After reporting that the trial of the former official begins in New York on Monday, Excelsior stated that the DEA refrained from proceeding, according to ProPública, a media outlet dedicated to investigative journalism.

Although the DEA could file charges against Garcia, the US Attorney’s Office in Houston, to which the agency delivered the evidence, repeatedly responded that the evidence was insufficient and never made the case.

More than seven years later and during Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s trial, a Government witness told the trial that he paid García Luna “more than 6 million dollars in cash on behalf of the so-called Pacific Cartel” and then the United States finally acted against the then former Security secretary.

The information was provided to ProPública by officer Steven Whipple, who oversaw the investigation for several years against Garcia Luna since around 2012 when he was a deputy chief and then head of the DEA office in Houston. He was the one who delivered the evidence to the DEA and the federal prosecutor’s office that was going unresponsive.

The prosecutors in Houston “wanted more”, Whipple said, “I thought we had enough to indict the guy, but they said no, and they were the prosecutors.”

Garcia Luna was the direct link between Calderon’s Government (2006-2012) and agencies such as DEA, CIA, and FBI.

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