Who is Gabriel Regino, the former AMLO collaborator accused of receiving alleged bribes from ‘El Rey’ Zambada

The name of Gabriel Regino Garcia joined the list of former officials who were mentioned during the judgment of Genaro Garcia Luna in the United States, due to his alleged links with organized crime, in particular his alleged relationship with the Sinaloa Cartel, when he was a collaborator of the current President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).

It was US Attorney’s Office star witness Jesús Reynaldo Zambada who accused Gabriel Regino of allegedly receiving bribes of $3 million 13 years ago, when he served as Undersecretary for Public Security in the former Federal District, when Lopez Obrador He was head of the government of the capital (2000-2005).

“I made a payment of three million dollars to Regino or something,” he said. The king Zambada during his February 13 testimony in court in Brooklyn. The reason for the alleged payments was to provide sinaloa cartel protectionbecause at that time it was presumed that he would be the next Secretary of Security in the event that AMLO became President of Mexico.

But that’s not all, because on February 14, García Luna’s defense asked Reynaldo Zambada if he remembered his statements made in July 2013, when he mentioned to US prosecutors that he would have paid $7 million to Gabriel Regina for a AMLO campaign against Vicente Fox.

Even if The king Zambada denied it was a campaign for López Obrador, Regino had already been “splattered” in García Luna’s trial for his alleged links to organized crime. In interview with Millenniumformer AMLO collaborator denied receiving bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel. “There are no tax charges against Gabriel Regino García, neither in Mexico nor in the United States,” he said.

Later, Regino shared a video on his official Twitter account in which he explained the reasons why he would have been mentioned by The king Zambada in the García Luna trial, and indicated that It was a defensive strategy. of the former official

“In the case of the trial against Mexico’s former federal public security secretary, the defense attempted to undermine the credibility of prosecution witnesses. How is this accomplished? Through a technical his name is cross-examination »

Regino García mentioned that through this technique, the defense usually places information – which can be true, false or uncorroborable – in the “mouth of a witness”, which can then be used in their favor in closing arguments.

So García Luna’s lawyers asked Zambada if he had contributed money for an election campaign, which the witness denied. In this way, Regino distanced himself from the charges against him.

“They mentioned me because we are in a political context where it is a question of linking other personalities. That’s politics, that’s the criminal process. we are used to it”

Regino García completed his university studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he obtained his degree in Law degreeTherefore, he has also taught courses in Criminal Procedure Law, Guarantees and Criminal Protection at the Faculty of Law of the said academic institution.

From 2003 to 2006, he was Undersecretary for Public Security from there Federal Districtwhere he was in charge of the “design of public policies for the prevention and development and application of police intervention operations to fight against crime”, according to the description of his LinkedIn profile.

At that time, López Obrador was head of government. Regino’s arrival in this post would have been due to a invitation by the current Marcelo Ebrard, Minister of Foreign Affairswho was the head of the SSP at the time.

He is currently the head of the company “Regino Abogados”. As part of his career, he has established himself as the lawyer for five former employees named as allegedly responsible for line 12 collapse of the Mexico City Metro, recorded on May 3, 2021. Among the people he represents are Enrique Horcasitasformer director of the Metro Project.