Former Pemex chief Lozoya arrested in Spain: Police
- 29 May 2019
Emilio Lozoya, a former chief of Mexico’s state oil firm Pemex, was arrested on Tuesday in Palma de Mallorca after an arrest warrant was issued by Mexican authorities, a spokesman for the Spanish police said on Wednesday.
Lozoya headed Pemex from 2012 to 2016 and ran former president Enrique Pena Nieto’s election campaign. He is wanted for alleged bribery, tax fraud and other crimes.
The arrest took place at around 9.30pm (1930 GMT), the spokesman said, but he could not say what the next steps would be.
On Tuesday neither the Mexican Finance Ministry’s money-laundering czar Santiago Nieto, the Mexico attorney’s general office or Lozoya’s lawyer could confirm an arrest warrant had been issued.
The arrest reflects Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s pledge to root out entrenched corruption and would be the highest profile case since he took office Dec.1 after a landslide victory.
Reuters