Felipe Calderón on Genaro García Luna

Felipe Calderón has strongly maintained that he was unaware of any illicit activities involving his former Public Security Secretary, Genaro García Luna, who served for his entire 2006-2012 administration. Following García Luna’s conviction and sentencing in the United States for conspiring to traffic drugs with the Sinaloa Cartel, Calderón stated he never received credible evidence of the corruption from Mexican or foreign intelligence agencies, who reportedly trusted García Luna at the time. He respects the court's decision and supports lawbreakers facing consequences, though he also expressed that the situation causes him pain and noted the judge referred to García Luna's "double life."

Despite his repeated denials of knowledge, the former president also sought to contextualize the period by defending the overall security strategy, asserting that the fight against organized crime was the responsibility of an entire government team, not one individual. He defended his militarized "war" on cartels, claiming that despite mistakes, organized crime was retreating by 2012 when he left office. However, critics suggest the guilty verdict reveals a narco-state and implies the security strategy was a war favoring allied cartels, leading to public figures demanding the ex-president apologize for appointing a convicted criminal to such a high post.