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Editor’s observe, February 22, 10:10 am: Mexico’s former high cop, Genaro García Luna, was convicted Tuesday on 5 counts associated to taking bribes and serving to the Sinaloa cartel smuggle medication into the US. The unique story explaining García Luna’s historical past and trial, printed January 27, is beneath.
This week, a federal drug trial received underway in Brooklyn that, in some methods, is an indictment in opposition to the warfare on medication itself.
The Jap District Courtroom of New York trial is of Mexico’s former high cop, Genaro García Luna. Prosecutors say García Luna, who led Mexico’s model of the FBI and served as public safety secretary — a robust Cupboard-level place below President Felipe Calderon — was taking part in a double recreation all through the US and Mexico’s warfare on medication.
García Luna spent a lot of the 2000s being the face of a heroic crackdown on a brutal drug commerce. However all that modified throughout cartel chief Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s 2018 trial in New York Metropolis, which was a hotspot for the medication his Sinaloa cartel smuggled into america. On the trial, a former cartel lieutenant advised the jury that he personally met with García Luna twice in a restaurant, every time delivering a briefcase filled with a minimum of $3 million in money.
Now García Luna is charged with participating in a unbroken felony enterprise, amongst different expenses. His protection has advised jurors that the federal government’s case rested on “rumors, hypothesis and the phrases of a few of the greatest criminals on the planet,” who had been apprehended by García Luna.
The revelations had been a significant scandal in Mexico, mentioned Peniley Ramírez, a former investigative journalist at Univision and now co-host of Futuro Media’s podcast USA v. García Luna. But it surely was much less shocking to Mexican journalists who’d been questioning how a civil servant turned rich sufficient to personal a number of luxurious properties.
“There have been a couple of individuals, a couple of journalists in Mexico that had been asking too many accountability questions on him and the cash that he had and the companies that he was doing,” mentioned Ramírez. “And people individuals had been going through plenty of retaliation. A few of them left the nation, a few of them obtained loss of life threats. And a few of them are right here [in New York] now masking the trial.”
Beneath is an excerpt of the dialog between Ramírez and At the moment, Defined host Sean Rameswaram, edited for size and readability. There’s rather more within the full podcast, so discover At the moment, Defined on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you hear.
Sean Rameswaram
Assist us perceive how this man who’s near the DEA and dealing with the US authorities is now on trial in New York Metropolis for being part of the drug commerce.
Peniley Ramírez
One of many leaders of the Sinaloa cartel mentioned [in a US federal court trial] that, “Yeah, I used to be working with El Chapo” — he was the chief of the Sinaloa cartel — “however guess what? We had been bribing high Mexican officers to smuggle medication right here.” And in the course of that, he drops García Luna’s identify.
You’ll be able to think about that was an enormous scandal in Mexico. So García Luna, who by then was residing in Miami, took the primary flight again to Mexico, and he gave a bunch of interviews saying “No! Oh, my God, I’m going to sue this particular person. How can he say that? He’s a felony. I used to be the chief of the federal government making an attempt to seize these individuals and extradite them.”
However lower than one 12 months after that, so December of 2019, he was arrested right here within the US. And now he’s going to be on trial earlier than the identical choose, Brian Cogan, and in the identical place the place El Chapo was on trial. So it’s a very powerful case derived so removed from this huge trial that was within the information rather a lot right here within the US in 2018 and 2019.
Sean Rameswaram
And inform us his story. The place does it start?
Peniley Ramírez
Properly, he was born in Mexico Metropolis in 1968. It was a working-class neighborhood, his father had a transferring enterprise. [García Luna] needed to be a soccer participant, so he tried to turn into knowledgeable soccer participant however he couldn’t make it as a result of he was not adequate. However then he moved to a different profession and he began learning engineering, and in the course of that, he turned a low-ranking spy. He entered the equal, in Mexico, to the CIA.
That is just like the late ’80s, and actually quickly, simply in a few decade, the man turns into the top of the Mexican equal to the FBI. After which after that, simply in six years, he turns into the top of the Mexican equal to the DHS, plus the NSA, plus the CIA. So he turned [one of] probably the most highly effective individuals within the civilian authorities of Mexico. And likewise he turned one of many closest individuals in Mexico to the US authorities — particularly to the DEA and to the FBI.
Sean Rameswaram
Was he good at his job?
Peniley Ramírez
Properly, he was good at promoting himself, that we will inform. He superior actually quick in his profession, and he turned this person who was, in some unspecified time in the future, managing tens of millions of {dollars} from US taxpayers that had been despatched to Mexico to battle the warfare on medication. From 2001 to 2012, he was a high officer. So the man was on a regular basis within the information in Mexico. He was assembly with actually vital individuals from the US. He has footage with Hillary Clinton, with Joe Biden. He was like a high, high officer. He was in plenty of bilateral conferences. He was receiving awards from the CIA, saying, “Thanks for serving to us.” However the loopy factor is that now he’s being accused, right here in New York, within the US Jap District Courtroom in Brooklyn, of serving to El Chapo Guzman and the Sinaloa cartel smuggle the medication to the US whereas working with the DEA and the Mexican authorities.
And on the identical time, he was seeing himself as a high spy. So this man was obsessed, for instance, with James Bond. When he turned 50 years outdated, he organized a celebration with a James Bond theme. And for instance, his work e-mail was AFI01, so he was “agent primary” of the company that he was main. And he was additionally obsessive about plenty of issues American. For instance, he had a secret basement in his home with plenty of data from Donna Summer season and he was additionally obsessive about CSI. So he obtained a part of the cash from the US and he created a present, a TV present that was referred to as The Group.
