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Thursday, February 16, 2023

Garcia Luna's Trial Comes to an End, Defense Falsely Accuses AMLO's Campaign of Bribery

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat


The trial of Garcia Luna has gone to jury deliberations nearly a month ahead of schedule. The final days of the prosecution's case included controversial accusations by the defense team and testimony from a sole witness for the defense, Luna's wife.


Questions of CDS Contributing $7 Million to AMLO's First Presidential Campaign

Defense Attorney Cesar De Castro asked Zambada García if he remembered that in July 2013 he declared before US prosecutors that he paid $7 million to AMLO's 2006 presidential campaign. López Obrador is the current President of Mexico. Allegedly the money was sent through Gabriel Regino García, Undersecretary of Public Security of the then-Federal District, when AMLO was in charge of the capital's government from 2000-2005.

Gabriel Regino was the Undersecretary of Public Security for Mexico City, and the head of that agency was Marcelo Ebard with AMLO leading the government there at the time.

In November 2018, during the trial against "El Chapo" Guzman, Gabriel Regino "categorically" denied the accusations that "El Rey" Zambada, made against him for accepting bribes in exchange for protection in Mexico City.


Zambada said that the money was for a campaign, but did not specify for whom or which candidate. He then denied that it was meant for AMLO. "I couldn't have said that because it's not true," said Ismael's brother, El Mayo Zambada, leader of the Sinaloa cartel. De Castro was preparing to show him the transcript of his 2013 statement. The prosecutors yelled out their objection and Judge Cogan called the two sides to his bench. After some discussion, the line of questioning was dropped by De Castro. 

Prosecutors: "I have some concerns that this witness -- we're talking about a sitting president, and this witness has family in Mexico. It could create a sideshow and potential---"

Judge: "if indeed, he said something like that. I see the relevance to his credibility. However, he says he didn't say it. That's the end of the story."


Documents confirm that César de Castro acknowledges that he cited notes about "El Rey" Zambada that he "did not know" who they were from, but they were not from "El Rey" about Fox and AMLO.


AMLO responded to him being brought up during the trial that possibly his previous presidential campaign was partially financed by the Sinaloa Cartel. "I am making a query because I am seeing if it is possible for me to file a complaint for moral damages against García Luna's lawyer and those who are responsible, (the complaint would be filed) in the United States," he said. He added that if the complaint is viable and payment for non-material damage is obtained, it will be delivered to relatives of victims "of the war that Calderón unleashed."

“The only thing that I have in mind, apart from the fact that I do not accept that my honesty is questioned because it is what I consider most important in my life, is that it is in the middle that I am President of Mexico. You cannot govern a country without moral authority. And third, the President of Mexico cannot be the one who becomes a hostage to foreign governments or foreign lawyers or personalities," López Obrador said.

"Yesterday is a clear sign, wanting to involve me, this false, slanderous, crooked lawyer, Zambada turned out to be more right. The lawyer was wrong," the President declared.

The US government's structure of corrupt officials under Luna...dubbed a cartel of its own.

After abandoning questions regarding AMLO, the defense attorney then brought up inconsistencies in "El Rey's" testimony over the last decade. In 2014, Zambada declared that the second payment to García Luna was $3 or $5 million, but during this trial on February 13, El Mayo's brother said it was only $2 million. However, in 2017, Zambada spoke of $1 million and then again said that there was $5 million. During Luna's trial, he testified that he was likely confused about what exactly prosecutors were asking during those times. “Possibly I was confused with the amounts because it gave me a lot of pressure to talk about this man (García Luna). It scared me a lot, one has a family." De Castro asked Zambada if he had any proof or evidence that he gave that money to García Luna, "no," was his response. Prosecutor Saritha Komatireddy looked to clarify that Zambada had been consistent in paying bribes to García Luna and his closest collaborator, Luis Cárdenas Palomino.

"El Rey's" Fake Arrest Operation

The younger brother of "El Mayo" said that his arrest started as an operation by Beltrán Leyva hitmen dressed in federal police uniforms.

Sergio Villarreal Barragán "El Grande" testified in court that it was the Beltrán Leyva brothers who handed over El Mayo's brother. They were angry with other leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel for the arrest of Alfredo Beltrán Leyva, in January 2008. And looked to settle the score with "El Mayo's" brother by "arresting" him and turning him over to authorities. According to "El Grande", they used hitmen, disguised as police officers of the then Federal Investigation Agency (AFI), then under the leadership of Garcia Luna.

