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American law enforcement officials spent years looking into allegations that allies of Mexico’s President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, met with and took millions of dollars from drug cartels after he took office, according to US records and three people familiar with the matter. The inquiry uncovered information pointing to potential links between cartel operatives and Mexican advisers and officials close to the president while he governed the country.
But the US never opened a formal investigation into Lopez Obrador, and the officials involved ultimately shelved the inquiry. They concluded that the US govt had little appetite to pursue allegations against the leader of one of the US’ top allies, said the sources.
Lopez Obrador called the allegations “completely false”, responding to questions from NYT on Thursday. He said the news of the inquiry would not “in any way” affect Mexico’s relationship with the US, but said he expected a response from the US govt.
While the recent efforts by the US officials identified possible ties between the cartels and Lopez Obrador’s associates, they did not find any direct link to the president. US officials declined to comment. Much of the information collected by US officials came from informants whose accounts can be difficult to corroborate.
For example, records show that the investigators were told by an informant that one of Lopez Obrador’s closest confidants met with Ismael Zambada Garcia, a top leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, before his victory in the 2018 election. A different source told them that after the president was elected, a founder of the notoriously violent Zetas cartel paid $4 million to two of Lopez Obrador’s allies in the hope of being released from prison. Investigators obtained information from a third source suggesting that drug cartels were in possession of videos of the president’s sons picking up drug money, records show. Lopez Obrador denied all the claims.
US law enforcement officers also tracked payments from people they believed to be cartel operatives to intermediaries for Lopez Obrador, two of the sources said. At least one of those payments, they said, was made around the same time that Lopez Obrador travelled to Sinaloa in 2020 and met the mother of drug lord El Chapo, who is now serving a life sentence in a US prison.
But the US never opened a formal investigation into Lopez Obrador, and the officials involved ultimately shelved the inquiry. They concluded that the US govt had little appetite to pursue allegations against the leader of one of the US’ top allies, said the sources.
Lopez Obrador called the allegations “completely false”, responding to questions from NYT on Thursday. He said the news of the inquiry would not “in any way” affect Mexico’s relationship with the US, but said he expected a response from the US govt.
While the recent efforts by the US officials identified possible ties between the cartels and Lopez Obrador’s associates, they did not find any direct link to the president. US officials declined to comment. Much of the information collected by US officials came from informants whose accounts can be difficult to corroborate.
For example, records show that the investigators were told by an informant that one of Lopez Obrador’s closest confidants met with Ismael Zambada Garcia, a top leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, before his victory in the 2018 election. A different source told them that after the president was elected, a founder of the notoriously violent Zetas cartel paid $4 million to two of Lopez Obrador’s allies in the hope of being released from prison. Investigators obtained information from a third source suggesting that drug cartels were in possession of videos of the president’s sons picking up drug money, records show. Lopez Obrador denied all the claims.
US law enforcement officers also tracked payments from people they believed to be cartel operatives to intermediaries for Lopez Obrador, two of the sources said. At least one of those payments, they said, was made around the same time that Lopez Obrador travelled to Sinaloa in 2020 and met the mother of drug lord El Chapo, who is now serving a life sentence in a US prison.
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