A judge in the Mexican state of Sonora ordered this Monday a trial against former Federal Police Commissioner Facundo Rosas, close to former Secretary of Security Genaro García Luna, for his alleged participation in a case of arms trafficking known as “Fast and Furious”.
In a statement, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) of Mexico reported this day that the ninth district judge of the city of Agua Prieta, Sonora, ordered the trial against Facundo “R”, who was undersecretary of Public Security during the Government of President Felipe Calderón (2006-2012).
The Prosecutor’s Office pointed out that the crime he is accused of “is due to his participation in the case known as ‘Fast and Furious, in which Mexican and North American authorities colluded to illegally introduce a large number of high-powered weapons.”
This is to be delivered to the cartel of capo Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, “which were used and have continued to be used for various crimes related to drug trafficking.”
The institution recalled that Rosas already had a federal arrest warrant for these crimes, which was executed with the support of the Mexican Navy, on the occasion of a common-law crime, allegedly committed by said person, in Mexico City.
Last Thursday, Rosas was admitted to maximum-security prison after being arrested that same day after causing a road accident in which a woman died.
In the images leaked to the media, it can be seen how Rosas’ vehicle ran over and caused the death of the passer-by. Rosas was transferred to the Public Ministry and, later, the capital prosecutor’s office handed him over to the FGR when it was verified that he had a pending arrest warrant for the arms trafficking case.
In a striking operation, agents from various security forces transported Rosas through the streets of Mexico City to the Specialized Prosecutor for Organized Crime (Femdo).
Rosas, 56, is considered one of the closest men to former Mexican Security Secretary García Luna, who is in prison and awaiting trial in the United States for alleged links to drug trafficking.
In mid-2009 he was appointed general commissioner of the now-defunct Federal Police, a position he would hold in 2012. Between 2009 and 2011, “Fast and Furious” was a US operation to trace weapons acquired by illegal buyers to Mexican cartels.
But authorities lost track of thousands of the weapons, which ended up being used in crimes in both countries. In early January, a Mexican federal judge issued arrest warrants against seven people for their participation in this operation.
In those days, in a statement, the FGR reported that it had obtained arrest warrants against García Luna and Luis Cárdenas Palomino, Intelligence Coordinator of said Police, both already arrested for other cases.
García Luna, who was Secretary of Security during the Calderón government (2006-2012), has been detained in a Brooklyn jail since 2019 awaiting his trial before a United States federal court, accused of drug trafficking and accepting bribes. Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.