Mexico will not pursue criminal charges against ex-defense minister Cienfuegos

Mexico's attorney general's office said in a statement on Thursday night that it will not pursue criminal charges against former defense minister Salvador Cienfuegos.

A federal judge in November granted a U.S. government request to drop drug charges against Cienfuegos and return him to Mexico, a move Mexico said would restore trust in the countries' severely strained security ties.

General Cienfuegos, defense secretary under Mexico's then-President Enrique Peña Nieto, was arrested in October at the Los Angeles international airport and accused by U.S. prosecutors of collaborating with one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels.