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.
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
Former Colombian drug lord, Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, testified on Thursday about his lucrative drug-trafficking alliance with ‘El Chapo’. Ramirez Abadia is known for have several plastic surgery operations on his face intended to “hide his identity”.
He told the jury in New York that he bribed authorities in Colombia to destroy any criminal records naming him to better stay ahead of the law while he was overseeing the Norte del Valle cartel.
Guzman, 61, faces 17 criminal counts and a possible sentence of life in prison. He has been subject to exceptionally tight security protocols, known as special administrative measures or SAMs, thanks to his two escapes from high-security Mexican prisons and what prosecutors have described as a history of intimidating witnesses.
Prosecutors said in Tuesday's motion that some people, whose names were redacted, "appear to have used cellular telephones in concert with an attorney visit to the defendant following two trial days last week to facilitate unauthorized and, under the SAMs, impermissible contact between the defendant and M. Coronel."
Security is so stringent that Guzman was not even allowed a brief hug with Ms Coronel at the outset of the trial.
One witness yesterday had his appearance protected, with courtroom sketch artists not allowed to draw him.
"I knew that he was the boss," Mr Martinez said when a prosecutor, Assistant US Attorney Michael Robotti, asked him about Guzman's role in the organization. "Since I met him, he would give all of us orders."
Guzman, 61, was extradited from Mexico in January 2017 and faces life in prison if convicted. His lawyers are seeking to prove that another drug lord, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, actually ran the cartel and used Guzman as a scapegoat.
Miguel Angel Martinez, who described himself as a former manager in the cartel, took the witness stand on the sixth day of Guzman's drug trafficking trial, testifying under an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors. For his safety, court sketch artists were ordered not to draw an accurate likeness of him.
His name will be made public
However, there are fears he could be targeted by the cartel.
The Mexican government has denied any suggestion of such allegations.
Agencies contributed to this report
