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Ex-Mexico Defense Chief's Drug Case Dropped on Barr Request

  
Via:  Split Personality  •  4 years ago  •  28 comments

By:   Patricia Hurtado (MSN)

Ex-Mexico Defense Chief's Drug Case Dropped on Barr Request
A federal judge dismissed drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges against Mexico's former defense minister after Attorney General William Barr asked the court to drop the case to preserve the U.S. law enforcement partnership with Mexico.

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AA1QzNM.img?h=24&w=24&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&f=png Ex-Mexico Defense Chief's Drug Case Dropped on Barr Request

(Bloomberg) -- A federal judge dismissed drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges against Mexico's former defense minister after Attorney General William Barr asked the court to drop the case to preserve the U.S. law enforcement partnership with Mexico.

Barr on Tuesday said he would seek the dismissal of his own department's charges against General Salvador Cienfuegos so that Mexico could investigate him in his home country.

"This was a decision made by the attorney general of the United States?" U.S. District Judge Carol Amon asked Seth DuCharme, the acting U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, in a hearing on Wednesday.

"Yes," DuCharme said.

Cienfuegos, who pleaded not guilty on Nov. 5, has been held without bail on charges unveiled last month that he helped a narcotics-trafficking ring while he was Mexico's defense chief, and after two U.S. magistrate judges ruled that he posed a flight risk if Released on bail.

Barr's decision to drop the case raises questions about the chances that Cienfuegos will be properly investigated and about why the U.S. changed course so suddenly.

'No Reason to Doubt'


Nonetheless, the judge quickly granted the dismissal application.

"There is no reason to doubt the government's determination that the Mexican prosecuting authorities sincerely wish to pursue an investigation and possible prosecution of the defendant," Amon said. She said there was "no suggestion that this application is being made in bad faith" or that accepting the government's reasoning was "against the public interest."

The U.S. says it intercepted thousands of BlackBerry Messenger communications that show Cienfuegos helped the H-2 drug cartel, locating maritime transport for its shipments and even introducing senior leaders of the cartel to other Mexican government officials willing to help the group in exchange for bribes.

Cienfuegos is also accused of warning the cartel about ongoing U.S. law enforcement investigations into the group and its use of cooperating witnesses and informants, which ultimately resulted in the murder of a member of the cartel.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Split Personality
Professor Guide
1  seeder  Split Personality    4 years ago

Does anyone think this General will be properly prosecuted and punished in Mexico?

How much partnership is there with Mexican law enforcement to preserve?

Let's leave Trump, Pence, Biden & Harris out of this...

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
1.1  devangelical  replied to  Split Personality @1    4 years ago

bill barr seems to have a lot of confidence in the safety of a legal system he's so intent on subverting. he and his family should visit mexico after january.

 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
1.1.1  seeder  Split Personality  replied to  devangelical @1.1    4 years ago

as the guests of General Salvador Cienfuegos

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
1.2  Tacos!  replied to  Split Personality @1    4 years ago
Does anyone think this General will be properly prosecuted and punished in Mexico?

Is there a reason he wouldn't be? I mean if we think that Mexico is that corrupt, why have any kind of law enforcement partnership with them at all?

 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
1.2.1  seeder  Split Personality  replied to  Tacos! @1.2    4 years ago
why have any kind of law enforcement partnership with them at all?

Good question, everyone south of the border is rumored to be on the take...

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
1.2.2  Tacos!  replied to  Split Personality @1.2.1    4 years ago
everyone south of the border is rumored to be on the take

[deleted]

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
1.2.3  Texan1211  replied to  Tacos! @1.2.2    4 years ago

[deleted]

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
2  Kavika     4 years ago

This seems like a pretty bizarre decision on Barr's part. I'm not sure nor have I read much about US/Mexico partnership but I suppose that it's possible. It was there in the past.

 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
2.1  seeder  Split Personality  replied to  Kavika @2    4 years ago

Isn't this the 2nd time Barr has done this?  Mike Flynn?

Although he initially won in a 3 judge decision, the full appeals court smacked down Flynn  & Barr  with an 8-2

ruling against DOJ efforts to force Judge Sullivan to dismiss the case or remove Sullivan from the case.

That case crawls on...

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
3  Trout Giggles    4 years ago
Barr's decision to drop the case raises questions about the chances that Cienfuegos will be properly investigated and about why the U.S. changed course so suddenly.

Ya think?

 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
3.1  seeder  Split Personality  replied to  Trout Giggles @3    4 years ago

Understatement of the year?

