This guy pacing around outside the courthouse yelling “free El Chapo.”
I ask, “Why should he be free?”
He responds, “He’s not charged with killing anyone is he?”
“Well, he’s accused of 33 murders.”
“Oh shit, really?”
BREAKING: Statement released by El Mayo Zambada through his lawyer says he was ambushed when expecting to meet Rubén Rocha Moya, the governor of Sinaloa, and Héctor Melesio Cuen Ojeda, politician who was killed on the days of the arrests.
Most exciting moment was before the trial got underway this morning. The lights briefly went out, it was pitch black inside the courtroom. When the lights came back on, somebody shouted, "He's gone!" Chapo hadn't moved. Everybody laughed, except maybe the US Marshals.
ADX Florence is the so-called "Alcatraz of the Rockies," where the US sends its most dangerous criminals.
They spend years in extreme solitary confinement.
This is what happens when they are released.
My story
@vicenews
:
"El Rey said he personally handed over $300,000 per month in bribes while he was based in Mexico City, corrupting nearly every level of law enforcement in the Mexican capital…"
#SCOTUS
rules 5-4 in Hernandez v. Mesa that the family of a Mexican teenager who was killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in a cross-border shooting cannot sue the agent for damages under the U.S. Constitution
US Department of Justice spokesperson tells
@VICENews
this morning:
“The United States reserves the right to recommence its prosecution of Cienfuegos if the Government of Mexico fails to do so.”
To recap…
Oct. 15, 2020 - Mexican Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos arrested by DEA, charged w/ narco-corruption.
Nov. 17, 2020 - US drops charges under pressure from Mexico, which vows to investigate when he's sent back.
Today: Mexico says Cienfuegos will not face prosecution
#BREAKING
: New statement from Frank Perez, lawyer for El Mayo Zambada, who says his client was “forcibly kidnapped” by El Chapo’s son
Story coming soon
@latimes
A cartel hit caught on camera in Culiacán, Sinaloa.
The gunmen catch their target by surprise. It's over in seconds.
The victim is reportedly an elite police officer who was involved in the botched capture of El Chapo's son.
#Breaking
: El Mayo's lawyer says he just entered a not guilty plea to all charges in El Paso federal court.
Attorney Frank Perez: “I have no comment except to state that he did not surrender voluntarily; he was brought against his will.”
Updated story coming soon
@latimes
…
Genaro Garcia Luna, the Secretary of Public Security in Mexico from 2006-2012, has been arrested in the US and charged w/ taking "millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel"
Hello from Day 36 of El Chapo's trial.
Today the defense will call its first and only witness — and it won't be Chapo. He told the judge yesterday he will not to testify.
The defense will rest its case today. Closing statements set for Weds/Thurs. A verdict could come Friday…
The brother of Dámaso López aka El Licenciado — El Chapo's former right-hand man and a cooperating witness at the trial — was murdered yesterday in Sinaloa…
On a press call w/
@XavierBecerra
, who says the number of unaccompanied migrant children at the Fort Bliss emergency intake site is now at 790, down from over 4,000 about a month ago: "in many ways it's a blessing”
Genaro García Luna update. Prosecutors reveal more evidence, including:
-"Financial and business records"
-"Files from Mexican law enforcement"
-"Intercepted communications"
Also 80+ kilos of cocaine, some seized from "the Gatun vessel," a boat mentioned in El Chapo's trial.
Here's the testimony from yesterday (plus the sidebar) from Rey Zambada about the alleged $7 million payment to AMLO's campaign against Fox.
Prosecutors: "I have some concerns that this witness -- we're talking about a sitting president, and this witness has family in Mexico."
Stephen Miller’s uncle: “Almost every American family has an immigration story of its own based on flight from war, poverty, famine, persecution, fear or hopelessness. These immigrants became the workers, entrepreneurs, scientists and soldiers of America.”
BREAKING update in the Genaro García Luna trial — Judge Cogan just issued a ruling that reveals the names of multiple potential cooperating witnesses, including:
-Rey Zambada
-Sergio Villarreal Barragán aka El Grande
-Edgar Veytia aka El Diablo
Thread…
Hello from Day 39 of El Chapo’s trial.
