Drug kingpin Guzman's trial puts spotlight on Mexican corruption

Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Allegedly, Guzman bribed ex-Mexican public security minister, Genaro Garcia with 6-8 mn dollars stuffed in suitcases and delivered in a hotel. [Courtesy]

Tales of millions of dollars of bribe money stuffed in suitcases -- told during the trial of notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman -- have shone the spotlight on corruption in the country, which experts say is endemic.

Government informant Jesus Zambada, the brother of Guzman's partner at the head of the notorious Sinaloa cartel, Ismael Zambada, told a court in New York that Guzman paid bribes to prosecutors, police, soldiers and even Interpol.

On Tuesday, Jesus Zambada alleged from 2005-2006 Guzman bribed former Mexican public security minister, Genaro Garcia Luna with six to eight million dollars stuffed into two suitcases and hand delivered at a restaurant.

Guzman's lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman even claimed that ex-president Felipe Calderon (2006-2012) and his successor, the incumbent Enrique Pena Nieto, took bribes from the Sinaloa cartel, accusations both strongly deny.

Although analysts claim it is difficult to pay bribes to presidents or the top federal officials, corruption amongst local authorities is much more common.

"Corruption at state and municipal level is endemic," former US Drug Enforcement Administration agent Mike Vigil told AFP.

"They control the state police and the municipal police, hence the mafiosos go to them and pay them to protect their shipments."

Guzman is accused of 11 offenses ranging from drug trafficking to money laundering -- including the smuggling of 155 tons of cocaine into the US over 25 years.

If found guilty he will likely spend the rest of his life in a maximum security US prison.

- Protection by authorities -

Accusations of state authorities, principally governors, receiving bribes from criminal organizations or colluding with drug-traffickers are nothing new.

"There are no traffickers that don't have governmental cover. For this type of crime you need to be protected by authorities, soldiers, the navy, police and, of course, officials," said journalist and author of books on drug trafficking, Jose Reveles.

One of the best known cases is that of Mario Villanueva, governor of Quintana Roo state from 1993-99, who is serving a long prison sentence over drug trafficking links.

Another is that of Tomas Yarrington, the former governor of violent Tamaulipas state in Mexico's northeast, who was extradited to the United States on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and banking fraud.

His successor, Eugenio Hernandez, is being held in a Tamaulipas cell, accused of embezzlement and illicit enrichment.

- 'False and reckless' -

As for the accusations against Calderon and Pena Nieto, these have been met with widespread skepticism, as well as their own emphatic denials.

"The assertions made by the lawyer of Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman are absolutely false and reckless," said Calderon on Twitter, while Pena Nieto's government spokesman tweeted that the current president was the one who had "pursued, captured and extradited" Guzman to the US.

For security analyst Alejandro Hope, if a president wants to get rich, "there's no sense in opting for the one form of corruption that matters to the United States, which is receiving drug trafficking money."

In any case, proving the payment of bribes is always going to be difficult, said Vigil, because "they pay in cash and it's not like they sign a receipt."