Particularly during his time at the AFI, García managed to combat the kidnapping crisis -which at that time was focused on the highest socioeconomic levels-, which broke out between the late 1990s and early 2000s, and thus saved many lives.
Among family and friends I learned first-hand about the work of García Luna, a strong man who, when a rescued victim offered money as a prize for the members of the AFI, rejected it and simply asked the victims to thank the members of said agency. .
In December 2019, García Luna, who was legally living and working in the United States, was arrested and charged with conspiring and accepting bribes from the Sinaloa cartel.
Specifically, García Luna is accused of:
1. International conspiracy to distribute cocaine
2. Conspiracy to Willfully Distribute and Possess Cocaine
3. Conspiracy to import cocaine (into the United States)
4. False statements
To support the charges, the prosecution has presented testimonies from former DEA agents and drug traffickers who are serving a sentence in our neighboring country, among which the testimony of “King” Zambada stands out.
Whatever the verdict, whether Garcia Luna is found guilty or not guilty, Mexico will pay a huge price for such prosecution.
With each testimony, the presidential investiture and high officials are demerited; international cooperation is discredited; the reputation and work of thousands of public servants and former public servants are affected; the inability to investigate crimes by our institutions is exposed and the idea is transmitted that in our country it is impossible to trust any official.
Although for the current government, a sworn enemy of Calderón’s six-year term -whom they cite daily as the origin of all national ills-, the arrest and trial of the former head of the SSP has served to avoid explaining the series of failures of his government in security, justice, health, economy or education, the statements of “King Zambada” ended up seriously damaging him.
