US drops drug tra cking charges against ex-Mexican general
NEW YORK ( AP) — U. S. prosecutors on Wednesday formally dropped a drug trafficking and money laundering case against a former Mexican defense secretary, a decision that came after Mexico threatened to cut o cooperation with U.S. authorities unless the general was sent home.
A judge in New York City approved the dismissal of charges, capping a lightning-fast turnaround in the case of former Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos, who was arrested just weeks ago in Los Angeles, but will be returned to Mexico under an unusual diplomatic deal between the two countries.
The decision to drop the case was an embarrassment for the United States, which had touted the arrest as a major breakthrough when Cienfuegos was taken into custody Oct. 15. But the arrest drew a loud protest from top o cials in Mexico and threatened to damage the delicate relationship that enables investigators in both countries to pursue drug kingpins together.
“The United States determined that the broader interest in maintaining that relationship in a cooperative way outweighed the department’s interest and the public’s interest in pursuing this particular case,” Seth DuCharme, the acting U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, told the judge at a hearing.
He said the decision to drop the charges was made by Attorney General William Barr.
Cienfuegos was secretly indicted by a federal grand jury in New York in 2019. He was accused of conspiring with the H-2 cartel in Mexico to smuggle thousands of kilos of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana while he was defense secretary from 2012 to 2018.
Prosecutors said intercepted messages showed that Cienfuegos accepted bribes in exchange for ensuring the military did not take action against the cartel and that operations were initiated against its rivals. He was also accused of introducing cartel leaders to other corrupt Mexican o cials.
Mexican officials complained that the U.S. failed to share evidence against Cienfuegos and that his arrest came as a surprise. It also caused alarm within Mexico’s military, which has played a crucial role in operations against drug cartels.
Mexico has repeatedly extradited major drug suspects, including at least some former elected o - cials, for trial in the United States. In the case of Cienfuegos, Mexican o - cials have taken no o cial position on whether he is innocent or guilty, saying that was up to the attorney general’s o ce to decide.
But they have depicted his return as a victory for Mexico’s sovereignty and its demand to be treated as an equal partner by the United States, an odd position given that most think that Mexico’s court system — and corrupt o cials — are the weak links in the country’s fight against drug tra cking.