The trial of notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo“ Guzman continues in Brooklyn, New York, and is expected to last into early next year.
After a tumultuous start, with a jury member excused and Guzman’s defence team being admonished by Judge Cogan for their opening statement, the first witnesses have been presented.
Taking the witness stand for the government, Jesus Zambada - a 57-year-old trained accountant who was arrested in 2008 and is still in US custody - told jurors Guzman “was one of the most powerful drug-traffickers in Mexico.” Zambada was the first of several cooperators expected to give jurors an inside look at the Sinaloa Cartel.
Guzman, 61, faces a 17 count indictment that covers nearly three decades of alleged criminal activities. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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Zambada admitted he took part in several murder plots himself, though he said he never personally killed anyone.
He was wounded in a gunfight with enemy sicarios, and another one of his brothers, who had no involvement in the drug trade, was shot at his doorstep in Cancun, he said.
Dressed in dark blue prison clothing and speaking through an interpreter, Zambada also testified that the Sinaloa Cartel bought off officials at every level of government, including Mexican state governors, national attorneys general and members of the international police organization Interpol, to ensure safe passage for its products.
Despite his diminutive stature and nickname that means "Shorty" in Spanish, Guzman was once a larger-than-life kingpin both feared and admired in Mexico.
The defence has sought to counter that reputation, despite Zambada's claim the bribes and murders of those who investigated the cartel or sold drugs in their territory were ordered by El Chapo.
Appearing in a blue jail uniform and wearing tinted glasses, Zambada testified when special military forces were trying to hunt down Guzman in 2001 after a prison break, he was tasked with trying to find a spot where the cartel could land a helicopter for its boss.
"We were rescuing him ... because the military was about to recapture him," the witness said through a Spanish interpreter.
Zambada said for most of the 2000s, his brother, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, and Guzman were considered the top leaders of the Sianola cartel as it imported large shipments of Colombian cocaine by land, sea and air to Mexico before using various means to get it to the U.S. market. A popular smuggling method involved stashing the drugs in containers hidden inside gas tanker trucks filled with fuel, he said.
As the cocaine was moved north, its profit potential skyrocketed, he said. A kilo purchased in Colombia for $3,000 would fetch $20,000 in Los Angeles, $25,000 in Chicago and $35,000 in New York City, he said.
In yesterday's hearing, an admitted former Mexican cartel member described how he first met the notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman when he helped him evade a manhunt.
Jesus Zambada identified Guzman in the courtroom and told jurors he "was one of the most powerful drug-traffickers in Mexico," detailing how the Sianola cartel made massive profits by smuggling ton-upon-ton of cocaine into the United States.
Zambada — a 57-year-old trained accountant who was arrested in 2008 and is still in US custody — was the first of several cooperators expected to give jurors an inside look at a cartel with a legendary lust for drugs, cash and violence.
Agencies contributed to this report
