(Bloomberg) -- Mexico's former top law enforcement official, who spearheaded the nation's war on drugs, pleaded not guilty to U.S. charges that he participated in a cocaine-trafficking conspiracy with the deadly Sinaloa cartel and its convicted former kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Genaro Garcia Luna was Mexico's secretary of public security from 2006 to 2012, overseeing the country's federal police force. Wearing handcuffs, khaki pants and a baggy gray sweatshirt on Friday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, Garcia Luna spoke through an interpreter to deny U.S. claims that he took millions of dollars in bribes to protect the cartel.
The once high-ranking Mexican official will remain locked up at least until a bail hearing to be held as soon as Jan. 21, U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo said. Prosecutors on Friday said they'd challenge any future request for bail, citing Garcia Luna's wealth and connections to the cartel.
Garcia Luna, who moved to Miami in 2012, became a target for U.S. prosecutors after a former Sinaloa cartel leader testified about his alleged involvement at El Chapo's trial last year in Brooklyn. El Chapo was sentenced to life in prison. Garcia Luna was indicted by a federal grand jury on Dec. 4 and arrested days later in Dallas.
Federal prosecutors say Garcia Luna cleared the way for multiton shipments of cocaine and other drugs into the U.S. In addition to his cabinet-level position under President Felipe Calderon, Garcia Luna also served as the first head of Mexico's Federal Investigation Agency when it was created in 2001.
The former official's assistance was so crucial in facilitating large drug shipments into the U.S. that Sinaloa operatives twice personally delivered to him briefcases filled with $3 million to $5 million in cash, the U.S. said.
After his move to Miami, Garcia Luna allegedly lied about his past criminal conduct on a 2018 naturalization application, the U.S. said.
The case is U.S. v. Garcia Luna, 19-cr-00576
To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Anthony Lin
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