DEA Held Secret Meetings With Drug Traffickers in Mexico: Report

Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the American Department of Justice held secret meetings with members of Mexican drug cartels, including a cartel led by "El Chapo" Guzmán, one of the most wanted men in North America, reported Mexican newspaper El Universal on Monday.

DEA agents and prosecutors of the Department of Justice, and other U.S. agencies, reportedly held secret meetings with organized crime groups on Mexican soil without consulting or reporting to the Mexican government.

El Universal notes that over it gathered official documents from both Mexico and the U.S., and interviewed over 100 officials, active and retired, from both countries, who confirmed the DEA's secret activities in Mexico, over the course of one year. 

According to Univisión, among the American officials that were allegedly present in meetings with drug cartels were prosecutor Steve Fraga, DEA agents Manuel Castañón, David Herrod and Carlos Mitchem, and the then-regional assistant director of the DEA, David Gaddis.

El Universal's detailed report says that Gaddis, the DEA's regional director based in Mexico City, and other high-ranking members of the DEA, authorized meetings between DEA agents and members of organized crime without reporting to the Mexican government.

The reports notes that the DEA even allowed, under written agreements, the existence of drug cartels in Mexico.

US Government Knew of the Meetings

El Universal had access to documents that reveal that the American government was aware of the meetings between drug enforcement officers and Mexican drug traffickers and that they did not provide any information whatsoever to Mexican authorities.

El Universal said that in some occasions Americans provided the Mexican government with intelligence that led to the capture of key cartel members during the term of President Felipe Caldéron, but did not say whether this intel came from the DEA's secret meetings.

The seizing of large amounts of drugs and arrests of leaders of organized crime, El Universal says, led to the escalation of violence during the administration of President Calderón.

The DEA has yet to comment on El Universal's report; however, the Mexican newspaper says it has copies of official reports that support its story.