(Bloomberg) -- General Salvador Cienfuegos will held in U.S. custody as he awaits trial in New York on charges that he helped a notorious drug cartel while he was the head of Mexico’s military.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Alexander MacKinnon on Tuesday rejected his lawyer’s bid to get Cienfuegos released on $750,000 bail, calling him a flight risk and citing his lifelong ties to Mexico.

Cienfuegos, who served as defense minister under former President Enrique Pena Nieto, was arrested last week in Los Angeles on charges he aided the H-2 drug cartel by targeting its rivals for military action and warning it of U.S. investigations, among other acts.

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