U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson highlighted this Wednesday that overdose deaths in the United States fell by 35% by the end of 2025 from the peak of the opioid epidemic that began in 2023. The decrease is explained by the “cooperation with Mexico” to “dismantle the cartels,” according to the Washington representative in Mexico City.
The message, published on social media, is a new endorsement from the White House of the strategy of Claudia Sheinbaum’s government, who has redoubled efforts to decapitate organized crime organizations. The most recent example was the killing in February of Nemesio Oseguera, alias El Mencho, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
“Dismantling the cartels, along with cooperation with Mexico, saves lives and strengthens our shared security. While there is still work to be done, the progress is clear,” Johnson, who has led the delegation since last year, stated. Hours earlier, on Tuesday afternoon, Johnson highlighted the arrest of four members of Los Salazar, a group linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, in California.
“Actions like this against the Sinaloa Cartel reaffirm the commitment of the Donald Trump Administration to end the scourge of synthetic drugs and stop the flow of illegal firearms,” he said on social media.
This last point is not a minor detail. Sheinbaum’s government, as well as that of her predecessor and political mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has deployed a legal strategy to directly link the violence caused by the cartels with arms trafficking from the United States. In fact, the Executive leads a legal case that remains active in the State of Arizona.
One day before Johnson’s message, Washington announced the freezing of assets and properties in the U.S. of three people allegedly linked to the Northeast Cartel in Tamaulipas as well as two casinos in the northern state.
