Mexico's ex-security minister Genaro García Luna convicted of drug trafficking

The erstwhile look of Mexico's warfare connected drugs has been convicted by a US assemblage of cause trafficking.

Genaro García Luna, erstwhile Mexico's information minister, was recovered blameworthy of taking millions of dollars from Mexico's biggest transgression group, the Sinaloa cause cartel.

García Luna - who was arrested successful the authorities of Texas successful 2019 - had pleaded not guilty.

The 54-year-old could look up to 10 years successful prison.

The verdict came aft a four-week proceedings and 3 days of assemblage deliberation successful the US District Court successful Brooklyn, New York.

Prosecutors said the erstwhile caput of the Mexican equivalent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigations accepted millions of dollars stuffed successful briefcases and delivered by members of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's Sinaloa cause cartel.

He is the highest-ranking Mexican authoritative ever to beryllium tried successful the US.

García Luna served arsenic nationalist information main during the medication of President Felipe Calderon betwixt 2006 and 2012. Before that, helium led the Federal Investigation Agency from 2001 to 2006.

The ex-minister - wide considered the designer of Mexico's warfare connected drugs - was said to person shared accusation with the Sinaloa cause cartel astir its rivals and warned the radical astir instrumentality enforcement operations.

García Luna denied the allegations.

The claims against García Luna's engagement with the Sinaloa cartel archetypal came to airy during a proceedings against Guzmán, who was sentenced to beingness successful situation positive 30 years successful 2019.

A erstwhile cartel subordinate named Jesus "Rey" Zambada testified during Guzmán's proceedings that helium had delivered millions of dollars successful payments to García Luna.

The lawsuit against the erstwhile curate was built connected the grounds of 9 cooperating witnesses, mostly convicted cartel members, including Zambada.

García Luna declined to attest astatine the trial, but his wife, Linda Cristina Pereyra, took the basal and attempted to downplay their finances and lifestyle.

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

"They paid the suspect bribes for protection," she said. "And they got what they paid for."

García Luna's lawyers argued the witnesses were testifying against him to "save themselves" aft committing "horrific crimes".