Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that the arrest of the country's former Defence Minister Salvador Cienfuegos in the US was "regrettable".

"It is a very regrettable fact that a former Defence Minister has been arrested, accused of links to drug trafficking," Xinhua news agency quoted the President as saying.

"Of course, all of this must be proven. There are legal processes where the accused has the right to defense," he added.

Cienfuegos was detained at the Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday night for alleged ties to drug trafficking, according to Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.

Lopez Obrador said that US authorities would release the precise reasons for the arrest late Friday.

"Regardless of the result of the investigation and the conclusion of the entire process, it is very regrettable that this has happened," the President added.

Cienfuegos served as Defence Minister from 2012 to 2018 under former President Enrique Pena Nieto.

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