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
Today, Edgar Ivan Galvan, the witness who gave that testimony has been back on the stand this morning.
He has been asked by the defense about his previous lies to law enforcement, including an example in 2005.
Galvan says he "used to be" a good liar.
According to Vice reporter Keegan Hamilton, someone in the courtroom had a bit of bit of fun this morning when the lights went out for a moment.
As for this afternoon, a witness from the FBI is expected to take to the stand.
An undercover FBI agent said he met with Christian Rodriguez, an IT specialist, who developed an encrypted network for El Chapo and his partners in Colombia.
The FBI undercover agent, posing as a gangster, met with El Chapo's IT guy and asked for help in making phone calls while evading government surveillance. The agent was able to launch a secret operation that allowed the FBI to crack into El Chapo's communications, and listen in on over 200 phone calls with the druglord and his associates.
El Chapo's attorney, Eduardo Balarezo, filed a measure against the government's motion to seal a letter regarding a witness.
Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, announced he introduced the El Chapo Act last week that would "reserve any amounts forfeited to the US gov as a result of criminal prosecution of "El Chapo," and other drug kingpins for border security assets and to build President Trump's steel border wall between the United States and Mexico.
The court played calls the FBI were able to intercept. New York Times reporter Alan Feuer believe more damaging calls could be played soon.
The FBI agent had to verify El Chapo's voice in the recordings. The court used a sample of El Chapo's voice recordings: one from his infamous Rolling Stone interview and another from a federal jail in Manhattan
VICE reporter Keegan Hamilton said the calls played today were "innocuous." The recordings discussed a road being paved in El Chapo's hometown and one of his wife asking for money.
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