By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 2/21/2023 at 9:14 PM, updated 2/21/2023 at 9:45 PM
This content is not accessible to all.
The 12 Brooklyn federal jury found this former minister guilty of five counts. sebra/stock.adobe.com
Former Mexican minister Genaro Garcia Luna, a former anti-narcotics advocate in his country, was found guilty by a jury in a New York court on Tuesday, February 21, of cocaine trafficking between Mexico and the United States.
A Brooklyn federal jury of 12 found this former secretary of public safety to Mexican President Felipe Calderon (2006-2012) guilty of five counts, including receiving millions of dollars to protect the Sinaloa cartel and involved in trafficking at least 53 tons of cocaine from Mexico to the United States from 2001 to 2012.
This content is not accessible to all.
“Use common sense”
After several days of deliberation and a months-long trial, Genaro Garcia Luna, who did not say a word during the trial, was found guilty on all charges, Brooklyn federal prosecutors confirmed in a tweet. His wife and their two children were present at the verdict, which the former minister was visibly undeterred about. His sentence, which can range from 10 years in prison to life imprisonment, will be known in a few weeks.
As of Jan. 17, prosecutors had put 26 prosecution witnesses on the stand, nine of whom are charged with drug trafficking, who were extradited to the United States for trial and to cooperate with the judiciary to obtain sentences. Prosecutors had asked the jury to “get to know” these repentant “criminals” and “use common sense to find (Garcia Luna) guilty”: a 54-year-old “double-eyed” Mexican drug minister who worked with Washington on one side; and “Partners in Crime” of the Sinaloa Cartel on the other side.
” ALSO READ – Cartels Sow Fear in Zacatecas State, Central Mexico
He is the highest-ranking Mexican official indicted by the federal judiciary in New York in the war against drug cartels in Central and South America, which are using the complicity of local ministers to flood the United States market. It was this Brooklyn court that sentenced former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to life in prison in 2019. Genaro Garcia Luna was arrested on December 9, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. He has since been jailed and accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes to ignore the cartel trade.
For his lawyer Cesar de Castro, on the other hand, there is “no evidence that he received money” and “the lack of evidence is not evidence”. As of October 2020, Genaro Garcia Luna has pleaded not guilty. He faces a prison sentence of at least 10 years or even life. Also, the name of Genaro Garcia Luna, a former figure in the fight against drugs in Mexico, is best known in France for his involvement in the Florence Cassez affair in the 2000s.
SEE ALSO – Laurent Karila – 3-MMC: new drug, new chaos
This content is not accessible to all.