How drug charges reached Mexico’s top ‘war on drugs’ official

In 2006, the government in Mexico resorted to military efforts to assist law enforcement in the never-ending crusade against drug-related violence, an endemic problem that for decades has haunted the country and contributed to almost 150,000 recorded murders in the 1990s alone. 

The controversial and audacious Mexican “war on drugs” was kicked off under the auspices of Felipe Calderón, who served as president from 2006 to 2012. And for navigating these troubled waters, Mr. Calderón chose Genaro García Luna as his public security minister.

Mr. García Luna had gained prestige following a stint at the top of Mexico’s equivalent of the FBI between 2001 and 2006. But one decade after the end of the Calderón administration, Mr. García Luna’s standing has taken a steep fall. 

Facing a U.S. federal court in New York this week, the former anti-drug crusader was accused of “betraying” both Mexican and U.S. governments by allegedly taking millions of dollars in bribes from cartels. In exchange, the allegation goes, he used the influence of his role to protect those drug trafficking networks and its members.

The accusations relied on the groundbreaking testimony of Sergio “El Grande” Villarreal Barragán, an arrested former cartel member whose words confirmed the bribery scandal. According to him, his cartel expanded its territory “with the help of the [Mexican] government.”

Prosecutors and the witness also underscored links between the former minister and the Sinaloa Cartel, once led by notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is currently serving a life sentence in the U.S. Recently, the