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MEXICO CITY — <\/span>MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 Mexico’s<\/a> security minister said Tuesday that it had sent another 37 members of Mexican drug cartels to the United States, as the Trump administration<\/a> ratchets up pressure on governments to crack down on criminal networks it says are smuggling drugs across the border.<\/p>\n Mexican Security Minister Omar Garc\u00eda Harfuch wrote in a social media post on X that the people transferred were \u201chigh impact criminals\u201d that \u201crepresented a real threat to the country\u2019s security.\u201d<\/p>\n It is the third time in less than one year that Mexico has sent detained cartel members to the U.S.<\/a> as the country attempts to offset mounting threats by U.S. President Donald Trump. Garc\u00eda Harfuch said the government has sent 92 people in total.<\/p>\n Video shared by Mexican authorities shows a line of handcuffed prisoners surrounded by heavily armed and masked officers being loaded onto a military jet at an airport on the outskirts of Mexico City.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the pressure increases, as demands from the White House dial up, (Mexico\u2019s government) needs to resort to extraordinary measures, such as these transfers,\u201d said David Mora, a Mexico analyst at the International Crisis Group.<\/p>\n The U.S. State Department and Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s transfer included a handful of important figures from the Sinaloa Cartel<\/a>, the Beltr\u00e1n-Leyva cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel<\/a>, the Northeast Cartel, a remnant of the infamous Zetas based in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas, across from Texas. Mexican authorities said that all had pending U.S. cases.<\/p>\n Among those transferred was Mar\u00eda Del Rosario Navarro S\u00e1nchez, the first Mexican citizen to face charges<\/a> in the U.S. for providing support to a terrorist organization, after being accused of conspiring with a cartel.<\/p>\n Trump has publicly entertained the idea of military action on Mexican cartels, language that has only gotten more combative since a U.S. military operation in Venezuela deposed former President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n Turning his attention to Mexico shortly after the Venezuela attack, Trump said in an interview with Fox News: \u201cWe\u2019ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water and we are going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke with Trump<\/a>, telling him that U.S. intervention in Mexico was \u201cnot necessary,\u201d but emphasizing that the two governments would continue to collaborate.<\/p>\n Last February, Mexico sent 29 cartel figures to the U.S., including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero<\/a>, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985. In August, a second round saw 26 Mexican cartel figures sent to the U.S. None had the profile of Caro Quintero, but spanning multiple cartels, the figures could help U.S. prosecutors build cases.<\/p>\n After the August transfer, Garc\u00eda Harfuch said it was a public safety decision, because Mexico did not want them to continue operating their illicit businesses from inside Mexican prisons.<\/p>\n Another transfer of prisoners to the U.S. had been rumored for weeks. Mexico has sought to assure the Trump administration that it continues to be a willing partner in combating drug traffickers.<\/p>\n “For the Trump administration and the Trump base, what is going to matter in the end is some wins that Trump can actually bring back and say \u2018Look this is what I\u2019m getting out of Mexico,\u2019\u201d said Mora.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press reporter Fabiola Sanch\u00e9z contributed to this report from Mexico City.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n