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NEW YORK – Mexican lord of drugs Joaquin "El Chapo" GuzmanSarkozy's lavish lifestyle was described in detail on the second day of the testimony of the former lieutenant of the Guzman cartel. Government Witness Miguel Angel Martinez Guzman had a private zoo where big cats roamed. Martinez also said that Guzman was so rich that he could buy many beach houses and that the two men would travel together.
Guzman even sought an anti-aging treatment during a trip to Switzerland, according to Martinez.
"Have you heard the murder ordered by the accused?" Attorney Michael Robotti asked Martinez, a former lieutenant of the Sinaloa cartel. He replied, "Yes." Martinez was also asked if Guzman had ever discussed the killing of people. Martinez said that Guzman had told him that it was simple: "Either your mother will cry, or THEIR mother will cry."
In the early 1990s, Martinez said the cartel had experienced a "cocaine boom" and that he had "done everything Mr. Guzman would ask me to do." For this, he was paid $ 1 million a year from 1990.
He said that Guzman's way of life had changed over time. When the two met, "he did not have a jet," Martinez said. In the 1990s, "he had four jets," according to Martinez.
According to a government witness, Jesus Zambada, a diamond-encrusted gun, allegedly belonged to Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, a Mexican drug dealer, in the government's drug trial photo, at the Brooklyn Federal Court in New York. York on November 19, 2018.
United States Department of Justice
Guzman appreciated "whiskey, beer and cognac," said Martinez, and he wore a "38 super pistol with his diamond initialsMartinez said that Guzman's house in Acapulco was worth $ 10 million. She owned ranches, warehouses, a yacht and by Martinez, the ruler's house in Guadalajara was "a very beautiful ranch house with pools and tennis." There was also a zoo with "tigers, lions, panthers , deer and a little train, "said Martinez.
Martinez and Guzman were close. They enjoyed many trips together. "We have traveled the world," said Martinez, before revealing places that seemed to belong to the list: "Brazil, Argentina, Aruba, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Peru, Cuba, Colombia, Panama … almost the whole world. "
They went to "legal" rooster fighting in Macau "to play". But Martinez was not there when he stated that Guzman had gone to Switzerland in "a clinic where you were put cells to keep you young".
All this trip took place with fake identifiers. "I had fake passports, fake identity cards, or even a fake US visa," Martinez said. He also stated that Guzman had traveled with false references. They did it because they "bought machines in the United States and Europe" that could create fake identity cards, Martinez said.
The government witness explained how Guzman's extravagant lifestyle extended to the type of music played in his car. Guzman appreciated "narcocorridos" – a ballad written for a specific person. The lyrics were of use and the witness estimated that they cost between $ 200,000 and $ 500,000 per request to Guzman. Martinez explained that it was a small potato, because part of his job was to deposit "8 or 9 million dollars" in the Mexican banking system every month. Guzman 's jets were regularly filled with money in Tijuana, then sent to Mexico City. Martinez estimates that 8 to 10 million dollars have been put on each jet – and these planes were sent on similar vans "almost every month".
Image of a government exhibition shown at the El Chapo drug smuggling trial in Brooklyn Federal Court in New York on Tuesday November 27, 2018.
United States Department of Justice
Martinez explained in detail how his job was "to receive, exchange, make payments and buy properties". He added that Guzman's life was expensive in that "he had between 4 and 5 women … we all had to pay … and the cartel members."
Martinez testified how he had carried the money in Samsonite suitcases to a bank, made deposits and then paid Guzman's bills in Mexican currency. When the bank officials questioned him and asked him where the money came from, Martinez lied: "I said that I was exporting tomatoes."
After that, he started paying the bank employees.
Martinez said at one point that Guzman had offered him a Rolex diamond. Guzman loved to give gifts. One year, Guzman bought 50 vehicles – a mix of Thunderbirds, Cougars and Buick – to give to his workers. The gesture cost $ 30 to $ 35,000 per vehicle.
At his peak, Guzman regularly traveled with "at least 20 to 25" pistoleros, a person paid to kill. Martinez said during his arrest in 1998: "I think that about a hundred" pistoleros were working for the Sinaloa cartel. These employees were regularly "gifted" with cocaine. One of the first gunmen to work for Guzman would be paid "to kill some person …" and would be armed with "an AK-47, M-16, grenades" and would use jackets. bulletproof, armored cars and would also carry "gas" like tear gas. Martinez estimated that the cartel had spent up to $ 500,000 in armored vehicles. They were modernized in San Antonio. Once, Martinez said he was asked to store "about 100 AK-47s in a warehouse in Guadalajara". The weapons came from the United States and Pakistan. The cartel was buying weapons "one after the other" – every month.
