The trial of Genaro García Luna in a federal court in New York could come to an end sooner than expected, after 10 hearings and at least 25 witnesses, several of them former drug traffickers, and with the possibility that the former Mexican Secretary of Security will speak to the sworn to defend himself against accusations that he took bribes from the Sinaloa cartel in exchange for supporting them to traffic, grow and suppress their rivals.
The Prosecutor's Office filed a motion to conclude its presentation of evidence on February 13, indicating that it has one last witness waiting who, due to logistical reasons, required a few days to be transferred to court.
This possible "significant witness", as they have called it, could be Edgar
La Barbie
Valdez Villarreal and Jesús
El Rey
Zambada García, former leaders of the Beltrán Leiva clan, which was originally part of the Sinaloa cartel.
Both were captured in Mexico (in 2008
El Rey,
in 2010
Barbie)
and later extradited to the United States, where they already served as protected witnesses for the Prosecutor's Office in the trial against Joaquín
El Chapo
Guzmán, in the same court in Brooklyn where they are now being held. judge García Luna and before the same judge, Brian Cogan.
So they were the first to tell the judge that they had bribed García Luna.
Their names have been heard several times in recent weeks in court as other ex-narcos detailed what they say was their deal with García Luna between 2001 and 2012: they paid him millions, in cash, in exchange for protection, confidential information and logistical help. .
"It was the best investment of the Sinaloa cartel," said Sergio
El Grande
Villarreal Barragán, former leader of the Beltrán Leiva criminal organization and the first witness called by the Prosecutor's Office.
Genaro Garcia Luna during the trial against him in New York.
jane rosenberg
The ex-capo's accountant Mario Pineda Villa, identified as Israel Ávila, said for his part that the payments were made through cartel leaders, citing
El Grande
, but also
El Rey
and
La Barbie
.
It may also be important for the Prosecutor's Office to summon former Mexican federal police officer Iván
La Reina
Reyes Arzate, who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in the United States in 2021 and said he accepted thousands of dollars in bribes from drug traffickers in exchange for providing information on the investigations. from the authorities.
The Queen
was a subordinate of the former Secretary of Public Security of Mexico.
The Prosecutor's Office also anticipated that it will reveal photographs collected from García Luna's personal computer and cell phone that would show the alleged benefits of that drug money: luxurious residences in Morelos and Mexico City (with a giant fish tank), a Mustang car and another Land Rover, and a yacht, among others.
The defense demanded that only what can be proven belonged to the former secretary be shown, and the judge agreed with him.
García Luna's lawyers also requested that the statements of the witnesses be limited to what pertains to the direct accusation against García Luna, considering that all the details about how drug trafficking in Mexico worked have been sufficient.
The trial was expected to lay bare the connections between Mexican politics and drug trafficking at the end of 2000, when a bloody war against traffickers was waged.
But until now, former President Felipe Calderón has only been mentioned indirectly.
Will García Luna be subjected to interrogation?
After the closure of the accusation, on Tuesday it would be the turn of García Luna's defense, which is led by the lawyer César de Castro.
Beyond the three or four witnesses that are expected to be on the list, it generates expectations that García Luna will take the stand.
There are indications that it is possible: the defense sent a request to the judge on Wednesday to restrict the topics before a possible questioning of the defendant.
In addition, Linda Cristina Pereyra, García Luna's wife, and the lawyer have indicated to the press on the court stairs that the defendant is considering giving testimony.
Pereyra said that it was a surprise for her that the Prosecutor's Office asked to close the presentation of evidence on Monday, since they expected a longer process.
Her husband was planning to decide whether or not to speak after all the material is on the table, she said.
"We don't know [if she will testify]," she told the newspaper La Opinión, "because we were waiting for us to decide this in maybe three weeks."
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Closing arguments will then follow, in which each of the parties will have the last opportunity to offer the jury their conclusions.
On the current schedule, this would occur on Wednesday.
In this way, a trial that was expected to last until mid-March could finally end in February.
The accusation against García Luna includes three charges for cocaine trafficking, one for organized crime and another for false statements;
if convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The Mexican government has accused him of having a corruption network with family businesses with an illicit fortune of 745 million dollars, in a separate case in the Mexican courts.
His wife is also accused of being one of the biggest beneficiaries.
Why are
Barbie
and
the King key figures?
Edgar
La Barbie
Valdez Villarreal,
born in Texas, was the leader of the Beltrán Leyva cartel.
During the trial it was pointed out that he would have had meetings in person with García Luna, and that he received favors from the Federal Police directed by the former Mexican secretary.
