Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, Mexico's former defense secretary,
pleaded not guilty
on Thursday to drug trafficking charges before a New York judge.
After his video and audio conference arraignment before a judge was postponed due to echo issues,
Cienfuegos responded to routine questions from the judge, who set the next hearing for November 18.
Prosecutors in the United States accuse the general of illicit association to distribute and import drugs and money laundering.
General Salvador Cienfuegos, the former Secretary of Defense of Mexico detained in the United States, is transferred to New York.
Nov. 3, 202000: 19
Prosecutors point out that
Cienfuegos, 72, aided the H-2 cartel while he was in charge of the armed forces from 2012 to 2018
during the government of then-President Enrique Peña Nieto.
[Torture, murder and violence: this is how the H-2 cartel operated under the protection of Cienfuegos]
He is charged with four counts: conspiracy to import narcotics, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to launder drug money, and conspiracy to manufacture drugs.
If found guilty, he
faces a sentence of 10 years to life in prison.
The indictment against Cienfuegos comes from the federal court for the eastern district of New York, located in Brooklyn.
For this reason the general was transferred from Los Angeles to New York.
According to the website of the US federal prison office, Cienfuegos is located in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a high-security prison.
With information from AP and Reforma.
