Mexico City, Mexico — Last year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) removed its top official in Mexico for inappropriate conduct. In what has recently come to light based on information by the Associated Press (AP), Nicholas “P” was fired last year.
According to the AP, Nicholas “P”, who was the foreign operations regional director for the DEA in Mexico, was let go after he was found socializing and vacationing with Miami lawyers who defended drug traffickers.
“The Mexico regional director position is the most important in DEA foreign operations, and when something like this happens, it’s disruptive,” said Mike Vigil, former Chief of International Operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, who passed away in March of 2022.
“If we don’t have a strong regional director or agent in charge there, it goes against the overall operations of the agency because everything transits through Mexico, whether it’s coming from Colombia or the fentanyl coming in through China. It cannot be taken lightly,” said Phil Jordan, former DEA Director for the El Paso Intelligence Center.
In March of 2022, officials found out that Nicholas “P” made an unauthorized trip with his wife in February of 2021, vacationing for a weekend at a private home of a Miami lawyer, David “M”.
While Nicholas “P” has been quoted as calling the dismissal a “witch hunt”, the DEA said they have “zero tolerance” for inappropriate conduct and that any conduct by a member is always investigated.
Nicholas “P”, 52, headed the DEA in Mexico for 14 months before being let go.
