LatinNews Daily - 26 January 2026

Mexico: On 21 January the US Justice Department announced that 37 “fugitives” had been transferred from Mexican custody to the US to face charges including “narcoterrorism, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, firearms trafficking, human smuggling, money laundering, and various drug trafficking offenses”. The detainees include alleged members of the Cártel de Sinaloa, the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), and the Cártel del Noreste (CDN), which have all been labelled by the US as terrorist organisations, as well as the Cártel de los Beltrán Leyva, the Cártel del Golfo, and La Línea. This was the third such prisoner transfer since US President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, with Mexican authorities previously transferring 29 detainees to the US in February 2025 and a further 26 in August 2025. US Attorney General Pam Bondi said that “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”. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum denied that the transfer was carried out as a result of US pressure, describing it as a “sovereign decision” that was reached after analysing “what was important for the country in terms of national security”.