The trial against Genaro García Luna in the United States has exposed the close relationship and complicity between authorities and cartels in Mexico, from police chiefs to Presidents.
Names of municipal, state, and even federal government authorities have been aired in court when describing the operations and movements to facilitate the transfer of cocaine and combat opposing criminal groups.
These are some of the former high-profile officials mentioned in the trial against Mexico’s highest-ranking official by the US justice system.
Armando Espinosa de Benito
Sergio Villarreal Barragán, alias “El Grande,” one of Arturo Beltrán Leyva’s top lieutenants, recognized the former head of the Federal Police’s investigative division when he saw a photo shown to him by the team of assistant prosecutors.
He indicated that Espinosa de Benito attended the meetings with Genaro García Luna when he visited Beltrán Leyva at his safe house near Perisur, in Mexico City.
Edgar Millan
The former interim chief of the Federal Preventive Police is also part of the names mentioned by the team of assistant prosecutors.
“El Grande” pointed out that Édgar Millán was related to the Sinaloa cartel but for the faction of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, and Jesús “El Rey” Zambada.
Millán Gómez was assassinated when he was entering his building in the Guerrero neighborhood of Mexico City with two bodyguards. He was shot several times and died a few hours later at the Metropolitan Hospital.
“El Grande” mentioned that the Federal Police got him a key to his home to carry out the crime and another witness, Francisco Cañedo Zavaleta, said that a command sent him to investigate the hospital about his state of health.
Edgar Bayardo
This middle command of the Federal Police was accused of working in favor of Jesús “El Rey” Zambada, a member of a faction of the Sinaloa cartel, accused of controlling the transfer of cocaine at the Mexico City International Airport.
Miguel Madrigal, special agent of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA, for its acronym in English) declared that while he was assigned to the office in Mexico he saw a video of Bayardo outside the house of “El Rey” Zambada aboard a White Cherokee.
Bayardo became a cooperating witness for the Attorney General’s Office and the DEA, but was assassinated in broad daylight in 2009 at a Starbucks in the Valle neighborhood of Mexico City.
Victor Garay Cadena
Víctor Garay Cadena was also identified as one of the Federal Police commanders who worked in favor of the faction of “El Mayo” Zambada.
Garay Cadena was arrested in 2008 and exonerated in 2013 in Mexico.
Iván Reyes Arzate
He was director of the Sensitive Information Unit of the Federal Police and in 2022 received a 10-year prison sentence in the United States for receiving bribes from members of the Sinaloa cartel to give them information.
Ramón Pequeño García
The former head of the Anti-drug Division of the Federal Police has been identified as one of the closest collaborators of Genaro García Luna. He announced the arrest of Harold Mauricio Poveda Ortega “El Conejo”, who denounced in the trial that he was apprehended one day before the public knew and was subjected to torture.
Humberto Moreira
The former governor of Coahuila was not mentioned for links to drug trafficking, but there was talk of a network of corruption in his government. Héctor Villarreal, who was his Finance Secretary, said that they charged extra commissions for the payment of public works contracts.
Villarreal pointed out that he managed to amass a fortune of $200 million dollars, of which Moreira earned $40 million and each of his collaborators earned $2.5 million dollars.
He became a compadre of the general director of El Universal media in Mexico and contacted García Luna with him so that they could make an agreement for favorable media coverage for the Ministry of Public Security and silence the rumors.
Luis Cardenas Palomino
The former director of security of the Federal Police, is considered by several witnesses as the right arm of García Luna. When he joined the cabinet of Felipe Calderón, he was in charge of the Federal Police
Oscar Moreno Villatoro of the SSP
Óscar Moreno Villatoro, general director of Airports of the Federal Police, was singled out by former federal police officer Raúl Arellano Aguilera when he said that during his tenure strange orders were given to stop checking packages and luggage.
The order “by 45 in 35” meant by superior order, they had to suspend supervision for about an hour and this coincided with the arrival of flights from Colombia and other South American countries.
Villatoro received controls from airports in Tijuana, Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, and other airports in the country and on one occasion he saw how one of them dropped a suitcase and dollar bills came rolling out, the visitor picked them up in a hurry and ran to Villatoro’s office.
Luis Angel Cabeza de Vaca
The former secretary of Public Security in the state of Morelos was on the payroll of the Pineda brothers, who worked for the Beltrán Leyva.
According to Israel Ávila, he saw that in the payment book, there was someone with the name “La Vaca” or that his bosses used to say that “La Vaca” had to be paid.
Luis Ángel Cabeza de Vaca was arrested in 2009, accused of links to drug trafficking, and released in 2016.
Roberto Sandoval
Édgar Veytia was climbing in public office from the Tepic Mayor’s Office. He had contributed to the political campaign of Roberto Sandoval with transportation vehicles and billboards and when he won, the PRI gave him the position of Transit Directorate as compensation.
Three years later, he was already occupying the Tepic Public Security Secretariat, the previous head had resigned because he supposedly could not withstand the pressure of the cartels in the middle of the war between the Beltrán Leyva and the faction of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Ismael “El May” Zambada.
In this context, two municipal police officers were kidnapped, supposedly by members of the Beltrán Leyva who offered an apology and as compensation said that they offered to pay Roberto Sandoval for the campaign.
Finally, the PRI won the Nayarit state election and agreed to support the Beltrán Leyva Cartel.
In a statement from the Federal Social Prison Center of El Rincón Nayarit where he is facing a process for the management of programs in his government, Sandoval forcefully denied that his campaign or his person had anything to do with drug trafficking.
Guillermo Galvan
Who was Secretary of National Defense in the government of Felipe Calderón, was pointed out by Oscar Nava Valencia. “El Lobo”, for receiving bribes from drug traffickers through Miguel Acosta Chaparro, a general assassinated in 2012.
Felipe Calderon
While Roberto Sandoval was campaigning as the PRI’s candidate for governor, Veytia said that he was called to a security meeting with still-governor Ney González.
He said he was called to speak with him in a white Tahoe pickup. Ney González told him that he had come from a meeting on security in Mexico with President Felipe Calderón and with the then Secretary of Public Security, Genaro García Luna, and told him that “The line was Chapo.”
The assistant prosecutor asked him what he understood by that, to which Veytia replied that he had to protect the group of “El Chapo” Guzmán.
President Calderón reacted immediately on his Twitter account and denied the accusations.
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