NEW YORK _ Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's trafficking trial resumed Thursday with a Sinaloa Cartel capo fresh off a guilty plea in Chicago giving insider details of the Mexican drug lord's life _ including his 2001 prison break.
Vicente Zambada Niebla, 43, the son of reigning Sinaloa kingpin Ismael (El Mayo) Zambada, walked into the Brooklyn courtroom and eerily exchanged smiles and nods with Chapo, whose real name is Joaquin Guzman Loera.
In early November, Vicente pleaded guilty in Chicago to trafficking thousands of pounds of Colombian cocaine through Mexico to the U.S. using submarines, speedboats and private aircraft, court records show.
A top Chapo protege before his 2009 arrest in Mexico City, Vicente took the witness stand with the hope of receiving a reduced sentence and eventual U.S. visa.
He told jurors he first met Chapo when he was 15 years old and his father started doing business with the up-and-coming narco.
"My dad is the Sinaloa Cartel leader," Vicente testified.
He said his role in the enterprise was to coordinate shipments from South and Central America up to the U.S. border, communicate messages and make sure payment got to his father.
"I was also connected to corruption," he said. "I would pay police officers on behalf of my father and my compadre, El Chapo."
Vicente gave intimate details of the cartel's inner-workings and the close relationship forged between his father and Chapo, who has pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen charges of trafficking, conspiracy and money laundering at the trial now underway in federal court.
Vicente said a major moment in the partnership involved Chapo's 2001 escape from a Mexican prison. While many claim Chapo essentially walked out of the Puente Grande prison in Jalisco thanks to bribes and corruption, Vicente testified that the drug lord personally told him the legend involving a laundry cart was true.
"He said that he had gone out in the laundry cart," Vicente told the jury.
He said Chapo described for him the glass enclosure checkpoints inside the prison that were manned by guards who had to press buttons for people to pass through.
Vicente said Chapo told him he worked closely with Francisco (El Chito) Camberos Rivera, the crooked prison guard who talked his way through the checkpoints pushing the laundry cart.
Chapo said he listened closely and counted the number of clicks to mark their progress through the prison, Vicente testified.
When they got to the last door, Chito let the cart roll away from him, and Chapo was scared it might tumble over, exposing his hiding place, the kingpin allegedly told Vicente.
Vicente claimed the prison's director and former Mexican President Vicente Fox had no previous knowledge of the escape, despite reports to the contrary.
He said Chapo claimed that limiting the plan to a small group was essential to its success.
Vicente said Chapo was near penniless after the escape, so Mayo stepped in to help _ thereby sealing their bond. The witness said his father offered to give Chapo a major cut of his cocaine shipments because it wasn't safe for him start conducting business on his own.
Vicente further testified about a wild prison escape plan that never materialized involving Chapo's youngest brother Arturo Guzman.
He said Chapo planned to have a helicopter fly over the prison where Arturo was held and scoop the sibling up with an attached rope.
Asked what would prevent the prison guards from simply firing their guns at the airborne inmate, Vicente said the plan involved a "steel bubble" at the end of the rope that would act as a shield.
The elaborate scheme was cut short when Arturo was murdered in jail on New Year's Eve 2004 as part of an ongoing turf war.
Chapo wore a grim expression during the testimony about his dead brother.
The drug lord, 61, famously busted out of a second Mexican prison in July 2015 in a daring escape that involved a mile-long tunnel engineered with custom lighting, ventilation and a modified motorcycle on a special track.
Chapo is fighting the government's charges with claims he's being railroaded by turncoat witnesses trying to trade testimony for personal gain in their own criminal cases.
His wife gave a TV interview last month painting Chapo as a gentle family man, but on Thursday, Vicente backed up brutal testimony previously delivered by his uncle, Jesus Reynaldo (El Rey) Zambada Garcia, at the start of the trial.
Vicente said it was true Chapo ordered the death of Juarez Cartel member Rodolfo Carrillo Fuentes in 2004 after the man refused to shake his hand.
He said a paid assassin, known as a sicario, carried out the killing under Guzman's orders.
"They located him in a mall," Vicente said. "They were waiting for him to come out, and when Rodolfo Carrillo came out, he was murdered by my compadre Chapo's people."
He lamented the fact Carrillo was with his wife and members of the judicial police when the bloodbath unfolded.
"Unfortunately, she was killed in the shootout," Vicente said.
