In his speech, Trump highlighted the murder of a Tucson man in Sonora

“Just a few days ago, a young Marine Corps veteran named Nicholas Quets from Arizona was driving through Mexico for a beach weekend… when he was brutally gunned down on the highway and murdered by members of a Mexican cartel, and it was brutal.” For no reason whatsoever,” the former president said. “…A beautiful guy, a beautiful family and we are so sorry for your loss. You can’t put it into words.”

Trump said he would take on organized crime in Mexico if elected president.

“Under the Trump administration, we will achieve a competitive and complete victory over these sadistic monsters,” Trump said. “We will take back our territory, we will restore the sovereign borders of the United States of America, and we will quickly put the cartels out of business. They will disappear.”

Earlier Thursday, Quets' brother-in-law Phil Sweet told the Arizona Daily Star that the family had planned to meet with Trump in Tempe, where the Republican presidential candidate was holding a campaign rally at Mullett Arena on the campus of Arizona State University.

Quets, 31, was fatally shot Oct. 18 while driving through a dangerous part of northwest Sonora on his way to Puerto Peñasco just before 8 p.m., the Star reported.

Sweet told the Star that the family hopes to speak with Trump about the need to involve U.S. law enforcement in the investigation and extradite the perpetrators to the U.S. for trial and punishment.

“Beyond these immediate requests, we will discuss concrete strategic ideas to create a stronger security environment on both sides of the border, leading to a stronger economy in both countries, which, along with direct action, will break the back of cartel terrorists,” Sweet said in a text message to the star.

“While nothing can bring Nick back, we can honor his memory by bringing criminals to justice while creating an environment that is safer for innocent people on both sides of the border.”

Quets worked in the Pima County sanitation department, but a county spokesman could not immediately confirm whether Quets was employed there at the time of his death.

On October 18, Quets was traveling with friends on Mexican Federal Highway 2 near Altar from Nogales to Puerto Peñasco when a vehicle pulled up next to them and opened fire.

Shortly before the shooting, an armed group had attempted to stop Quets' vehicle at an illegal checkpoint and opened fire after the vehicle failed to stop, a Sonoran official confirmed to the Star in a background interview Monday.

Two Arizona women were killed in a shooting on separate stretches of the same highway in August, and a U.S. citizen was killed in December.

Trump commented on Quets' death two days after his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, highlighted Quets' killing during a campaign rally Tuesday at the Pima County Fairgrounds.

“You need a president who will send the U.S. military to fight the Mexican drug cartels,” said Vance, a Marine veteran. “… I think we have hundreds of thousands of very good Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen who are pretty pissed off at the Mexican cartels. I think we will also send them to fight the Mexican drug cartels.”

Quets' remains were returned to his family Wednesday, brother-in-law Sweet said.

“We continue to be frustrated that we have received no assistance or outreach from the current U.S. administration, other than assistance from State Department officials in assisting in the return of Nicholas' remains,” Sweet said.

A spokesman for the Sonora attorney general's office did not immediately comment Thursday on the possibility of cooperating with U.S. authorities in the investigation.

After the Oct. 18 shooting, Mexican security forces immediately launched a search operation to find the perpetrators, the Sonora AG's office said. Over the weekend, Mexican troops combing the desert area around Altar and Caborca ​​came under attack by armed attackers.

In response, security forces killed four of the attackers and seized five AK47 assault rifles, tactical vests and ammunition, the office said.

“An investigation is underway to determine if they are the possible perpetrators,” Allan de la Rosa, spokesman for the AG’s office in Sonora, told the Star in text messages in Spanish on Thursday. “It is a very extensive desert area. They conduct operations by land and air.”