Mexico's Obrador on the arrest of army general

President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Friday said that the arrest of former Secretary of Defense Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos in Los Angeles was evidence of past government's corruption, as the general faces drug and money laundering charges.

"This is an unmistakable example of the decomposition of the government, of how civil service was degrading, the government service during the neoliberal period," López Obrador said during his daily press conference.

Cienfuegos was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport Thursday at the request of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to court documents released Friday, Cienfuegos helped smuggle thousands of kilograms of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States in exchange for bribes.

Cienfuegos is also accused of alerting cartel leaders of a U.S. law enforcement investigation into its operations.

He had been Mexico's top military official during the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto from 2012 to 2018.

López Obrador said he had been told that the charges against Cienfuegos would be announced in the United States Friday afternoon, confirming that it was related to alleged drug trafficking.

Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Friday via Twitter that Cienfuegos would make his initial court appearance in Los Angeles Friday afternoon and was expected to be transferred to New York where the case against him originated.

President Obrador vowed to arrest any other officials of the current government who involved in this case.

He said there was no drug-related investigation of Cienfuegos in Mexico, but he was aware of the U.S. investigation since two weeks ago.

The Vice president for programs and director for Mexico and migrant rights at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a think tank and advocacy group,  Maureen Meyer said that the case shows Mexico's difficulties on pursuing corruption.

"This then again shows the weakness that Mexico still has in its fight against impunity and its fight against corruption, as these cases are much more being carried out on US tribunals than in Mexican soil," said Meyer.

Gen. Cienfuegos, 72, is the second former Mexican cabinet official arrested in the U.S. on drug charges in the last year.

Genaro García Luna was arrested last year in Texas on drug trafficking charges. U.S. prosecutors allege he took tens of millions of dollars in bribes to protect Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's Sinaloa cartel.

He had served as Mexico's Secretary of Public Security from 2006 to 2012 under then President Felipe Calderon. He pleaded not guilty earlier this month to drug trafficking charges in a federal court in New York.

Uner Cienfuegos, Mexico continued its pursuit of the war on the drug cartels launched under Calderon.

Guzman was captured twice while Cienfuegos was in command, once in 2014 and then in 2016, but the army was not directly involved in either.