Gangster is still a celeb in Mexico

He may be a jailed drug lord who has left behind a trail of bodies while pumping tons of narcotics into the US, but Joaquin “El Chapo’’ Guzman is still a hero in Mexico — and his cartel is thriving.

As Guzman, 61, went on trial in Brooklyn federal court Tuesday, street vendors in the city of Culiacan hawked figurines of the cutthroat drug kingpin toting guns. Other items for sale included hats emblazoned with “701” — Guzman’s ranking on Forbes’ 2009 billionaires list, according to Agence France-Presse.

“El Chapo was a media star,’’ said Tomas Guevara, a sociologist at the University of Sinaloa. “He had a theatrical streak, and that put the spotlight on him even more.’’

And while Guzman has been cooling his heels in maximum-security prison since his most recent arrest in Mexico in 2016 and extradition to the US the next year, his powerful gang is doing just fine.

Last week, $5 billion worth of methamphetamine tied to his Sinaloa Cartel was seized in Mexico, according to the Mexico News Daily.

The narcotics were discovered on land controlled by the enterprise and likely belong to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who has been running the show while partner Guzman stands trial.

Last month, authorities also nabbed about $10 million worth of drugs and weapons in California — a stash that the Sinaloa Cartel was also likely responsible for, Fox Business reported.

“Though El Chapo has been the leader and architect, ‘cutting off the head of the snake’ does not always kill the snake,” Michael Balboni, a former New York state homeland-security adviser and the managing director of RedLand Strategies, told Fox.