A former Mexican defense official was arrested late Thursday for various criminal charges, according to multiple reports.
Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard confirmed on Twitter Thursday night that Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos, the now retired defense official, was detained at the Los Angeles International Airport. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reportedly issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with money laundering and drug trafficking charges.
La Cónsul en Los Angeles me estará informando próximas horas de los cargos. Ofreceremos la asistencia consular a la que tiene derecho. Les mantengo al tanto.
— Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) October 16, 2020
Cienfuegos, the first high-ranking Mexican defense official to be taken into U.S. custody, was reportedly arrested while he was with his family at the airport and subsequently taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center.
A sealed indictment dated Aug. 14, 2019, and obtained by the New York Times, accuses Cienfuegos of three counts of international heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana manufacture and distribution conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to launder narcotics proceeds.
U.S. officials reportedly based their case against him on “thousands of intercepted communications” conducted on Blackberry devices, which was a preferred means of communication between Mexican cartels.
According to court documents obtained by the New York Times, he stands accused of assisting the H-2 cartel based in New York City, allegedly accepting bribes to permit the cartel’s operations in Mexico.
“While he was the Secretary of National Defense in Mexico, the defendant, in exchange for bribe payments, assisted the H-2 Cartel in numerous ways, including by: (i) ensuring that the military operations were not conducted against the H-2 Cartel; (ii) initiating military operations against its rival drug trafficking organizations; (iii) locating maritime transportation for drug shipments,” the court documents read, alleging several other activities.
Prosecutors in Brooklyn also successfully took down the former state attorney general of Nayarit, Edgar Veytia, for working with the H-2 cartel. Veytia was sentenced last year to 20 years in prison.
Here is background on H-2: pic.twitter.com/0TiGuEUCjG— Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer) October 16, 2020
Court papers unsealed today say that Cienfuegos took bribes to protect H-2 from military ops, used the military to attack H-2’s rivals and even introduced top cartel members to other corrupt Mexican officials. pic.twitter.com/2HYHAtvxdm
— Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer) October 16, 2020
US officials have based the case against Cienfuegos on “thousands of intercepted communications” from BlackBerry devices. Those devices were once the method of choice of Mexican cartels. pic.twitter.com/KZXxj5gxwK
— Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer) October 16, 2020
Cienfuegos was Mexico’s defense minister from 2012-2018 under former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. Nieto rolled back efforts to use the army against criminal drug cartels, a tactic used by his predecessor Felipe Calderon that led to massive violence.
Cienfuegos reportedly defended the Mexican military after the country faced international criticism for passing an extreme security law in 2017. Critics said the measure would lead to abuses, including allowing soldiers to remain on streets indefinitely and constructing a militarized police force.
