DEA’s Mexico chief ousted over ties to Miami drug lawyers
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration last year quietly ousted its former top official in Mexico over improper contact with lawyers for narcotraffickers, an embarrassing end to a brief tenure marked by deteriorating cooperation between the countries and a record flow of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl across the border.
Nicholas Palmeri’s socializing and vacationing with Miami drug lawyers, detailed in confidential records viewed by The Associated Press, brought his ultimate downfall following just a 14-month stint as DEA’s powerful regional director supervising dozens of agents across Mexico, Central America and Canada.
But separate internal probes raised other red flags, including complaints of lax handling of the coronavirus pandemic that resulted in two sickened agents having to be airlifted out of the country.
And another disclosed this found Palmeri, 52, approved use of drugfighting funds for inappropriate purposes and sought to be reimbursed to pay for his own birthday party.
“The post of regional director in Mexico is the most important one in DEA’s foreign operations, and when something like this happens, it’s disruptive,” said Mike Vigil, the DEA’s former chief of international operations.
“It’s even more critical because of the deteriorating situation with Mexico,” added Phil Jordan, a former director of the DEA’s El Paso Intelligence Center. “If we don’t have a strong regional director or agent in charge there, it works against the agency’s overall operations because everything transits through Mexico, whether it’s coming from Colombia or the fentanyl that flows in through China. It cannot be taken lightly.”
Palmeri’s case adds to a growing litany of misconduct roiling the nation’s premier narcotics law enforcement agency at a time when its sprawling foreign operations — spanning 69 countries — are under scrutiny from an external review ordered by DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.
That review came in response to the case of
Jose Irizarry, a disgraced former agent now serving 12 years in a federal prison after confessing to laundering money for Colombian drug cartels and skimming millions from seizures to fund an international joyride of jetsetting, parties and prostitutes.
Palmeri’s is the second case in recent months to shine a light on the oftencozy interactions between DEA officials and Miami attorneys representing some of Latin America’s biggest narcotraffickers and money launderers.
Last year, federal prosecutors charged a DEA agent and a former supervisor with leaking confidential law enforcement information to two unnamed Miami defense attorneys in exchange for $70,000 in cash.
One of those attorneys, identified as David Macey, was also implicated in the probe into Palmeri. Internal investigative records show Macey hosted Palmeri and his Mexican-born wife for two days at his home in the Florida Keys — a trip that investigators said served no useful work purpose and violated rules governing interactions with attorneys that are designed to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
The DEA wouldn’t discuss Palmeri’s ouster or why he was not fired, but an agency official said the DEA ‘‘has zero tolerance for improper contacts between defense attorneys and DEA employees.”