Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, the notorious drug lord known as “El Chapo,” whose dramatic prison escapes fed his legend as an untouchable kingpin running the world’s largest narcotics trafficking group, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison. I will take this opportunity to say there was no justice here.”By decapitating the most powerful organized crime group in Mexico, Justice Department has scored a major victory in its battle against the cartels. In this courtroom sketch, the Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman sits beside his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, during his trial in Brooklyn in January. [Drug lord Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán found guilty on all counts]Prosecutors introduced extensive evidence throughout the trial — including 1 million intercepted messages between alleged cartel members and testimony from 14 cooperating witnesses — detailing ghastly killings in addition to the smuggling. [As El Chapo trial opens, attorneys offer contrasting portraits of ‘mythological’ drug lord]Defense attorneys argued at trial that Guzmán was a scapegoat, railroaded by witnesses who were “gutter human beings” lying to save themselves.

Source: Washington Post July 17, 2019 10:00 UTC