The Mexican government has arrested a suspected drug trafficker on the European Union’s “most wanted fugitives” list, as it attempts to crack down on criminal operations within its borders.
Mexico’s Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuchs on Saturday announced János Balla, a 48-year-old Hungarian national who goes by the alias “Daniel Takács”, was detained in the southern state of Quintana Roo.
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In the European Union, Balla has been sentenced to six years in prison for drug and psychotropic substance trafficking.
According to García Harfuchs, the bat was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice, which asks law enforcement officials around the world to assist in the arrest of a suspect.
in a joint statementMexican agencies involved in the arrest credited their cooperation with Hungarian authorities for helping in Balla’s arrest.
“Based on the exchange of information with Hungarian security agencies, as well as intelligence and investigative work, (Balla’s) mobility area was identified in the municipality of Benito Juarez, where a coordinated operation was implemented, resulting in his arrest on Politecnico Avenue.”
The statement said Balla was placed in the custody of Mexico’s National Migration Institute “to determine his immigration status and to continue his controlled deportation process to Europe.”
Saturday was the latest high-profile arrest under President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has sought to move away from the “hugs, not bullets” philosophy of her predecessor and political mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
His administration has taken a tough stance on combating drug trafficking and other cartel activities in Mexico, especially in the face of pressure from his counterpart in the United States, President Donald Trump.
After labeling several Mexican cartels “foreign terrorist organizations”, Trump has repeatedly threatened to take military action in the country, despite outrage that such a move would violate Mexican sovereignty.
He has also used tariffs on Mexican exports as an economic leverage to ensure compliance with his anti-narcotics campaign.
“We have to take them down,” Trump said of Mexico’s cartels in March. “We have to put an end to them because they’re getting worse. They’re taking over our country. Cartels are running Mexico. We can’t do that.”
But Sheinbaum’s government has pointed to the increase in cartel arrests as evidence of the effectiveness of its strategy.
In February, his administration launched a military operation that resulted in the death of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, the former head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), known as “El Mencho”.
And in March, another cartel leader, Omar Osvaldo Torres of the Los Mayos faction of the Sinaloa cartel, was arrested.
Ahead of the start of the World Cup in June, Sheinbaum has also promised to increase law enforcement and the military on the streets of Mexico, with about 100,000 security personnel expected to be present at the event.
Mexico has been an ally in the US “war on drugs”, and the country is also the US’s largest trading partner.
While Sheinbaum has condemned suggestions that the US might violate Mexican sovereignty, he has also sought to continue his country’s cooperation with its northern neighbor, including prisoner exchanges and joint law enforcement operations.
Since Trump took office for a second term in 2025, Mexico has sent about 92 suspected cartel members to the US for prosecution.
The most recent batch of 37 people was transferred in January. Another 29 arrived in February 2025, and 26 more were exchanged last August.
one in statementFormer police chief García Harfuchs defended the transfers, saying that it would protect Mexico from “individuals who pose a real threat to the security of the country” and “who will no longer be able to incite violence within our country.”
He also underlined that the decision to send the suspects to the US was made “with full respect for national sovereignty”.
But critics, including family members of suspects, have argued that such transfers violate Mexican law, because they were done without an extradition order.
In turn, suspects were prevented from exercising their due process rights to appeal extradition.