However, "El Rey" Zambada testified that if it were not for elements of the Secretary of Security of the then Federal District who "rescued" him, he would have been killed. The "arrest" operation was actually an attempt to kill him. He said those who saved him were “his friends.” "I spoke to the local Police, they were my friends, the commander of the local Police rescued me."

He was taken into custody and extradited to the United States in 2012. Since then, he became a cooperating witness and testified in several trials including that of "El Chapo". He was sentenced to time served in March 2020 and he and his family are currently in witness protection.

The arrest of El Rey occurred after the BLO kidnapping of Garcia Luna arranged by Sergio "El Grande" Villarreal who testified at the start of Luna's trial. Another witness, Milenio Cartel figure Oscar "El Lobo" Nava-Valencia was also kidnapped by Arturo Beltran Leyva and testified that he agreed to work with BLO when being let go, but became closer to the Chapo/Mayo faction afterward due to the event.

"El Rey's" son Jesus Zambada Reyes was also arrested at the same time and later began cooperating with the PGR in Mexico. He was then found dead while in a police safe house due to a suspected suicide a year later.

Luna's Wife Testifies in His Defense

The defense called its first and only witness, Linda Cristina Pereyra, the wife of García Luna. She documented the purchase, sale, and construction of various family properties, and the origin of vehicles, including two classic Ford Mustangs and two Harley Davidson motorcycles. And also their small business ventures from the early 1990s until 2012 when the family moved to Miami, Florida.

She commented that her family's life changed dramatically in 2001 when her husband was appointed director of AFI and they were accompanied by up to 20 bodyguards in armored vehicles. She assured that during that time they provided asset declarations publicly until, after they and their children were being harassed, decided to make it private.

She explained the history of their finances starting from purchasing older cars, fixing them up, and selling them to buying small apartments to large properties and doing the same. The couple also opened several small businesses during their time including a stationary store, a party supply store, and getting a loan to open a restaurant. Eventually, Luna started his security consulting business after leaving his position in Mexico.

The Harley Davidson motorcycles listed on government paperwork she stated were purchased in 2007 and 2009. Long after claims by "El Grande" that the BLO gifted Luna one when the relationship between the accused official and the Sinaloa Cartel.

When her husband left the Mexican government in 2012, they decided to leave Mexico to offer their children greater freedom and “a more normal life” without so much public visibility and security concerns. Their "normal life" in Miami included access to a yacht and 30 properties associated with their marriage, according to the civil lawsuit that the Mexican government filed in Florida to recoup illegal funds from contracts made by Luna. This information however is not being shown in court as Luna's post-2012 wealth is not allowed to be included during the trial.

Closing Arguments

Defender Cesar De Castro

De Castro noted for the jury that the prosecution called 27 witnesses to testify during the trial. Of those, only 7 claimed to have met García Luna, and only 3 claimed to have made bribe payments. "They're asking you to convict a man solely on the words of some of the most notorious and ruthless criminals in the history of the world." He also called the cooperators: "Killers, kidnappers, torturers, and fraudsters."

De Castro noted the "ridiculous amounts" of bribes García Luna has been accused of taking during the trial. Added up, all the payments totaled at least $274.3 million. He then pointed out that GGL was not living lavishly in Mexico, govt hasn't explained where all the cash went.

De Castro called Garcia Luna "the US' most trusted partner in all things related to the Merida Initiative. There's no chance Mr. Obama would meet with Mr. García Luna if the DEA, CIA, State Dept, or any other agency had intel Mr. Garcia Luna was corrupt."


Prosecutor Erin Reid

"The evidence has shown this is a man of two faces. It IS shocking at the same time he was meeting with President Obama and Ambassador Wayne, at the same time he was working hand in hand with the Sinaloa Cartel."

"You don't need a wiretap or a video or a phone call. You had the best evidence—the people who paid him. We don't have to prove where the money is… money can be concealed." Her rebuttal about the cooperators was, "we could pick a bunch of school teachers to testify, but school teachers don't run international drug cartels."

Judge Brian Cogan announced that the jury will begin their deliberations without a deadline on whether the highest-ranking former Mexican official ever tried in the United States is guilty or innocent of accepting multi-million dollar bribes in a Sinaloa cartel drug trafficking conspiracy and lying to US immigration authorities.

