The Government of Uruguay represented by Interior Minister Nicolás Martinelli and the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) signed a “memorandum of cooperation” in Washington DC Wednesday whereby the South American country will receive help fighting trafficking. Joining Martinelli's entourage was Anti-drug Brigade Director Alfredo Rodríguez.
Despite the interest of Interior Minister Luis Alberto Heber, the Embassy of the United States in Montevideo said Wednesday that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has no immediate plans to reopen its office on Uruguayan territory.
Uruguay on Thursday turned over to the United States a Mexican man wanted on drug and money laundering charges. Gerardo Gonzalez Valencia is the brother of Abigael González, the former head of the Sinaloa cartel faction known as “Los Cuinis” (The Squirrels). Gonzalez Valencia is also the brother-in-law of Jalisco cartel drug lord Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes.
The United States on Tuesday announced a US$ 10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a man accused of leading Mexico’s powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which the Justice Department considers to be one of the five most dangerous criminal organizations in the world.