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The trial of Mexican drug lord Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, also known as "El Chapo", is due to begin Monday in New York.
The presumed suspected leader of the Mexican cartel Sinaloa is charged with 17 counts, including conspiracy to murder, drug smuggling and money laundering.
The trial, to be held in Brooklyn federal court, is expected to last more than four months.
According to the indictment, the Sinaloa cartel, which Guzman is accused of directing from 1989 to 2014, has become "the largest drug trafficking organization in the world … with thousands of members" .
US prosecutors claimed that between 1989 and 2014, the cartel had introduced at least 154,626 kg of cocaine into the United States, as well as heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana, bringing in $ 14 billion.
Guzman pleads not guilty, but the US government has presented so much evidence – over 300,000 pages and at least 117,000 audio recordings – that the defense complains that it has not had time to see it all again.
"Nobody will be ready to judge this case as much as he would like," US District Judge Brian Cogan said at a hearing last month.
The final selection of the jury will take place under conditions of security reserved for the most dangerous accused. Cogan will chair the process behind closed doors.
The 12 jurors, with six substitutes, will remain anonymous. US officers will escort them to court every day.
Arrests and escapes
Guzman, 61, is considered the world's greatest drug lord since Colombian Pablo Escobar, nicknamed "The King of Cocaine" and who was one of the richest men in the world until the end of his life. the police killed him in 1993.
After his first arrest in Guatemala in 1993, Guzman spent more than seven years in a Mexican prison before escaping in 2001.
He was arrested again by the Mexican Marine Forces in February 2014, but managed to escape again 14 months later.
Guzman was captured again in January 2016 after visiting Hollywood actor Sean Penn and a Mexican actress, who wanted to make a film about his life, allowed the Mexican authorities to trace him.
This time, Mexico decided to put it in a plane and send it to the United States. Since then, Guzman has spent his time in solitary confinement.
Despite the arrest, the Sinaloa cartel is still powerful.
His codist, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, is still on the run and violent drug trafficking continues unabated in Mexico.
"Drug trafficking does not depend on one person, it depends on a lot of people," Guzman told Rolling Stone magazine during a talk in 2016.
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WATCH: El Chapo Trial: Drug cartel in Sinaloa continues as usual |
SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
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