Mexico’s former security chief pleads not guilty to receiving millions in bribes from El Chapo
- Genaro Garcia Luna, 51, was indicted in New York on three counts of cocaine trafficking conspiracy and a false statements charge
- Prosecutors said he ‘assured the continued success and safety of one of the world’s most notorious trafficking organisations’
Mexico’s former top security official pleaded not guilty on Friday on charges he accepted a fortune in drug-money bribes from kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s notorious Sinaloa cartel to let it operate with impunity.
Genaro Garcia Luna, 51, was indicted in New York on three counts of cocaine trafficking conspiracy and a false statements charge.
During his brief appearance in a Brooklyn courtroom, Garcia Luna shook his head “no” as prosecutors outlined the charges against him.
A judge ordered him detained after Assistant US Attorney Erin Reid argued that he would pose an “unacceptable risk of flight” if released. Garcia Luna’s lawyer, Cesar de Castro, said he would ask the court at a later date for his client to be granted bail.
Garcia Luna was viewed as the point man in then-president Felipe Calderon’s 2006-2012 war on drugs. As public safety secretary, he was one of the most feared members of Calderon’s government, but for years was dogged by allegations about his ties to drug traffickers.
Calderon’s government was criticised for not going after the Sinaloa cartel with the same energy as the cartel’s rivals. Calderon always rebuffed that criticism.
US prosecutors said in a court filing this month that Garcia Luna had accepted “tens of millions of dollars” in bribes – often briefcases full of cash – to protect the cartel.