35 comments:

  1. If I was a betting man I'd say charges will be dropped with the exception of lying to immigration... I remember reading something about GGL making arrangements to have Zambada murdered while GGL was in prison. Was that some fake news?

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    1. The lying to immigration will be tough for him to be found guilty of that charge if he is not convicted of any other charges as it was for him saying that he had never committed a crime before when filling out the paperwork.

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  2. Not guilty. Prepare for the endless incoherent rambling by the lazy old man. Ponte a trabajar viejillo así les enseñas a tus hijos mantenidos cómo se gana el dinero, más hechos y menos ladridos

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  3. BB anyone remember if the government called the witness that claimed GGL put out a hit on those who were going to testify against him?

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    1. It wasn't brought up during the trial. Who knows, they might charge him later if he is found innocent here.

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    2. It was a Russian. And it was a straight set up. Or they could be waiting to see outcome of this and then open a sealed indictment if he thinks he’s gonna get away. I seriously doubt it.

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  4. Imagine how powerful Arturo Beltran was to kidnap this guy … that’s power really and a lot of balls . He was the 2nd most powerful guy in Mexico after the president .

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    1. He was the 3rd or 4th most powerful.

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  5. Unless guys like Mike vigil, Eric holder, various atf, fbi, and dea upper echelon’s are sitting next to Luna on this crap then it’s bullshit and he should walk. I’m serious! The mass murders and warlords Eric holder helped create with his phony, purposely genocidal, fast and furious conspiracy should make him eligible for a cell next to baby raper chapo, who holder helped arm to the teeth

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    1. You realize Fast and Furious was like 2,000 guns in total? The amount of US guns illegally smuggled over the border each year is in the hundreds of thousands....

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    2. 2:22
      Yeah 👍 good point, yet you have people in here over exacturating the situation. We all know know they come in thru other countries.

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    3. Fast and the furious started in the bush jr admin. Obama just continued the policy. And that is one operation that was known about and it was over 2K weapons. There were other operations like ‘gun walker’ who knows how many more since the only reason we know about them is because of whistleblowers

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  6. I don't believe ELMO is corrupt. He might be an old fuddy duddy, but I doubt if he's corrupt.

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    1. ELMO is extremely corrupt. I remember when he forced Juanito to literally give up any political aspirations simply because he said so since his popularity was being eclipsed.

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    2. 4:25 every big politic figure in mexico is corrupt but amlo is really smart, contrary to what some people might believe, he is a master at what he does

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    3. He is curupt, puppet to the cartels that bring in bribes, buying expensive homes in the USA.
      Giving lots of money to his unemployed son.

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    4. Detroit, I see you're having a change of heart 🤭....It's not long before you join the ranks of us "AMLO nutthuggers", "AMLO lawyers" and "paid bots". I'm glad you're starting to realize AMLO isn't as bad as you once claimed him to be. Keep following his YouTube channel.

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    5. Elmo is definitely curupt, people forget Sinaloa Cartel helped in contributing $$ big money to his campaign.
      In many ways Elmo has to please the Cartels that pay bribes. Last thing he wants is Plata o Plomo.

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    6. 747. Didn't Rey Zambada just disprove the whole campaign bribe rumor? I believe GGL's Lawyer is in hot water for making that false accusation. It also doesn't make any sense since it has been Sinaloa who has been getting hit the hardest. RCQ, Ovidio, Lupe Tapia and his son are all top Sinaloa operatives who have been caught within the last year, and thats to name a few. I read somewhere that approximately 600 clandestine meth and fent labs have been destroyed in Sinaloa alone. Your argument doesn't hold much water.

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    7. If you think any high level politician anywhere in the world got to be where they are without strings attached you been sipping on their kool-aid too much!

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    8. 8:38 nope you are wrong and without being offensive you are a lightweight

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    9. 112. The end justifies the means. If he had to sacrifice a dance with the devil for the benefit of the country then i think the sacrifice is definitely worthwhile. There is not one modern day mexican president that can say they have accomplished as much as AMLO has in 4 years.

