Former Mexican Defense Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda. Photo: Latinus

By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF

Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, Mexico’s former secretary of defense, was detained in the Los Angeles International Airport, along with his family, by U.S. Drug Enfrcement Agency (DEA) officials, along with his family, late Thursday, Oct. 15, on suspicion of drug traficking.

Cienfuegos Zepeda, who served ias the country’s top military leader from 2012 to 2018, under former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, will face charges of money-laundering and drug trafficking, according to feeral law enforcement officials in New York.

Cienfuegos Zepeda is the highest-ranking Mexican military official  to be taken into custody in the United States in connecting with drug-related crimes.

His arrest comes 10 months after that of Peña Nieto’s top cop, Gerardo García Luna, was indicted in Mew York for allegedly taking bribes while in office from the Sinaloa Drug Cartel.

Cienfuegos Zepeda’s family has since been released.

In an early morning press conference at the National Palace, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) on Friday, Oct. 16, said that any officials currently serving in his government who can be linked to Cienfuegos Zepeda will be immediately suspended.

…Oct. 16, 2020