Felipe Calderón: I never had evidence that García Luna was involved with drug trafficking

Federal Judge Brian Cogan announced the 460-month sentence at a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn. Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for García Luna, 56, after being convicted in February 2023 of participating in a criminal drug scheme, taking part in several conspiracies and making false statements.

García Luna “does not detract from the fight”

”I have not had access to the evidence or the testimonies that were presented at the trial, but I am a man of the law and I respect the actions of the courts. I assume that they have acted to the best of their knowledge and belief. For the same reason, I am in favor of the fact that whoever breaks the law must assume the consequences of their actions,” Felipe Calderón declared on social networks.

The expanist also said that the fight for the security of Mexicans “was not the responsibility of a single person but of an entire government team that fought crime with all the strength of the State.”

”This case does not detract from the brave fight that thousands of women and men gave to defend Mexico from its true enemy, organized crime, even at the risk of their own lives,” he stated.

US agencies celebrated this afternoon that Genaro García Luna is going to spend almost 40 years behind bars in the United States.

Prosecutors said García Luna accepted millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel, which was led by Joaquín Guzmán Loera, better known as ”El Chapo.”

In return, he became an “ally and essential member” of the Cartel, protecting its members from arrest and providing aid as they shipped more than 1 million kilos of cocaine through Mexico to the United States, prosecutors said.

“It is difficult to overstate the magnitude of the defendant’s crimes, the deaths and addiction he facilitated, and his betrayal of the people of Mexico and the United States,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a letter to the judge. “Their crimes demand justice.”

Prosecutors said García Luna essentially had parallel lives, working with U.S. counternarcotics and intelligence agencies while secretly on the payroll of the Sinaloa Cartel. His help to the cartel included providing tips on government investigations and rival cartels, prosecutors said.

Sheinbaum has the opportunity, says Calderón…

In the past, Calderón had said in multiple interviews that he would assume responsibility if García Luna was found guilty and convicted in the United States. Today, however, he used his message to defend what he called the war against organized crime.

”It has been 12 years since I left the government. Society will take stock and compare what I did and what the governments after mine did, and see with its own eyes if crime today is advancing or regressing,” he said on his social networks this afternoon.

”For me, a president only has two options when faced with the hatred and evil of criminals: fight or abdicate. “I chose to fight, despite everything, because it was and is the right thing to do legally, morally and politically,” he added.

Calderón asked what it has taken to defeat Mexico’s true enemy, which is organized crime. ”This is a relevant question for everyone, and especially for young people. “I think we have lacked unity of purpose.”

”A divided, polarized, internally fought country can be defeated. A united country can fight and prevail. “I want Mexico to fight and win together,” he added.

The former president pointed out that the Government of Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo has the opportunity to act effectively in defense of Mexican families.

”It can strengthen what has been done well, and correct what needs to be corrected, both from my government and from those who succeeded me,” he said.

”Hopefully I can call for a true State Policy on security and justice that, beyond political polarization, joins everyone’s efforts to defeat the true enemy of Mexico,” he added.

-With information from the Reuters agency.