Genaro Garcia Luna, then Secretary of the Federal Police, and former Mexican President Felipe Calderon in Mexico City in 2012. ALFREDO ESTRELLA / AFP
Genaro Garcia Luna was Mexico’s top security officer 15 years ago, tasked with fighting drug cartels. As of Tuesday, January 17, at the age of 54, he faces a federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on charges of cocaine trafficking. The trial of Genaro Garcia Luna aims to bring to light the relationship between drug traffickers and the Mexican government under the presidency of Felipe Calderon (2006-2012), but also the cross-border traffic that supplies the United States from South America to Mexico.
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The overthrow of Genaro Garcia Luna occurred in 2019 during the trial of Joaquin Guzman, nicknamed “El Chapo”, head of the Sinaloa cartel, the largest in Mexico, sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States. A repentant narco had explained how he paid for suitcases with tickets for the former secretary of security, leading to his arrest a few months later in December 2019 in Dallas, Texas.
“In exchange for paying bribes, the Sinaloa cartel received safe passage for its drug shipments, sensitive law enforcement information related to cartel investigations, and information about drug cartels. Drug competitors,” the US Department of Justice accused the day after his arrest in Dallas, December 2019. According to the US Department of Justice, “on two occasions, the cartel personally paid bribes to Garcia Luna in briefcases containing between $3 million and $5 million [entre 2,7 et 4,6 millions d’euros] “.
The ex-cop, who settled in Florida in 2012, she says has “amassed millions of dollars in personal wealth.” To prosecute him in the US, US prosecutors used the leader of the “cross-border drug trade” and accused him of lying when he applied for naturalization in 2018: “He allegedly lied about his past criminal activities on behalf of the perpetrator Sinaloa drug cartel. »
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Mr. Garcia Luna pleaded not guilty, believing he was the victim of revenge by repentant narcos and baseless allegations. He faces between 10 years in prison and life imprisonment if found guilty. “Today’s arrest demonstrates our determination to bring to justice those who are helping the cartels wreak havoc on the United States and Mexico, regardless of the positions they held while committing their crimes,” said Brooklyn Attorney Richard P. Donoghue.
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