Former Mexican defense minister, General Salvador Cienfuegos, was arrested on Thursday at Los Angeles international airport, California, United States, on drugs and money charges.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard made the announcement in a tweet.
“I have been informed by Ambassador Christopher Landau of the United States that the former Secretary of National Defense, General Salvador Cienfuego Zepeda, has been detained at the Los Angeles Airport, California,” he said.
Cienfuegos is the highest-ranking Mexican official to be detained in the United States since the arrest last December of Genaro Garcia Luna, on allegations that he took millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa cartel.
He served as minister of public security from 2006 to 2012. He is expected to go on trial in New York in the coming months.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.
