Mexico investigates whether US lied about role in capture of drug lord

Published JUL 10

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The Spin

The FBI displaying the plane used to capture El Mayo Zambada at a New Mexico museum directly contradicts former Ambassador Ken Salazar's claim that no U.S. agency was involved — and that's a serious problem. If U.S. agencies ran an operation on Mexican soil without authorization, that's a violation of international treaties and the Mexican Constitution. Making deals with cartel figures like Joaquin Guzman Lopez to pull it off only makes the breach of sovereignty worse.

Al Jazeera Mexico News Daily

Joaquin Guzman Lopez admitted in court that he orchestrated the kidnapping of El Mayo Zambada — the U.S. didn't cook up some rogue operation, it had DEA agents waiting because a cartel figure handed over a rival. Zambada himself pleaded guilty and is now serving life in prison, which is exactly the outcome anti-cartel enforcement should produce. Framing a successful drug lord capture as a sovereignty violation ignores that Guzman Lopez, not the U.S. government, engineered the whole thing.

International Business Times InSight Crime