The attorney general from Mexico’s Nayarit state was arrested at the U.S. border in San Diego for suspected involvement in cross-border drug trafficking, U.S. authorities said Wednesday.
Edgar Veytia, who serves as the top police officer for the western Mexican state, was indicted on counts of production and distribution of various drugs, conspiracy to import those drugs into the U.S., and conspiracy to distribute them.
According to the indictment, Veytia, who went by the alias “Diablo,” is being accused of involvement in trafficking at least one kilo of heroin, five kilos of cocaine, 500 grams of methamphetamine and 1,000 kilos of marijuana.
Veytia allegedly had been engaging in drug activity from January 2013 until last month.
Veytia has an appearance scheduled Thursday at the San Diego courthouse to determine if he can receive bail. He has another hearing scheduled April 11 to decide if he will be sent to New York to face charges.
Nayarit Governor Roberto Sandoval promised cooperation from the state government in the investigation in Mexico and the United States.
"This is a development that we were not expecting," he said.
Nayarit is located on Mexico’s Pacific coast between the Sinaloa and Jalisco states where drug cartels are very powerful.
More than 170,000 people have been killed in Mexico since the government began using its army to combat the drug cartels in 2006, and 28,000 have gone missing. Also, investigators say newly discovered mass graves in the eastern state of Veracruz held at least 242 bodies.
