WASHINGTON — The Justice Division plans to drop drug trafficking and corruption costs in opposition to a former Mexican protection minister to perm
WASHINGTON — The Justice Division plans to drop drug trafficking and corruption costs in opposition to a former Mexican protection minister to permit Mexican officers to research him, Lawyer Normal William P. Barr introduced Tuesday.
The official, Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, had been Mexico’s protection minister from 2012 to 2018. He was arrested by Drug Enforcement Administration brokers final month in Los Angeles, making him the primary high-ranking Mexican navy official to be arrested in the US on drug-related corruption costs.
However after Normal Cienfuegos’ arrest, the federal authorities in Mexico opened an investigation into him and the US would now defer to the Mexican authorities on the matter, Mr. Barr stated in a joint assertion with the lawyer common of Mexico, Alejandro Gertz Manero. The assertion stopped wanting promising any costs in Mexico.
“In recognition of the sturdy legislation enforcement partnership between Mexico and the US, and within the pursuits of demonstrating our united entrance in opposition to all types of criminality, the U.S. Division of Justice has made the choice to hunt dismissal of the U.S. prison costs in opposition to former Secretary Cienfuegos, in order that he could also be investigated and, if applicable, charged, underneath Mexican legislation,” Mr. Barr and Mr. Gertz Manero stated within the assertion.
The choice was an abrupt turnaround for American legislation enforcement officers, who had accused Normal Cienfuegos of serving to transport narcotics and tipping a drug cartel off to American investigations into their operations.
The Mexican authorities was blindsided by the arrest, and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador himself expressed some shock on the detention of a navy chief who had lengthy commanded respect inside Mexico. Mexican officers have stated privately that they have been offended at an absence of communication by Justice Division officers on a case that had clearly taken time to construct, given how intently the 2 international locations collaborate in combating organized crime.
The Justice Division costs in opposition to him underscored the corruption that has touched the best ranges of the federal government in Mexico. Normal Cienfuegos served as protection minister to President Enrique Peña Nieto, who left workplace two years in the past. And his arrest got here 10 months after one other prime official — who as soon as led the Mexican equal of the F.B.I. — was indicted in New York on costs of taking bribes whereas in workplace to guard the highly effective Sinaloa drug cartel.
Mr. Barr stated that as a part of an settlement with the Mexican authorities, the Justice Division had supplied the proof it had collected in opposition to Normal Cienfuegos to investigators there.
Normal Cienfuegos was arraigned in federal courtroom in Brooklyn earlier this month, pleading not responsible to cash laundering and trafficking costs.
Natalie Kitroeff contributed reporting from Mexico Metropolis.
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