Former public security chief of Mexico is convicted of helping El Chapo's drug cartel

Feb. 21 (UPI) -- A federal court in New York on Tuesday convicted Mexico's former Secretary of Public Security Genaro Garcia Luna of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.

The court found that Garcia Luna had taken millions of dollars in bribes during his time as his country's head security official while being involved in a conspiracy to traffic drugs, according to the Justice Department.

"Garcia Luna, who once stood at the pinnacle of law enforcement in Mexico, will now live the rest of his days having been revealed as a traitor to his country and to the honest members of law enforcement who risked their lives to dismantle drug cartels," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

"It is unconscionable that the defendant betrayed his duty as Secretary of Public Security by greedily accepting millions of dollars in bribe money that was stained by the blood of cartel wars and drug-related battles in the streets of the United States and Mexico, in exchange for protecting those murderers and traffickers he was solemnly sworn to investigate.

The prosecution said Garcia Luna worked closely with the Sinaloa drug cartel, the group led by the infamous drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera. Several witness testimonies supported these allegations, according to a New York Times report. His engagement with the cartel allegedly continued from 2001 until his arrest in Dallas in December 2019, according to his indictment.

"As alleged, for nearly two decades Garica Luna betrayed those he was sworn to protect by accepting bribes from members of the Sinaloa cartel to facilitate their crimes and empower their criminal enterprise," U.S. attorney Seth D. DuCharme said in a statement in Luna's indictment.

In exchange for the bribes, Garcia Luna and officials who reported to him allegedly would assist the Sinaloa cartel to safely traffic drugs in and out of Mexico, while also levying information about rival cartels, according to the Justice Department.

Garcia Luna faces a mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum life sentence. He is the highest-ranking Mexican official to face trial in the United States, according to BBC.