Criminal proceedings begin against former Mexican Secretary of Security for alleged drug trafficking

First modification: 01/18/2023 – 00:34

The atmosphere is tense, both outside and inside the venue. In the vicinity of the Federal Court for the Eastern District of New York City, a group of people carried signs demanding “the truth”, “justice” for Mexico and the request that “no one be covered”.

Inside the facility, specifically on the 8th floor, electronic equipment was prohibited unless they were part of the defendant’s defense or a member of the prosecutorial team handling the case. The press covering the process was not present in the room. For security reasons, they observed what was happening there from a screen installed in an adjoining room: the criminal proceedings against the former Mexican Secretary of Security Genaro García Luna.

García Luna served in that portfolio under the mandate of former President Felipe Calderón (2006-2012). He is accused of drug trafficking and continuous criminal enterprise, for collaborating with the Sinaloa Cartel, from whom he received millions in payments. And it is that, from his position, as security czar, he provided confidential information, agreed on safe drug trafficking and even offered information on rival cartels.

The first days of the procedure are dedicated to the selection of the jury, 12 people and six substitutes who meet the necessary requirements to participate. With the defendant present, the people chosen in the first instance go by one by one to be interviewed by a judge who considers if they are suitable and without prejudice towards the case.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador welcomed the lawsuit. It takes place in the context of the recent summit with the US head of state, Joe Biden, with whom he agreed to cooperate to fight the cartels. He is expected to unravel the alleged web of corruption that allegedly existed during Calderón’s administration.

The Prosecutor’s considerations

In one of the judicial files drawn up by the prosecution, you can read the considerations of one of the US prosecutors assigned to the case. “At the trial, the government expects that numerous witnesses, including several former high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel, will testify about bribes paid to the defendant in exchange for protection.”

And is not for less. According to the AP news agency, a “parade” of speakers not seen since the trial of ‘Chapo’ Guzmán, held at the same venue in 2019, is expected. The document also states that the payments granted to García Luna facilitated the early warning to the criminal group when law enforcement was about to arrest one of its members and allowing them to get out of jail if they were caught.

Luna pleaded not guilty to the charges and facts against him. If found guilty, the sentence could be calculated in decades.

A judgment outside the established “pattern”

A few years ago, President López Obrador did everything possible so that one of the nation’s high military commanders, the four-star general Salvador Cienfuegos, who was charged with charges similar to those of Genaro García Luna, was prosecuted in the country. . He even threatened to end the mission of the Drugs Enforcement Administration, better known as DEA, in the national territory if Cienfuegos was not returned.

What is the difference between both cases? Several analysts gave their version of the facts.

According to the international security analyst from the Anahuac University, Vanessa Cárdenas, the difference lies in the fact that “it is not the same to prosecute a civilian PAN official (from the National Action Party) than to prosecute a Secretary of Defense, when all your national security policy falls on the armed forces.”

For his part, David Saucedo, a Mexican security specialist, “for decades, Mexico’s political elite, from all parties, has sought by all means that security officers, generals, police commanders, secretaries of the Interior and others high officials are tried and imprisoned” within the country (…) All this to prevent them from giving information about the links between drug cartels and politicians.”

In this sense, Saucedo considered that what is happening with Calderón’s former Security Secretary breaks with this established “pattern”.

Cienfuegos and García Luna are not the first high-ranking Mexican officials accused of having ties to drug traffickers. In the 1990s, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo appointed General Jesús Gutiérrez Rebollo to head the fight against drugs. He was arrested the year after his appointment. One of the causes of his arrest was the discovery of the true owner of the military’s luxury residence: the leader of the Juárez Cartel.

With AP and EFE