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Mexico's ex-drug minister sentenced for aiding cartel

2023-02-23T16:20:13.266Z


Federal court in New York has convicted Genaro García Luna, a close associate of former Mexican President Felipe Calderón, of drug trafficking.


On Tuesday, February 21, Genaro García Luna was found guilty by federal court in New York for aiding the Sinaloa cartel in the drug trade he was supposed to fight.

The sentence - he faces a minimum of 20 years in prison - will be handed down on June 27.

Mexico's highest-ranking official ever tried in the United States has been convicted on multiple counts, including "

trafficking cocaine, conspiring, participating in a criminal enterprise, and lying to an officer in his process of obtaining U.S. citizenship

 " , lists the Spanish daily

La Razón.

He is also convicted of taking millions of dollars in bribes while protecting the Sinaloa Cartel, co-led by notorious drug lord El Chapo.

The latter has been serving a life sentence in the United States since his arrest in 2019.

Before being minister under the presidency of Felipe Calderón between 2006 and 2012, García Luna was director of the Federal Investigation Agency.

From 2006, he was in charge of Mexico's security policy and was notably on the front line in the war against Mexican cartels.

But while García Luna boasted about his bloody fight against drug trafficking, he was secretly serving the powerful Sinaloa Cartel for 20 years.

This double game is perceived as a real betrayal in his country, which over the years has seen corruption reach the highest echelons of the state.

García Luna had also played a central role in the case of Florence Cassez, a French national arrested in 2005 in a morbid staging, who had been falsely accused of belonging to a criminal gang responsible for numerous murders and sentenced to 96 years in prison. jail in Mexico.

The end of Felipe Calderón's mandate marks the end of the political protection enjoyed by García Luna, who then decided to take refuge in the United States where he ended up applying for American citizenship in 2018. He is not the first drug trafficker to see his case decided by the American justice.

During the trial of Joaquín Guzmán, known as "El Chapo", which was held in the same court in 2019, numerous testimonies from former drug traffickers mentioned García Luna, admitting to having paid him considerable bribes.

After these revelations,

"on December 9, 2019, García Luna was arrested in Dallas and charged with drug trafficking and corruption for having received millions of dollars from the Sinaloa cartel

 ", says CNN.

This protection, handsomely purchased, allowed the cartel "

to operate with impunity in Mexico and to transport drugs safely and without the intervention of law enforcement to the United States

 ".

According to the investigation, García Luna was involved in trafficking at least 53 tons of cocaine from Mexico to the United States from 2001 to 2012.

Over three days in New York, an anonymous 12-member high-security jury deliberated and “

26 witnesses were called, including former drug baron Jesús Zambada, who assured that the former security secretary was linked to bribes, drug trafficking, and the protection of the Sinaloa cartel, among others

”, explains the Spanish newspaper

AS

.

In their argument, the defendants of the accused, who maintain the absence of evidence, questioned the testimonies of these former drug traffickers, whom they accuse of seeking less the truth than a remission of sentence.

The splashed Mexican political class

This case sheds a harsh light on other Mexican political leaders.

The name of the former president, Felipe Calderón, resounded several times during the trial of García Luna.

Mexican public opinion suspects him of having voluntarily turned a blind eye to the practices of his minister with whom he maintained close relations.

We were right: Genaro García Luna was a drug trafficker and Felipe Calderón knew it

”, “

justice is coming Calderón

 ”, tweeted Andrea Chávez, a Mexican journalist.

The

Reforma

newspaper also reports that "

Deputies of the political party Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (MORENA) have demanded that former President Calderón be tried for his links with crime

 ".

In an article published on February 22,

El País

reports the words of current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO, who openly questions Felipe Calderón during a press conference: "

What explanation are you going to give to the Mexican people on the reason for the appointment of García Luna, what did you know and what did not you know?

".

AMLO also asked García Luna, "

for the good of the country

 ", to confess if he had operated with other members of the political class, and in particular with former presidents Vincent Fox and Felipe Calderón.

A confession could offer him the status of "

protected witness

", reports the newspaper

La Vanguardia

.

Former President Fox reacted to these accusations by accusing the current head of the Mexican state...

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-02-23

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