Prosecutors in the US demand 10 years in prison for former commander linked to García Luna

David Brooks

Correspondent

Newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, February 9, 2022, p. 13

New York., US prosecutors request that a judge impose a 10-year prison sentence on Iván Reyes Arzate, former commander in the former Federal Police (PF) and subordinate of Genaro García Luna, when he appears to hear his sentence this Wednesday in a federal court in this city.

Reyes Arzate is accused of conspiring for the international distribution of cocaine, a charge to which he pleaded guilty in October 2021, by agreeing to be responsible for conspiring to import more than 450 kilos of cocaine into the United States.

The indictment details that in November 2016, in his capacity as commander of the PF Special Investigations Unit, Reyes Arzate participated in a joint investigation with US authorities into the criminal gang. The Track 39 –associated with the Sinaloa and Beltrán Leyva cartels, among others–, with whose leaders he met. She shared information about the joint investigation with them and accepted a $290,000 bribe in exchange for their collaboration.

In their recommendation to federal judge Brian Cogan (the same person in charge of the pending trial of Genaro García Luna, scheduled for October), the prosecutors indicate that such a sentence will serve as deterrent general for other officials who commit corrupt acts in support of drug traffickers.

As this court knows, it is all too common for law enforcement officers in Mexico to forge corrupt alliances with cartels that ship large quantities of drugs to the United States and routinely commit horrendous acts of violence. A meaningful conviction will demonstrate that the United States remains committed to rooting out corruption, wherever it exists, and preventing drug cartels from shipping massive amounts of drugs into the United States.argue US Attorney Breon Peace and his assistants in the written recommendation.

concludes that Simply put, the defendant chose greed and corruption over the welfare of the citizens of Mexico and the United States..

The Special Investigations Unit was created with the support of the government in Washington, in particular the DEA, and made up of personnel verified and trained by US officials. Therefore, Reyes Arzate was one of the main interlocutors in bilateral counternarcotics operations, working directly with DEA ​​agents in Mexico and exchanging intelligence information with their US counterparts.

Reyes Arzate was a member of the PF from 2003 to 2016; in 2008 he was appointed commander of the Special Investigations Unit. He was fired shortly after his meeting with the leaders of The Track 39.

In March 2017, the defendant voluntarily appeared in federal court in Chicago in connection with an indictment and arrest warrant issued the previous month. In July he was formally charged with obstruction of justice and in 2018 Reyes Arzate decided not to appeal the charges and was sentenced to 40 months in prison.

On January 23, 2020, four days before the deadline to get out of jail and be deported to Mexico, the new charges he now faces in New York were filed. He has remained jailed to date.