Genaro Garcia Luna, the former Secretary of Public Security in Mexico, has been sentenced to over 38 years in prison by a Brooklyn judge following a four-week trial where Luna was convicted of assisting the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for millions of dollars in bribes and enabling the transportation of more than 1 million kilograms of cocaine to the United States.
From 2006 to 2012, Garcia Luna was Mexico’s top law enforcement official, serving as Secretary of Public Security and, in that capacity, controlled Mexico’s Federal Police Force. Previously, from 2001 to 2005, he was the head of Mexico’s Federal Investigative Agency (AFI).
During this period, Garcia Luna used his authority to assist the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for bribes, also facilitating safe passage of the Cartel’s drug shipments, providing sensitive law enforcement information about investigations into the Cartel and helping the Cartel attack rival drug cartels, in turn allowing the importation of multi‑ton quantities of cocaine and other drugs into the United States.
Garcia Luna was reportedly paid in U.S. currency, and the bribe amounts increased over the years as he helped the Sinaloa Cartel grow in size and power. Former members of the Cartel testified that bribe money was handed off to Garcia Luna in a variety of locations, including at a “safe house” located in Mexico City where large amounts of cash were hidden in a false wall, at a car wash in Guadalajara and at a French restaurant in Mexico City across the street from the U.S. Embassy.
In exchange for the bribes, Garcia Luna’s Federal Police Force acted as bodyguards and escorts for the Cartel, allowing members to wear police uniforms and badges and helping to unload shipments of cocaine from planes at Mexico City’s airport, then delivering the cocaine to the Cartel. The police force also leaked sensitive information that enabled the Cartel to evade detection by law enforcement or use the information in attacks on rival traffickers.
After moving to the United States in 2012, Garcia Luna submitted an application for naturalization in 2018, in which he lied about his past criminal conduct on behalf of the Cartel in an attempt to become a U.S. citizen.
On Wednesday, United States District Judge Brian M. Cogan sentenced Garcia Luna to 460 months imprisonment and a $2 million fine after he was convicted by a federal jury of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, international cocaine distribution conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to import cocaine and making false statements.
In connection with post-trial proceedings, the Court also found that, while he was awaiting sentencing, Garcia Luna obstructed justice when he sought to bribe fellow inmates to provide false testimony in an attempt to overturn the jury’s verdict.
“Today’s sentencing of Genaro Garcia Luna is a critical step in upholding justice and the rule of law. His betrayal of the public trust and the people he was sworn to protect resulted in more than one million kilograms of lethal narcotics imported into our communities and unleashed untold violence here and in Mexico. This sentence sends a strong message that no one, regardless of their position or influence, is above the law.” said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “After years of destructive narcotrafficking and deceit, Garcia Luna will spend nearly 40 years where he belongs: federal prison.”
