Overview

• Mexican security agencies transferred 26 alleged cartel figures from various prisons on August 12–13 under a DOJ request that included a pledge not to seek the death penalty.
• The DOJ identified detainees such as Abigael González Valencia (“El Cuini”) and Servando Gómez Martínez (“La Tuta”) among senior operatives from CJNG, Sinaloa and Caballeros Templarios.
• The operation involved Mexico’s FGR, SSPC, SEDENA and SEMAR and U.S. agencies including the DOJ, DEA, FBI, HSI and U.S. Marshals Service operating under established bilateral security protocols.
• Mexican officials said the detainees were directing drug trafficking, kidnapping and other illicit activities from prison through visits and legal appeals, creating ongoing security threats.
• The suspects are now in U.S. federal custody facing charges in multiple jurisdictions, where convictions could carry sentences up to life imprisonment.