New York.- During the second week of the trial that follows the former Secretary of Public Safety, Genaro Garcia Luna, drug traffickers, former police officers and active officers appearedboth Mexican and American, to incriminate the former official.
The week began with the testimony of Oscar Nava Valencia, “The Wolf”former leader of Millennium Cartel and who assured before the jury of the Eastern District Court of New York that he delivered more than $10 million in bribes for Genaro Garcia Luna.
The drug trafficker assured that on one occasion, in which 23.5 tons of cocaine were seized from him in the port of Manzanillo, Colima, García Luna provided him with a document from the Drug Control Administration (DEAfor its acronym in English) to demonstrate that it could not do anything to protect the shipment, which had been marked by the US agency since its departure from Colombia.
Defense attorney Florian Medel showed that “El Lobo” had regretted appearing in court last December, as he had accepted before the prosecutors that I didn’t know Garcia Luna and that his previous incriminating statement had been false.
However, the litigant explained, DEA agents warned the drug trafficker that if he wanted his family to live in the United States, he had to maintain his testimony.
The next witness was the former federal police Raul Arellano Aguilerawho detailed how the Federal Police in 2008 and 2009 allowed the Sinaloa Cartel to send and receive shipments of drugs and money at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM).
The former officer said that the transfer was done with the authorization from the commanders close to García Lunaalthough he did not directly impute the former head of the SSP.
Another witness who appeared in Court was the Colombian drug trafficker Harold Poveda Ortega, “The Rabbit”who owned the mansion in Desierto de Leones where he had exotic animals and who, after showing a video showing his pets, was moved to tears.
Despite his criminal relevance, he himself acknowledged having trafficked around a thousand tons of cocaine, “El Conejo” did not accuse García Luna although he said that the federal police officers at the airport gave him special treatment when he traveled through the air terminal because they were under the orders of the King Zambada.
Who did make reference to García Luna was Israel Avilawho kept the accounts of the Beltran Leyva clan and who said that the former police commander was on the payroll under the alias of “The Stutterer” or “The Submachine Gun”alluding to his difficulty speaking.
Ávila said that he kept the accounts in an Excel sheet and that in that document he recorded payments of several million dollars.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, Miguel Madrigalwho assured that since 2010 he had information about the alleged García Luna’s collusion with criminals.
He said that after his capture in September 2010, Sergio Villarreal Barragan, “The Great”He asked to speak with him and when interviewing him he confessed to the Beltrán dealings with the former police chief.
“El Grande” appeared before the court on January 23 and assured that Arturo Beltran Leyva, “El Barbas”delivered García Luna from 1 to 1.5 million dollars a month in exchange for protection.
The last witness this week was the former federal police officer Francisco Cañedo Zavaleta, who assured that on October 19, 2008, by chance, he witnessed a meeting between García Luna and “El Barbas” and Edgar Valdez Villarreal, “La Barbie”on the Cuernavaca-Tepoztlán highway.
He said that as he was driving he saw some trucks stopped and people around them, as he passed he recognized the former secretary and the drug traffickers, who later got into the vehicle and headed to a subdivision.
García Luna is accused of drug trafficking and organized crime for allegedly having provided protection to the Sinaloa Cartel during his time with the AFI and the SSP. The trial will continue for the next few weeks and more witnesses are expected to appear.
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