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IPFS News Link • Central Intelligence Agency

Did the CIA Cause a Mexican General to Escape Drug Charges?

• https://www.fff.org by Jacob G. Hornberger

Just last month, Cienfuegos was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport when he was visiting LA on vacation. The charges? That when he was serving as Mexican Defense Minister, which is the second highest position within the Mexican government, Cienfuegos was conspiring with Mexican drug lords in return for bribes.

Cienfuego's arrest generated the standard drug war hoopla in the mainstream press to which we have all become accustomed during the last several decades. The Washington Post called it a "turning point" in the war on drugs (one of many "turning points" in the drug war over the years). The New York Times stated, "The news not only casts a pall over Mexico's fight against organized crime, but also underscores the forces of corruption that touch the highest levels of the government."

But then yesterday, U.S. officials suddenly announced that they had decided to drop the charges and permit Cienfuegos to return to Mexico.

What gives with that? Don't these guys want to "win" the war on drugs? How do they expect to do that if they are dropping drug war charges against people at the top who they say are involved in the drug trade?


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