Francisco Cañedo Zavaleta, a former agent of the Mexican Federal Police who worked in the anti-narcotics unit, stated in his testimony that on Sunday, October 19, 2008, he saw, by chance, García Luna together with Villareal and drug lord Arturo Beltrán Leyva, stationed in two pickup trucks on the side of a highway in Cuernavaca.
'La Barbie' was captured in 2010 by the Mexican authorities.
Daniel Aguilar/Getty Images
Other ex-narcos declared that they contributed to a collective collection or
vaquita
for the ex-official.
Óscar
El Lobo
Nava Valencia, former leader of the Milenio cartel, said that he contributed 10 million.
The favors in return would include, according to the testimonies, notices of imminent raids, information on enemies and assistance from members of the federal police to move shipments, among others.
One of those raid notices was the operation at
La Barbie
's
wedding party
in Acapulco.
"The party was held, but no one came," said an ex-narco, "they found no one."
La Barbie
was arrested on August 30, 2010 near Mexico City.
His capture was one of the most celebrated triumphs of the anti-narcotics police command promoted by García Luna when he was head of the Ministry of Public Security (2006 to 2012): the Federal Investigation Agency (AFI).
In September 2010, García Luna told Mexican legislators that
La Barbie
was one of the pioneers of high-impact violence, and responsible for beheadings throughout the country, and stressed that her apprehension was a government success, according to newspaper archives. The Day.
Valdez Villareal would later become one of the first drug traffickers who openly accused García Luna of ties to drug trafficking in the United States.
The other was
Jesús
El Rey
Zambada García
, a former operator of the Sinaloa Cartel and younger brother of Ismael
El Mayo
Zambada.
He was arrested in October 2008 and extradited to the United States in 2014, where he was convicted of drug trafficking.
As a witness in the trial against
El Chapo
, he said that he had given García Luna in 2005 and 2007 two with 3 million dollars each in exchange for protection for the gang's activities.
Zambada García is presented to the press after his arrest in 2008 in Mexico.
Alexandre Meneghini / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Harold Poveda Ortega, nicknamed
El Conejo and who was one of the largest cocaine suppliers to the Sinaloa Cartel, mentioned
El Rey
several times in his testimony
last week
.
He recounted that, on one occasion when he traveled to Mexico City, Zambada took him to the airport and handed him over to federal police agents so that they could pass him through without going through any immigration or customs procedures.
In another part of his testimony, he spoke of the more than 20 properties he owned as a result of drug trafficking.
The judicial police fell on one of those houses and arrested his parents, some cousins and workers during a party.
He said that it was
the King
who sent the police, after the factions of the Sinaloa cartel divided and began to fight, in 2008. The prosecutor presented as evidence a video of that house, where you can see the animals he kept: lions , panthers, white tigers, a chimpanzee... and
The Rabbit
cried when he saw his mansion.
He also said that Arturo Beltrán Leyva asked him on the day of
El Rey
's capture to send him "urgently" 300,000 dollars so that the media could spread the news quickly, since they feared that the Federal Police would release him or negotiate his release. .
Who are the mentioned politicians?
The witnesses who have testified so far are ex-drug traffickers convicted and with agreements with the US authorities (which allow them, among other benefits, to obtain permanent residence).
They reported where they allegedly met with García Luna or his
right-hand man
, Luis Cárdenas Palomino (a safe house in Mexico City or a car wash in Guadalajara, for example) to make agreements and deliver money in "black suitcases full of of cash".
The defense has questioned
these testimonies indicating that they are criminals who were precisely persecuted by García Luna, who was the
anti-drug
czar of the Government of Felipe Calderón.
"What better revenge than to bury the man who led the war against the cartels," said César de Castro, García Luna's lawyer.
He has also pointed out that there is no concrete evidence, such as photographs or recordings, of the alleged meetings, and highlighted what he considers contradictions in the testimonies.
At Monday's hearing, it was learned that in December Nava Valencia
retracted
his original testimony, telling prosecutors that he had lied and had never seen García Luna.
El Lobo
explained that he did it for the safety of his family, who is in Mexico.
"One is afraid," he said on Monday, and said that the DEA offered him protection in the United States and that is why he decided to speak again.
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But so far, only one witness has linked a former high-ranking official to the power plot between drug traffickers and politics.
Édgar
El Diablo
Veytia, former prosecutor of the state of Nayarit, mentioned former President Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) in the ninth hearing.
He assured that Calderón and García Luna had been ordered to protect
El Chapo
and his allies in the Sinaloa cartel in the internal war of the Beltrán Leiva criminal organization.
The former president completely denied the accusation this week: "It is an absolute lie."