Starting tonight at 10:30 p.m. until Sunday at 8 a.m. we will be off the air for important maintenance. GPB Passport and GPB on YouTube and Hulu will still be available. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Section Branding
Header Content
Mexico's former public security head is convicted in the U.S. of taking cartel bribes
Primary Content
Mexico's former public security secretary, Genaro García Luna, has been found guilty of drug trafficking.
He is the highest-ranking Mexican official ever to be tried in the United States.
García Luna, who headed Mexico's federal police and became the country's top public safety official between 2006 and 2012, has been on trial in a federal district court in Brooklyn, N.Y.
He stood accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes from the very drug cartels he was supposed to be cracking down on.
He pleaded not guilty, but several drug traffickers gave testimony that García Luna was in fact on the payroll for Mexico's most powerful criminal organization, the Sinaloa Cartel.
Witnesses said that García Luna oversaw police tipping off traffickers about upcoming raids and worked to allow cocaine to pass freely through the country, The Associated Press reported. They said he colluded with cartels to raid rivals, among other favors.
A former smuggler said García Luna shared a document containing U.S. law enforcement information about a 2007 seized cocaine shipment, the AP reported.
He faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life.
García Luna was convicted on charges including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, cocaine distribution and cocaine conspiracy, the AP reported. His sentencing is scheduled for June 27.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Bottom Content
![GPB](/sites/default/files/styles/three_two_702x468/public/2020-06/gpb.jpg?h=f5007b8c&itok=I2YtKsVu)