A sketch by Jesús “El Rey” Zambada during the trial of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in New York in late 2018. JANE ROSENBERG
One of the men who sank Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán is scheduled to testify again in a United States court, but this time against Genaro García Luna, the former police chief in Mexico. Jesús El Rey Zambada was selected by the New York Attorney’s Office as one of the key witnesses against García Luna, the most visible face of the drug war launched by the government of Felipe Calderón (2006-2012). It was the former officer’s own lawyers who uncovered it after they produced a document to prevent Zambada from taking the witness stand. In the brief, the defense also discredited allegations against the former Minister of Public Security of threatening journalist Anabel Hernández, another of the key cards prosecutors had recently played in the case.
The latest memorandum presented by the defense looks at García Luna’s professional career and attempts to portray him as an “ally” of the United States in the fight against drug trafficking. “With financial and logistical support from US government personnel, Mr. García Luna was able to develop a world-class intelligence platform against the cartels and attack the public’s prime enemy, Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, aka El Chapo,” the statement said Letter. “In 2010, this new platform enabled the Mexican authorities to arrest and extradite the prosecution’s key witness against García Luna, Jesús Zambada,” his lawyers add. The king is the younger brother of Ismael El Mayo Zambada, the historic leader of the Sinaloa cartel along with El Chapo, for whom the United States has offered a $15 million reward.
During Guzmán’s November 2018 trial, El Rey was the first prosecutor to make explosive revelations about the collusion between organized crime and Mexican authorities, targeting García Luna directly. Zambada assured that he paid bribes to millionaires to the then head of Mexico’s police force, adding that he did the same to an adviser to Mexico City’s government during the tenure of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the country’s current president searched.
El Rey testified before a Brooklyn jury that he made at least two payments to protect his brother El Mayo and avoid his incarceration. According to Zambada’s version, the first bribe was paid in a restaurant in 2005 and amounted to three million dollars. Then García Luna headed the now-defunct Federal Agency of Investigation. The second bribe was between $3 million and $5 million and took place in 2007, when García Luna was already Minister of Public Security. The capo indicated that the source of the money was El Mayo and that the goal for security forces was to avoid “interfering with the cartel’s drug trafficking operations” as well as his arrest.
The narrative García Luna’s lawyers are trying to push is that these allegations are revenge for the actions he took against the Sinaloa cartel. “The allegations of corruption have persisted for decades and despite the vehement efforts of their opponents, they have never materialized,” argue their lawyers.
In the document, the defense also highlights the good relationships the former official had with high-profile US politicians. “During his campaign for the presidency of the United States, Senator John McCain met with García Luna to reiterate the US government’s support for the fight against the cartels,” it said. “Officials like Janet Napolitano [exgobernadora de Arizona y jefa de Seguridad Nacional durante el Gobierno de Barack Obama]Robert Mueller [director del FBI entre 2001 y 2013]Eric Holder [exfiscal general de Estados Unidos] and Hillary Clinton traveled to Mexico City to meet with García Luna,” their attorneys point out, who also point out that congressmen from the Democratic and Republican parties gave their approval and promoted García Luna’s anti-drug strategy.
Prosecutors filed a request in June to attach as evidence a bribery scheme directed by García Luna to obtain positive media coverage during his tenure, and a series of death threats against critical journalists. Prosecutors also accused the former officer of intimidating a witness in his case. “The defendant threatened, harassed and bribed journalists investigating his crimes and continued to show intent to tamper with witnesses after his arrest,” the request for new evidence to be considered in the case said. “He used his public office to help the Sinaloa cartel in exchange for millions of dollars in bribes,” he adds. Authorities put the payments the former secretary received from the criminal organization then led by El Chapo Guzmán and El Mayo Zambada at “tens of millions of dollars.”
Lawyers for García Luna branded the new evidence presented by prosecutors as “irrelevant,” “incredible,” and “unduly damaging” to the case and said it had nothing to do with the investigation. García Luna was arrested in Dallas, Texas on December 9, 2019 and is facing five charges in upstate New York. Three offenses are linked to trafficking in cocaine, one alleges false information and another allegations of membership of a criminal organization. His fall challenges two Presidents of the Republic who emerged from the conservative National Action Party and political rivals of López Obrador: Vicente Fox (2000-2006) and Calderón (2006-2012).
In his argument, the former official’s defense criticized the security policies of former President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) and López Obrador, who he says took a “conciliatory” attitude towards the cartels instead of continuing the strategy of arresting their leaders. “For example, President López Obrador supported the release of El Chapo’s son when he was arrested in 2019. [un episodio conocido en México como El Culiacanazo] and went to meet El Chapo’s mother in 2020,” the attorneys allege.
The defense has also uncovered the identity of the journalist who was threatened by García Luna from prison, according to prosecutors. This is Anabel Hernández with more than 15 years of experience tracking down drug trafficking in Mexico. “Hernández began writing about García Luna in a 2007 book and continued his personal vendetta against him in the press for years,” the attorneys allege. “Despite the fact that they never met, Ms. Hernández continues to claim that she was threatened by García Luna,” they add.
The legal representatives also cite that “she writes gossip without rigor”, a phrase they attribute to Citlalli Hernández, general secretary of the ruling party Morena, in order to discredit the journalist’s credibility. And they bring up criticism of Hernández’s latest book, Emma and the Other Ladies of the Narco (Grijalbo), in which Emma Coronel, wife of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, acts as the protagonist against her. The strategy is twofold: avoid the possibility of Anabel Hernández testifying in court and refute the theory that García Luna silenced the press, allowing it to commit a crime with no consequences. “Hernandez herself admitted that none of her stories were kept because of any kind of threat,” they claim.
García Luna’s counterattack is covered in almost 20 pages. Prosecutors say he had links to drug dealers, while the defense says he had the support of US politicians. Prosecutors accuse him of threatening and bribing journalists, and his lawyers portray him as a martyr who purposefully stood up to the cartels. With American justice backing El Rey for another high-profile case in Mexico, the former police chief is trying to stop testimony, accusing multiple “vendettas.” The decision is in the hands of the judge. And ultimately by a jury, unless García Luna reaches an agreement to avoid a trial.
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