Ex-Mexican Security Chief Faces Life Sentence in U.S. Drug Trafficking Case

Mexico’s former public security chief is facing a life sentence in a U.S. court after being convicted of taking bribes to aid drug traffickers.

Genaro García Luna, 56, was found guilty early last year of accepting millions of dollars in bribes to protect the Sinaloa cartel, one of the world’s most notorious drug trafficking organizations. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, are pushing for the maximum penalty, while García Luna’s defense team is requesting a sentence of no more than 20 years. García Luna has consistently denied the charges.

Prosecutors argue that García Luna’s actions contributed to a drug trafficking conspiracy that resulted in the deaths of thousands in the U.S. and Mexico.

“It is difficult to overstate the magnitude of the defendant’s crimes, the deaths and addiction he facilitated, and his betrayal of the people of Mexico and the United States,” prosecutors said in court filings. “His crimes demand justice.”

García Luna served as the head of Mexico’s federal police before rising to a Cabinet-level position as the country’s top security official from 2006 to 2012. He was a key figure during former Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s administration and was viewed as a crucial ally by the United States in its war on drugs.

During his tenure, García Luna was lauded for leading Mexico’s fight against cartels. His efforts were praised by high-profile U.S. figures, including former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

However, prosecutors revealed during the trial that García Luna was secretly aiding the Sinaloa cartel in exchange for bribes. They claim he provided cartel members with intelligence about law enforcement operations, gave them information on rival cartels, and ensured safe passage for drug shipments.

Drug traffickers, under García Luna’s protection, were able to smuggle more than 1 million kilograms of cocaine into the United States, prosecutors said. The shipments were transported via planes, trains, trucks and even submarines, all while García Luna held his official posts.

A former cartel member who testified during the trial of Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in 2018 claimed to have personally delivered at least $6 million to García Luna as payment for his protection. The testimony also alleged that cartel members pooled up to $50 million in bribes to ensure García Luna’s cooperation.

Additionally, U.S. authorities accuse García Luna of attempting to undermine his conviction by bribing or corruptly convincing fellow inmates to support false allegations against government witnesses.

In their plea for lenience, García Luna’s defense team noted that he and his family have faced significant personal and professional hardship during his nearly five years of imprisonment.

“He has lost everything he worked for—his reputation, all of his assets, the institutions that he championed,” his lawyers wrote. “He has been powerless to control any of it.”

Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has used the case as an example of the corruption that pervaded previous administrations, describing Mexico under Calderón’s rule as a “narco-state.”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who was sworn in this month as the nation’s first female president, also briefly commented on the case.

“The big issue here is how someone who was awarded by United States agencies, who ex-President Calderón said wonderful things about, is today imprisoned in the United States because it’s shown he was tied to drug trafficking,” she said.

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.