Genaro Garcia Luna, former Mexican security minister, sentenced by American justice to thirty-eight years in prison for drug trafficking

Mexico held its breath on Wednesday, October 16, to follow the thirty-eight year prison sentence handed down by American federal judge Brian Cogan against Genaro Garcia Luna, former interior minister in Felipe’s government Calderón (2006-1012). The Mexican media had all launched a special edition: Genaro Garcia Luna is the highest Mexican official ever sanctioned by American justice. His lawyer immediately announced that he would appeal the decision, which also includes a $2 million fine. The former minister, aged 56, has been in pre-trial detention for five years in the United States.

In February, the man who was the main architect of the “war on drug trafficking” launched in 2006 and which transformed Mexico into a huge cemetery, was found guilty of five charges, including four related to drug trafficking. During the sentencing on Wednesday, the judge considered that Genaro Garcia Luna had indeed collaborated with the Sinaloa cartel and “led a double life. You might be well dressed and claim to follow the law, but your actual conduct was little different from that of “El Chapo” Guzman.” Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, one of the founders of the Sinaloa Cartel in 2019, was sentenced to life in prison by the same judge in 2020.

The former minister, who refused to speak during his trial, has since published two letters to proclaim his innocence. In the first, dated September 13, he writes that his trial “is revenge for refusing to collaborate with the American authorities as a protected witness”. He also accuses former President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador (2018-2024) of giving false information about himself to US prosecutors.

“My conduct has always been respectful”

In the second five-page missive, made public Tuesday October 15 and addressed to Judge Brian Cogan to ask for clemency, Genaro Garcia Luna introduces himself as “ a man of integrity, honesty and hardworking. When I had the opportunity to fight drug trafficking, I was relentless against the criminals. My conduct has always been respectful and there is no record of contact with any criminal.” A portrait that hardly fits with the numerous accusations of torture and summary executions that exist in Mexico against Garcia Luna and his closest collaborators at the time, several of whom are today behind bars. The ex-minister had also been accused of manipulation in the Florence Cassez affair. “This gentleman now presents himself as a victim. There is so much cynicism in this letter,” reacted the new president Claudia Sheinbaum, questioned by journalists during her daily press briefing on Wednesday.

You have 44.66% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.