García Luna In Court Mexico's Top Drug Fighter Earned Millions From Cartel

Genaro Garca Luna was a man who had long been held in high regard. His impressive career included stints in the secret service, the Mexican federal investigation agency AFI's directorship from 2001 to 2006, and the position of minister of internal security from 2006 to 2012.

Garca Luna had devoted his career to stopping the importation of illegal drugs into Mexico. He was the driving force behind the "war on drugs" that Felipe Calderón, the president at the time, had instituted, which resulted in thousands of fatalities, as a minister at the age of 38.

The public case against Garca Luna, however, was even more serious. The Mexican man was accused of "betraying those he swore to protect" for more than 20 years, according to the 2020 indictment against him.

In Brooklyn, New York, he is currently facing charges. It is alleged that the former leader in the fight against drugs in Mexico cooperated with the Sinaloa cartel, took millions of dollars in bribes, and assisted in the importation of tons of cocaine into the United States.

The extent of Garca Luna's involvement with the cartel's drug trade was made clear on Monday during the first day of the court hearing. On the witness stand was Sergio Villarreal Barragán, also known as "El Grande," the Great.

He was detained in 2010 and extradited to the United States in 2012. He belonged to the now-defunct Beltrán Leyva cartel, which collaborated closely with the Sinaloa cartel. The early 2000s saw the interception of a cocaine shipment belonging to a rival cartel, according to Villarreal Barragán.

His boss and Genaro-Garca Luna, the former director of the federal investigative agency, showed up at the warehouse where the drugs had been stored after being transported there. Deal: She agreed to give her protégé more than $14 million in exchange for half of the two tons of cocaine's profits, which would go to the cartel.

The prosecutor discusses Garca Luna's double life Philip Pilmar, the prosecutor, focused on Garca Luna's double life since 2001 in his opening statement. He was actually given the responsibility of working for the Mexican people.

But, according to Pilmar, "he had a second job, a dirtier one.". He consented to receiving cash bribes totaling millions of dollars "so that Mexico's biggest drug cartel could ship tons of cocaine to the United States.".

Prosecutors claim that under Garca Luna, federal police officers transported cocaine at Mexico City's airport and fought as armed mercenaries for the Sinaloa cartel's adversaries. The highest-ranking mexican official to have been tried in the United States is Garca Luna.

The Mexican immigrated to Florida and started a security firm there after leaving politics in 2012. He was taken into custody after being found guilty of an arrest in Texas in 2019.

The trial is occurring in the same courtroom as the trial of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán. Judge Brian Cogan, who is also presiding over Garca Luna's trial, sentenced the head of the Sinaloa cartel to life in prison there in 2019 for drug trafficking and money laundering among other offenses.

The defense presents her client as the honorable official who assisted the United States in apprehending Sinaloa cartel leaders. Garca Luna's defense, on the other hand, presents her client as the man he has long been thought to be. He didn't assist the drug smugglers, and there is no reliable evidence of that.

Several years ago, Garca Luna debunked journalist bribery claims and detained cartel members. The defense claimed in New York that the accusations were supported by "rumors, conjecture, and the confessions of the worst criminals in the world.".

Due to the fact that Garca Luna was involved in their arrests, they sought to exact revenge on him. In the trial against Garca Luna, a total of twelve witnesses from the milieu are expected to give testimony.

In the "El Chapo" trial, Garca Luna had already been the target of serious accusations from a former Sinaloa member. Jess Zambada Garca claimed to have met him twice in eateries while he was a minister and to have given him a bag containing $3 million in cash each time.

In exchange, Garca Luna made sure the drug shipments were unharmed and gave the cartel information about ongoing inquiries and competing organizations. Dealing with potential errors within its own ranks is another aspect of the Garca Luna trial for the United States.

The DEA and Garca Luna were collaborating closely at the time.

It is alleged that the former leader in the fight against drugs in Mexico cooperated with the Sinaloa cartel, took millions of dollars in bribes, and assisted in the importation of tons of cocaine into the United States.