US authorities detain Mexico’s former defense minister at LA airport
The United States authorities have detained Mexico’s former defense minister at the Los Angeles International Airport.
The foreign minister of the Central American nation confirmed this on Thursday October 15, 2020.
“I have been informed by Ambassador Christopher Landau of the United States [to Mexico] that the former Secretary of National Defense, General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, has been detained at the Los Angeles Airport, California,” Marcelo Ebrard said in a late night tweet.
Although charges against the defense minister were not spelt out clearly.
Ebrard said Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles would be informing him of the charges in the next few hours.
He added that they will provide consular assistance to the general, stressing that the US authorities are yet to confirm Cienfuegos’ detention.
However, a federal law enforcement official in New York said that he was arrested at the request of the US Drug Enforcement Administration and will face drug and money-laundering charges in the US.
Cienfuegos served as defense minister under former President Enrique Pena Nieto between 2012-2018.
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