Mexican Federal Police Commander Charged for Aiding Cartels

A former Mexican federal police commander is facing charges in U.S. courts for allegedly leaking information about U.S. drug enforcement operations to cartels.

Prosecutors in the Northern District of Illinois filed charges against Ivan Reyes Arzate, a.k.a. “La Reina,” for allegedly warning members of a drug cartel they were targets of a Drug Enforcement Agency investigation. Reyes obtained the information through his position as a commander in the Mexican Federal Police, according to information obtained by Breitbart Texas from the Department of Justice.

The criminal complaint filed against Reyes states Mexican police and U.S. investigators worked together over the past year to investigate certain specific drug traffickers in Mexico. The high-level targets of the investigation allegedly transported several tons of cocaine from Columbia into Mexico. The drugs final destination is listed as the United States, according to investigators.

Prosecutors stated Reyes served as a primary contact for the U.S. investigators, conveying information between American and Mexican law enforcement officials. In September, Reyes obtained a surveillance photograph of one of the drug traffickers. He allegedly contacted the person in the photograph to notify them about the surveillance. Law enforcement officers intercepted the conversation.

A member of the conspiracy notified the trafficker that “a confidential source cooperating with U.S. law enforcement” attended the meeting with the trafficker and was “sitting with you the day of the picture,” the complaint states.

Officials intercepted other conversations between the alleged drug traffickers. The conspirators discussed obtaining law enforcement information. One of the traffickers, based in Mexico City, identified the source of the information as “Ivan.” The suspect continued, stating “Ivan” had provided previous information to other drug cartels.

In November 2016, Reyes met in person with the head of the cartel in Mexico City and discussed the leaked information and photographs, prosecutors stated.

If convicted in the conspiracy, Reyes could face up to 10 years in federal prison.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.