U.S. judge drops narcotrafficking charges against former Mexican defense minister

After constructing one of many highest-profile drug trafficking circumstances in current historical past, prosecutors stated they requested the dismissal to take care of the fragile relationship with Mexico, although it may imply that Cienfuegos returns to Mexico a free man. In Mexico, officers depicted the choice as a triumph of nationwide sovereignty and the status of the nation’s navy.

In a federal courtroom in New York on Wednesday, Judge Carol Bagley Amon requested Cienfuegos if he agreed to “voluntarily depart the United States expeditiously in the custody of the United States marshals.”
“Si, señora,” he responded. It was unclear whether or not he could be detained on arrival in Mexico.

Amon had only one substantive query about prosecutors’ choice to hunt dismissal: Was the decision made by Attorney General William P. Barr? U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme confirmed that it had been.

The Justice Department spent years investigating Cienfuegos, who served as Mexico’s high defense official from 2012 to 2018 below then-president Enrique Peña Nieto. Prosecutors stated they found 1000’s of exchanges that confirmed that he was additionally working with the H-2 cartel to broaden its territory and transfer medication into the United States. It seemed to be a blockbuster case, revealing deep connections between the Mexican state and the nation’s prison underworld.

Amon acknowledged that the choice to drop that case was “a matter of foreign policy.” Mexican officers have complained to their U.S. counterparts privately and in public that they weren’t knowledgeable of the investigation earlier than Cienfuegos was arrested Oct. 15 in Los Angeles.

The United States agreed to ship Cienfuegos again to Mexico after Mexican authorities recommended they may restrict the power of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to function within the nation, in line with Mexican officers. Those negotiations occurred whereas Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was conspicuous as one in all few world leaders to not congratulate President-Elect Joe Biden.

Hours earlier than the listening to, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador solid doubt on the proof against Cienfuegos.

“There is no impunity for anyone, but at the same time crimes will not be allowed to be fabricated,” he instructed reporters in Mexico City. “There must be support, evidence — no person can be the victim of an injustice.”

López Obrador has described the investigation and arrest of Cienfuegos as a violation of Mexican sovereignty. The Mexican navy, revered by a lot of the nation, is a vital piece of López Obrador’s safety technique. In securing Cienfuegos’ return to Mexico, López Obrador stated Wednesday, he was defending the nation’s honor.
“What is involved here is the prestige of a fundamental institution of the Mexican State, which is the Secretariat of Defense, the armed forces and it is not just anything,” he stated. “We cannot allow without evidence the undermining of our fundamental institutions.”

For a long time, the nation’s armed forces have appeared largely exempt from scrutiny, an establishment thought-about untouchable throughout administrations and political events. The choice to drop the charges against Cienfuegos appeared to bolster that concept. Eruviel Ávila, the Mexican senator who heads the senate’s fee on the Marines, wrote on Twitter that the choice “is a recognition to all the Armed Forces of our country.”

Still, Amon expressed confidence in Mexico’s justice system. 

“I have no reason to doubt the government’s determination that the Mexican prosecuting authorities sincerely wish to pursue and investigation and prosecution of this defendant,” she stated.

Prosecutors, in the meantime, continued to precise confidence within the charges.

“The office stands behind the case,” DuCharme stated. “There’s no concern that I have with the strength of our case.” 

This transfer, he stated, is a few “balance between the department’s interest in perusing the prosecution against the interests of the United States in foreign relations.”

Cienfuegos was anticipated to be ushered to an airport within the custody of U.S. Marshals, nevertheless it was unclear the place he was in the end headed. His legal professional declined to say.

“His plans in the immediate future are to remain with his family as a free man,” lawyer Edward Cipone stated.