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
4  Tacos!    4 years ago
Barr's decision to drop the case raises questions 

It does? Why? Is the author trying to imply something about Mexico? Why not say it straight out? How about including some evidence supporting this apparent presumption of corruption?

 
 
 
Sister Mary Agnes Ample Bottom
Professor Guide
4.1  Sister Mary Agnes Ample Bottom  replied to  Tacos! @4    4 years ago
Why not say it straight out?

Barr stepped in, the case was dismissed.  How much more 'straight out' would you like?  

 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
4.2  seeder  Split Personality  replied to  Tacos! @4    4 years ago
Is the author trying to imply something about Mexico?

I think the implication is about Barr...

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
4.2.1  Tacos!  replied to  Split Personality @4.2    4 years ago

Then I don't understand the problem. Barr wants to let Mexico handle this and Barr is doing something wrong?

 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
4.2.2  seeder  Split Personality  replied to  Tacos! @4.2.1    4 years ago

Generally ( No pun intended ) when you catch the bad guy, arrest him and deny him bail as a flight risk, you have a pretty good case against him.  Why release him?

October 16

A former Mexican defence minister has been charged with drug trafficking and laundering money while holding public office, US prosecutors say.

Gen Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda was arrested at Los Angeles airport on Thursday.

He is due to make a court appearance on four charges in California on Friday.

His charges include conspiracy to distribute heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana to the US.

Prosecutors accuse Mr Cienfuegos, a retired general known as "The Godfather", of helping the H-2 Cartel - "an extremely violent Mexican drug-trafficking organisation" - smuggle drugs into the US.

"In exchange for bribe payments, he permitted the H-2 Cartel - a cartel that routinely engaged in wholesale violence, including torture and murder - to operate with impunity in Mexico," prosecutors alleged in a court document released on Friday.

Prosecutors say they have evidence of communications between Gen Cienfuegos and a senior leader of the H-2 Cartel.

They have requested that Mr Cienfuegos be held in detention until his trial, arguing the general poses "a significant risk of flight".

Should he be convicted, the former defence minister could face a jail term of ten years or more, prosecutors say.

Earlier, the Mexican government confirmed to the BBC that Gen Cienfuegos was arrested on a US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) warrant.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the arrest "serves to illustrate that the main problem in Mexico is corruption".

President López Obrador, who was elected on an anti-corruption platform in 2018, has accused his predecessors of running a "narco-government" that allowed corruption.

He is seeking to lift the immunity of former leaders from prosecution.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador knows that the General will get away with it in Mexico.

Barr would be fool not to know it either.

Can't help but think, who could get Barr to do this and why?

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
4.2.3  Texan1211  replied to  Split Personality @4.2    4 years ago

Really?

THIS implication from the article?

"There is no reason to doubt the government's determination that the Mexican prosecuting authorities sincerely wish to pursue an investigation and possible prosecution of the defendant," Amon said. She said there was "no suggestion that this application is being made in bad faith" or that accepting the government's reasoning was "against the public interest."
 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
4.2.4  Tacos!  replied to  Split Personality @4.2.2    4 years ago
Why release him?

I think they explained that. Diplomacy. Why does the United States need to prosecute this Mexican citizen if Mexico is going to do it?

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador knows that the General will get away with it in Mexico.

That's not what he said at all. He said pre-existing corruption led to this.

President López Obrador, who was elected on an anti-corruption platform in 2018, has accused his predecessors of running a "narco-government" that allowed corruption.

President Obrador presents himself as a reformer who is rooting out corruption. You really think he is going to just stand by while the general gets off scot free?

 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
4.2.5  seeder  Split Personality  replied to  Tacos! @4.2.4    4 years ago
President Obrador presents himself as a reformer who is rooting out corruption

So did all of the previous Mexican presidents...

 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
4.2.6  seeder  Split Personality  replied to  Split Personality @4.2.5    4 years ago
Mike Vigil, the Drug Enforcement Administration's former chief of international operations, said the decision "is nothing more than a gift, a huge gift",

...

Vigil called the decision "absolutely discouraging and disappointing," predicting that "there is more coming down the road" in terms of pardons or case closings.

"The chances of Cienfuegos being convicted in Mexico are slim to none," Vigil said, citing the former defense secretary's political connections in Mexico and the country's idolization of the military.

"This sends a very negative message to U.S. law enforcement agencies,

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
4.2.7  Tacos!  replied to  Split Personality @4.2.5    4 years ago

OK but diplomatically, if we insist on prosecuting, then we declare publicly that we think the current president of Mexico and his administration are corrupt and lawless. Does that seem like a smart idea?

