Mexico City (AFP) – Mexico’s former president Felipe Calderon denied Wednesday he took bribes from the Sinaloa drug cartel, rejecting allegations made in court by a defense attorney for the cartel’s alleged leader, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

“The statements made by Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman’s lawyer are absolutely false and reckless. Neither he nor the Sinaloa cartel nor any other made payments to me,” Calderon, who led Mexico from 2006 to 2012, wrote on Twitter.