MONEY TALKS AT THE HIGHEST MEXICAN LEVELS

Mexican generals sought $140 million from Sinaloa Cartel; one of them asked for two gold watches and $10 million

The insatiable hunger for drugs by American recreational drug users generates unimaginable amounts of money for the Mexican drug cartels. And I suspect that many of the millionaires among the cartel leaders have had very little formal education.

From Borderland Beat:

MEXICAN GENERAL TRIES TO BRIBE DEFENSE SECRETARY

proceso.com.mx
September 21, 2012

MEXICO, D.F. -- Brigadier General Juan Manuel Barragan Espinosa asked the Sinaloa Cartel leaders for two gold watches and ten million dollars in exchange for arranging a private meeting with the highest levels of the Public Security cabinet.

The newspaper Reforma on this Friday revealed that Barragan, son in law of Division General Felix Galvan Lopez, Secretary of National Defense during the Jose Lopez Portillo administration, offered to serve as intermediary between the cartel and the current Secretary of National Defense, General Guillermo Galvan, Attorney General Marisela Morales and General Genaro Robles, deputy director of Operations of the Estado Mayor de la Defensa (equivalent to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the U.S. military).

According to investigations by the military and the PGR (Office of Attorney General) to which the newspaper had access, the Army received an anonymous tip on November 3, 2011, which warned that Barragan was meeting with criminals in his offices in Lomas de Sotelo, and was living a life of luxury.

"According to the military and the PGR investigations, in December, "Chapo" Guzman sent his representatives Humberto and Oscar Murguia Guerrero directly to Barragan's office to request his help in arranging a meeting with Secretary Guillermo Galvan.

"The capo's people asked that the meeting with the Secretary take place away from his office because there were surely microphones in place there.

"The message that the Murguia brothers delivered from Guzman was very specific: they wanted to negotiate an agreement with the Army that involved ending military operations against the Sinaloa Cartel in the northwest part of the country, and in particular, to cease the pursuit of the organization's leader, according to investigation (file) No.PGR/SIEDO/UEITA/004/2012," states the newspaper.

The offer to Galvan was protection for the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for $140 million dollars.