One of Mexico’s highest level security officials from a past presidential administration was arrested in Dallas this week and faces charges in New York.
Genaro Garcia Luna oversaw public security for the country under president Felipe Calderon through 2012. He was arrested on four counts, three for conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and another for making false statements.
The U.S. government accuses him of taking multimillion dollar bribes from the notorious Sinaloa Cartel. The U.S. alleges Garcia received entire briefcases of cash and hid his connections to the cartel when he applied to naturalize as a U.S. citizen last year.
Garcia conducted the militarized crackdown on the country’s warring cartels under President Calderon.
At the time, security experts cautioned that the government seemed to favor the Sinaloa Cartel over its rivals.