Sean Rameswaram
Wait, he had his personal TV present in Mexico?!
Peniley Ramírez
Yeah, yeah. They paid as much as $11 million to create a TV present, and one of many helicopters that was donated by america to Mexico to battle the warfare on medication was within the trailer of the TV present saying “Oh, these are the great cops from Mexico which might be combating the warfare on medication.” After which in 2012, the man left workplace, left the Mexican authorities, and he moved to Miami to a $3 million home. It was like an excellent luxurious life-style. It’s laborious to consider you can pay all of that with simply, , your wage as a public servant. The wage of a public servant in Mexico is lower than the middle-class wage in any a part of the US. So I feel it’s laborious to consider you can afford that. So he was residing in Miami all that point after he left workplace till he was arrested in 2019. So he received a reasonably cool life. However now he’s in jail in Brooklyn.
Sean Rameswaram
What expenses is García Luna going through?
Peniley Ramírez
Properly, he’s going through a number of expenses. Most of them are for conspiring with a cartel to convey the medication. They’re additionally charging him with mendacity to the DHS, as a result of as he moved to Miami when he left workplace in Mexico, he turned a resident after which he was looking for American citizenship. And as , when you’re making an attempt to turn into a citizen, it is advisable to reply to a questionnaire. One of many questions is, “Have you ever ever dedicated against the law?” And he mentioned no. Now they’re accusing him of mendacity, saying, “Oh, yeah, you probably did.” So let’s see in the event that they show it.
Sean Rameswaram
You’ve been within the courtroom. What’s it like in there?
Peniley Ramírez
First, it’s a high-security case. So reporters through the jury choice weren’t allowed to be in the identical room the place the jury was being chosen. The jury will stay nameless. So we all know their numbers, however we don’t know their names and so they’re partially sequestered.
Sean Rameswaram
How is García Luna’s workforce defending him?
Peniley Ramírez
The narrative is … he was a Mexican “good cop,” [the] high good cop, the man who was saving Mexico. So the protection proper now’s taking part in this card of claiming, first, that a lot of the potential witnesses in opposition to him are individuals which might be taking revenge as a result of he apprehended them and he extradited them, and now they’re simply coming again for him. And the second factor [they’re saying is] “He couldn’t be corrupt as a result of he was working with the US. He was working with the American authorities.”
Sean Rameswaram
What’s the prosecution saying up to now?
Peniley Ramírez
They’re saying up to now that they are going to have greater than 70 witnesses. In order that’s large. That’s far more than a typical trial. They’ve been delivering greater than one million pages of paperwork associated to the case to the protection. So the protection has been making an attempt to go over all these paperwork to attempt to discover out, what’s the prosecution’s smoking gun, if they’ve it. We all know that plenty of the witnesses are going to be cooperating witnesses — people who had been with the Sinaloa cartel or with different cartels, and so they allegedly knew one thing about García Luna. And now they can testify what they know and attempt to get some good remedy from the prosecution in alternate for saying what they know. So we expect huge, huge names within the narco trade and people who had been actually essential to know why this so-called warfare on medication has been principally a failure up to now.
And I feel that is the vital half for the US viewers, as a result of I feel you will need to say that this isn’t only a trial of a wild Mexican politician that enjoyed Donna Summer season and James Bond and CSI. It’s one thing actually American, as a result of a lot of the cash that’s concerned, it’s cash from the US taxpayers that went to Mexico to assist battle the warfare on medication. Many of the victims of the violence are in Mexico. However the victims of those medication, the a whole lot of 1000’s of individuals dying from overdoses, are right here in america. They don’t seem to be in Mexico. In order that’s why I feel it’s vital to inform the story right here, as a result of it’s not only a story about Mexican politics.
Sean Rameswaram
It feels like the end result of this trial will principally simply have an effect on García Luna. However has the American authorities addressed how embarrassing these revelations up to now have been?
Peniley Ramírez
Oh, in fact not. They haven’t addressed it in any respect.
[In fact], they’ve been making an attempt to forestall the protection from presenting any proof that García Luna was near america. For instance, the prosecution requested Decide Cogan to ban the protection from presenting any proof [like] “Here’s a image of him with Hillary Clinton… right here is the award that he obtained from the CIA,” as a result of as you mentioned, it’s embarrassing. García Luna is accused of serving to the Sinaloa cartel since 2001. So in 2012, 11 years after that, he obtained this fancy award from the top of the CIA, David Petraeus, saying, “Thanks in recognition to your effort and your assist to america.” And , I feel that you simply used the right phrase, which is: it’s embarrassing.
Sean Rameswaram
When the trial is over, this warfare on medication won’t be over. However is there a means it might be carried out higher in a strategy to keep away from embarrassing incidents like this with García Luna?
Peniley Ramírez
I would actually count on that after this trial, particularly if he’s declared responsible, that america does a deep revision of their worldwide allies. So what number of different García Lunas are on the market? If he’s declared responsible, what number of different people who the US authorities is trusting proper now with cash, with data … are receiving awards from the US authorities and nothing is definitely taking place? As a result of the numbers are actually clear, you retain seeing medication coming into the border daily. You retain seeing individuals dying from overdoses of fentanyl, of cocaine, daily. So the warfare isn’t over, as a result of persons are nonetheless dying from overdoses in america. Individuals are nonetheless dying from the violence in Mexico. So I’d like to see some accountability relating to not simply this man. What different persons are on the market that, proper now, needs to be combating the medication [coming] in and they aren’t doing it?
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