Article

2019-12-14 Caribbean-Latin America

Arrest of Top Crime Fighter Stuns Mexico, Where Corruption Is All Too Routine

[NYTIMES] Even in a nation almost inured to corruption, the news was astonishing.

The man considered to be the brains behind the Mexican government’s militarized war on drug traffickers stood accused by American prosecutors of having been in the pocket of one of the major criminal groups he was ostensibly pursuing, severely undermining the very fight he was helping to lead.

Genaro García Luna, Mexico’s former public security secretary, was charged with taking millions of dollars in bribes while in office to protect the Sinaloa Cartel, allowing the organization to smuggle tons of cocaine and other drugs into the United States. At the time, the group was led by Joaquín Guzmán Loera, better known as El Chapo, who is now serving a life sentence in the United States.

The indictment, unsealed in New York on Tuesday, and the subsequent arrest of Mr. García Luna in Dallas hours later, stunned Mexico. It was as if Eliot Ness had actually been an accomplice of Al Capone.

“It’s huge,” said Jaime López-Aranda, a security analyst in Mexico City who briefly worked under Mr. García Luna in the late-2000s. “I’m still a little bit in shock. And I keep thinking back to the guy and our conversations and his team and his people. It’s the sharp disappointment. I mean — my God, man. It’s like — ” He paused. “It’s like the end of an era.”

Posted by Fred 2019-12-14 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11133 views ] Top
File under: Narcos

#1 Failed state.

Where's Black Jack when you need him?

Posted by Lex 2019-12-14 00:57|| 2019-12-14 00:57|| Front Page Top

#2 Silver or lead. The gentleman picked silver. It's a tough choice when dealing with ruthless people.

Organizations like the RAB get slammed for extra-judicial shootouts at oh dark hundred, but there is value in damping down criminal gangs before they reach critical mass where they become a de facto government. See Mexico, for example.

Posted by SteveS 2019-12-14 05:12|| 2019-12-14 05:12|| Front Page Top

#3 Check the GDP ranking. Notice the relative positions of Mexico and South Korea.

By 1952 most of South Korea was war ravaged, with little GDP. South Korea lacks natural resources, extensive arable land, or a large population like Mexico. Yet South Korea outranks Mexico. This is the price of utter corruption that permeates the society. There is corruption everywhere but the level of it is way in abundance and destructive for Mexico and its citizens. (and a warning to any society that tolerates it corrosive destructive impact upon itself)

Posted by Procopius2k 2019-12-14 06:31|| 2019-12-14 06:31|| Front Page Top

#4 To be fair there could be a similar article in Mexico about James Comey and his dubious behavior.

Posted by Airandee 2019-12-14 07:17|| 2019-12-14 07:17|| Front Page Top

#5 ^ to be expected, given our creeping Anschluss with Mexico

Posted by Lex 2019-12-14 11:01|| 2019-12-14 11:01|| Front Page Top

#6 Gary Oldman from Leon.

Posted by Dron66046 2019-12-14 14:52|| 2019-12-14 14:52|| Front Page Top

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