Photo: Eastern District Court of NY / Courtesy
NEW YORK.- The fifth cooperating witness in the Genaro García Luna trial revealed more million-dollar payments to the former Secretary of Public Security by members of the Sinaloa Cartel, this time by the Pineda Villa brothers, who controlled the states of Guerrero and Morelos .
Israel Ávila arrived at the Eastern District Court of Brooklyn in his khaki inmate suit and revealed that he was the accountant for the brothers Mario Pineda Villa, alias “El MP” or “El Gordo Malo”, and Alberto Pineda Villa, alias “ The X” or “Erased”.
They belonged mainly to the Beltrán Leyva Organization, but they were part of the so-called “Federation” or the Sinaloa Cartel, before the break that unleashed the war between drug traffickers in 2008.
Ávila revealed that García Luna received money from criminal groups in exchange for protection and ensuring operations. The accountant said that he himself wrote down various amounts delivered to the former official of the government of Felipe Calderón.
He was given $1 million, $1.8 million or even $3 million, he said. His name did not appear in the accounting books, but the two nicknames assigned by the drug leaders: “Stutterer” and “El Metralleta”, due to his speech problem.
Ávila knew it was García Luna because his bosses referred to him by nicknames, but they also said his name.
Guided by questions from the assistant prosecutor Erin Reid, Ávila’s testimony made it possible to connect various elements revealed by two other cooperators, such as Sergio Villarreal Barragán, alias “El Grande”, and Óscar Nava Valencia, “El Lobo”, on different topics. , including García Luna’s protection of criminal organizations.
The accountant joined the group of the Pineda Villa brothers, after offering them services as a real estate agent, with the rental of houses, apartments and warehouses. He said that he thought they were agents of the Federal Investigation Agency (AFI), because they wore insignia of that corporation, sometimes they were in vehicles that looked like officers, and they carried police identification and weapons.
He added that he thought they worked for Genaro García Luna, but after the murder of “some people” in a house that he rented to them, one of the members of the group asked him if he knew who they worked for.
Ávila replied that he believed they were part of the AFI, that they worked for “Mr. Genaro García Luna.”
“He told me, no. Neither you nor I work for García Luna. He works for us,” Ávila said. Then they revealed to him that they were all members of the Sinaloa Cartel and he stayed to work with them offering the same real estate services – which he also provided to Arturo Beltrán Leyva – in addition to accounting.
The cooperating witness – who is also protected – was firm in his answers, regardless of the subject, even when asked if he participated in torture, “perhaps more than 10 times”, he acknowledged.
He spoke of the war between cartels that began in 2008 and that García Luna was in the middle, despite the fact that he had been an ally of Arturo Beltrán Leyva, who ordered the kidnapping of the former Mexican secretary. Ávila said that his compadre Francisco Camacho was responsible for coordinating the “levantón”, subduing García Luna’s escorts with his people. They gave him a house as a prize, the aid worker said.
He also spoke of the arrest of Jesús “El Rey” Zambada, who controlled drug trafficking operations at the Mexico City Airport. “El Grande” had spoken in court of that fact.
He pointed out that “El Grande” and other members of the cartel disguised themselves as judicial agents and arrested “El Rey” Zambada. Ávila said he had learned of the fear of the drug traffickers that the Mexico City Police – to whom they handed over the detainee – would change him for another person before presenting him to public opinion.
Ávila said that they called a “journalist” who worked for the narco, to break the news of the arrest of “El Rey” Zambada and inform other journalists, to ensure his custody. That was a blow to the group of Ismael “El Mayor” Zambada and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, then enemies of the Beltrán Leyva, after the arrest of Alfredo Beltrán Leyva, “El Mochomo”.
It was not clear in court that Ávila was a protected witness, but prosecutors asked the court cartoonist to erase the face from her drawings, the only images inside the room where the hearings are held. She was surprised after being called into a private meeting with Judge Brian Cogan, prosecutors and the defense.
This Wednesday, García Luna’s lawyers will question Ávila, but his testimony has reinforced several revelations from other cooperators and witnesses, related to drug trafficking, payment to the authorities, statements that lead to the former Mexican secretary and his close collaborators, as Luis Cardenas Palomino.