NEW YORK, USA. – The Dominican Hector Tolentino, one of the leaders of the Trinitarios gang, joined the list of prosecutors to speak about the drug distribution of the Sinaloa Cartel in the Big Apple.
The prosecutors are seeking to add the testimony of the Dominican-origin gang member and drug trafficker to the process of accusations against the former Mexican Secretary of Public Security, Genaro Garcia Luna, for conspiracy to import and distribute drugs in the United States.
Garcia Luna is facing a court case in the Eastern District of New York, in the same court where Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera was sentenced to life in prison.
Tolentino, who faces prison after being arrested in Queens, New York, for drug trafficking and weapons possession, did not make a direct link with the former official of the government of Felipe Calderon in Mexico, but spoke of his connections with the Sinaloa Cartel and how he acquired drugs.
He said that in one of his first arrests he met a man named Manuel in prison, a Mexican who had contacts with the Sinaloa Cartel.
He added that he coincidentally reconnected with that Manuel after fixing his car at a mechanic’s shop, since then they mainly connected to “do business.”
That Manuel, whose surname he did not say, introduced him to another Manuel, whom Assistant District Attorney Erin Reid asked him to identify as “Sinaloa Manuel,” so as not to confuse the jury.
This “Sinaloa Manuel” was a member of the Sinaloa Cartel – he lived or lives in Mexico – and established Tolentino as a distributor of cocaine in New York, in addition to other drugs.
The relationship was fruitful, to the point that the leader of the Trinitarios managed to move between 40 and 50 kilos of cocaine from the Sinaloa Cartel after 2014, obtaining 5% of the profits.
He said that he spoke on the phone every day with “Sinaloa Manuel,” who on one occasion put Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, son of “El Chapo” Guzmán, on a video call. At first he said he did not recognize him, until his contact made him see who it was.
“He is the boss’s son,” “Sinaloa Cartel” reminded Tolentino, who was arrested in 2019 in a DEA operation in Flushing, Queens, where they confiscated several weapons, as well as cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl.
Tolentino pleaded guilty to violating the RICO law, as well as possession of weapons and drug trafficking.
To testify against Garcia Luna, the prosecutors offered Tolentino a 5K letter for the judge in his case to consider reducing his sentence.
The former Mexican official faces five charges, one for leading a criminal group for a long period, three for conspiracy to purchase, import and distribute cocaine to the United States and lying to US immigration authorities.
