Big news in Mexican drug cartel world: Genaro Garcia Luna, the former top cop and public security director of Mexico, has been arrested in Dallas on federal drug charges out of Brooklyn.
Garcia Luna was once considered an architect of President Felipe Calderon’s anticartel strategy. But at Chapo Guzman’s trial in Brooklyn last winter, witnesses testified that he twice received suitcases of cash filled w/$3 million.
The new indictment charges Garcia Luna w/three counts of cocaine trafficking and w/making false statements to federal officials.
It also says that Garcia Luna received “millions of dollars in bribes” from the Sinaloa drug cartel. Garcia Luna moved to the US in 2012 with what American authorities are calling “a personal fortune.”
At Chapo Guzman's trial, Rey Zambada, the brother of Guzman's chief partner, Mayo Zambada, testified to personally giving bribes to Garcia Luna. US officials have also gotten financial records showing that Garcia Luna had earnings "inconsistent w/a civil servant's salary."
US officials say that after moving to Miami in 2012, Garcia Luna hid his "corrupt assistance" to Sinaloa and lied about his past criminal conduct.
Court papers: "The defendant prioritized his personal
greed over his sworn duties as a public servant, and assured the continued success and safety of one of the world’s most notorious trafficking organizations."
greed over his sworn duties as a public servant, and assured the continued success and safety of one of the world’s most notorious trafficking organizations."
For those who aren't familiar with the relations between drug cartels and law enforcement in Mexico, the arrest of Garcia Luna is a huge event. It is akin to the director of the FBI being arrested for taking bribes to personally assist the Gambino crime family.
Garcia Luna will appear in court this afternoon in Dallas. Prosecutors in New York will then seek to have him transferred to Brooklyn where Chapo stood trial.
