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Mr. Zambada recalled that he first put Mr. Guzmán in 2001, only hours after the kingpin escaped from the Puente Grande prison. That day, Mr. Zambada told the jury, he helped his brother – known as Mayo, a diminutive of Ismael – arrange to helicopter to swoop down and ferry Mr. Guzmán to safety.
Ismael Zambada figured heavily in the defense's opening statements on Tuesday. Mr. Guzmán's lawyers admitted him to being the leader of the Sinaloa cartel and claimed that their client had been framed by his onetime partner in a conspiracy that included paid-off Mexican officials and "crooked" American drug agents.
The prosecution, infuriated by the claims, filed an unusual motion late Tuesday to strike the entire presentation, saying it was based on hearsay and violated an evidentiary ruling issued by Judge Brian M. Cogan. On Wednesday morning, Judge Cogan denied the motion Mr. Guzman is facing.
Mr. Zambada will take over the witness stand on Thursday morning, when he is likely to face a cross-examination focused on the numerous murders he is said to have committed to the cartel.
On Wednesday, one of Mr. Guzmán's lawyers, Jeffrey Lichtman, who is not one of the other names in the industry. They included the drug dealer Miguel Angel Martínez, who said Mr. Lichtman had a four-gram-a-day cocaine habit; and another trafficker, Alex Cifuentes, who worked for Pablo Escobar, the boss of Colombia's Medellin cartel.
He referred to the government's witnesses as "degenerates" and "people who will make your skin crawl."
Mr. Lichtman also asked Mr. Guzmán's onetime right-hand man, Cesar Castelum, who is said to have been elected President of Honduras. Mr. Castelum is expected to testify that Mr. Guzmán was not a millionaire and was always broke and always asking for money, Mr. Lichtman said.
"This case," he added, "is built on a foundation of lies."
