A former Mexican presidential cabinet member was convicted in the U.S. on Tuesday of taking massive bribes to protect the violent drug cartels he was tasked with combating.
In this courtroom sketch, Genaro García Luna, center, is flanked by US Marshals prior to the verdict in his trial,, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in federal court in New York. The former Mexican presidential cabinet member was convicted in the U.S. Tuesday of taking massive bribes to protect the violent drug cartels he was tasked with combating.
García Luna, who denied the allegations, headed Mexico’s federal police and was later the country’s top public safety official from 2006 to 2012. His lawyers said the charges were based on lies from criminals who wanted to punish his drug-fighting efforts and to get sentencing breaks for themselves by helping prosecutors.
FILE - Mexico's Secretary of Public Safety Genaro García Luna attends a news conference on the sidelines of an American Police Community meeting in Mexico City, Oct. 8, 2010. The former Mexican presidential cabinet member was convicted in the U.S., Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, of taking massive bribes to protect the violent drug cartels he was tasked with combating.
A roster of ex-smugglers and former Mexican officials testified that García Luna took millions of dollars in cartel cash, met with major traffickers in settings ranging from a country house to a car wash and kept law enforcement at bay. One ex-smuggler, Óscar “El Lobo” Nava Valencia, said he personally heard García Luna and a then-top police official say they would “stand with us” during a meeting with notorious Sinaloa cocaine cartel kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman’s associates amid a cartel civil war. That sit-down alone cost the drug gang $3 million, Nava Valencia said.
A demonstrators holds a sign that reads"GARCIA LUNA ES CULPABLE," or"GARCIA LUNA IS GUILTY" outside federal court moments before Genaro García Luna was found guilty of taking massive bribes to protect the violent drug cartels he was tasked with combating, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in New York. Luna headed Mexico's federal police and then was its top security official from 2006 to 2012.
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