The administration gets ripped for suggesting that our NAFTA trade agreement with Mexico was unfair, and it was similarly ripped for putting pressure on Mexico to update the agreement. But now we're saying we're just fine with the United States calling the Mexican government a bunch of criminals?

 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
4.2.8  seeder  Split Personality  replied to  Tacos! @4.2.7    4 years ago
hen we declare publicly that we think the current president of Mexico and his administration are corrupt and lawless. Does that seem like a smart idea?

The previous President has been mentioned in several high profile corruption cases among which one alleges El Chappo paid Niento $100 million US

and Obrador has already said it's bad policy to charge previous Presidents...

The administration gets ripped for suggesting that our NAFTA trade agreement with Mexico was unfair, and it was similarly ripped for putting pressure on Mexico to update the agreement.

I don't see what NAFTA or the renamed & tweaked USMCA has to do with this. 

Fairness was in the eye of the beholder.

But now we're saying we're just fine with the United States calling the Mexican government a bunch of criminals?

First I would ask where was that said? Secondly there are members here who disparage the Russians and Chinese

daily. Are they commies?  For the most part, yes.  Do we trust them? Not at all.  Why are the Mexican government

deserving  of better treatment? Have they stopped the drug cartels? No  Have they stemmed the flow of drugs into the

USA ?  No, because too many have a hand in it including the military and the police.

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
4.2.9  Tacos!  replied to  Split Personality @4.2.8    4 years ago
I don't see what NAFTA or the renamed & tweaked USMCA has to do with this. 

The point is in how we treat countries that are supposed to be allies or friends. 

First I would ask where was that said?

It's clearly implied. Either we think justice will be served in Mexican courts or we don't. If we believe Mexican courts to be just, then we should have no problem letting them prosecute this criminal. But if we say justice can only be served in American courts, then we have made a clear statement about Mexican courts and government.

Why are the Mexican government deserving  of better treatment?

They might not be deserving. But for now - unlike Russia and China - we go around saying that Mexico is our friend. You seem to be saying Mexico shouldn't have that status. In which case, it seems to me we should be tightening our border with a nation that is not our friend.

 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
4.2.10  seeder  Split Personality  replied to  Tacos! @4.2.9    4 years ago
It's clearly implied. Either we think justice will be served in Mexican courts or we don't. If we believe Mexican courts to be just, then we should have no problem letting them prosecute this criminal. But if we say justice can only be served in American courts, then we have made a clear statement about Mexican courts and government.

Well it's clearly implied by me. 

Like Ed and 1st, I  lived along the border for a time in Tubac AZ just north of Nogalez on US19.

I don't think the General will see another day in jail once he is returned to Mexico.

JMHO

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
4.2.11  Tacos!  replied to  Split Personality @4.2.10    4 years ago

I sincerely hope that's not true. I know that Mexico has struggled with corruption for the last couple of centuries. It would be nice to see our neighbors to the south come out from under that cloud.

 
 
 
Ronin2
Professor Quiet
5  Ronin2    4 years ago

[deleted]

But it is not OK to release someone we are holding to a "supposed" ally, so they can try a citizen of their country there?

I thought the left were all for diplomacy; and Latinos were all great? Now it is "everyone south of the border is on the take"; and "why are we trusting them".

[deleted]

 
 
 
igknorantzrulz
PhD Quiet
5.1  igknorantzrulz  replied to  Ronin2 @5    4 years ago
It is going to be a very long 2 months for some.

For any Law abiding US citizen not denying how LOW the Barr has been set, Mexico will be paying for that wall, and i'll bet, Trumpp will be pardon happy without manners, as he tries to save his LYING THIEVING sucker deceiving cronies, you know, the best and the brightest the swamp had to offer, asz Barr has proven repeatedly to be influenced and corrupt, just like his leader, and no, his departure won't be abrupt,like a wife beater shirt wearing not caring about much to do with N E Thing Law, cause disorder was his draw, and make up artists galore, paint a happy face on any thing so obviously sad, as make up artists in this country, have never been so bad.

 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
5.2  seeder  Split Personality  replied to  Ronin2 @5    4 years ago
But it is not OK to release someone we are holding to a "supposed" ally, so they can try a citizen of their country there?

According to the second link. Mexico had no idea the DEA was investigating the General and were very annoyed that they weren't informed.

The DEA implied that if the Mexican government had been informed, the General would have avoided landing in the USA because

someone would have inevitably warned him.  So much for good law enforcement practices.

It should not be a left/right issue.

 
 

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