Mexico to help “El Chapo” family seek US humanitarian visas

2/21/2019 – The Washington Post

(United States Drug Enforcement Administration via AP) (Associated Press)

By the Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says he has instructed his government to assist convicted drug trafficker Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s family in seeking humanitarian visas to visit Guzman in the United States.

Lopez Obrador said Friday that during a visit last week to Guzman’s hometown in Sinaloa state, a lawyer passed him a letter from Guzman’s mother. Lopez Obrador says that she asked for legal and humanitarian support for her son.

Lopez Obrador was announcing a highway construction project in the area.

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El Chapo’s Sons Are Indicted on Drug Conspiracy Charge

2/22/2019 – The New York Times

By Emily Palmer

(Stephen Speranza/The New York Times)

Just a day after Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the drug kingpin known as El Chapo, was convicted of all 10 counts in a drug conspiracy case in Brooklyn, the Department of Justice unsealed another indictment — against two of his younger sons.

That brief four-page indictment, announced by the department on Thursday more than a week after it was unsealed on Feb. 13, charges Joaquín Guzmán López and Ovidio Guzmán López with one count of conspiracy to “knowingly, intentionally, and willfully” distribute cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana for importation into the United States. The indictment entails a period from April 2008 — when their father was running the Sinaloa cartel with his partner, Ismael Zambada — to April 2018.

The two brothers have yet to be arrested and authorities believe that they are in Mexico. If they are arrested there, the United States would have to extradite them to bring them to trial, which would be held under Judge Rudolph Contreras of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

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Mexico seizes more than 1,300 pounds of cocaine at sea

2/21/2019 – The Washington Post

By the Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s navy says it has seized more than 1,300 pounds (630 kilograms) of cocaine from a speedboat off the country’s Pacific coast.

A high-speed pursuit using a navy Black Hawk helicopter eventually stopped the boat that sported four powerful outboard motors.

The navy said in a statement Wednesday that sailors roped down from the hovering helicopter to the boat and detained 15 crew members off the coast of Sinaloa state. Eight of those detained were from Ecuador, four were Colombian and three were Mexican.

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Post-verdict, ‘El Chapo’ jurors rely on anonymity to stay safe

2/14/2019 – Reuters

By Gabriella Borter

(EUTERS/Brendan McDermid)

When U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan read the verdict finding Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman guilty of smuggling tons of drugs to the United States, he warned the 12 jurors who had decided the notorious Mexican drug lord’s fate not to speak to the press.

“Once that door is open, it can’t be closed again,” Cogan told the jury in federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday. The jurors were escorted from the courthouse by armed federal marshals and their identities have been kept secret for fear of retaliation by the Sinaloa Cartel, which El Chapo headed.

Despite the judge’s unusual warning and the extraordinary security measures during the three-month trial, some legal experts said it could be difficult for the jury to remain anonymous and at least one law enforcement agent involved in the chase for Guzman said jurors might be at risk if their identities are leaked.

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Mexico’s president calls El Chapo trial a lesson, looks to future

2/13/2019 – Reuters

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The conviction of drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman in the United States is a lesson that a life of crime and easy money doesn’t bring happiness, Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday.

Lopez Obrador told reporters that allegations in the trial of bribes paid to a former presidents could be investigated if a formal complaint emerged in Mexico, but that his preference, politically, was to prevent future corruption rather than dwell on the past.

Jurors on Tuesday found Guzman guilty of all 10 counts, including running a criminal enterprise, in a trial that began in November in New York.

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El Chapo Was Convicted. Here’s What Happens Next.

2/13/2019 – The New York Times

Stephen Speranza for The New York Times

By Alan Feuer and Emily Palmer

On Tuesday, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the Mexican drug kingpin known as El Chapo, was convicted on drug conspiracy charges in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. This followed an exhaustive three-month trial in which the prosecution dissected almost every detail of Mr. Guzmán’s Sinaloa cartel.

After more than a week of deliberations, jurors found Mr. Guzmán guilty on all 10 charges. Here’s what you need to know about the conviction and what lies ahead for El Chapo.

Why does this matter?

Mr. Guzmán is arguably the most important drug-related figure ever brought to trial in the United States. Prosecutors estimated that in his 30 years as a trafficker, Mr. Guzmán accumulated nearly $14 billion in earnings.

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El Chapo Convicted in Trial That Revealed Drug Cartel’s Brutality and Corruption

2/12/2019 – The New York Times

Eduardo Verdugo/Associated Press

By Alan Feuer

The Mexican crime lord known as El Chapo was convicted on Tuesday after a three-month drug trial in New York that exposed the inner workings of his sprawling cartel, which over decades shipped tons of drugs into the United States and plagued Mexico with relentless bloodshed and corruption.

The guilty verdict against the kingpin, whose real name is Joaquín Guzmán Loera, ended the career of a legendary outlaw who also served as a dark folk hero in Mexico, notorious for his innovative smuggling tactics, his violence against competitors, his storied prison breaks and his nearly unstoppable ability to evade the Mexican authorities.

The jury’s decision came more than a week after the panel started deliberations at the trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn where prosecutors presented a mountain of evidence against the cartel leader, including testimony from 56 witnesses, 14 of whom once worked with Mr. Guzmán. He faces life in prison at his sentencing after being convicted of all 10 counts.

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