Genaro García Luna

Genaro García Luna (born 10 July 1968) is a Mexican former government official and convicted drug trafficker. From 2006 to 2012, he served as secretary of public security during the administration of Felipe Calderón. He was later found to have used his high-ranking role to favor the Sinaloa Cartel to engage in drug trafficking activities during the Mexican drug war.

In the 2018 trial of the drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, his partner Jesús Zambada García testified to bribing García Luna with suitcases stuffed with US$3 million in cash on two occasions. On 9 December 2019, García Luna was arrested in the United States on charges of taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel. On 21 February 2023, García Luna was found guilty of all five counts by a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, making the once-highest-ranking law enforcement official in Mexico now a convicted felon. In October 2024, he was sentenced to 38 years in prison. He is currently imprisoned at ADX Florence with a release date of 19 July 2052.

Early life and education

García Luna was born in Mexico City. He holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM) and a Diploma in Strategic Planning from the Accountancy and Administration Faculty of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Miami in May 2015.

Career

In 1989, García Luna started his career in intelligence at the National Intelligence Centre (CISEN), where he worked in the Counterintelligence and Terrorism departments under President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. In 1998, he became the Coordinator-General for Intelligence of the Federal Preventive Police, where he helped design the framework for intelligence areas and their executive integration.