Here’s his security convoy crossing the Brooklyn Bridge and bringing him to the courthouse.
The jury will begin deliberations this morning.
#ULTIMAHORA
Detienen al hijo de El Chapo Guzmán, Iván Archibaldo Guzmán, lo que está ocasionando una fuerte balacera en
#Culiac
án
#Sinaloa
en esta ciudad
My latest
@VICENews
: I made a 3D-printed Glock pistol and entered the first-ever shooting competition exclusively for "ghost guns" and homemade firearms.
This was an eye-opening experience. Incredible to see how advanced 3D-printed guns are these days…
The details here are disturbing — court docs say Chapo drugged the girls by "placing a powdery substance into their drinks" — but the allegation that Chapo had sex with underage girls isn't new. DEA agent Drew Hogan told us about it in the podcast:
The reason this didn't come up during the trial is that one of the cooperating witnesses — Alex Cifuentes — was also having sex with young girls and helping Chapo drug them. The government didn't want that info to come up on cross-examination.
Excited to announce that today is my first day at
@latimes
, where I'll be working as Criminal Justice Editor, helping a stellar news team cover all things cops, courts, and crime. Stay tuned and, as always, please send tips and story ideas via contact info in my bio.
@vicenews
@EPN
#BREAKING
@vicenews
: More testimony just now about presidential corruption in Mexico. Alex Cifuentes told U.S. law enforcement in February 2016 that the Beltrán-Leyva organization paid Felipe Calderón (
@FelipeCalderon
) for protection against El Chapo and the Sinaloa cartel.
Good morning from the trial of Genaro Garcia Luna in Brooklyn.
This could be the last day of testimony, with El Mayo’s brother Rey Zambada expected to take the stand.
Stay tuned for updates on this thread…
BOP reports first death of female prisoner in the coronavirus outbreak.
Andrea Circle Bear, 30, was pregnant and had just gone to prison on a 2-year drug sentence. Her baby survived.
It's the first death at FMC Carswell and the 30th overall in the federal system.
Just published
@vicenews
:
El Chapo's trial is almost over. It's been an absolutely wild ride.
Here are my most memorable moments, including The Helicopter Crash at the Ostrich Ranch, The Poisoned Arepa, The Naked Escape, and many more…
#BREAKING
@vicenews
: Ismael Zambada-Imperial aka El Mayito Gordo — the son of Sinaloa cartel leader El Mayo Zambada — was extradited last night from Mexico to the United States, according to court records and a source close to the case.
Asked how much time passed between the gunman arriving at the school and being killed, Texas’ Director of Public Safety offered an indefinite response:
“Forty minutes, an hour. But I don’t want to give you a particular timeline.”
via
@misstessowen
A vote to watch: Oregon's Measure 110.
It would decriminalize possession of all drugs — heroin, cocaine, meth, etc, using money saved on cops/courts for addiction treatment + public health.
A potentially historic first in the US, shifting to how Portugal has handled drugs…
Genaro Garcia Luna case update
Latest batch of evidence handed over by federal prosecutors includes:
-"Intercepted communications"
-"Files from Mexican law enforcement"
-"Ledgers and business and financial records"
Mexico's former top cop due back in court Oct. 7…
Mollie Tibbetts' father: "The Hispanic community are Iowans. They have the same values as Iowans. As far as I'm concerned, they're Iowans with better food."
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have charged Mexico's former top cop — Genaro García Luna — with leading a "Continuing Criminal Enterprise," the same charge used against El Chapo.
GGL and two others are accused of taking "multimillion-dollar bribes" from the Sinaloa cartel.
It’s El Chapo day at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn. The trial starts today with jury selection. It’s early but lots of media and security outside already. Stay tuned for updates
@vicenews
.
Good morning from the trial of Genaro García Luna.
The government and defense rested their cases yesterday, so now it's time for closing statements.
The fate of Mexico's former top law enforcement officer will soon be in the hands of 12 Brooklyn jurors…
The CDC still hasn’t explained exactly what went wrong with the botched rollout of its COVID-19 test kits.
My story
@vicenews
on the evidence that suggests they bungled a step in the test design process that most scientists consider to be rudimentary.
