The Architect of Mexico’s War on Cartels Was Just Arrested Accused of Drug Trafficking

A former high-ranking Mexican security official who led the country’s crackdown on organized crime in the mid-2000s was arrested in the US on Monday and been charged with conspiracy to import and distribute drugs and making false statements.

Genaro Garcia Luna, 51, was arrested in Dallas by US federal agents, according to the US district attorney for the Eastern District of New York, which said it plans to seek his removal to face charges in New York.

“Garcia Luna stands accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes from ‘El Chapo’ Guzman’s Sinaloa Cartel while he controlled Mexico’s Federal Police Force and was responsible for ensuring public safety in Mexico,” US Attorney Richard P. Donoghue said in the release.

Garcia Luna faces three counts of conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine and a fourth count of making false statements with regard to an immigration naturalization application.

Garcia Luna began his career with Mexico’s Center for National Security and Investigation in the late 1980s before moving to the federal police in the late 1990s. He was then head of Mexico’s federal investigation agency, AFI, between 2001 and 2005 and secretary of public security, then a cabinet-level position in control of the federal police, between 2006 and 2012. (Read more from “The Architect of Mexico’s War on Cartels Was Just Arrested Accused of Drug Trafficking” HERE)

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