Genaro García Luna

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is García and the second or maternal family name is Luna.
Genaro García Luna
Luna in 2012
Secretary of Public Security of Mexico
In office
1 December 2006 – 30 November 2012
PresidentFelipe Calderón
Preceded byEduardo Medina-Mora
Succeeded byManuel Mondragón y Kalb
Director of the Federal Investigative Agency
In office
1 November 2001 – 30 November 2006
PresidentVicente Fox
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byArdelio Vargas Fosado
Personal details
Born (1968-07-10) July 10, 1968 (age 56)
Mexico City, Mexico
Spouse
Linda Cristina Pereyra
​
​
(m. 2008)​
Children2
Alma materUniversidad Autónoma Metropolitana (BS)
Criminal statusIncarcerated at MDC Brooklyn
AllegianceSinaloa Cartel
Conviction(s)38 years in federal prison
Criminal chargeDrug trafficking, organized crime, false statements
Details
CountryMexico
United States
Date apprehended
10 December 2019

Genaro García Luna (born July 10, 1968) is a Mexican former government official and convicted drug trafficker. From 2006 to 2012, he served as Secretary of Public Security during the administration of Felipe Calderón. He was later found to have used his high-ranking role to favor the Sinaloa Cartel to engage in drug-trafficking activities during the Mexican drug war.

In the 2018 trial of the drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, his partner Jesus Zambada García testified to bribing García Luna with suitcases stuffed with $3 million in cash on two occasions.[1] On December 9, 2019, García Luna was arrested in the United States on charges of taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel.[2] On February 21, 2023, García Luna was found guilty of all five counts by a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, making the once-highest ranking law enforcement official in Mexico now a convicted felon.[3] In October 2024, he was sentenced to 38 years in prison.[4]

Early life and education

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García Luna was born in Mexico City. He holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM) and a Diploma in Strategic Planning from the Accountancy and Administration Faculty of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).[5] He completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Miami in May 2015.

Career

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In 1989, García Luna started his career in intelligence at the National Intelligence Centre (CISEN), where he worked in the Counterintelligence and Terrorism departments.[6] In 1998, he became the Coordinator-General for Intelligence of the Preventive Federal Police, where he helped design the framework for intelligence areas and their executive integration.[6]

In 2000, he was named Director for Planning and Operation for the Federal Judicial Police, where he introduced administrative structures and operational concepts. In 2001, García Luna was appointed founder and Director General of the Agencia Federal de Investigación (AFI).[5] As head of the AFI, he faced widespread criticism after it was revealed that a 2005 police raid, televised as a live operation to rescue kidnapping victims, had been staged. The alleged kidnappers had been detained the previous day and held without due process for nearly 20 hours, with one claiming he was tortured.[7]

He has authored several books on policing, including Contra el Crimen (2006), emphasizing intelligence-driven reforms, and El Nuevo Modelo de Seguridad para México (2011), which outlines Mexico's national security policy since the beginning of the Mexican drug war. As Secretary of Public Security from 2006 to 2012, García Luna founded the Federal Police Force in 2009, operating under his vision.[8]

After leaving government service, García Luna became a consultant and businessman focused on evaluating Mexico and Latin America's social, political, and economic conditions. He became a partner in GLAC, which provides a risk and security assessment index used by the business community to evaluate conditions across Mexico. The GLAC index is published in El Heraldo de México and El Financiero.[9][10][11] On 2015, García Luna was nominated to the Board of SecureAlert, Inc., a Utah-based company specializing in offender monitoring, which is controlled by Sapinda Asia, Ltd., and Lars Windhorst, who held a majority stake in the company.[12][13]

Financial transparency

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García Luna has been unable to account for his wealth, which includes luxury homes and real estate in Mexico City. These assets would be beyond the means of a Mexican civil servant's salary.[14][15] In 2013, García Luna was listed among the "10 Most Corrupt Mexicans" by Forbes[16], to which he responded with a letter to Steve Forbes, accusing the publication of basing his inclusion on falsehoods and lacking journalistic integrity.[17]

Further allegations emerged during the 2018 trial of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, when the brother of El Chapo's former partner, Ismael Zambada García, testified that García Luna had been bribed with suitcases containing $3 million in cash on two occasions. This testimony further fueled accusations of García Luna's ties to organized crime.[1][2]

Trial

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On December 9, 2019, García Luna was arrested in Dallas, Texas on charges of taking millions in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel.[2] At that time, it was also reported that the Attorney General of Mexico (FGR) was looking to extradite him to Mexico on related charges.[18] The New York Times reported that the prosecution intended to introduce 75 kilograms (165 lb) of cocaine and 4 kg of heroin confiscated in four raids as evidence against Garcia Luna. They also planned to use financial records and intercepted communications at the trial beginning on July 30, 2020.[19]

