Former Mexican security chief Genaro Garcia Luna was found guilty of drug trafficking charges by a New York jury on Wednesday.

Garcia Luna was accused of receiving money to allow the Sinaloa drug cartel to smuggle cocaine when he was public security minister between 2006 and 2012.

The jury convicted him on all five counts, which included continuing criminal enterprise and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

What else do we know about the charges?

Federal prosecutors in the New York City borough of Brooklyn said Garcia Luna accepted millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa cartel, which was once run by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Garcia Luna provided the cartel with protection from arrest, safe passage for cocaine shipments and forewarning on law enforcement operations.

Prosecutor Saritha Komatireddy said: "These leaders paid the defendant briges for protection – and they got what they paid for."

She said that Garcia Luna "used his official government position to make millions of dollars for himself and the people he was supposed to prosecute."

During the four-week trial, jurors heard testimony from 26 witnesses, including nine convicted cartel members who agreed to cooperate with the prosecution. Among the witnesses were several high-profile cartel bosses.

Garcia Luna's defense team argued that the charges were based on lies from criminals who wanted to secure more lenient sentencing and punish the former official for anti-cartel efforts.

Who is Genaro Garcia Luna?

Garcia Luna is one of the highest-ranking Mexican officials to have been accused of ties to drug trafficking.

He was the head of Mexico's Federal Investigation Agency from 2001 to 2005 and became public security minister in 2006.

Garcia Luna was an important figure in former President Felipe Calderon's crackdown on cartels. The former security chief worked closely with US intelligence and anti-drug agencies.

sdi/wd (Reuters, AP, AFP)