Notorious drug cartel boss 'El Chapo' found guilty in U.S. court

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02:13

The world's most infamous cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who rose from poverty in rural Mexico to amass billions of dollars, was found guilty in a U.S. court on Tuesday of smuggling tonnes of drugs to the United States over a violent, colorful, decades-long career.

Jurors in federal court in Brooklyn convicted Guzman, 61, head of the Sinaloa Cartel, on all 10 counts brought by U.S. prosecutors.

Richard Donoghue, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said he expected Guzman to receive life without parole when sentenced on June 25.

Guzman, one of the major figures in Mexican drug wars that have roiled the country since 2006, became almost legendary for escaping from Mexican high-security jails twice and avoiding massive manhunts.

He cultivated a Robin Hood image among the poor in his home state of Sinaloa.

Guzman was extradited to the United States for trial in 2017 after he was arrested in Mexico the year before.

Though other high-ranking cartel figures had been extradited previously, Guzman was the first to go to trial instead of pleading guilty.

The 11-week trial, with testimony from more than 50 witnesses, offered an unprecedented look at the inner workings of the Sinaloa Cartel, named for the state in northwestern Mexico where Guzman was born in a poor mountain village.

The U.S. government said Guzman trafficked tonnes of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine into the United States over more than two decades, consolidating his power in Mexico through murders and wars with rival cartels.

Guzman's smuggling exploits, the violence he used and the sheer size of his illicit business made him the world's most notorious drug baron since Colombia's Pablo Escobar, who was shot dead by police in 1993.

Guzman's lawyers have said they will appeal the conviction.

Source(s): Reuters