Mexico's President: US 'lied' about plane used to transport cartel leader

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has sharply criticized the United States over the handling of Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada's transfer to U.S. custody. She asserted that the "end does not justify the means," emphasizing concerns about a potential violation of Mexican sovereignty during the operation.

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The end does not justify the means. Of course, this drug trafficker, this leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, it's good that he is detained. Here he had an arrest warrant, but the issue is whether there was a violation of sovereignty in that detention.

While acknowledging the arrest of the drug lord as a positive outcome, Sheinbaum focused on the manner of his transfer. She specifically called out U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar, accusing him of repeatedly lying and omitting crucial details. The core of her complaint lies in the FBI's public exhibition of the plane used to transport Zambada, which she argues contradicts the U.S. narrative that the operation was not a U.S. government-led effort.

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But the problem is that recently the plane was presented as an FBI operation at a fair, in addition to a report that came out in a newspaper. But the problem is that there is a contradiction and according to the prosecutor's office, the former ambassador lacks the truth.

"The problem is that recently the plane was presented as an FBI operation at a fair, in addition to a report that came out in a newspaper," Sheinbaum stated during her morning press conference. "But the problem is that there is a contradiction and according to the prosecutor's office, the former ambassador lacks the truth." She reiterated that her government has asked the Attorney General's Office to incorporate these new elements into the investigation, citing indications of omissions and contradictions in the information provided by the U.S. diplomat.

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What he doesn't explain is how the FBI itself presented the plane at a fair as if it had been an FBI operation. That is the contradiction. The former ambassador says the same thing he said two years ago, but according to the Prosecutor's Office, he lacks the truth.