‘CANNOT BE TAKEN LIGHTLY’

DEA Quietly Axed Top Mexico Official Over Ties to Drug Lawyers

His vacations with Miami drug lawyers were among the complaints.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration quietly fired its Mexico boss, Nicholas Palmeri, last year over his inappropriate relationships with lawyers for narcotraffickers, according to the Associated Press. His short tenure saw collapsing cooperation between America and Mexico, along with a chart-topping flow of heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl through the border, AP reported. Palmeri reportedly took vacations and socialized with Miami drug lawyers, according to confidential records the AP viewed. In the past week, an internal probe also found that Palmeri, 52, allowed money meant to fight narcotics to be used for inappropriate means and also intended to be paid back for his birthday party, AP reported. “The post of regional director in Mexico is the most important one in DEA’s foreign operations, and when something like this happens, it’s disruptive,” said Mike Vigil, the DEA’s former chief of international operations, according to AP. Ex-director of the DEA’s El Paso Intelligence Center, Phil Jordan, emphasized the post’s significance with the “deteriorating situation with Mexico,” saying that a weak regional director or head agent there “works against the agency’s overall operations because everything transits through Mexico.”