President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo asserted this Tuesday that during Felipe Calderón’s administration, there was an alliance between federal authorities and the Sinaloa Cartel. She was referring to the corruption investigations that resulted in sanctions against two former commanders of the now-defunct Federal Police, linked to a spying contract and the embezzlement of more than $65 million.
“We already know that, in reality, rather than waging a war on drugs, they decided to partner with a cartel. This is common knowledge, and there is sufficient evidence to confirm it. They allied themselves with the Sinaloa Cartel against other criminal groups, something we would never do,” the president stated during her morning press conference at the National Palace.
The statements came after she was asked about the disqualification of Frida Martínez Zamora, former Secretary General of the Federal Police, and Damián Canales Mena, former head of the Intelligence Division of that agency, who were sanctioned for the misappropriation of funds related to the acquisition of espionage technology.
Sheinbaum indicated that the case is part of broader investigations related to Genaro García Luna, former Secretary of Public Security during Calderón’s administration, who was convicted in the United States for drug trafficking and who, in addition to facing accusations for his links to drug trafficking, allegedly participated in corruption schemes through private companies dedicated to selling security equipment.
“García Luna left his position as Secretary of Public Security in Calderón’s government and established a private company, or several private companies, dedicated to security, primarily selling imported security equipment,” she explained.
The mayor maintained that federal agencies and state governments subsequently acquired this equipment and that the investigations revealed various irregularities. “When the investigation is carried out, it turns out that the equipment either never arrived or was priced three, four, or five times higher; in other words, there was corruption in this sale,” she stated.
She added that the resolution issued by the Anti-Corruption and Good Governance Secretariat is related to these transactions and other ongoing investigations. She also indicated that procedures exist to recover public funds and that some businesspeople linked to these events will have to return money to the Mexican State.
The president rejected the accusations of corruption leveled against the governments of the so-called Fourth Transformation and asserted that when any irregularity is detected, action is taken immediately. “It’s incredibly brazen, to say the least, to claim there is corruption when in reality these were highly corrupt governments,” she maintained.
Source: jornada