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    10. 3:47:
      I'm not having a change of heart. I have never seen anything reliable in the public domain to suggest that ELMO is corrupt. I still know incompetence when I see it and ELMO is clearly incompetent and his security policies are bad for Mexico.
      I have worked in law enforcement back in the 70's and 80's and can tell you that most law enforcement personnel disagree with his failed security policies. Giving criminals hugs is not a security policy. Holding criminals accountable for their rapes, murders, extortions, etc. has always reduced crime. ELMO has increased impunity of criminals. Brave Mexican law enforcement officers and judges and members of SEDENA and SEMAR continue to hold criminals accountable for their actions. These brave Mexicans are the true heroes of Mexico and yet you don't read their names in the newspaper.
      Also, his false claim that FCH stole the election, ala Trump, shows that he has no respect for the democratic process. He was only elected because he was a left wing populist. In reality he has been an absolute failure as president. Trump and ELMO are the same, only on the opposite sides of the political spectrum.

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    11. Detroit, I like you because you're respectful and you keep it clean, but for some one who has such great insightful comments on certain mexico related issues I'm completely dumbfounded by your negative comments when referring to the Mexican president. I have a hard time understanding what you're missing. I question if it's your source of information or if you were so set on being anti AMLO that your pride blinds you from his accomplishments. I don't understand how you see the mexican president as incompetent. You praise SEMAR and SEDENA without acknowledging some of the policies that AMLO has contributed to making those two agencies a success. Think about it, 600 military facilities throughout the nation during his 4 years in office is a huge logistics accomplishment. That means faster response times and a higher success rate in high profile operations... the handing over of all land and sea ports of entry to SEDENA is another big accomplishment. Think about it, the line of corruption is easier to trace under this new responsibility. The whole "abrazos no balazos" slogan was taken out of context by the opposition. It was cut and edited by the major mexican media outlets as a smear campaign. It was never meant for criminals but rather for the "NI-NI" generation that "ni tabajan ni estudian" as a result, a number of social programs have been initiated to deter this generation from taking down the wrong path. The "abrazos" is a metaphor for opportunities, not to be mistaken for leniency towards crime and lawlessness. As far as incompetence, again I have a hard time with that statement especially after being aware of all of national projects taking place, despite all of the criticism. Again Detroit, you seem like a cool person, but either I'm missing something you are.

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    12. 12:01 Detroit has his views as much as you do. With the experience he has, he is educating, a lot of us in here, yes I have seen a few attacks on him on his comments, but that will not change the truth he gained of how Mexico is and is running, there has been many paid internet influencers, in here trying to brainwash, of people that speak the truth. You can soften your wording, but you can't expect us, to believe nothing is going on in Mexico.

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    13. 836 the whole notion of "paid influencers" coming on BB is silly. Just because I support the presidents efforts shouldn't be a reason to cast a label on me. Its like saying, If you dont support BLM you're a racist" Nobody has said "nothing is going on in Mexico" ironically its quite the opposite, there is a lot going on in Mexico. If you Google all of the education, health, social service, economic, energy, security and infrastructure projects that are taking place you would realize that AMLO is far from incompetent.

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    14. If Detroit was in LEO in Detroit in the 70s and 80s he was definitley in the weeds of the beginning of this whole shitshow,I was in Windsor for a while and Detroit has this mystique.Al Profit has produced some great shit.If you havent look him up on youtube.

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    15. I don't know this "Detroit" but as am American security professional living in Mexico, there isn't any frame of reference for any American - LE or not, to truly understand the nuance of what occurs here. None. That's not said to discredit him and I assume he's a nice guy. Likewise, there is no frame of reference for the average Mexican to fully understand the structural differences in our respective security. For instance, the average Mexican will point to naked violence statistics in the US in defense of Mexico, but they are apples and oranges STRUCTURALLY. It's really interesting to watch you guys in this forum argue about the elephant, when one of you is only feeling the big ears, and the other is pulling its snout and neither of you truly knows the elephant. I've been living here 2 years now (NOT in a tourist zone), and I'm still peeling back the layers.

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  7. God forbid we go after ap political figure or high ranking military. Imagine if they pulled up America's skelatons?

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  8. No Barbie testifying....

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  9. Mexican narcopresidents just a pawns for the gringos. As long as they do what they are told they will be untouched by the law.
    Just onother coward sell out mexican president, noth8ng to see here.

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    1. If ALMOs a coward what are the rest of you?Pointing fingers at gringos isnt going to fix shit?It starts and ends with mexicans

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