Washington. – Every year, dozens if not hundreds or even thousands of Mexicans cross the US legal system. Not all matters reach the media, they do not all have the same media attention or the same interest in public opinion. In 2020, however, the big cases had one element in common: Major figures and former Mexican officials have been sitting in the dock, a picture of corruption in the country, judged by the American Union.
If 2019 was the year of the culmination of one of the most anticipated trials: the conviction and conviction of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán Loera, leader of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the most famous drug traffickers in the world, a character with an almost mythological appearance; In 2020, the leading role was shared by three different political figures.
Three cases similar to a story in three acts, depending on the ending.
Act 1: Genaro García Luna. The one who stays
At the end of 2019, with El Chapo already in a maximum security prison in Colorado, a surprise awaited: the arrest in Dallas of Genaro García Luna, former Secretary of Security of the Felipe Calderón Hinojosa government. And nothing more and nothing less than accused of drug trafficking with ties to the Sinaloa cartel.
His first presentations to the judges, in the pre-coronavirus era, only served to plead innocent and see how the bail attempts were unsuccessful, despite millionaire proposals from his public defender, César de Castro. The “serious risk” of flights prevented another solution; months later, reasons based on the pandemic situation also had no effect.
His case was complicated by the connection to the case of Iván Reyes Arzate, former chief of the federal police and former Mexican affiliation with the US Anti-Drug Agency (DEA), who a few days before finishing his sentence in Chicago for cooperation with the Sinaloa cartel and deported to Mexico, he found himself charged in New York in the same case as García Luna.
As if that weren’t enough, the crime of leading a criminal gang was included in the case over the summer, which also charged two former high-ranking officials of the Mexican federal police: Luis Cárdenas Palomino and Ramón Pequeno, for allowing Of The Sinaloa Cartel will act “with impunity”.
With García Luna’s continued refusal to negotiate an agreed-upon departure with a guilty plea – an utterly blanket public statement, but not always true -, court hearings are now held via video conferences that have had serious and constant technical discussions, mainly due to the inability of Spanish voices to silence their phones. Meanwhile, the parties are reviewing and analyzing the nearly million pages of evidence and dozens of hours of recordings that allegedly involve the former security secretary in an unprecedented drug trafficking plot.
Act 2: Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda. The one who gets away
Like the arrest of García Luna, the arrest of Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, defense minister in Enrique Peña Nieto’s government, was a big surprise. Cienfuegos landed in Los Angeles on vacation at the end of October and ended up bound on his way to New York in a handcuffed manner, accused of collaborating with drug trafficking.
An unprecedented diplomatic operation began to free The Godfather, something that was unheard of and something that, say, García Luna did not like. Mexico complained of sovereign interference because it was unaware of the investigation or the arrest, even with a diplomatic cable. The first court hearings were held, it was ensured that there was clear evidence … And suddenly, a month later and without waiting for anyone, the US prosecutor’s office surprised by all charges against the general for “sensitive and important considerations of foreign affairs. policy ”despite years of gathering information about the ex-military’s dealings with drug traffickers.
In less than a day, Cienfuegos changed from the most important senior position accused of drug trafficking into a free man in Mexican territory. In the background there were rumors of threats to end the drug collaboration.
The promise of the AMLO government was that Cienfuegos would be investigated, but everything indicates that it remains on paper. The same Mexican government recently reported having classified material related to the general for five years. The Wall Street Journal, citing sources from both countries, added that the evidence against Cienfuegos was not “strong.”
The option for the general to end without standing, nor from either side of the border wins the whole.
Salvador Cienfuegos, former Defense Minister, was arrested in late October; the US attorney’s office has dropped their charges. Photo: AP FILE
Act 3: César Duarte Jáquez. The one who waits
In early July, just as Andrés Manuel López Obrador entered the White House with his entourage, during what was his first and only international trip, rumors began to circulate about the arrest of César Duarte Jáquez in Miami. , former PRI Governor of Chihuahua (2010-2016) charged with embezzlement and other crimes in Mexico.
Suspicions of the exchange of “gifts” were feasible: Trump softened his profile with Latino voters and received something like a blessing from the Mexican president, AMLO scored the point of arresting another politician accused of corruption. Everyone denied it.
Duarte, like all defendants, first tried to avoid his trial by asking for bail, but it was refused. Moments later, the battle began to show that the extradition request was not valid to be executed and therefore had to be rejected because the crimes would have been prescribed.
Pending resolutions and motions yet to be tabled this year-end, Duarte Jáquez will finalize all options one by one. What appears to be the final extradition hearing will be held in mid-January unless it is postponed again due to the pandemic situation or any other necessity of the case.
César Duarte Jáquez, former PRI governor of Chihuahua, was arrested for extradition purposes. Photo: EL UNIVERSAL ARCHIVE
Epilogue: Children of the Cartel
The fact that the largest legal cases against Mexicans in the United States are conducted by former senior government officials does not mean that there is a reprieve for Mexican cartel leaders who are being prosecuted by US Union authorities. This 2020 was in fact a “bad year” for the sons of the big bosses.
The shame of the failed arrest of Ovidio Guzmán, the son of El Chapo, put pressure on the heirs of other big names in the Mexican drug trade.
At the beginning of the year, it was the turn of Rubén Oseguera González, Menchito, the son of the leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, El Mencho, one of the most wanted criminals of all US agencies and public enemy number one in Chicago.
El Menchito avoided extradition for nearly five years, but in February of this year, he landed in Washington DC to be charged with drug trafficking and using firearms to commit crimes. On his first appearance in court, pleading innocent, Jessica Oseguera González, his sister, accompanied him to the public bench.
Few had expected La Negra to be arrested on her departure for dealings with companies associated with her father’s cartel. He was about to be released on bail, but in the end it wasn’t. His trial already has a start date: March 22.
The other major drug smuggler to have been behind US bars in 2020 is Ismael Zambada Imperial, Mayito Gordo. He was extradited to the United States at the end of 2019; beyond the first hearing, in which he pleaded not guilty to two crimes against drug trafficking, el Mayo’s son has not been released from prison pending trial, in part because his defense is reviewing massive evidence against him (documents and intercepted Blackberry reports) and the coronavirus pandemic, which has frozen court hearings in San Diego, California since mid-April.
In addition, the United States has renewed its interest in Rafael Caro Quintero, a priority target of the DEA since 2018, but on which it is trying to shield even more, after blacklisting what is considered one of its main partners and frontmen.