U.S. courts denied Garcia Luna's requests for release on bond in March and April 2020.[20] Roberta S. Jacobson, the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico (2016–2018), asserted on May 3, 2020, that the Calderón government knew of the ties Genaro García Luna had with the Sinaloa Cartel.[21] Ex-president Felipe Calderón insisted they did not.[22] He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him on October 7, 2020.[23] On February 21, 2023, a Brooklyn jury found him guilty of all charges.[24] On 16 October 2024, he was sentenced to 38 years imprisonment.[25] He is the highest-ranking Mexican official ever to be convicted in the United States.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Feuer, Alan (21 November 2018). "The Public Trial of El Chapo, Held Partially in Secret". New York Times. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  2. ^ a b c US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of NY (10 December 2019). "Former Mexican Secretary of Public Security Arrested for Drug Trafficking Conspiracy and Making False Statements". justice.gov. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  3. ^ Feuer, Alan; Schweber, Nate (21 February 2023). "Mexico's Ex-Top Security Official Is Convicted of Cartel Bribery". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Jiménez, Ernesto (16 October 2024). "Genaro García Luna es sentenciado a 38 años de prisión en EEUU por vínculos con el Cártel de Sinaloa". Infobae.
  5. ^ a b Política, Expansión; Yañez, Brenda (2024-10-16). "¿Quién es Genaro García Luna?". ADNPolítico (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  6. ^ a b Sánchez, Karen (2024-10-17). "Con cuáles expresidentes de México trabajó Genaro García Luna". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  7. ^ de Mauleón, Héctor (1 Jul 2011). "Florence Cassez: La verdad secuestrada". Revista Nexos. Retrieved 19 Dec 2018.
  8. ^ Santana, María (2024-10-16). "¿Quién es Genaro García Luna, el exsecretario de Seguridad Pública de México sentenciado en Estados Unidos por narcotráfico?". CNN (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-10-19.
  9. ^ "GLAC Security Consulting". Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  10. ^ "Indice GLAC Heraldo Mexico". Archived from the original on 17 August 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Television GLAC".
  12. ^ "SecureAlert, Inc.: Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-05-08. Retrieved 2015-05-07.
  13. ^ "SecureAlert, Inc.: Form 8-K, Amendment No. 1" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-05-08. Retrieved 2015-05-08.
  14. ^ Reyes, Javier. "Las evidencias de la inexplicable fortuna de Genaro García Luna". Reporte Indigo. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  15. ^ Johnson, Tim (29 November 2012). "Calderon's shadowy security chief". McClatchy Newspapers. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  16. ^ "The 10 Most Corrupt Mexicans Of 2013". Forbes. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  17. ^ "García Luna responde a 'Forbes' por incluirlo en la lista de "los más corruptos"". Aristegui Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  18. ^ Patricia Davila (Dec 10, 2019), "La FGR buscará extraditar a García Luna; intercambiará pruebas con EU" [Attorney General seeks to extradite Garcia Luna; will provide evidence to US], Proceso (in Spanish)
  19. ^ "EU presentará cocaína confiscada como prueba contra García Luna". Animal Político (in Spanish). 25 July 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  20. ^ "Niegan de nuevo la libertad bajo fianza a García Luna". El Informador :: Noticias de Jalisco, México, Deportes & Entretenimiento (in European Spanish). 31 March 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020. "EU rechaza, nuevamente, petición de libertad bajo fianza de García Luna". El Informador :: Noticias de Jalisco, México, Deportes & Entretenimiento (in European Spanish). 20 April 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  21. ^ "Gobierno de Calderón conocía nexos de García Luna: exembajadora Jacobson". El Informador :: Noticias de Jalisco, México, Deportes & Entretenimiento (in European Spanish). 5 March 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  22. ^ "Mi gobierno no conocía los nexos de García Luna con el narcotráfico: Calderón". El Informador :: Noticias de Jalisco, México, Deportes & Entretenimiento (in European Spanish). 5 March 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  23. ^ "Mexico's ex-security chief pleads not guilty to cartel links". BBC News. October 2020. On Wednesday, Mr García Luna pleaded not guilty to new charges added in July to those already brought against him.
  24. ^ "Ex-Mexican Secretary of Public Security Genaro Garcia Luna Convicted of Engaging in a Continuing Criminal Enterprise and Taking Millions in Cash Bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel". www.justice.gov. 2023-02-21.
  25. ^ "Mexico's ex-security chief sentenced to over 38 years in US prison". France 24. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  26. ^ "García Luna: Mexico ex-security minister sentenced to 38 years in US jail". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2024-10-18.

Bibliography

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  • ¿Por qué 1,661 corporaciones de policía no bastan? – Pasado, Presente y Futuro de la Policía en México. Primera Edición, abril de 2006 (Impreso en México / Derechos Reservados). ISBN 970-03-2089-8 / Copyright © 2006 Ing. Genaro García Luna
  • Para entender: El Nuevo Modelo de Seguridad para México. Primera Edición: Nostras Ediciones, 2011 (www.nostraediciones.com. ISBN 978-607-7603-76-4 / Copyright © 2011 Nostra Ediciones S.A. de C.V. (Ing. Genaro García Luna)
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