US pushes Mexico to prosecute politicians with ties to drug cartels
(Reuters) - The Trump administration is pressuring Mexico to investigate and prosecute politicians with suspected links to organized crime, and to extradite them to the United States if there are criminal charges to answer there, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The requests - raised at least three times by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his team in bilateral meetings and conversations with Mexican officials - seek to push President Claudia Sheinbaum's government to investigate current elected officials and launch an unprecedented crackdown on narco corruption, four people familiar with the matter said.
In their discussions, the U.S. officials have called for action against several politicians from Sheinbaum's own Morena party and threatened to levy further tariffs if Mexico did not take action, two of the sources said.
The conversations between U.S. and Mexican officials have not been previously reported.
Mexico's foreign ministry did not respond to Reuters' questions before this story was published. After its publication, the foreign ministry denied in a post on social media that the U.S. had requested that any official be investigated.
In a daily press conference, Sheinbaum then said it was "false" that the U.S. had asked Mexico to give names of Mexican politicians.
The U.S. State Department, in a comment also sent after the story published, did not dispute that requests had been made that politicians with cartel links be investigated, but said no "tariff relief" has been offered in exchange.
"It is in the interest of both the United States and Mexico to work together to combat the cartels and the corrupt actors that enable them," the statement said.
A Reuters spokesperson said: "We stand by our reporting."
BAJA CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR
Reuters could not determine if the U.S. provided Mexico with a list of politicians suspected of links to organized crime, or evidence against them. Nor was Reuters able to independently confirm if any individuals flagged by the U.S. had engaged in any wrongdoing.
Two sources said five current Morena officials and one former senator were mentioned - including Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Avila.
In a statement to Reuters on Wednesday, Avila said her government had fought organized crime and had managed to reduce homicide rates.
"I affirm categorically that it is totally false any information that seeks to link me to any organized crime group," Avila said.
The Mexican presidency, Attorney General's Office, Security Ministry and Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the talks. The White House, State Department, Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security also did not reply to Reuters questions prior to publication.
POLITICAL RISK
President Donald Trump's administration has justified its declarations of tariffs on Mexico on the growing influence of the cartels over the government.
A crackdown - potentially targeting high-ranking elected officials while they are in office - would mark a dramatic escalation of Mexico's efforts against drug corruption. But it carries political risks for Sheinbaum, as some of the allegations involve members of her own party, a member of her security cabinet told Reuters.
The U.S. first raised the request at a meeting in Washington on February 27 led by Rubio and Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente, the four people familiar with the matter said. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and other officials from the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice as well as Treasury attended the meeting, the four people said. Mexico's Attorney General Alejandro Gertz and Secretary of Security Omar Garcia Harfuch were also at the meeting.
Mexico sent 29 cartel figures to the U.S. in late February - the largest such handover in years - following Trump's threats to impose across-the-board tariffs on Mexican goods. The possibility of expediting the capture and/or deportation of priority DEA and FBI targets was also discussed, two of the sources said.
As part of the discussions, two of the people familiar with the matter said, U.S. officials floated the idea of appointing a U.S. fentanyl czar to liaise directly with Sheinbaum on progress to combat the deadly synthetic opioid.
Washington also pressed Mexico for more thorough inspections of U.S.-bound cargo for drugs and travelers at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Although Mexico's federal prosecutor's office is independent of Sheinbaum's administration under the country's constitution, Washington has long accused Mexico of protecting politicians alleged to have links to the cartels.
Serving state governors and federal lawmakers are immune from prosecution for most crimes and can only be prosecuted for serious federal crimes like drug trafficking or racketeering if authorized by Mexico's Congress.
(Reporting by Diego Oré; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer, Suzanne Goldenberg and Lisa Shumaker)
