Mexico City (AP) – Mexico’s top security official and the man in charge of fighting drug cartels will go on trial Tuesday accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for helping the powerful Sinaloa cartel move drugs and avoid its members. to catch
Genaro García Luna was best known as the mumbling and tough-looking former security secretary under former president Felipe Calderón, who led a bloody war against the cartels from 2006 to 2012.
United States prosecutors say he was so brazen that he accepted tens of millions of dollars, often stuffed into briefcases. The evidence against him includes salary slips, although it is not clear whether they related to official jobs, private sector consulting, cartel payments or other bribes.
They say he lived off his ill-gotten gains even after moving to the US, where he was arrested in 2019, although the defense says he was a legitimate businessman. Jury selection was scheduled to begin Tuesday.
Finally, the case may reveal how Mexican cartels have been able to operate so openly for so long: bribing the Mexican police and military all the way up to the highest ranks.
“Mexico’s political elites of all parties have for decades tried by any means necessary to prosecute and imprison security ministers, generals, police chiefs, interior secretaries and high-ranking officials in Mexico … between drug cartels and politicians,” said David Saucedo, a Mexican security analyst. “Garcia Luna Trial in United States Breaks That Pattern.”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has welcomed the trial, which is expected to uncover corruption in the Calderón administration, which the president accuses of usurping the presidency from him in 2006.
But López Obrador himself fought doggedly to avoid a 2020 U.S. trial of former Defense Secretary General Salvador Cienfuegos on similar charges, at one point threatening to expel DEA agents from Mexico unless the general was returned, which he was.
The trial begins just days after US President Joe Biden met with López Obrador in Mexico City. The two governments pledged continued cooperation against drug cartels, particularly the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is responsible for more than 107,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2021. López Obrador ditched the civilian federal police force once led by García Luna and put the military in charge of much of the country’s security.
“Prosecuting a PAN civilian official is not the same as prosecuting a defense minister when your entire national security policy relies on the armed forces,” said Ana Vanessa Cárdenas, an international security analyst at Anahuac. university, referring to Calderón’s conservative National Action Party.
García Luna pleaded not guilty to charges of drug trafficking and continuing criminal enterprise. He could face decades in prison if convicted.
In a Brooklyn courtroom, he faces a parade of government witnesses, including high-level cartel members, not seen in Brooklyn since Sinaloa boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was convicted and sentenced to life in prison there in 2019. Some of the allegations against García Luna surfaced during Guzmán’s trial.
“While in public office, (García Luna) used his positions to assist the Sinaloa Cartel, a notorious Mexican drug cartel, in exchange for multimillion-dollar bribes. At trial, the government expects numerous witnesses, including several former high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel, to testify for the defense about the bribe paid,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace wrote in a court filing last week.
“In exchange for these bribes, defendant provided the Sinaloa Cartel with, among other things, safe passage for its drug shipments, sensitive law enforcement information about the cartel’s investigation, and information about rival drug cartels,” Peace wrote. “These payments sometimes allowed the cartel to receive warnings in advance of law enforcement efforts to detain cartel members and to allow cartel members to be released if arrested.”
Before Guzmán was convicted in 2019, jurors at his New York trial heard former cartel member Jesús Zambada testify that he personally made at least $6 million in hidden payments to García Luna on behalf of his older brother, cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
The cartel is believed to be run by Zambada and at least three of Guzmán’s sons, one of whom was arrested earlier this month on a US extradition request.
García Luna is not the first high-ranking Mexican official to be arrested in connection with drug traffickers. President Ernesto Zedillo appointed General Jesús Gutiérrez Rebollo as Mexico’s drug czar in 1996. He was arrested the following year after it was revealed he was living in a luxury apartment owned by Juarez cartel leader Amado Carrillo Fuentes.
How long was Vicente Fox president of Mexico?
How many Mexican presidents went to Harvard?
Three of Mexico’s last six presidents were Harvard graduates.
How many Mexicans have graduated from Harvard? Mexico has more than 1,250 Harvard alumni, second only to Brazil in Latin America. On the same subject : The US would accept up to 30,000 migrants per month in expanded program resources.
Which presidents graduated from Harvard?
Harvard University Eight US presidents went to Harvard, starting with John Adams, followed by John Quincy Adams, both Roosevelts, and John F. Kennedy, who received 6 bachelor’s degrees from Harvard University. Barack Obama, George Bush and Rutherford Hayes studied at Harvard Law and Business Schools.
What Mexican president went to Harvard?
| Felipe Calderón | |
|---|---|
| parent(s) | Luis Antonio Calderón María del Carmen Hinojosa |
| Relatives | The Calderón Hinojosa family |
| Alma mater | Liberal School of Law (LLB) Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology (MA) Harvard University (MPA) |
| cabinet | Felipe Calderón’s cabinet |
Who ruled Mexico for France?
In 1862, the French Emperor Napoleon III maneuvered to establish a French client state in Mexico and eventually installed Archduke Maximilian Habsburg of Austria as Emperor of Mexico. This may interest you : Venezuelan migrants deported from US under new policy decide next steps in Mexico.
How long did France rule Mexico? After two months, Spanish and British representatives reached an agreement with the Mexican government, but French forces remained committed to establishing a monarchy. This period of occupation, 1861-1867, is known as the French Intervention.
Why did French invade Mexico?
Mexico During the French Intervention, 1862-1867 By the late 1850s, years of internal strife had left the young Mexican Republic fractured and deeply indebted to Europe. Read also : NM State Men’s Basketball Continues Agreement With Bally Sports Arizona – New Mexico State University Athletics. Seeing an opportunity to expand the French empire in the New World, Napoleon III invaded Mexico in 1862.
Who led the French in Mexico?
August 1862: Additional French troops were sent to Mexico, bringing the total strength of the French army to about 39,000 soldiers. September 24, 1862: General Forey arrived in Veracruz at the head of 9,000 men and 900 horses and took command of the campaign.
Who ruled Mexico until 1911?
Porfiriato, the period of Porfirio Díaz’s presidency of Mexico (1876–1880; 1884–1911), an era of dictatorial rule achieved through a combination of consensus and repression, during which the country underwent extensive modernization but limited political freedoms and a free press. muzzle.
Who controlled Mexico before independence? Spain ruled the land for 300 years until the early 1800s.
What happened in 1911 in Mexico?
In the spring of 1911, revolutionary forces took Ciudad Juárez, forced Díaz to resign, and declared Madero president.
Who ruled Mexico from 1877 until he was forced from power in 1911?
Porfirio Díaz (born September 15, 1830, Oaxaca, Mexico—died July 2, 1915, Paris, France), soldier and president of Mexico (1877–80, 1884–1911), who created a strong centralized state that firmly controlled more than three decades. A mestizo, Díaz was of humble origins.
