged with providing material support to a FTO in U.S. history.

Both Texas districts are aggressively prosecuting border crimes, including cartel members. They filed a record number of border related charges last year: the Western District filed 11,542; the Southern District filed 14,131, The Center Square reported.

Both districts were hit hard during the Biden administration, with Texas reporting the greatest number of illegal border crossers in U.S. history, law enforcement targeted a proliferation of human smuggling stash houses, arrested Tren de Aragua members, 55 Texas counties declared an invasion and 60 counties declared a state of emergency, The Center Square exclusively reported. The declarations remain effective.

Abbott launched a border security mission, Operation Lone Star, surged troops from El Paso to the Rio Grande Valley, built border barriers and arrested illegal border crossers, including violent convicted felons and those wanted by Interpol. OLS is ongoing, prioritizing terrorist threats, The Center Square reported. Abbott also fought a barrage of lawsuits against the Biden administration, which he either won or were since dropped.

Those extradited include “prolific human smugglers, violent arms traffickers and alleged members of dangerous drug cartels,” the DOJ said. They are members of the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas), Cártel de Golfo (Gulf Cartel), La Linea and the former Beltrán-Leyva organization, according to the charges.

They face a range of charges, including narcoterrorism, providing material support to an FTO, firearms trafficking, human smuggling, money laundering and multiple drug offenses. If convicted, the majority face up to life in prison.

“These arrests demonstrate the power of international cooperation in dismantling transnational criminal organizations that threaten our communities,” HSI El Paso acting Special Agent in Charge Taekuk Cho said. “HSI El Paso and our law enforcement partners are committed to bringing fugitives to justice and protecting the safety and security of the United States.”

In the Western District, extraditions stem from investigations led by Homeland Security Task Force/Joint Task Force-A partners, including HSI-El Paso, DEA, FBI, U.S. Marshals, ATF, CBP and Border Patrol. HSI-Presidio, DEA-El Paso and FBI-El Paso also targeted La Linea, a Juarez Cartel faction operating in Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Key extraditions include Maria Del Carmen Navarro Sanchez, Luis Carlos Davalos Lopez and Gustavo Castro-Medina, charged with providing material support to FTOs and narcotics and weapons trafficking and bulk cash and human smuggling offenses.

“Navarro-Sanchez is the first Mexican national to be charged with providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization based on her involvement with the CJNG, including providing the cartel with grenades and engaging in alien smuggling, firearms trafficking, bulk cash smuggling, and narcotics trafficking on its behalf,” the DOJ said. “CJNG, which controls a significant portion of the narcotics trafficking trade, also engages in money laundering, bribery, extortion of migrants, and other criminal activities, including acts of violence and intimidation.”

Humberto Rivera-Rivera, a leader of a Sinaloa Cartel faction in Valle de Juarez, Chihuahua, was charged with narcotics trafficking. Roberto Gonzalez-Hernandez, a high-ranking Los Cabrera Cartel member, was charged with narcotics, smuggling and firearm offenses.

Others extradited to the Western District include Francisco Arredondo Colmenero, Heriberto Hernandez Rodriguez, Daniel Manera Macias, Maria del Rosario Navarro Sanchez and Ricardo Gonzalez Sauceda. One name remains sealed.

In the Southern District of Texas, Ricardo Cortez Mateos, a former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, was charged with multiple drug trafficking offenses after being indicted in Brownsville in 2021. Juan Pedro Saldivar Farias, a Zeta Regional Commander and Plaza Boss located in the Falcon Lake area of South Texas, faces multiple charges related to trafficking multiple tons of cocaine a month into the U.S. and charging cartel operatives in the area, The Center Square reported. Saldivar Farias’ brother pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in 2017 and is currently serving a 30-year sentence.

The group’s extradition is only the third time Mexico has complied with U.S. extradition requests using its national security law to expel fugitives, the DOJ said.

It was the largest transfer of fugitives in U.S.-Mexican history.

The first large transfer occurred last February of 29 fugitives; the second occurred last August of 26.