Two Former Mexican Federales Face Drug Charges in U.S.

Two former top-ranking Mexican federal police officers face drug trafficking charges in the U.S. for allegedly working for the Sinaloa Cartel.

This week, a federal grand jury handed down a superseding indictment in the case against Mexico’s former Public Security Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna. The superseding indictment adds Luis Cardenas Palomino and Ramon Pequeno Garcia to three of the five criminal charges initially filed against Garcia Luna. Both Cardenas and Pequeno are not in federal custody and are believed to be in Mexico, while Garcia Luna has been in U.S. custody since his arrest in December 2019.

The superseding indictment claims that all three former cops took millions in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for not interfering with drug shipments. The former cops also allegedly leaked sensitive information about investigations. The indictment also alleges the officers would target Sinaloa Cartel rivals for arrest to thin the competition.

In December, federal authorities arrested Garcia Luna on several international drug trafficking conspiracy and bribery charges. The allegations against Garcia Luna first surfaced through witness testimony in the highly publicized trial of Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. During the trial, witnesses testified that cartel operators bribed the upper echelons of Mexico’s government–including former Presidents Enrique Pena Nieto, and Felipe Calderon.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.