MIAMI (AP) 鈥 The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration quietly ousted its former top official in Mexico last year over improper contact with lawyers for narcotraffickers, an embarrassing end to a brief tenure marked by deteriorating cooperation between the countries and a record flow of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl across the border.
Nicholas Palmeri鈥檚 socializing and vacationing with Miami drug lawyers, detailed in confidential records viewed by The Associated Press, brought his ultimate downfall following just a 14-month stint as DEA鈥檚 powerful regional director supervising dozens of agents across Mexico, Central America and Canada.
But separate internal probes raised other red flags, including complaints of lax handling of the coronavirus pandemic that resulted in two sickened agents having to be airlifted out of the country. And another disclosed this past week found Palmeri approved use of drug-fighting funds for inappropriate purposes and sought to be reimbursed to pay for his own birthday party.
鈥淭he post of regional director in Mexico is the most important one in DEA鈥檚 foreign operations, and when something like this happens, it鈥檚 disruptive,鈥 said Mike Vigil, the DEA鈥檚 former chief of international operations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 even more critical because of the deteriorating situation with Mexico,鈥 added Phil Jordan, a former director of the DEA鈥檚 El Paso Intelligence Center. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 have a strong regional director or agent in charge there, it works against the agency鈥檚 overall operations because everything transits through Mexico, whether it鈥檚 coming from Colombia or the fentanyl that flows in through China. It cannot be taken lightly.鈥
Palmeri's case adds to a roiling the nation鈥檚 premier narcotics law enforcement agency at a time when its sprawling foreign operations 鈥 spanning 69 countries 鈥 are under scrutiny from an external review ordered by DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.
That review came in response to the case of Jose Irizarry, a disgraced former agent now serving a 12-year federal prison sentence after confessing to laundering money for Colombian drug cartels and skimming millions from seizures to fund an international joyride of jet-setting, parties and prostitutes.
Palmeri鈥檚 is the second case in recent months to shine a light on the between DEA officials and Miami attorneys representing some of Latin America鈥檚 biggest narcotraffickers and money launderers. Last year, federal prosecutors charged a DEA agent and a former supervisor with leaking confidential law enforcement information to two unnamed Miami defense attorneys in exchange for $70,000 in cash.
One of those attorneys, identified by current and former U.S. officials as David Macey, was also implicated in the probe into Palmeri. Internal investigative records show Macey hosted Palmeri and his Mexican-born wife for two days at his home in the Florida Keys 鈥 a trip that investigators said served no useful work purpose and violated rules governing interactions with attorneys that are designed to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
Palmeri, 52, acknowledged to investigators that he stayed at Macey鈥檚 getaway home, that his wife worked as a translator for another prominent attorney, Ruben Oliva, and that he took an unauthorized trip to Miami with his wife in February 2021.
The purported purpose of the Miami trip had been to 鈥渄ebrief鈥 a confidential source. But it took place at a private home where Palmeri showed up with his wife 鈥 and a bottle of wine, according to the internal report.
鈥淭he meeting had the appearance of a social interaction with a confidential source,鈥 the investigators wrote, 鈥渁nd there was no contemporaneous official DEA documentation concerning the substance of the debrief, both of which violate DEA policy.鈥
Those violations prompted Palmeri鈥檚 abrupt transfer to Washington headquarters in May 2021 before he ultimately stepped down last March, the records show. Palmeri told investigators he had shown 鈥渘ot the best judgment."
The DEA wouldn鈥檛 discuss the specifics of Palmeri鈥檚 ouster or why he was allowed to retire instead of being fired. But an official told the AP the agency 鈥渉as zero tolerance for improper contacts between defense attorneys and DEA employees.鈥
鈥淭he DEA aggressively investigates this serious misconduct and takes decisive action, including removal, against employees who engage in it,鈥 said the official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be named.
For his part, Palmeri described the misconduct investigations as a 鈥渨itch hunt鈥 prompted by personal and professional jealousies he refused to specify and 鈥渁n ill-conceived narrative to remove me from my position.鈥
Palmeri added that his relationships with attorneys have 鈥渁lways been professional and ethical," and that all his expenditures in Mexico were 鈥渏udicious鈥 and benefited the U.S. government.
鈥淚t is ironic,鈥 Palmeri wrote in an email, 鈥渢hat the Department of 鈥楯ustice鈥 would commit this injustice to the country.鈥
Macey did not respond to requests for comment. Oliva told AP the the translation work Palmeri's wife did for him was 鈥渢otally unrelated鈥 to Palmeri and that he's "never met a more ethical, hard-working and highly effective drug enforcement agent."
A former New York City police officer, Palmeri raised eyebrows from the moment he arrived in Mexico in 2020.
Some agents complained about his near-obsession with capturing Rafael Caro Quintero, the infamous drug lord behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985, saying Palmeri prioritized that over the agency鈥檚 less-flashy efforts to stem the flow of Chinese precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl. last summer, months after the DEA recalled Palmeri to Washington.
Chris Landau, who oversaw Palmeri as U.S. ambassador to Mexico during the Trump administration, said that singular focus on Quintero and other such headline-grabbing arrests is characteristic of the DEA鈥檚 broader failings in the drug war.
Landau cited the shocking U.S. arrest in 2020 of a former defense secretary, Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos, which prompted Mexican President Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador to disband the elite police unit that was the DEA鈥檚 key ally. L贸pez Obrador also rammed through a national security law keeping DEA agents at their desk instead of out in the field. Overnight, law enforcement cooperation between the neighboring countries went from strained and spotty to non-existent.
鈥淯nfortunately, in the absence of a broader strategy, DEA is driving the bus of U.S. counter-narcotics policy and it鈥檚 a very narrow lane they drive in,鈥 Landau said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to move the needle in terms of stemming the flow of drugs into the U.S. and frequently carry sometime devastating foreign policy consequences.鈥
Palmeri also came under criticism for his handling of coronavirus procedures in 2020, when federal agents were under orders to avoid in-person meetings and unnecessary travel. Several agents under Palmeri鈥檚 command, including an assistant regional director, contracted COVID-19 following a meeting at the DEA office in the resort town of Mazatl谩n, where some agents say they were admonished or ridiculed for wearing masks.
Two agents became so ill they had to be airlifted out of the country, according to two former U.S. officials who weren鈥檛 authorized to discuss the controversy and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
An Office of Inspector General report released this past week also found Palmeri sought government reimbursement to pay for his own birthday party and approved the purchase of 鈥渦nallowable items鈥 as part of foreign trips by the then acting DEA administrator. Tim Shea, who held that position during Palmeri鈥檚 tenure, did not respond to requests for comment.
The report, which did not detail specific items or amounts spent, also did not explain its conclusion: 鈥淐riminal prosecution of the Regional Director was declined.鈥
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Mustian reported from New York.
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