---
title: "El Salvador recalls ambassador to Mexico after drug trafficking claims"
description: "Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on Wednesday that he was recalling the Central American nation's ambassador to Mexico for consultations after Mexico's security minister claimed a drug trafficking plane had come from El Salvador, which Bukele denied."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-07-10-el-salvador-recalls-ambassador-to-mexico-after-drug-trafficking-claims/"
published: "2025-07-10T04:55:12"
updated: "2025-07-10T04:55:14"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 217
---

# El Salvador recalls ambassador to Mexico after drug trafficking claims

> Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on Wednesday that he was recalling the Central American nation's ambassador to Mexico for consultations after Mexico's security minister claimed a drug trafficking plane had come from El Salvador, which Bukele denied.

By Reuters · Published 10 July 2025, 06:55 SAST · Updated 10 July 2025, 06:55 SAST

## Key points
- In a classic case of "not my circus, not my monkeys," Bukele is demanding Mexico clear the air after its security chief mistakenly linked a drug-laden plane to El Salvador, while he expertly maps out the flight path that bypassed his territory entirely.
- Bukele demands clarification from Mexico after Security Minister claims drug plane originated in El Salvador.
- Garcia Harfuch's statement followed the interception of a plane carrying 427 kg of cocaine in Colima.
- Bukele refutes claims, sharing a map showing the plane's flight path over the Pacific, never entering Salvadoran airspace.
- He asserts El Salvador's commitment to combating drug trafficking and distancing the country from criminal operations.

## Content

Bukele, in a post on X, said that the Mexican government needed to clarify and rectify the comments made by Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch.

Garcia Harfuch, speaking in a morning press conference on Tuesday, had claimed that a small plane flown by drug traffickers had come from El Salvador before being intercepted in the Mexican state of Colima.

Bukele shared a map of the plane's alleged flight path, which showed it appearing off the coast of Costa Rica - to the south of El Salvador - before heading north across the Pacific.

"The plane flew over the Pacific Ocean and never touched Salvadoran territory," he said.

According to Mexican authorities, the three men aboard were arrested and 427 kilograms of cocaine were seized after the plane landed in Colima.

Bukele said that the men were all Mexican, "something no media outlet or official source has published so far."

"El Salvador does not hide criminals or tolerate drug trafficking; we didn't do that before, and we won't do that now," Bukele said. "Nor will we allow them to try to involve us in operations that are not our responsibility."

Mexico's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Additional reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Kim Coghill and Michael Perry)