Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador harshly criticized the U.S. government over an ongoing investigation into the Sinaloa Cartel. The president stated U.S. authorities not only sent informants into the criminal organization but also tapped the communications of military forces and their response to cartels.
“An abusive intrusion, prepotent, that should not be accepted under any motive,” Lopez Obrador said during his morning news conference claiming he had not been told about any investigation.
The Mexican politician said he doesn’t have a problem sharing information but that any “intervention” should be done by his forces, not U.S. authorities.
Late last week, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a series of new indictments against a faction of the Sinaloa cartel known as Los Chapitos, accusing them of being the largest distributors of fentanyl and largely to blame for the current overdose crisis, Breitbart Texas reported. That group is currently led by the sons of the imprisoned cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
During that announcement, U.S. officials claimed to have infiltrated the Sinaloa Cartel at the highest level. According to Mexican journalist Peniley Ramirez, that infiltration was in fact three informants with key roles in the organization.
Lopez Obrador said that in the next series of international talks, they would be bringing up the topic because DEA agents will not be able to “come and go” as they had in the past.
A story by the Washington Post also claimed that U.S. authorities had accessed communications within Mexico’s military and Navy in connection with their response to drug cartels and an apparent rivalry between the two branches.
“We can’t allow acts of espionage just so they can know what our security institutions are doing,” the Mexican president said. “In due time we will tell them about the conditions for collaboration.”
As Breitbart Texas reported, Lopez Obrador is the same Mexican politician who claimed that the war on drugs was over after taking office. He also ordered the release of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, one of El Chapo’s sons soon after federal police forces had arrested him in Sinaloa. Currently, Ovidio is in a Mexican prison fighting his extradition to the U.S. following a second arrest by Mexican federal forces, Breitbart Texas reported.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ 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 Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.