Mexico City, Mexico – Former Mexican Secretary of Public Security Genaro García Luna was sentenced in a New York district court on Wednesday to more than 38 years in prison on five counts of drug trafficking and organized crime.
Once Mexico’s top law enforcement official, leading the country’s security agencies and outlining his own peacekeeping strategies, the disgraced 56-year-old cop is being sentenced to 466 months in prison and a $2 million fine for his decade. . cooperation with the main drug organization in the hemisphere, the Sinaloa Cartel.
Senior District Judge Brian M. Cogan presided over the hearing and sentenced García Luna, ruling against the prosecution’s request for life in prison and a $5 million fine.
García Luna was convicted of five counts, including continuing participation in a criminal enterprise, conspiracy to distribute cocaine internationally, distribution and possession of cocaine and importing cocaine, and making false statements to authorities.
The former security chief was arrested in December 2019 by United States authorities in Dallas, Texas. His four-week trial ended with a conviction in February 2023, when he was found guilty of all charges and linked to the Sinaloa cartel.
In a press release, the US Attorney’s Office said that during Genaro García’s tenure as head of the now-defunct Federal Bureau of Investigation (2000-2006) and Secretary of Public Safety (2006-2012), García Luna aided and abetted the Sinaloa cartel. in exchange for bribes, using his power and Mexico’s security agencies to do the cartel’s bidding.
“In exchange for bribes, defendant’s Federal Police Force acted as bodyguards and escorts for the Cartel, allowing Cartel members to wear police uniforms and badges and assisting in unloading cocaine cargoes from airplanes at the Mexico City airport, and then delivering the cocaine to the Cartel. “, the statement says.
As security chief during the administration of former president Felipe Calderón, García Luna designed and implemented a peacekeeping strategy dubbed the “War on Drugs,” a military operation aimed at fighting the same criminals he protected.
The war on drugs was the signature project of President Calderón and García Luna, a violent crackdown on drug trafficking in Mexico that resulted in over 250,000 murders and an increase in enforced disappearances and human rights violations committed by the military and the people of García Luna.
Throughout his career, García Luna was a key ally of the Sinaloa cartel and a respected official for foreign governments and international security organizations, being recalled by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Interpol. amassing a fortune for the Sinaloa cartel.
Through his X account, García Luna’s former colleague, ex-president Calderón, denied that he was aware of his right wing’s ties to the Sinaloa cartel and assured that he was never informed of possible criminal activities of García Luna.
In a heartfelt letter shared by García Luna the day before his sentencing, the now-convicted criminal asked Judge Cogan for mercy.
In a five-page handwritten letter, he claimed that all the charges against him were fabricated to protect the current ruling party in Mexico and its criminal allies. Luna asked to be released and return to his family and civilian life.
“Dirty money, bad habits and bad behavior cannot be hidden even under extreme conditions. Dear Sir, with my deepest feelings, I respectfully ask you to allow me to return as soon as possible to my family and reintegrate into the beloved society that I respect and belong to,” the prisoner has already written.
