Twists, turns in ‘El Chapo’ trial
Secrets, threats, colourful names unveiled a month into proceedings
NEW YORK: From documents under seal and accomplices with colourful nicknames to suspicions about his wife and surreal details about his high-flying lifestyle, the first month of the United States trial of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been loaded with twists and turns.
Some of the key moments and news notes from the proceedings in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn, where the alleged Sinaloa cartel co-founder is facing 11 trafficking, firearms and money laundering charges were released to the media.
The trial, which began on Nov 5 with jury selection, is expected to last four months.
He stands accused of smuggling more than 155 tons of cocaine into the US over a period of 25 years.
Most of the trial documents have been kept under wraps: they are classified. Neither the media nor the public can access the motions or communications between the two sides and Judge Brian Cogan.
El Chapo’s wife, 29-year-old former beauty queen Emma Coronel, has been a star of the trial so far.
She sits in the public gallery each day, smiling at her husband and bringing him fresh suits to wear.
Coronel’s body-hugging wardrobe and stilettos have raised eyebrows.
Prosecutors are certainly watching her. Since Guzman’s extradition to the US in January 2017, she has been barred from visiting him and cannot speak to him on the telephone.
Only attorneys are allowed to use telephones in the courthouse.
Federal attorneys cried foul when it emerged that despite those bans, she allegedly used the cell phone of one of Guzman’s attorneys in a courthouse cafeteria last month.
Prosecutors said she could have used it to talk to her husband, though he is not believed to have access to a phone.
Coronel downplayed the incident, and accepted explanations that she was using the phone for translation purposes.
Attorneys for El Chapo said a mysterious statue of Jesus Malverde – the so-called patron saint of drug traffickers, a gangster born in 1870 in Guzman’s home state of Sinaloa who gave his ill-gotten gains to the poor – appeared in the room next to their workroom.
A few days later, it was gone. “Where is Jesus Malverde?” tweeted Eduardo Balarezo, Guzman’s showy lawyer.
There must be an unspoken rule that drug traffickers and their associates must have nicknames. In a month of hearings, each one mentioned in court had a more colorful moniker.
Guzman, of course, is El Chapo, or “Shorty.” He also goes by “Speedy” for his ability to get cocaine into the US quickly.
Another of his nicknames is “The Architect,” for dreaming up the networks of tunnels under the US-Mexico border that allowed him to get narcotics into the United States with ease.
Guzman’s brother is called “El Pollo”, or “The Chicken.”
The brother of his main associate within the Sinaloa cartel – now a key witness for the prosecution – is called The King. — AFP