B’klyn justice: Former Mexico police big gets 10 yrs. for drug bribe
A former high-ranking police commander in Mexico will spend 10 years in U.S. prison for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from a drug cartel in exchange for information on American investigations into its operations.
Ivan Reyes Arzate, 49, personally met in 2016 with leaders of El Seguimiento 39, a drug cartel associated with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel, while serving as the top-ranking officer in the Mexican federal police’s sensitive-investigation unit in 2016.
The cartel paid Reyes Arzate a $290,000 bribe in exchange for the top-secret information.
“In betraying his oath and partners in law enforcement in exchange for cash bribes, Arzate became a willing participant in drug trafficking and in spreading massive and dangerous amounts of cocaine in our communities,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. “Corrupt police officers who use their government positions to further the interests of the drug cartels and harm our communities will be brought to justice and punished for their crimes. Their badges will not shield them from accountability.”
At the time of the meeting, Reyes Arzate was investigating El Seguimiento 39 in collaboration with American investigators. The police commander was fired the day after the bribe was discovered.
“I know that the scourge of drugs caused a lot of pain to a lot of people,” Reyes Arzate said at his sentencing in Brooklyn Federal Court. “I profoundly regret whatever pain was caused by my actions.”
Reyes Arzate pleaded guilty in October to accepting the bribe. Prosecutors had alleged that the disgraced cop also assisted the Beltran-Leyva Organization drug trafficking operation.
He has been jailed on the charges in Brooklyn since January 2020.
Rumors circulated after his arrest that Reyes Arzate could be cooperating with the feds and could even testify against Genaro Garcia Luna, Mexico’s former federal director of public safety, who has been charged with accepting millions in bribes from the Sinaloa cartel.
But Reyes Arzate’s lawyer, prosecutors and the judge in the case dispelled those rumors Wednesday.
“The defendant is definitely not a cooperator,” said Brooklyn Federal Judge Brian Cogan after an off-the-record conversation with lawyers from both sides.
Reyes Arzate’s lawyer Mark DeMarco had asked for a five-year sentence in the case.
“The crimes he committed are inexcusable, but Mr. Reyes acknowledges that,” DeMarco said. “He is remorseful . ... Mr. Reyes has been sufficiently punished.”
But Cogan said that would not be sufficient in a case in which Reyes Arzate “betrayed the trust” of American authorities.
The time Reyes Arzate has already spent behind bars will count toward his sentence, meaning he will serve about eight more years in prison.