Ex-Mexican Official Faces US Trial

A corruption trial in the US opened yesterday for Mexico's former security chief, Genaro García Luna, who allegedly accepted millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel in return for the safe passage of cocaine shipments into the US. He is the highest-ranking Mexican official to face a US trial on drug-trafficking charges. If found guilty, he faces between 20 years to life in prison.

García Luna, 54, was the head of Mexico's version of the FBI from 2001-06 and the public security minister under former President Felipe Calderón from 2006-12, vowing to fight against cartels. The ex-official was arrested in 2019 after a Sinaloa Cartel associate, in a separate trial for drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, testified that he had given García Luna at least $6M to allow the cartel to operate.

The jury trial begins about a week after President Joe Biden met with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to discuss priorities, including clamping down on drug cartels. See Mexico's drug cartel history here.