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Speaker 1: Hey, gebasa Latino USA listener, come stas so we have

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Speaker 1: a bonus show for you today. It's the last and

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Speaker 1: latest episode from our Futuro Investigates series. It's called Usa

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Speaker 1: Versus Garcia Luna. You've heard it on this feed before.

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Speaker 1: It's about the former powerful security head of Mexico who

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Speaker 1: was finally sentenced in New York City. And yes, dear listener,

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Speaker 1: we were there to bring you exactly what happened inside

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Speaker 1: and outside of that courtroom and also why this actually

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Speaker 1: isn't the end of Garcia Luna's legal troubles, just the

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Speaker 1: end of this first case with the sentencing. Here's the show,

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Speaker 1: and remember, let us know what you think, Ola.

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Speaker 2: Nadia compan oh okayrio esor alian deja vu?

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Speaker 1: Cold? And the reason why it's cold is because it's

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Speaker 1: over and none of us have our winter coats out.

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Speaker 1: We're still thinking it's gonna.

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Speaker 2: Be like no nice and it's la pier There is

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Speaker 2: no one here. Wow. Here we are.

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Speaker 1: I'm Maria, you know, Josa.

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Speaker 2: And I am Peny. Later meres and today we don't

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Speaker 2: have to Kilda.

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Speaker 1: We don't have to Gilda. But we've got a great

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Speaker 1: show for you. There's a lot of news. So it's

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Speaker 1: seven o'clock in the morning and we're in front of

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Speaker 1: the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse. So what are you thinking about today, Pennileia.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you've been covering Arcia Luna for over a decade.

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Speaker 1: I mean, this is really I hate to say it,

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Speaker 1: but it's kind of like the nail in the coffin

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Speaker 1: for his case.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so he has been waiting for this moment for

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Speaker 2: more than a year because he was convicted last year.

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Speaker 2: It's important to remind or listen that this is not

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Speaker 2: stand alone case. It's part of a series of cases

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Speaker 2: that have been all of them in front of the

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Speaker 2: same judge, starting with a Chapelsman trial, then Garcia Luna trial,

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Speaker 2: and after this one, we have another major trial that

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Speaker 2: is the trial of Ismael Mayo Sambala. It's a series

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Speaker 2: of trials that are focusing on the Sinaloa cartel and

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Speaker 2: this one is particularly special because it's the only one

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Speaker 2: involving a high level person who was working for the

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Speaker 2: cartail and at the same time was working with the

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Speaker 2: Americans and with the Mexican government.

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Speaker 1: So something big has happened. And that's the day before

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Speaker 1: the sentencing Garcia Luna actually sends a letter to the

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Speaker 1: judge what is this letter about?

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Speaker 2: So in this letter, he said that he comes from

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Speaker 2: a humble family in Mexico. He has been devoting all

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Speaker 2: his life to the Mexican government and the Mexican people. Basically,

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Speaker 2: he's trying to say, I'm a good guy, i should

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Speaker 2: not be here. He even said that two of his

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Speaker 2: brothers died while he has been in prison from COVID,

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Speaker 2: and he said that he wishes to go back to

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Speaker 2: his loving family. So he's asking the Dudge to consider

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Speaker 2: all of that when sentencing him.

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Speaker 1: Another big development has happened during the time that Garcia

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Speaker 1: Luna has been found guilty and waiting the sentencing. He

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Speaker 1: was actually trying to pay people inside the Brooklyn Federal

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Speaker 1: Detention facility. So he's actually doing the same thing that

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Speaker 1: he's been accused of using power, money and influence right

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Speaker 1: in a criminal way. I'm not a good look Garcia Luna,

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Speaker 1: that you now have been found out to be doing

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Speaker 1: the same thing while you're being held in detention.

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Speaker 2: And also one of the questions is about the money,

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Speaker 2: because you said that you didn't have even money to

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Speaker 2: hire a lawyer, and then you have two million dollars

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Speaker 2: to pay a fellow inmate to sign an Afie David

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Speaker 2: on your behalf to talk highly about you. So what

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Speaker 2: is that money coming from. Is that money from the bribes?

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Speaker 2: Is that money from corruption in Mexico. This is opening

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Speaker 2: a whole new level of what Garcia Luna has been

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Speaker 2: doing while here in the United States. We're just coming

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Speaker 2: out of the courthouse right now. So now we know

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Speaker 2: how much time he's going to spend in prison, and

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Speaker 2: we can tell you is not the minimum, but it's

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Speaker 2: not the maximum.

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Speaker 1: The saga continues.

