Mexican president associates reportedly linked to drug cartels but DOJ says he’s not under investigation

US authorities looked into allegations that associates of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had ties with ruthless drug cartels south of the border, according to a report. 

Informants told US officials that some of Lopez Obrador’s closest advisers, allies and even family members met with the top leaders of several notorious Mexican criminal organizations and collected millions of dollars in the process, the New York Times reported on Thursday. 

A formal criminal investigation into President Biden’s Mexican counterpart was never opened, and it is unclear if US authorities were able to independently confirm the allegations brought to them by the informants. 

“There is no investigation into President Lopez Obrador,” a Justice Department spokesperson told The Post, noting that the DOJ “has a responsibility to review any allegation.”

White House National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby echoed the DOJ, saying, “there is no investigation into President Lopez Obrador” and also noting that the federal law enforcement agency has “the responsibility to review any allegation.” 

The Mexican president vehemently denied having any links to drug cartels.  

“It’s all completely false,” Lopez Obrador said during a press briefing, according to the Associated Press. 

“The US government is going to have to address this,” he added, warning that “time will tell” if the probe has weakened  “the trust the Mexican government has in the United States.”

The informants relayed to US authorities that some of Lopez Obrador’s confidants met with Mexican drug lord Ismael Zambada García – a member of the Sinaloa cartel – prior to the president’s 2018 election victory, according to the New York Times. 

Sources also alleged that a founder of the Zetas cartel – a group known for beheading, hanging and torturing adversaries – paid $4 million to a pair of Lopez Obrador’s allies in an attempt to buy his release from prison. 

Another tipster told investigators that drug cartels may have video footage of the Mexican president’s sons collecting drug money. 

The allegations were not pursued by the US government because of limited interest in investigating the head of state of one of America’s top allies, according to the outlet. 

Mexico is also one of the US’s biggest trading partners and the most important nation in the push to stem the flow of illegal drugs and migrants coming across the southern border.