Officials in Mexico fired for exchanging cocaine for powdered milk

Everything seemed to be in order. Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (FGR) had seized a ton of cocaine in the state of Guerrero. As required by law, the drugs were to be incinerated. However, a group of officials sneakily replaced the cocaine with powdered milk — and that’s what went up in flames. The scheme was uncovered, prompting the dismissal of a dozen officials, including the agency’s comptroller, Arturo Serrano Meneses, the one ultimately in charge of giving the go-ahead for this type of operation.

According to sources from the FGR consulted by EL PAÍS, the defendants face charges of corruption and serious omissions regarding the verification of seized assets and the incineration of narcotics. Of the whereabouts of the cocaine spared incineration, little is known.

Among the dismissed officials is Sergio Taboada, the brother of Santiago Taboada, former mayor of Benito Juárez — a central neighborhood of Mexico City — and former National Action Party (PAN) candidate for head of the government of Mexico City. These political implications have caused the case to fuel wrangling along party lines. The ruling Morena party has seized the opportunity to attack the PAN, alleging that a corruption and drug-trafficking network operated largely by Taboada’s brother exists within the Attorney General’s Office — one that keeps seized drug shipments to later sell them to middlemen.

According to the news outlet Reforma, which first reported the case, the former comptroller was removed from the offices of the Attorney General’s Internal Control Unit in early August by federal security agents. Serrano and his collaborators were not officially arrested at that time, but the operation forced them to resign from their positions. The reports to which EL PAÍS has had access indicate that the FGR is charging them with bribery, influence peddling and obstruction of justice.

The case of the cocaine exchanged for powdered milk is one of several involving Serrano and his cronies. The FGR alleges that the former comptroller was involved in irregularities in the awarding of public contracts and in taking bribes from suppliers. Ordinarily, the matter would have to be investigated by the Internal Affairs Unit, but Serrano and the rest of his collaborators are accused of organized crime — a matter handled by a different division of the Attorney General’s Office.

EL PAÍS tried to contact Serrano through Javier Morales, his private secretary, but did not receive a response. The FGR is also investigating Javier Morales, Serrano’s secretary; José María Peña, technical secretary; Carlos Rascón, head of the Responsibilities Unit; Josué Crespi, from Complaints and Investigations; José Alzati, from Verification of the Final Destination of Insured Goods; Héctor Montes, from Internal Audit; Alejandro Vélez, from the Legal Unit, and Javier Maldonado, from Administration.

Secretary of Federal Security Omar García Harfuch confirmed there was an ongoing investigation into Serrano and his collaborators at one of the morning conferences held by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. The president called for the investigation to continue and asked Attorney General Alejandro Gertz to present a report on the case.

Serrano was appointed comptroller of the FGR by the Chamber of Deputies in 2019 and in 2023 he had his position renewed for another four years. His resignation avoided the formal process for his removal by the lower house. Lawmakers have now named Óscar del Río Serrano to replace him — the son of José Manuel del Río Virgen, a Citizens’ Movement (MC) politician and close ally of Ricardo Monreal, leader of Morena’s parliamentary group.

Reforma reported that Serrano filed an injunction to avoid capture and argues that the former comptroller was also denounced for allegedly asking for six million pesos ($326,000) from the firm Casanova Rent Volks to arrange a contract related to the leasing of vehicles for the FGR. In this case, Carlos Rascón is also implicated. Casanova is an old supplier for the FGR. In 2020, Gertz’s agency directly awarded it a contract of 1,620 million pesos ($88 million) for the vehicle leasing service.

Following the scandal, PAN lawmakers demanded that the Attorney General’s Office provide details on the proceedings against Serrano and pointed out the possible irregularity of his dismissal — a power that belongs exclusively to the Chamber of Deputies. Although the former comptroller was pressured to resign, thus avoiding the formal removal process, sources from the Interior Ministry told EL PAÍS that officials there interpreted the PAN’s intervention as “a clear defense” of the accused officials, particularly given the connection to Taboada.

The former mayor is the right-hand man of PAN leader Jorge Romero and is in charge of political operations within the conservative party. Taboada is one of the ruling party’s main adversaries and has been accused of being part of the so-called real estate cartel that profited from multimillion-dollar construction deals in the Benito Juárez district. Arturo Ávila, spokesperson for Morena’s congressional group, claims that Santiago Taboada’s brother is one of the main operators in the scheme, alleging that “all the cocaine they seized was replaced by powdered milk, and then taken out and sold.”

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