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Speaker 2: The sentence in hearing was long, it was more than

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Speaker 2: an hour, and Garcia Luna spoke, the defense spoke, the

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Speaker 2: prosecutors spoke, and most importantly, for the first time, the judge,

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Speaker 2: Brian Cogan spoke directly to Garcia Luna and told him

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Speaker 2: directly what he thought about the things that he had

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Speaker 2: been doing for years. And I think that for us,

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Speaker 2: for our covers, what is important is the double life

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Speaker 2: concept that we have been saying in our podcast from

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Speaker 2: day one, which is he was working with the government

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Speaker 2: of Mexico, with the government of the United States, and

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Speaker 2: at the same time he's working with the cartel. He

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Speaker 2: has been living a double life for many years, and

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Speaker 2: even when incarcerated in the United.

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Speaker 1: States, I mean, what was kind of extraordinary for me.

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Speaker 1: I also thought that he was going to get life.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it comes out to just under forty years.

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Speaker 1: He's fifty six years old. That doesn't look good in

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Speaker 1: terms of numbers, actual numbers. He could get out on

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Speaker 1: good behavior, But I think the big message here was

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Speaker 1: the judge lecturing literally lecturing Garcia Luna and saying, you know,

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Speaker 1: I think if you were to take a polygraph and

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Speaker 1: if you're asked a question if you believe in laws,

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Speaker 1: you would pass right because you have convinced yourself that

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Speaker 1: you believe that. And I think if he actually believed

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Speaker 1: in laws, then he would have said, I have to

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Speaker 1: take the judgment of this court and I have to

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Speaker 1: accept that because I believe in the laws. And therefore

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry for whatever you think I did. I'm sorry,

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Speaker 1: no remorse, double life. And I think the clincher at

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Speaker 1: the end when the judge says, and let's not forget

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Speaker 1: the prosecution has proof that you were trying to bribe

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Speaker 1: people inside the detention facility where you are being held

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Speaker 1: right now. Case in point, you're living a double life.

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Speaker 1: It was fascinating.

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Speaker 2: And now the first find that he gets from the

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Speaker 2: judge is two million dollars that he needs to pay immediately,

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Speaker 2: and he's going to be living in a federal prison

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Speaker 2: for at least at least twenty five of those thirty

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Speaker 2: eight years, which means that most of his life is

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Speaker 2: going to be in prison. And the judge said clearly

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Speaker 2: that once he's released, he needs to go back to Mexico.

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Speaker 1: Will be taken back to Mexico. I do think it's

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Speaker 1: interesting that you could say that this was a win

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Speaker 1: for Garcia Luna. What was it four hundred and sixty

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Speaker 1: months that immediately sent. All the journalists were like, oh

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Speaker 1: my god, four hundred and sixty months, what the hell

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Speaker 1: is plus another six months ver et cetera. But it

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Speaker 1: wasn't life. That is a huge statement. I also found

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Speaker 1: it interesting for Judge Cogan to just kind of be like, hey,

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Speaker 1: I know about cartels. Now, I know how the enablers work,

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Speaker 1: and that's what you were. You didn't pull every single trigger,

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Speaker 1: but it could not have existed without.

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Speaker 2: You, exactly a high level enabler that help the sinal

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Speaker 2: Or cartel to really do all the horrible things I

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Speaker 2: have been doing, including bringing so many tons of drugs

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Speaker 2: to this country that have been causing the deaths of

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Speaker 2: hundreds of thousands of Americans.

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Speaker 1: Except that the judge chest has the prosecution in saying

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Speaker 1: you cannot hold Garcia Luna accountable for all of the

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Speaker 1: tens of thousands of debts. You can't do that and

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Speaker 1: shouldn't do that. But I think in terms of Garcia Luna,

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Speaker 1: this is a win. This is not life in prison.

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Speaker 1: They will appeal.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 1: They did a final request to put him in a

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Speaker 1: federal facility near Washington, d C.

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Speaker 2: And the reason is because that's where her daughter leaves

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Speaker 2: and we're currently the White Nings.

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Speaker 1: His wife did come better dressed, and apparently she was

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Speaker 1: carrying a Kate Spade bag before she would come looking

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Speaker 1: like she was dressed out of Find the Dime Store.

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Speaker 1: And so that was another surprising thing that the judge said.

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Speaker 1: He's like, I know there's hidden money someplace, which is

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Speaker 1: why you're going to have to pay two million dollars.

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Speaker 2: And also, Garcia Luna is not done because, as you

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Speaker 2: will hear in the rest of this episode, he had

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Speaker 2: other trials, other cases and.

