Alejandro Edda, who plays Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán on Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico, showed up to drug lord’s federal trial on Monday, 28 January.
Guzmán has pleaded not guilty to 17 counts, including drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
CBS reports that Guzmán smiled and waved at Edda. “He was just right there – that’s the man, Señor Guzman,” the actor told reporters, adding that he had shown up to study El Chapo in person in order to make his portrayal on the show as realistic as possible.
He added: “I was shaking in a way. Inside, I didn’t know what to do. I just paid him my respect, just saying like through the distance and it was a very surreal moment, I have to be honest, looking at his eyes.”
The actor, however, stressed that he believes Guzmán is guilty. “There’s many many things horrendous that he did,” Edda said.
Prosecutors say El Chapo was the mastermind behind a multibillion-dollar drug gang responsible for putting more 220 tons of cocaine into circulation in the US. More than 50 witnesses testified against him since November.
His attorneys, however, are claiming that their client was framed by the real leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, who remains at large.
The defence team rested its case after calling a single witness, with Guzmán himself declining to take the stand at the trial. if convicted, El Chapo faces life in prison.
