“Abusive and arrogant interference”: AMLO condemned the DEA’s infiltration of Los Chapitos

After the Department of Justice on Friday announced charges in three federal districts against nearly thirty members of the Sinaloa Cartel and before the express question of whether Mexico was aware of the DEA’s intervention in the circle of ” Los Chapitos”, the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, condemned the actions of the American agency.

“There can be no foreign agents in our country. We can share information, but only elements of the Mexican army, navy and national guard can intervene (…) That is the problem. We will continue to insist, to persuade them, that they will not succeed. These are Pentagon campaigns. What the hell are they doing?“said the president.

López Obrador also assured that US security forces and agencies will not enter the country as they did before, because instead there will be better “cooperation” and better understanding to “get along” between the two countries.

“This is abusive and arrogant interference, which should not be accepted under any circumstances. How do they spy? You cannot use acts of espionage to find out what our security institutions are doing. Also, with the arrogance of infiltrating information into the Washington Post,” AMLO answered when asked how he characterized these DEA actions.

The Tabasco politician was also asked about any consequences or claims from Mexico regarding the US anti-drug agency’s alleged interference in national territory without consent.

“No… Simply, at the right time, they will talk about the conditions of the collaborative work that will be carried out, but it’s not the same time as before, I’ve already said it here, in the government of Felipe Calderón they even entered the kitchen. They were allowed in and they had too much of a relationship with the Secretary of the Navy. The time came when it was no longer about cooperation but rather Semar’s subordination to US agencies. So that’s no longer the case.”

Likewise, the President reiterated that this was not an exclusive DEA matter, as it was more of a concern for the State Department and the United States Attorney General’s Office.

“They have to put things in order. Everything is very loose. I say this respectfully. How can DEA elements be blindly trusted when it has been shown that many, or some of them, do not exaggerate, maintain or maintain ties to organized crime?” , wondered AMLO.

“Like what happened with the man who was the head of the DEA in Mexico, who was discovered to have relations with representatives of the drug cartels. And suddenly they removed it and nothing more was known. Or the case of García Luna, where they only defined one sphere, their García Luna cartel, as if he had no connection with international agencies and the government of the United States”.

AMLO mentioned the case of the regional director of the DEA in Mexico, Nicholas Palmeri, who was fired last January for “inappropriate contact with drug traffickers’ lawyers.

“Enough of the simulation and also of these maneuvers of political flight “condemned the president of Mexico.