Genaro Garc\u00eda Luna, accused of accepting millions in bribes from cartels, in trial that could implicate officials on both sides of border
\nOne of Mexico\u2019s most powerful former officials will stand trial in the US this week, charged with accepting million-dollar bribes from a violent cartel in a case with profound political implications that could expose the inner workings of the \u201cwar on drugs\u201d on both sides of the border.
\nGenaro Garc\u00eda Luna, a former head of Mexico\u2019s equivalent of the FBI who went on to lead the country\u2019s security ministry, was\u00a0arrested in Texas in 2019, charged with\u00a0conspiring to traffic cocaine\u00a0and lying to the US government.
\nHe was subsequently charged with\u00a0taking multimillion-dollar bribes\u00a0from the powerful Sinaloa cartel, once run by the drug lord\u00a0Joaqu\u00edn \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzm\u00e1n, in exchange for allowing it to operate with impunity, all while he was supposedly spearheading Mexico\u2019s anti-drug efforts.
\nThe accusations against Garc\u00eda Luna surfaced during El Chapo\u2019s trial, when one of the\u00a0Sinaloa cartel\u2019s members testified\u00a0that he had given the former security minister briefcases filled with cash. If convicted, the former official faces up to life in prison.
\n\u201cFor nearly two decades, Garc\u00eda Luna betrayed those he was sworn to protect\u201d, said Seth DuCharme, acting US attorney for the eastern district of New York,\u00a0announcing\u00a0the second set of charges in 2020, \u201cby accepting bribes from members of the Sinaloa cartel to facilitate their crimes and empower their criminal enterprise.\u201d
\nThe trial, which is set to begin in a Brooklyn court on Tuesday, has the potential to expose the insidious corruption that has plagued Mexican security agencies, while also underscoring the failures of the US-supported fight against drug trafficking groups, and provide Mexico\u2019s current president with still more ammunition for his constant attacks against previous administrations.<\/p>\n