El Chapo trial: Joaquín Guzman joked about arming infant daughter with AK47 in texts to wife, court hears
Trial of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzman is expected to last four months
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The trial of notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo“ Guzman continues in Brooklyn, New York, and is expected to last into early 2019.
This is the first time a major Mexican drug lord 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 form the trial as they happened
Agencies contributed to this report
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.”
That's all from today's developments at the El Chapo trial in Brooklyn. Be sure to tune in tomorrow as The Independent continues its coverage on the historic case.
Welcome back to our coverage of the El Chapo trial. To start the day, a bit on the tourists that have been turning up to queue for the public gallery each day to try and see the trial.
“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.’”
The day started with more cross examination of Colombian drug trafficker Jorge Cifuentes.
El Chapo's defence team asked whether Cifuentes wanted Guzman convicted
Jorge replied: "It isn't my business, it's the government's business…"
Jorge Cifuentes is set to continue until he lunch break - nothing much more of note.
Next witness is Pedro Flores, a former Chicago drug trafficker who - along with his brother - say they did business Guzman.
According to court papers filed by US prosecutors in Chicago in 2015:
"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.
The Flores brothers made millions of dollars in their partnership with the Sinaloa drug cartel in the 2000s before agreeing to become key government cooperators.
Pedro Flores told the jury that he and his twin brother met face to face with Guzman at a mountainside hideaway in Mexico in 2005.
Flores told court that Guzman hired them to distribute hundreds of thousands of kilos of cocaine in Chicago, New York, Detroit and other US cities.
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