Martinez was not carrying a gun and said "once" that he had a gun in his office, Guzman told him that he "did not want to see me with any gun. .. because I did not know how to use them. " He said that he was never present for murders or kidnappings. And "never" participated in the violence.
That did not stop him from threatening people. Martinez told the jury: "I would get angry two or three times during my travels". He then explained how he was getting road rage. He then explored his own cocaine habits. Martinez said "unfortunately, yes" he used cocaine. He was a daily user between 1987 and 1995, stopping only because his "perforated septum" in 1991 or 1992. He returned there after feeling better.
Martinez said he tried marijuana, but "did not like it". Martinez estimated that 5 to 10 tons of marijuana had been imported into the United States at the time of his involvement, but that this did not suit the cartel because "a kilo took up a lot of space" and was not good compared to the price of cocaine. A kilo of cocaine was sold for $ 15,000 at the time, said Martinez, against only $ 2,000 for marijuana.
Martinez, at one point, went to Thailand in search of a "white heroine". The price was even more appealing at $ 130,000 per kilogram in New York in the early 1990s.
Martinez explained how government regulations came into play when shipping their products disguised as food: "When you cross products from Mexico to the United States, they must have special permission." When the prosecutor, Michael Robotti, asked if this was coming from the "Food and Drug Administration," Martinez said, "it's true."
The members of the cartel, according to Martinez, followed this pattern above with their boxes, boxes and labels "cloned" – packaged as ordinary products of La Comadre. The small group of workers in the cartel who was doing this job was "intoxicated" by pressing kilos because cocaine would be released in the air. The product was loaded on a pallet, then transported from bodegas on 18 wheels. It looked like a legitimate shipment of food, Martinez said. The real boxes of peppers surrounded cartel lure boxes, packed with half a kilo of cocaine and "gravel" to give the illusion that there was food and liquid inside. Martinez said that this method was used to ship 25 to 30 tons of cocaine to the United States for an annual amount of between $ 400 million and $ 500 million.
Image of a government exhibition shown at the El Chapo drug smuggling trial in Brooklyn Federal Court in New York on Tuesday November 27, 2018.
United States Department of Justice
The judge is clearly trying to move the trial forward, telling the prosecution after lunch that the government should "rationalize as we move forward". Robotti told Judge Cogan that they had started with "two of our longest witnesses" and that things would go well.
Martinez explained how Guzman liked to listen to people by wiretapping and explained how it made his boss "efficient". Guzman would place emitters in pens and calculators. He had jammers for phones and the ability to record calls, according to Martinez.
"I saw the machines and heard conversations" in Mr. Guzman's office, Martinez explained. He "saw suitcases where you could record three, four or five cell phones" on tapes. He listened to "everyone he wanted: enemies, friends, companions," Martinez said.
Martinez said Guzman had "the greatest amount of information in the environment" and that it was effective. Guzman has already told Martinez that it was "paramount … to know what everyone was thinking".
After Guzman's first arrest in Guatemala on June 8, 1993, Martinez said he flew to Europe for 45 days, "trying to hide".
"I've never really had the character of being the head of a cartel," he said.
About five months later, Martinez said he met Guzman inside Ciudad Juarez prison. "A lot of politics" delayed his first visit, said Martinez, but when the prison management changed, he made friends with someone close to a prison official. Martinez said the man was paid between $ 30 and $ 40,000 a month. As a result, Guzman got "what he wanted": a cell phone and "eat some food". He asked for "special shoes and special jackets". He also asked to see "all his women" and to cultivate "intimate relationships" with them.
As a lieutenant, part of Martinez's job was to "occupy" Guzman's families while he was in jail. Martinez testified that he took care of Guzman's wife and their four children for five years, until his arrest in 1998. "They were still fine," Martinez said.
At the beginning of the trial, Guzman asked the court permission to take his wife in his arms. This was refused by the court.
Monday's sidebar on "surveillance cameras" capturing Emma Coronel Aispuro with the help of her mobile phone threatens to restrict her contact with the accused. We do not know what will happen with his access or his devices until next week.
The prosecution will continue with Martinez Wednesday morning.
The defense should begin cross-examination on Wednesday.