A former Mexican defence minister has been arrested on drugs charges at Los Angeles airport in the US.

Gen Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda was detained on Thursday, Mexico’s foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard tweeted.

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

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Friday the general had been accused of drug trafficking.

“Hopefully this serves to illustrate that the main problem in Mexico is corruption,” the president said, before praising Gen Cienfuegos’ successor at the head of the army and his counterpart in the navy.

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.

Source:bbc.com