Mexico’s former defence minister helped smuggle drugs into U.S. in exchange for bribes, court documents charge

Mexico’s former defence minister helped smuggle thousands of kilograms of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States in exchange for bribes, according to court documents unsealed Friday.

General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, 72, acted on behalf of the H-2 cartel while defence secretary from 2012 to 2018 under former president Enrique Pena Nieto, U.S. authorities said.

Thousands of intercepted Blackberry messages show the general ensured military operations were not conducted against the cartel, and that operations were initiated against rivals, according to prosecutors. Gen. Cienfuegos allegedly introduced cartel leaders to other corrupt Mexican officials.

Gen. Cienfuegos is also accused of alerting cartel leaders to a U.S. law enforcement investigation into its operations and the use of co-operating witnesses and informants, which resulted in the murder of a member of the cartel that leaders incorrectly believed was assisting U.S. law enforcement authorities.

Intercepted communications between Gen. Cienfuegos and a senior cartel leader discussed the general’s historical assistance to another drug trafficking organization, as well as communications in which the defendant is identified by name, title and photograph as the Mexican government official assisting the H-2 cartel, authorities said.

Gen. Cienfuegos was arrested Thursday upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport. A senior Mexican official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to give details of the case, said Gen. Cienfuegos was arrested with family members who were released and he was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center. He was expected to appear in court via video from the detention facility.

Gen. Cienfuegos was indicted by a grand jury in the Eastern District of New York on Aug. 14, 2019, on charges of conspiracy to participate in international distribution of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. He could face a mandatory sentence of at least 10 years in prison if convicted.

Federal prosecutors will ask that Gen. Cienfuegos be denied bail, saying he is a major flight risk. They say he last visited the United States in March, 2019, and if he were captured in Mexico, extradition to the U.S. could take years.

Gen. Cienfuegos was scheduled to make an initial appearance later Friday in federal court in Los Angeles. He was expected to be transferred to New York, where his case is being handled.

The former defence secretary was to be represented at the hearing by public defender Ashley Mahmoudian, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His personal attorney Rafael Heredia was travelling from Mexico to be there.

Gen. Cienfuegos is the highest-ranking former Mexican cabinet official arrested since top Mexican security official Genaro Garcia Luna was arrested in Texas in 2019. Mr. Garcia Luna, who served under former president Felipe Calderon, has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges.

The arrest of Gen. Cienfuegos is a tough blow for Mexico, where the army and navy are some of the few remaining respected public institutions.

Current President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has vowed to go after corruption and law-breaking under past administrations, but he has relied more heavily on the army – and given it more tasks, ranging from building infrastructure projects to distributing medical supplies – than any other president in recent history.

Mexico authorities don’t identify any drug cartel as H-2, which, according to U.S. officials, was led by Juan Francisco Patron Sanchez. Instead, Mexican officials alleged Mr. Patron Sanchez was a regional leader of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel. He was killed in 2017 in a shootout with Mexican marines.

U.S. authorities said in court documents that the cartel had numerous distribution cells in the U.S. when Gen. Cienfuegos led the Mexican military, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Ohio, Minnesota, North Carolina and New York.

In Mexico, the cartel is accused of trafficking hundreds of firearms and committing “countless acts of horrific violence, including torture and murder, in order to protect against challenges from rival drug trafficking organizations, fight for territory and silence those who would co-operate with law enforcement.”

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