@vicenews
#BREAKING
@vicenews
: Witness Alex Cifuentes just testified about bribes paid by El Chapo to former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (
@EPN
). Testimony covered his past statements to US law enforcement, which included claims that EPN asked for $250M and that Chapo paid $100M.
We spent the last year
@vicenews
making a podcast about fentanyl, including this wild trip to Sinaloa last year where we gained access to a cartel smuggling operation.
José Rodrigo Aréchiga Gamboa, an ex-Sinaloa cartel enforcer known as "Chino Ántrax" was released from US custody last month and promptly "absconded from supervised release," per new court document.
He "planned to reside in Mexico post-release."
Current whereabouts: "Unknown"
After almost 9 years
@VICENews
, today was my last day. It's been a wild ride and a true pleasure working with some of the best journalists in the business. Looking forward to whatever comes next!
#BREAKING
: US prosecutors link Genaro Garcia Luna to Ivan Reyes Arzate, a member of an elite Mexican police unit specially vetted by the DEA.
Reyes Arzate is accused of leaking secrets to Beltran-Leyva Organization "for at least hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes"
I'm hosting a new
@vicenews
podcast about El Chapo.
In episode 1, we meet a heroin trafficker and visit a murder scene in the Sinaloa cartel stronghold of Culiacán.
Spotify:
YouTube:
iTunes:
All of this is coming out now because lawyers for
@nytimes
and
@vicenews
sent letters to Judge Cogan pushing for court documents to be unsealed. This is why media companies matter — the public deserves to have this information.
The jurors seemed to be avoiding eye contact with Chapo. The defense asked the judge to poll each of the 12 jurors to confirm the accuracy of the verdict. Each said "yes" in quick succession, no hesitation.
To recap…
Oct. 15, 2020 - Mexican Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos arrested by DEA, charged w/ narco-corruption.
Nov. 17, 2020 - US drops charges under pressure from Mexico, which vows to investigate when he's sent back.
Today: Mexico says Cienfuegos will not face prosecution
Luego de analizar los elementos probatorios enviados por las autoridades norteamericanas y los aportados por el Gral Salvador Cienfuegos; la
#FGR
concluyó que él no sostuvo encuentro ni comunicación con grupo delictivo alguno. Por lo que se determinó no ejercer acción penal.
The “Commadre Maria” identified in court docs as sending young girls to Chapo was also the person that Alex Cifuentes said was used to deliver a $100 million bribe to Enrique Peña Nieto in 2012.
#BREAKING
@vicenews
: The Chapo verdict is *GUILTY* on all counts.
After 13 long weeks, the trial is over.
Chapo now faces a mandatory sentence of life with no parole in a US federal prison.
Genaro García Luna update:
-He's due in court next week, attorneys request "Complex Case Designation"
-Prosecutors say they have a ton of evidence, including classified material and "seized electronic devices"
-Alleged GGL corruption "spans nearly two decades"
"
@VICENews
has uncovered the accounts of 15 women who said that they underwent gynecological procedures that they didn’t want, didn’t understand, or found deeply painful"
Latest on the scandal at ICE's Irwin County Detention Center…
via
@GiannaToboni
The Mexican government has estimated that 200,000 firearms are smuggled from the United States each year. This footage from our latest piece
@VICENews
shows how those guns cross the border.
I first met Danny Elliott over two years ago, after he lost access to pain medication because the DEA raided his doctor's office in Georgia.
This month, it happened again. Now Danny and his wife Gretchen are dead by suicide.
Their story
@VICENews
:
Rafael Caro Quintero's nephew was captured by the Mexican military today in Culiacán, Sinaloa.
The operation was reportedly over in about 10 minutes and the suspect was taken away by helicopter. No shootout or repeat of what happened w/ El Chapo's son…
DEA found another drug tunnel stretching ~2,000 feet under the border from Tijuana to San Diego.
Also seized 1,300 lbs of cocaine, 86 lbs of meth, 17 lbs of heroin, 3,000 pounds of weed, 2 lbs of fentanyl worth ~$29.6 million.
Tunnel had ventilation, lighting, rail system.
Afterward, Judge Cogan thanked the jury for being so careful and methodical in their deliberations: "The way you went about it was really quite remarkable and frankly it made me proud to be an American."