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Speaker 1: Now let's go back into the studio where it's nice

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Speaker 1: and tusty and warm. Hey, dear listeners. So we're back

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Speaker 1: in this studio. But if you think the gid what's

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Speaker 1: the saga ends for Garcia Luna right here, well it doesn't.

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Speaker 1: And that's because he is still facing three, yes, one

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Speaker 1: to three more cases in Mexico and another one pending

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Speaker 1: in Florida.

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Speaker 2: Yes, Maria, I'm particularly excited about the one in Florida

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Speaker 2: because it is not another USA versus Garcia Luna. Heyes,

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Speaker 2: this one is a United Mexican States, so Mexico versus

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Speaker 2: Garcia Luna, but in Miami.

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Speaker 1: I love the fact that Penny's like, I'm excited about

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Speaker 1: this trial. And that's because I mean, Penny, your investigative

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Speaker 1: work was key to actually getting this two trial. So

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Speaker 1: all of you that can you have a lot of

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Speaker 1: feelings about.

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Speaker 2: This because, as you said, I have been investigating for

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Speaker 2: years this movement of Garcia Luna to Miami. It was

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Speaker 2: more than a decade ago and I was publishing my

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Speaker 2: first story about Garcia Luna and basically the story was

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Speaker 2: revealing that he was moving to Miami. And in that

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Speaker 2: story I explained how Garcia Luna was part of this

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Speaker 2: complicated scheme that I did not understand myself back then

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Speaker 2: about companies and properties. And then fast forward to September

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Speaker 2: of twenty twenty one, so three years ago, the Mexican

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Speaker 2: government filed a lawsuit in Miami, and this lawsuit is

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Speaker 2: still undercurve review.

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Speaker 1: So, dear listener, we have talked about this Miami case

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Speaker 1: in the podcast before, right, but for those of you

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Speaker 1: who don't remember, this is the case that involved members

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Speaker 1: of a Mexican business family, lost Weinberg's Samuel Weinberg and

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Speaker 1: his son Jonathan Weinberg, and they were business associates of

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Speaker 1: Garcia Luna. And is it like that Jonathan Weinberg.

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Speaker 2: Actually his full name is Jonathan Alexis Weinberg Pinto. And

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Speaker 2: in my investigation, I found that the Weymberg family were

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Speaker 2: supporting Garcia Luna and they were actually paying for the

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Speaker 2: lifestyle that Garcia Luna was having in Miami, you know,

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Speaker 2: this luxury lifestyle of houses and condos and cars and everything.

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Speaker 1: And I got.

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Speaker 2: So the thing is that I was investigating the case

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Speaker 2: and then the Mexican government found and confirmed that Garcia

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Speaker 2: Luna was taking bribes legisly in exchange for thirty security

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Speaker 2: government contracts when Garcia Luna was in office in Mexico

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Speaker 2: and even after he was out of office and he

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Speaker 2: became like kind of associates with the Weinbergs. So why

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Speaker 2: this case that is mainly due to contracts in Mexico

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Speaker 2: et cetera, is now in Miami.

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Speaker 1: I mean, how is it that the Mexican government is

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Speaker 1: suing somebody living he has residency in the United States,

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Speaker 1: So how are they able to do this?

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Speaker 2: Well, basically what they are allegend is the Mexican government

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Speaker 2: is that the contracts happen in Mexico, the payments for

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Speaker 2: those contracts happened also in Mexico, but the properties were

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Speaker 2: both in Miami. Therefore the money was quote unquote laundered

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Speaker 2: in Miami. So therefore to recover the money they need

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Speaker 2: to go to a Miami court.

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Speaker 1: Hmm okay, fascinating And of course now we know Mexico

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Speaker 1: was following this case super closely. Osa they were watching.

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Speaker 4: Alenello Lo Remitien Tanto, the Nunbaki Jaga Panama, the Panama

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Speaker 4: Stops and Las Impressons and Caragadas, the Parai nevel de

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Speaker 4: Vida de Garziluna and Mayami.

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Speaker 2: Yes, this is Santiagoto and he was the person within

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Speaker 2: the Mexican government that started, you know, following the case.

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Speaker 2: So before this it was just you know, this journalistic

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Speaker 2: investigation that I did, and some other journalists were also

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Speaker 2: investigating him. But then between twenty nineteen and twenty twenty one,

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Speaker 2: Santiago was the head of the Mexican Financial Intelligence Unit

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Speaker 2: and basically his job was to prevent and prosecute money laundering.

