Washington.- The DEA fired its former regional director in Mexico and Central America in November 2021 for misconduct, amid the deterioration of the relationship between the Mexican government and the US drug control agency, The Washington Post reported this Friday.
According to said newspaper, the measure left “the regional office of the DEA in Mexico City” without its director for more than six months.
The Washington Post noted that it was Nick Palmeri, a former New York Police officer who worked at the DEA office in Guadalajara.
“Then he held a high position in the agency’s office in New York, he was known as a talented investigator. He began as a regional director in Mexico City at the beginning of 2020,” the American newspaper stated.
According to the US authorities, Palmeri would have misused agency funds for his birthday party and other prohibited items.
“It (the accusation against him) was used as part of an ill-conceived narrative to remove me from my position due to an internal dispute within the agency,” Palmeri told The Washington Post.
As head of the DEA office, Palmeri faced disagreements from the Mexican government after the capture of General Salvador Cienfuegos, who was captured by agency agents in Los Angeles.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed a law that limited the actions of DEA agents in Mexico.
“In the midst of the turbulence, DEA headquarters officials began to receive reports of alleged mismanagement in the Mexico office,” the US newspaper said.
In June 2021, Palmeri was ordered to return to Washington.
