Throughout almost 350 pages, the investigative journalist Anabel Hernandez gives an account of the alleged links that the current president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), forged with one of the largest criminal organizations in the country: the Sinaloa Cartel.
In his new book titled The secret history: AMLO and the Sinaloa Cartel (Grijalbo, 2024), Hernández points out that the federal president allegedly received a financing illicit by said organization in its presidential campaigns of 2006, 2012 and 2018. The same thing happened with the governor of Sinaloa, Ruben Rocha Moyain the 2021 elections.
This financial support from organized crime, according to the author, was carried out with the consent of AMLO himself, who would have been present in at least one of the money deliveries that took place in those years.
The book is structured in 15 chapters that narrate the meetings held by members of the Sinaloa Cartel with logistics operators of AMLO’s presidential campaigns. It also talks about the structure of Los Chapitos (faction led by the children of Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán) and its rise in drug trafficking fentanyl.
To publish this journalistic work, Anabel Hernández carried out research during four years (from 2020 to 2024) in different countries, including the United States (USA). Likewise, he consulted documentary and first-hand sources that agreed on the same point: that in AMLO’s three presidential campaigns there was financial support from the Sinaloa Cartel.
To corroborate the above, Hernández interviewed US Government officials and former members of the Sinaloa Cartel. The identity of some of them was kept confidential for security reasons, but they were mentioned with the codes “T1”, “T2” and “T3”, for example.
The subject identified as “T1” was a Los Chapitos operator who currently collaborates with the US Department of Justice. “T2” refers to a “friend” of Edgar Valdez Villarrealalias ‘La Barbie’, while “T3″ is one of the people who was present at the meetings between AMLO’s emissaries and the Sinaloa Cartel.
The people interviewed by Anabel Hernández who were expressly identified in the book are:
- Damaso López Serrano, alias ‘El Mini Lic’. High-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel who voluntarily surrendered in July 2017 due to the dispute he had with Los Chapitos. He is currently a collaborating witness for American justice.
- Guillermo Michel Hernandez, alias ‘The Lizard’. Sinaloa Cartel operator who served as a leader in armed groups linked to ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán.
- Nicolás Mollinedo Bastar, alias ‘Nico’. Logistical coordinator of AMLO’s presidential campaigns in 2006 and 2012. It is presumed that he was the recipient of money from the Sinaloa Cartel.
- Julian Garcia. Cousin of the former CDMX security chief, Omar García Harfuch. He corroborated the links between him and the Sinaloa Cartel.
- Steve Duncan. Special Agent of the California Department of Justice. Between 2006 and 2010 he worked in the Southern District of California prosecutor’s office. As part of his duties, he interviewed ‘El Tigrillo’.
Among the judicial testimonies consulted by Anabel Hernández is that of Jesus Zambada Garciaalias ‘El Rey’ (brother of Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada, top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel), and that of Sergio Villarreal Barraganalias ‘The Great’.
Regarding documentary sourcesthe author reviewed files from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), documents from the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), the Southern District Attorney’s Office of New York and the Drug Control Administration (DEA), as well as as files from the National Intelligence Center (CNI, formerly CISEN).