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Speaker 1: Well that's a big job for one person to undertake, Okay,

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Speaker 1: continue with the story.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so he was following different cases of money laundering

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Speaker 2: and for this case, Yeto told me that now the

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Speaker 2: waymburds who are also defendants in the Miami case are

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Speaker 2: countersuing him.

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Speaker 4: Les Patio Gista, ne Fendiendolo in Mexico, in Miami prescent Corucion.

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Speaker 2: Contram So basically Santiagotto is working for the Mexican government.

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Speaker 2: After my investigation, he pursues more investigative work. He sues

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Speaker 2: in Miami and then the Weimbers are suing him and

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Speaker 2: they are a legend that Nietto did not have the

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Speaker 2: power to sign a contract to hire a lawyer in

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Speaker 2: the United States to litigate the case against Garcia Luna

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Speaker 2: and the Weinbers in Miami.

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Speaker 1: Oh my god. This is why some people have a

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Speaker 1: thing about lawyers, because can you imagine the level of

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Speaker 1: detail and like counter detail and chess moves to come

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Speaker 1: up with this. So the Mexican government is accusing Garcia

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Speaker 1: Luna and his associates, by the way, including his wife

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Speaker 1: Linda Christina Pereda, and what they are accused of is

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Speaker 1: using more than forty four zero shell companies in Barbados,

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Speaker 1: in Panama and in the United States in order to

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Speaker 1: launder money and in order to hide some dirty money.

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Speaker 1: And Mexico is seeking to recover check this out at

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Speaker 1: least six hundred million dollars from Garcia Luna and from

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Speaker 1: the Winebergs, because Mexico says, you know, you stole that

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Speaker 1: from Mexico. We want it back.

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Speaker 2: Yes, Maria, And my whole work around this story is here.

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Speaker 2: That's what I'm excited because my findings were always pointing

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Speaker 2: to the question how Garcia Luna could make millions of

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Speaker 2: dollars while working for the Mexican government and just you know,

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Speaker 2: shortly after he stopped working for the government. It's just absurd,

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Speaker 2: and that's been my question all this time.

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Speaker 4: Las contol giovado, Secretario publica postal and lepoka andete.

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Speaker 2: So for Nieto, there is only one explanation that Garcia

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Speaker 2: Luna's wealth had to do with the money he made

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Speaker 2: during the Phelipe Caldern's administration, so when he was you know,

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Speaker 2: this high security bus and then when he became a

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Speaker 2: contractor during the Enrique pennanet To administration, so after Calderon.

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Speaker 1: Now remember, dear listener, we are kind of on uncharted

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Speaker 1: territory here because no other high ranking Mexican official has

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Speaker 1: ever been tried in the US. Yes, you had a chapel,

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Speaker 1: but he was an arcotraficante. This is a high ranking

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Speaker 1: Mexican government official, and you know he could in fact

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Speaker 1: be facing a second trial. So this really is like

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Speaker 1: nothing we've ever seen before.

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Speaker 2: But also not everyone in Mexico is super excited about

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Speaker 2: this case or thinking that this case is going to

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Speaker 2: have a real result.

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Speaker 3: I don't trust that these investigations are really about bringing

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Speaker 3: justice other than to use Garcia A Luna as a

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Speaker 3: political prop That was.

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Speaker 2: The security expert with Fernando Garcia, and he has been

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Speaker 2: doing a lot of research on Garcia Luna for Retrezes

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Speaker 2: R three D, a non profit organization based in Mexico

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Speaker 2: that defends the digital rights.

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Speaker 3: I don't really understand what the endgame of the Mexican

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Speaker 3: government is other than to say that they are interested

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Speaker 3: in prosecuting him.

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Speaker 1: Today, there is a new president in Mexico. It's a

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Speaker 1: woman for the very first time, Claudia Shameebaum just took office.

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Speaker 1: But her predecessor, andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, used to bring

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Speaker 1: up Garcia lu and the case in Miami during his

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Speaker 1: morning press briefings. He would say how Garcia Luna enriched

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Speaker 1: himself through federal surveillance contracts, and.

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Speaker 4: Who's gadotarevos The Florida is in Floridas, Y doses Resolvio

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Speaker 4: Louis and Florida.

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Speaker 2: The key is the Mexico Razon.

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Speaker 1: AMLO's government also said that they have already recovered almost

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Speaker 1: two million dollars from Garcia Luna's companies based in Miami

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Speaker 1: and Maria.

