Derek Maltz, who served as the acting DEA administrator in New York in 2025, sent a message to the Mexican government urging it to join the coalition against drug trafficking alongside other Latin American nations.
“Mexico, it is time to join the coalition against the cartels with so many other Latin American countries,” Maltz wrote on social media.
In a post on the social network X (formerly Twitter), Maltz expressed his hope that cooperation between Mexico and the U.S. would expand and that Claudia Sheinbaum’s government would request the use of U.S. military forces against organized crime.
“The fight against terror cartels requires relentless cooperation and decisive leadership on both sides of the border,” he wrote.
In his message, Maltz accuses the cartels of using synthetic drugs as a weapon to kill hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens and to destabilize communities throughout the Western Hemisphere.
U.S. President Donald Trump has stated on several occasions that organized crime rules Mexico and that he might use the armed forces to combat drug cartels. The Mexican leader has rejected this possibility, emphasizing that the Mexican government works against these organizations in collaboration with the U.S. under a framework of cooperation without subordination.
Maltz’s message follows President Claudia Sheinbaum’s assertion during her morning press conference that the potential involvement of U.S. agencies in the arrest of “El Mayo” Zambada—who arrived in the United States on a plane alongside Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of “El Chapo” Guzmán—would constitute a violation of the Constitution.
According to a timeline of events presented by Rosa Isela Rodríguez, the Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar denied in August 2024 that any U.S. agency had participated in the arrest.
Should it be confirmed that Ken Salazar “lied” to the Mexican government, Sheinbaum indicated that her administration would consider initiating proceedings regarding the alleged U.S. intervention.
Source: latinus.us
