NEW YORK -– Tuesday is the first full day of jury deliberations in the trial of accused Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
The jury will be deciding if Guzman, 61, was the ruthless boss of the Sinaloa drug cartel or if the government, for some other reason, branded him public enemy number one.
Prosecution witnesses testified about Guzman’s cunning and brutality as he trafficked hundreds of tons of cocaine, heroin and other drugs to New York and locations around the world. Some of those drugs, prosecutors say, were stored in a warehouse in Brooklyn, where the trial is being held amid tight security.
The prosecution says the value of the drugs Guzman controlled stretched into the billions and that he ruled the cartel with deadly efficiency, leaving its enemies shot in the head, incinerated in bonfires and even buried alive.
The defense contends Guzman was just a small cog in a large drug-fueled wheel and that he was set up by witnesses who are liars and lunatics.
Source: wcbs.com
