Colombian ex-police chief Oscar Naranjo was confirmed as security adviser of Mexico’s newly-elected President Enrique Peña Monday.
Luis Vide Garay, the chief of Peña’s presidential campaign, said to Colombia’s W Radio that although the two countries have experienced different realities, Mexico expects to take Colombia’s “democratic security” policies into account when planning the Nieto administration’s crime fighting strategy.
Peña has previously promised to reduce crime in Mexico and has said Naranjo was a “guarantee” for security. He was elected by a slim margin Saturday in Mexico’s presidential elections.
Oscar Naranjo, 55, who was involved in the capture of Pablo Escobar and is credited with dismantling many of the country’s most powerful drug trafficking networks, retired in June after 36 years on the national police force to join the Peña administration’s security team.
Mexico has suffered a rise in violent crime due to the increasing influence of major drug trafficking organizations and organized crime within the country, which serves as a gateway for drugs into the U.S.