Mexico’s top security officials are harshly criticizing the director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Terry Cole, over a series of comments he made pointing to a link between drug cartels and the Mexican federal government.
In a rare turn of events, Mexico’s National Security Cabinet issued a prepared statement calling out Cole by name over a series of comments he made earlier this week during a speech in Florida. The head of the DEA claimed that there was a deadly connection between drug cartels and public officials in Mexico and that the U.S. government would be going after public officials who helped cartels.
When asked about the comments, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum claimed during her morning news conference that there was no corruption or ties between criminal organizations and the government during the terms of her predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and her own.
Hours later, Mexico’s National Security Cabinet issued a statement calling Cole’s comments “baseless,” claiming that Mexico’s government had been focused on a “zero impunity” strategy. In the statement, Mexico’s government lists a series of statistics on arrests and seizures, trying to claim that they had been actively fighting organized crime.
The comments in the prepared statement follow a pattern of verbal confrontation with U.S. law enforcement agencies over their focus not only on drug cartels but also on Mexican politicians who have enabled them.
Tensions rose over two months after the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya and nine of his closest allies, including the top law enforcement officials in the state. The criminal indictment included drug trafficking conspiracy and weapons charges, accusing Rocha Moya and his allies of working for the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for bribes and political power.
Rather than help the U.S. with the arrest and extradition, Sheinbaum openly defended Rocha Moya, who hails from her political party, claiming that there was no evidence of wrongdoing on the politician’s part.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.