The trial of notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo“ Guzman continues in Brooklyn, New York, and is expected to last into early next year.
This is the first time a major Mexican drug kingpin has been tried in a US court and pleaded not guilty. The trial has become increasingly tense in recent days, as Guzman’s attorney seeks to undermine testimonies from major drug traffickers.
Guzman, 61, faces a 17 count indictment that covers nearly three decades of alleged criminal activities. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Follow updates on the ongoing trial below
Pedro Flores will likely still be on the stand when the trial re-starts in the morning.
That equates to hundreds of millions of dollars.
"In 2008, Pedro Flores and Margarito Flores voluntarily broke away from their positions in the highest echelons of the cartel world to transform themselves into extraordinary witnesses"
They surrendered to law enforcement in November 2008.
Jorge replied: "It isn't my business, it's the government's business…"
“Everyone back home is jealous — they can’t believe I’m at the El Chapo trial,” Greg Gold, a lawyer from Denver, who went to the trail last week told The New York Times. “It’s better entertainment than ‘Les Mis.’”
VICE reporter Keegan Hamilton — who has been sitting in the courthouse during the El Chapo trial — has said the cross-examination between Chapo’s lawyer and Jorge Cifuentes was “effective” in a tweet after Monday’s hearings.
“At first he seemed like a mild-mannered nerd who got wrapped up in drugs after his older brother was murdered,” he wrote. “Now he seems like a ruthless and manipulative drug kingpin testifying to save his own ass.”
Jorge Cifuentes drug trafficking and criminal history was expounded on at length during Monday’s court hearings. The drug trafficker invested $5m in an apparent money laundering scheme and bribed officials to lie about the value of his property and stolen gems.
He had reportedly told the US government during a previous statement: “Everything I’ve breathed and eaten in my life is from drug trafficking.”
The courthouse became a scene of great tension Monday as Chapo’s attorney pressed drug trafficker Jorge Cifuentes about his decision not to supply chemicals to the Sinaloa cartel so they could make meth, while still continuing to provide hundreds of tons of cocaine to the US.
The lawyer reportedly shouted at Mr Cifuentes, “Is cocaine good for young people?!”
The judge presiding over the case quickly jumped in, telling the attorney, “Mr Lichtman, no yelling in the courtroom.”
At one point, Jorge Cifuentes acknowledged he had refused to continued supplying chemicals required to make meth to the Sinaloa cartel.
He added to a previous testimony in which he said he had witnessed a meth lab explode in the mountains near Chapo’s hideout. On Monday, he revealed that he did not like how easily hooked kids became to the drug, which he suggested factored into his decision to stop supplying the cartel with the chemicals.
The Chapo trial resumed Monday with Jorge Cifuentes being questioned by Chapo’s attorney, with the drug trafficker admitting to ordering numerous murders and bribing high-profile Mexican officials, including the former Attorney General Ignacio Morales Lechuga.
There were several tense exchanges and revealing moments throughout his testimony.
In his testimony, Cifuentes has admitted to at least three numbers and some bribery.
Zambada is the son of El Mayo Zambada, El Chapo's alleged partner in the Sinaloa cartel
Agencies contributed to this report
