Mexico’s ex-security chief convicted in the U.S. for taking cartel bribes, by Stanley Ugagbe

The embattled former public security secretary of Mexico, Genaro García Luna has been found guilty of drug trafficking and taking massive bribes.

Records have it that Luna is the highest-ranking Mexican official ever to be tried in the United States.

Recall that Luna, who headed Mexico’s federal police and became the country’s top public safety official between 2006 and 2012, has been on trial in a federal district court in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The former security chief was accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes from the very drug cartels he was supposed to be cracking down on.

In the recent court appearance, he pleaded not guilty, but several drug traffickers gave testimony that García Luna was in fact on the payroll for Mexico’s most powerful criminal organization, the Sinaloa Cartel.

According to witnesses, García Luna oversaw police tipping off traffickers about upcoming raids and worked to allow cocaine to pass freely through the country. It was reported that he colluded with cartels to raid rivals, among other favors.

According to a former smuggler, García Luna shared a document containing U.S. law enforcement information about a 2007 seized cocaine shipment.

The embattled Luna faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life.

Local reports have it that García Luna was convicted on charges including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, cocaine distribution and cocaine conspiracy.

He will be sentenced on June 27.