Why the name of Antonio Aguilar appeared in the trial of Genaro García Luna in New York

On Monday, January 23, on the eighth floor of the Court for the Eastern District of New York, the trial against Genaro García Lunawho is accused of having favored the Sinaloa Cartel during the time he served as head of the Secretary of Public Security, during the six-year term of former President Felipe Calderón.

Being the highest-ranking Mexican public official to appear before a US court, the name of Genaro García Luna has resonated through the most popular news and social networks, but not only his but also that of different personalities ranging from members of Mexican politics, leaders of the Sinaloa Cartelex-agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and, even, that of the Mexican regional singer himself Anthony Aguilar.

It was the afternoon of last Wednesday, January 25, when he was called to the stand Hector Tolentinoa former gang leader identified as The Trinitarians with headquarters in New York, to render his statement about the ties and businesses that said criminal group maintained with the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.

In his statement, the gang leader of Dominican descent stated that it was in one of his first arrests in the United States when he met a Mexican identified as Manuel who had contacts with members of the Pacific Cartel.

However, it was not until they both got out of prison that they met again and that Manuel – whose last name was not specified – contacted him with another Manuel who lived in Sinaloa and who was part of the criminal organization founded by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Y Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Thanks to this contact, who during the trial was called as Don Manuel, Héctor Tolentino and the gang of The Trinitarians established themselves as distributors of cocaine and other drugs in New Yorkto the extent that the gang leader managed to move between 40 and 50 kilograms of the drug after 2014, obtaining 5% of the profits.

The communication between Héctor Tolentino and Don Manuel was constant via telephone call or video calls and proof of this was a video that the US prosecutor’s office presented during the trial of Genaro García Luna where a narcocorrido is heard that talks about taking drugs from the Sinaloan capital, Culiacán, to New York. The name of said topic was not revealed, however, the former leader of The Trinitarians described it to authorities.

In the same way, and according to information from the American journalist keegan hamiltonHéctor Tolentino recounted that on another occasion Don Manuel -who is believed to be a lieutenant of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán- called him from a ship to dedicate a song to him by the renowned regional Mexican singer Antonio Aguilaralthough the name of said piece of music was not revealed either.

Within the contact that Héctor Tolentino had with Don Manuel He also highlighted the occasion in which the member of the Sinaloa Cartel made a video call with the leader of The Trinitarians to present it to Iván Archivaldo Guzmánson of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Regarding said media encounter, Héctor Tolentino confessed not having identified the son of the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel in the first instance so Don Manuel had to remind him.

“He is the boss’s son”, the lieutenant of the Pacific Cartel mentioned to Tolentino.

The leader of The Trinitarianswho now appears as one of the witnesses in the trial of Genaro García Luna, He was apprehended in 2019 during a DEA operation in Queens where they seized several firearms, in addition to multiple doses of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl.