US jury convicts ex-Mexican Minister of drug trafficking

New York, Feb 22

A US jury has convicted a former Security Minister of Mexico, who was once the face of the country's war on narcotics, of drug trafficking, the media reported.

Tuesday's verdict came after a four-week trial and three days of jury deliberation in the US District Court in Brooklyn, New York, reports the BBC.

Genaro Garcia Luna was found guilty of taking millions of dollars from Mexico's biggest crime group, the Sinaloa drug cartel run by Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman.

In her closing argument, US prosecutor Saritha Komatireddy said the Sinaloa cartel could not have built a "global cocaine empire" without Garcia Luna's aid.

"They paid the defendant bribes for protection... And they got what they paid for."

The 54-year-old former Minister, who was arrested in Texas in 2019, has pleaded not guilty.

According to a statement from the Department of Justice, Garcia Luna will serve the mandatory minimum of at least 20 years.

Garcia Luna, who moved to Texas after leaving office, is the highest-ranking Mexican official ever to be tried in the US.

Welcoming the development, Jesus Ramirez Cuevas, a spokesperson for incumbent Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said in a tweet: "Garcia Luna is convicted of drug trafficking, organised crime and false statements in the US. Justice has arrived for the former squire of (former President) Felipe Calderon. The crimes against our people will never be forgotten."

Garcia Luna had served under Calderon, who oversaw a crackdown on drug cartels beginning in 2006.

The former minister, widely considered the architect of Mexico's war on drugs, was said to have shared information with the Sinaloa drug cartel about its rivals and warned the group about law enforcement operations, the BBC reported.

The claims against his involvement with the Sinaloa cartel first came to light during a trial against El Chapo, who was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years in 2019.

A former cartel member named Jesus "Rey" Zambada testified during El Chapo's trial that he had delivered millions of dollars in payments to Garcia Luna.

The case against the former minister was built on the testimony of nine cooperating witnesses, mostly convicted cartel members, including Zambada.