By Bernardo Moreno
Following up on the trial of García Luna, former secretary of public security and the key person responsible for Mexico’s strategy on the war against organized crime declared by former President Calderón—is the news due to the shortening of his drug corruption trial in New York. Of the more than 70 witnesses that the prosecution had said they had, not even half will be presented. Of the investigative folders with hundreds of pieces of evidence that the prosecution presumed, we have not yet seen anything.
Although the testimonies that have been presented are considered proof, they do not appear to be sufficient. It is necessary to verify the entire narrative that has been assembled with photos, videos, recordings, account statements, and financial investigations that support the statements and to verify the crimes of which García Luna is accused. This is a process that has been going on since the end of 2019 and will soon conclude. What is beyond doubt and what knowledge of the trial is giving us, is the immense corruption and the coordination of different security institutions in favor of crime. We’ve seen the pathetic simulation through montages, creation of evidence, non-existent witnesses, false confiscations, to which judges and, of course, millionaire news media and journalists lend themselves. In short, a whole tangle that has surfaced.
One of the witnesses who had the most to talk about was Edgar Veytia, alias “El Diablo,” former Nayarit state prosecutor, confessed drug trafficker, murderer, and torturer. El Diablo began his career in law enforcement, led by Roberto Sandoval, mayor of Tepic, the capital of Nayarit, in 2008. Veytia served as municipal traffic director, and a year later was promoted to secretary of Public Safety. Later, Roberto Sandoval became governor and appointed Veytia as deputy attorney in 2011, and two years later he became state attorney until 2017, when he was captured by the FBI while crossing the border between San Diego and Tijuana, still as a state prosecutor.
At the time, the governor and his career sponsor did not lift a finger, saying he was «totally outraged by the double standard» about him. Everyone knew the close link with organized crime that he had to traffic cocaine, heroin, amphetamines, and marijuana, in addition to having imposed the law of terror, extortion, and plunder in the state and the more than 1,000 “disappeared” that he left behind.
Veytia testified in the trial against Genaro García Luna as a cooperating witness. He said he had received the order, sent by Calderón, to protect the people of «Chapo» Guzmán. He also said that ex-governor Sandoval, while he was mayor of Tepic, had collaborated with the Beltrán Leyva family in exchange for paying for his campaign for governor. After hearing what Veytia declared, Calderón finally spoke out through a tweet saying: “I have reserved my opinion on the trial of García Luna until it concludes. For now, I categorically deny the absurd statements reported by the press made today by the witness Veytia. What you say about me is an absolute lie. I have never negotiated or agreed with criminals.”
By the time this article is delivered, we may already know what the jury decided. The last and long-awaited witness was «El Rey» (The King) Zambada, brother of «Mayo» Zambada, top leader of the Sinaloa cartel. The King claimed to have seen García Luna personally give him money as protection for his brother’s business—US$5 million on at least two occasions. He even narrated in which restaurant in Mexico City they were seen, the Los Campos Elíseos restaurant. The King contributed immensely to the narrative, through the questions that the prosecutors asked, tying up the most important things that previous witnesses had pointed out. According to specialists, the narrative was finally solidified with this last witness, and it would seem that there were no loose ends. The conclusive evidence (the recording, the photographs, or some video) never came, but all this narrative that was achieved is really heavy. Will it be enough to convict Genaro García Luna and sentence him to life imprisonment?
Another point of view of this trial is that there was no doubt about the incredible corruption of the security forces of the Mexican state and the deep understanding they have with organized crime, enough—some think—for the United States to declare the cartels terrorists and change the dynamics between Mexico and the United States.
Photo by El Sol de Mexico.