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Speaker 2: When I was doing my research, at some point I

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Speaker 2: partnered with Louis Fernando Garcia and we investigated together several

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Speaker 2: of the contracts that we have been mentioning in this series,

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Speaker 2: including high level surveillance contracts, And for example, Louis Fernando

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Speaker 2: and his organization actually helped me to successfully force the

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Speaker 2: government to declassify some key contracts, and those contracts then

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Speaker 2: helped me to prove that the Weiber family was benefiting

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Speaker 2: from the Mexican state therefore the Mexican government while Garcia

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Speaker 2: Luna was in office.

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Speaker 1: So let's just be clear about that. So basically, Garcia

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Speaker 1: Luna is working for the Mexican government, but he's got

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Speaker 1: this side gig going on where he's like, hey, you

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Speaker 1: wanna do some contracts you want to do, like, I'll

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Speaker 1: help you figure that out. I got an inside line

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Speaker 1: essentially exactly.

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Speaker 2: So this is my investigation and this is what is

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Speaker 2: now in the lawsuit, and this is apart from the

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Speaker 2: other side gig that was helping a chapous man, right,

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Speaker 2: the guy was busy. But also Fernando told us that

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Speaker 2: even former President Lopezo Ralo's government was also intersecting private

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Speaker 2: communications and it also signed big surveillance contracts, and he

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Speaker 2: told us that the Mexican military was monitoring publicly accessible

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Speaker 2: information on the Internet and created profiles of journalists and

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Speaker 2: even political adversaries of the president. At the time, of course,

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Speaker 2: Lopez or Raloort's government denied all of this. Here is

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Speaker 2: Luis Fernando again.

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Speaker 3: It's a dream for organized crime to have all this

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Speaker 3: Garcia Luna and El Chapo and Escobara and whoever will

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Speaker 3: have dreamed to have all the power that the Mexican

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Speaker 3: military has right now.

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Speaker 1: I mean, that's pretty scary stuff right there. And the

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Speaker 1: thing is, you can't really end this drug trafficking thing

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Speaker 1: that brings around all of this corruption. I mean, we're

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Speaker 1: reporting on it, but it's not like you can end

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Speaker 1: just now. So what we do need to do is

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Speaker 1: to close the Garcia Luna chapter in New York while

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Speaker 1: we await what happens in Miami and in the other

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Speaker 1: cases in Mexican courts. Because yes, the sentencing has happened

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Speaker 1: in New York, but these guy's worries are not over.

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Speaker 2: And the thing is right now, Maria, you know, we

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Speaker 2: will see what happened with Garcia Luna. But I will

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Speaker 2: say today I'm more interested in understanding if there are

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Speaker 2: other Garcia Lunas out there. In other words, what other

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Speaker 2: high ranking government officials from Latin America has been managing

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Speaker 2: money from the United States and at the same time

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Speaker 2: has been working for their local governments and for the narcos,

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Speaker 2: as we saw in the case of Garciolu. So we

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Speaker 2: know that Garcia Luna is far from being the only case,

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Speaker 2: and now I want to investigate those other cases.

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Speaker 1: So, yes, dear listener, who is interplaying this triple agent

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Speaker 1: role with the government, with the narcos and with the

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Speaker 1: United States. Well you know we're going to be looking

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Speaker 1: into that next but for now it's time to say salude.

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Speaker 2: This is the end of this season of USA.

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Speaker 1: Versus Garcia Luna.

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Speaker 3: Oh my god, zalualu.

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Speaker 1: And that, dear listener, is it asta la proxima in

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Speaker 1: a Yes, Usa Versus Garcia Luna is an original production

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Speaker 1: by Futuu Investigates in collaboration with Latino USA. Lamonada Media

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Speaker 1: is our advertising and distribution partner. Our hosts are yours Truly,

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Speaker 1: Mariano Jos and Bennie Ramirez, executive producers of the Investigations

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Speaker 1: and Special Projects division of Futuro Media. Our episode was

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Speaker 1: produced by Guandio Ramirez. Our series is edited by Andrea

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Speaker 1: Lopez Cruzado. Our associate producer is Roxanna Guire and fact

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Speaker 1: checking by Arturo ahel Nancy Trujillo is our project manager.

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Speaker 1: This episode was mixed by Stephanie Lebou, Julia Caruso and

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Speaker 1: gabriel A Byez Music and scoring by Jacob Rosati. Our

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Speaker 1: series is made possible with the support from the W. K.

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Speaker 1: Kellogg Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Tao Foundation, and

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Speaker 1: Hispanics in Philanthropy. Remember you can listen to any episodes

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Speaker 1: of USA Versus Garzialuna today wherever you get your podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or go to our website at futuro Investigates dot org.

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Speaker 1: Visit there to find more information on USA Versus Garzia, Luna,

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Speaker 1: Gracias e Chao Chao