:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/7EW3QDM54NFATHNAAGHBQLKSQY.jpg "Mexican anti-drug czar goes on trial in the US accused of helping “El Chapo” Guzmán")
On Monday the initial arguments begin in the trial in the United States against Genaro García Luna, a former official of the Mexican security forces who was in charge of the fight against drug trafficking and who is now accused of receiving bribes from the powerful Sinaloa Cartel and of help to Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
garcia moon headed the Federal Investigation Agency Mexico from 2001 to 2005 and was Secretary of Public Safety from 2006 to 2012, a period in which he collaborated closely with US anti-narcotics and intelligence agencies.
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In 2020, he pleaded not guilty to US charges that he accepted millions of dollars to protect the cartel led by the jailed drug lord. “El Chapo” Guzman.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn claim that garcia moon gave to Sinaloa cartel sensitive information about its rivals, as well as a safe passage for drug shipments. He faces five charges, including “continued criminal enterprise” and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
garcia moonwho was arrested in 2019 in Texas, is one of the highest-ranking Mexican officials to be accused of aiding drug trafficking groups, and there is considerable speculation in the Latin American country that the trial could embarrass former officials, or even former presidents.
garcia moon He led public security under former President Felipe Calderón, who sent in the Armed Forces to deal with drug gangs and placed repression of organized crime at the center of his 2006-2012 administration.
The current president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO)Calderón’s adversary, urged public opinion last Wednesday to wait and see.
“All of that is going to come out”he said in his daily conference, referring to the actions of García Luna and other authorities, and added that US officials should be called to declare whether they were involved in the events under investigation.
After the arrest of garcia moonCalderón expressed his deep shock and issued a statement in which he said he was completely unaware of what his former Secretary of Security allegedly did.
The former president called for “the full weight of the law” to be applied in case the defendant is found guilty.
Three million dollars in a suitcase
During the eight-week trial, prosecutors plan to call former cartel officials to testify about bribes paid to the former official, according to court documents.
garcia moon he has previously accused drug traffickers of making false accusations against him as revenge for his actions against the cartels.
His lawyers have said in court documents that his client had “no wealth to speak of” when he moved to the United States in 2012, but later earned money from his work as a security consultant.
During the trial of Guzman In 2018, the brother of one of his partners testified that he had given garcia moon a suitcase containing three million dollars in 2005 or 2006, and paid him another between three and five million dollars in 2007. The former secretary called those accusations “defamation” and without evidence.
Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison in 2019 following his conviction in Brooklyn on drug charges and conspiracy to murder. He is being held in a high-security “Supermax” prison in Colorado.
The Mexican government issued its own arrest warrant in 2020 against garcia moon on charges of illicit enrichment.
Mexico it also sued him in Florida, where he had been living before his 2019 arrest, in an effort to recover what it called illegally obtained assets. The case is still open.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