Several Genaro García Luna documents from earlier in the trial were unsealed today. This one shows prosecutors wanted to ask him about:
"efforts to pay for positive media specifically to tamp down reporting related to his association with El Chapo"
Chapo looked a bit stunned as the verdict was read. He locked eyes with his wife Emma Coronel as he was being escorted out of the courtroom and nodded at her several times. She was fighting back tears as she flashed him a thumbs up.
Hello from day 5 of Genaro García Luna’s trial in Brooklyn.
Expecting a full day of testimony from “El Grande,” an ex-cop and cartel boss who described rampant corruption at every level of the Mexican police.
Stay tuned for updates
@VICENews
…
Story out now
@latimes
w/ new details:
Lawyer says Zambada was traveling with a light security detail when called to a meeting with El Chapo's son
More coming soon…
#BREAKING
: New statement from Frank Perez, lawyer for El Mayo Zambada, who says his client was “forcibly kidnapped” by El Chapo’s son
Story coming soon
@latimes
A vote to watch: Oregon's Measure 110.
It would decriminalize possession of all drugs — heroin, cocaine, meth, etc, using money saved on cops/courts for addiction treatment + public health.
A potentially historic first in the US, shifting to how Portugal has handled drugs…
Cienfuegos story out now
@VICENews
w/
@ngjanowitz
includes this quote from a US law enforcement official:
“I’m not really that disappointed. I'd resigned myself to this being the end result. It's just not that surprising. Mexico is a narco state.”
Hello from the trial of Genaro García Luna, where jury deliberations are set to start this morning.
My story
@VICENews
on why he's got a shot at beating the charges and winning an acquittal or hung jury…
One bombshell: In 1997, Vicente Zambada visited Los Pinos (Mexico's White House) to meet w/ General Roberto Miranda, a high-ranking officer under then-President Zedillo. Not clear if Miranda was on Mayo's payroll. A very clear mention that President Zedillo was not.
“If it’s performance enhancing, why did you spend 60 years saying it causes amotivational syndrome? And if it harms the athletes, how is it performance enhancing?”
via
@VICENews
Sinaloa cartel members say the coronavirus outbreak is fucking up the drug business.
My latest
@vicenews
w/ help from
@MAVEGAO
and photos by
@miguelfdzflores
from our visit to a clandestine heroin/fentanyl lab in Culiacán.
Folks, you know it's going to be a good day at the trial: El Chapo just came into the courtroom wearing a red velvet smoking jacket with a red silk pocket square. It's quite the look. Very Hugh Hefner.
Hello again from the trial of Genaro Garcia Luna. This will be week 3 of testimony against Mexico’s former top law enforcement official accused of narco-corruption.
So far we’ve heard from several ex-Sinaloa Cartel members. Stay tuned for updates today…
The contrast between El Chapo's defense and the government could not have been more striking. Prosecutors spent 11 weeks calling 56 witnesses. The defense called just one who was on the stand for less than half an hour. The jury has to be wondering what the hell just happened.
#BREAKING
: I spoke with the family of Aaron Campbell, an inmate at FCI Elkton, the federal prison in Ohio where 3 people have died from COVID-19.
Campbell used a smuggled cellphone to post a desperate plea for help w/ the outbreak on Facebook:
@vicenews
Good morning from day 4 of Genaro García Luna’s trial.
Opening statements set for this morning, followed by the first witness. Will it be the person allegedly involved in cannibalism, or the one who believes in aliens?
Stay tuned…
@VICENews
The government filed a motion last night asking the judge to impose sanctions on one of El Chapo's lawyers.
The issue: El Chapo's wife used a cellphone in court, which prosecutors say led to "unuathorized" and "impermissible" contact with her husband
Here is the criminal complaint filed against El Chapo's wife Emma Coronel Aispuro.
She's charged w/ conspiracy to distribute cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana for import into the US, also allegedly helped w/ Chapo's 2015 escape from Altiplano prison
El Chapo's mom and sisters say they obtained special visas that will allow them to visit him in jail in the US.
I tried to figure out what strings were pulled in order to make that happen: via
@vicenews