On november 13, in Brooklyn, started the trial of “El Chapo”, a well known mexican drug dealer.

Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, also known as “El Chapo” was first arrested in june 1993 in Guatemala and was sentenced to 20 years of prison. In 2001, he escaped out of a maximal security prison but was arrested again in 2014. Unfortunately, he escaped another time in 2015 and was arrested once more in 2016. Right now, he is in trial and is facing prison for life.

The 63 or 61 (government isn’t sure of his date of birth) years old is a giant in the drug world because of his status as the leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico. In 2016, his net worth was estimated at 4 billion U.S. dollars and is called “the godfather of the drug world” by the DEA. He was also called “the biggest drug lord of all time” by Forbes magazine.

The trial started on november 13 and is expected to last to last until early next year. The event is occuring at the federal district court in Brooklyn, New York. El Chapo is standing trial on a 17-count indictment on drug trafficking, murder conspiracy and money laundering charges. The star witness(government side) of the trial is Jesús  Zambada. He is the brother of the second leader of the Sinaloa cartel and he also was a drug trafficker himself. The man has brought much of the evidence.

He said that Guzman and Ismael Zambada, Jesús’s brother, were splitting the profits of the cartel about fifty-fifty. He said that they are the two main leaders of the cartel. Jesús also revealed that Ex-Mexico security chief, Genaro Garcia Luna, was bribed by the Sinaloa cartel. The security chief denied that it happened. El Chapo also denied all charges pressed against him, claiming to be a simple farmer and that he was mistaken with Jesús Zambada’s brother, who would be the only real leader of the cartel.

Written by: Mathieu Champoux

Edited by: Mathieu Champoux, Émile Côté, Étienne Belleau

Words: 352