According to a witness, El Chapo allegedly paid a $ 100 million tip to Peña Nieto | World

"Did Mr. Guzman pay a $ 100 million tip to President Peña Nieto?", Asked defense lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman, Alex Cifuentes, a Colombian drug dealer who was a partner of Mexico and now collaborates with the Department of Justice.

"It was so," said Cifuentes during his cross-examination, although this is no longer a certainty afterwards.

"The message was that Guzman was not forced to keep hiding?" Asked the lawyer.

Cifuentes nodded, claiming that it was what El Chapo had told him, with whom he had worked from nearly 2007 until the arrest of the witness in November 2013. He was even came to live with him in the mountains of Sinaloa during the first two years.

In January 2016, when he began to cooperate with the US government, Cifuentes told prosecutors that Peña Nieto, president of Mexico until November 30, had initially demanded a bribe of $ 250 million in El Chapo, and that he had finally gotten 100 million US dollars.

But on Tuesday, he told Lichtman that he no longer remembered the initial amount, reported several US vehicles.

At the same meeting, Cifuentes told the US authorities that a woman named Comadre Maria had delivered $ 100 million from El Chapo to Peña Nieto in October 2012, according to Lichtman. When asked about this on Tuesday, he replied that he did not remember this date well.

El Chapo, accused of trafficking more than 155 tons of drugs to the United States, may be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.

According to Lichtman, the witness also told prosecutors in February 2016 that drug traffickers Beltrán Leyva had paid bribes to former Mexican president Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) in exchange for the bribe. protection of El Chapo and Sinaloa cartel.