Yesterday all of the major newspapers in Mexico City ran the same story on their front pages. "¡Culpable!" (Guilty) and "Traidor a México" (Traitor to Mexico) the headlines screamed. On Tuesday a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, found Genaro García Luna guilty of taking millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa drug cartel.
So, who is Genaro García Luna? From 2006 until 2012 he was the Secretary of Public Security of Mexico during the Presidency of Felipe Calderón. He was portrayed as a "super-policeman" who took on the fight against the drug cartels. In fact, it turns out that he was a collaborator with the infamous Sinaloa cartel.
During the trial of "El Chapo" Guzmán in 2018, one of the kingpin's associates testified to bribing García Luna with suitcases stuffed with three million dollars. García Luna was arrested in Dallas by U.S. agents in 2019. He was denied release on bail. He pleaded innocent, but the jury found him guilty on all counts. Sentencing will occur in June, and the 54-year-old could receive a sentence of up to 55 years in prison.
Former President Felipe Calderón has denied any knowledge of García Luna's illicit activities, even though he was one of Calderón's closest associates. Curiously, just last October, while the trial was underway, Calderón obtained a residency permit in Spain.
So, he will serve his sentence in the US? That would be like a country club compared to prison in Mexico.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but there is less chance that he will be able to escape from a U.S. prison.
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