García Luna: After ‘Chapo’, The Most Anticipated Trial

The trial against the former Secretary of Public Security in Mexico, Genaro García Luna, could reveal the level of corruption that existed during the administration of former President Felipe Calderón, as well as the names of officials who dealt with the narco, but also omissions of the United States in the face of corruption alerts that they knew were happening, security analysts revealed.

“It is a trial that will undoubtedly reveal a lot of why the so-called war on drugs failed, and also what was the role that the DEA played in the strategy of the United States in its fight against the cartels,” said Peniley Ramírez, author of the book Los Millonarios de la Guerra, which reveals the network of corruption that García Luna woven in power.

The trial, scheduled to begin on January 17, 2023, would have at least 19 key witnesses to face the former Mexican official, including Édgar Valdez Villarreal la Barbie, and Reynaldo, ReyZambada, as confirmed by sources close to the trial.

But it is also possible that Sergio Villarreal Barragán, the Grande, Dámaso López Núñez, the Licenciado, and other former members of the Sinaloa Cartel who are now in the possession of the United States will testify; as well as Iván Reyes Arzate, a former collaborator of García Luna.

“I think it is very likely that, during this trial, the names of many officials who would have worked with the Sinaloa Cartel will come out, and some of them surely worked with García Luna directly, and that is why it will be a very interesting trial,” said journalist Ramírez.

On page 134 of the book El Licenciado, at the end of the chapter entitled “The meeting between the Great and Calderón Hinojosa”, Jesús Lemus specifies that he gave the money to a lieutenant in the army who received it at the entrance of the official residence of Los Pinos, to later move on to greet President Calderón, who was already waiting for him in his office.

“It’s what he told me (the Great), no matter how implausible the story is, and Genaro García Luna of course he was aware, which suggests that Calderón was always involved,” Lemus told this reporter, shortly after the publication of his book.

If the Great testifies and shows evidence against García Luna, together with the testimonies of King Zambada, Reyes Arzate, and the Licensee, it is possible that they are the elements that end up sinking the former Secretary of Public Security, because in addition to those testimonies, the documents that the prosecutors claim to have in their possession, along with the audio and image recordings

The loose ends

The protected witnesses held by the United States who will testify against García Luna, are just some of the elements that will provide testimony against the accused, however, there are other accusations that accuse García Luna, according to an investigation made by this weekly in collaboration with other international media, where agents of the missing federal preventive police have been found, who if testifying before a jury in a United States court,

“We were ordered, in the middle of the night, to close streets so that a suburban-type vehicle that was going to arrive in the city could travel directly to Los Pinos and enter, I think, to make some delivery of something, I guess it was money,” said an old federal police officer whom he interviewed this weekly.

-But why do you think that those who went to that Suburban were criminals? because it could have been someone else – the former agent was questioned, and this is what he replied:

“Because they were wearing caps, and I out of pure curiosity, then I checked the number of plates, and it was a Suburban that was stolen, and an official is not going to arrive in Los Pinos in a Suburban stolen at two in the morning, and because the people who went to the front had all the fake of tricks.”

The testimony of that former agent almost accurately means what the Grande told Lemus when they were both imprisoned in Puente Grande, but also the testimony of a drug trafficker whom Ríodoce had access to in the Sierra de Sinaloa, and who only asked to be identified with the “R” initial.

“Calderon and García Luna were given many millions of dollars to let us work, which were handed into their hands, but they won their greed and began to ask for more money, and that’s where the problems began,” said the drug trafficker, who is a high-level collaborator of the faction commanded by Ismael el Mayo Zambada.

Asked if there was any kind of evidence regarding what he said, the drug trafficker said that when dealing with the government, the official tries to keep no trace of whether he received something, but that there is the agreement, and if the official does not comply, there are consequences.

“It keeps happening, but usually the official tries to fulfill what is in his hands,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the East District court, in Brooklyn, everything seems to be set for the start of the trial.

Just last Thursday, prosecutors handed over more than 10,000 documents to García Luna’s lawyer, Cesar de Castro, which would be part of the incriminating evidence of the investigation.

Just on November 22, Judge Brian Cogan denied a request from the defense to remove four charges against the former Secretary of Security related to the possession, import and distribution of narcotics in the United States, to which the defense argued that it had already been more than five years since the accused allegedly participated.

García Luna was arrested in December 2019, at the Dallas International Airport, in the United States. The next day he was imprisoned in a maximum security prison in Brooklyn, and after being presented to Judge Cogan, he pleaded not guilty to charges of drug trafficking, and lying to U.S. customs officials.

Article published on December 18, 2022 in the 1038 edition of the Riodoce weekly.