For years he was considered a pioneer in the fight against drug crime in his country - now the former Mexican security minister Genaro García Luna has himself been convicted of cocaine trafficking and corruption in New York. The twelve jurors of a US federal court in Brooklyn unanimously found the 54-year-old guilty of cooperation with the notorious Sinaloa cartel. He faces a life sentence.
The jury made its decision after three days of deliberations. In the end, they followed the prosecution's view, according to which García Luna helped the Sinaloa cartel smuggle cocaine into the United States for years and collected millions of dollars for it. He was found guilty on all five counts, including corruption and drug trafficking.
The 54-year-old appeared unaffected when the guilty verdict was announced, when his wife and two children were also in the courtroom. His lawyer later announced that García Luna would "continue to fight to clear his name". There is "no evidence" for the allegations made against his client, said Cesar de Castro. However, he did not expressly announce that he wanted to appeal. García Luna's sentence is scheduled to be announced on June 27.
García Luna is the highest-ranking former Mexican government official to stand trial in the United States on drug charges. He was Mexico's Minister of Public Security under President Felipe Calderón from 2006 to 2012 - at a time when Mexico was officially leading a hard line against drug gangs. From 2001 to 2005, the trained mechanical engineer headed the now defunct Federal Police Authority AFI, which was supposed to fight against corruption and organized crime.
According to investigations by the New York federal prosecutor's office, García Luna helped the Sinaloa cartel, long led by drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, smuggle at least 53 tons of cocaine into the United States from 2001. He tipped off drug dealers about law enforcement operations, had members of rival cartels arrested, and helped other corrupt officials to influential posts. He is said to have received a bribe of several million dollars for this.
Former President Calderón distanced himself from his former minister on Tuesday. He "never negotiated or made pacts with criminals," he said on Twitter. He fought everyone "that threatens Mexico," including the Sinaloa cartel.
In order to prove the allegations against the 54-year-old García Luna, the public prosecutor presented 26 witnesses. They included nine Mexicans extradited to the US for drug trafficking who are working with US justice to have their sentences reduced. García Luna had pleaded not guilty to all five counts.
The former minister, who applied for US citizenship in 2018, was arrested in Texas in December 2019. He has been in prison ever since.
"El Chapo" Guzmán himself was sentenced to life imprisonment in New York in 2019. He is serving his sentence in a maximum security prison in the US state of Colorado.
