El Chapo trial - live updates: Guzman paid former Mexican president Pena Nieto a $100m bribe, witness claims

Trial of Joiaquín 'El Chapo' Guzman is expected to last several more weeks

'El Chapo' Guzman's legal team arrives at court

The trial of notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman continues in Brooklyn, New York, and is expected to last into early 2019.

This is the first time a major Mexican drug lord has been tried in a US court and pleaded not guilty. The trial has become increasingly tense in recent days, as Guzman’s attorney seeks to undermine testimonies from major drug traffickers.

Guzman, 61, faces a 17 count indictment that covers nearly three decades of alleged criminal activities. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Follow updates on the trial below

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[16 January 2019 14:54 · Lucy Anna Gray]

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the trial of Joaquín Guzman - also known as El Chapo - in Brooklyn, New York.

[16 January 2019 14:55 · Lucy Anna Gray]

El Chapo once paid a $100 million bribe to former Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto, a witness claimed in court yesterday.

Alex Cifuentes, who has said he was a close associate of Guzman for years, discussed the alleged bribe as part of the accused Mexcan drug lord’s trial. Asked if he told authorities in 2016 that Guzman arranged the bribe, he answered, “That’s right.” 

[16 January 2019 14:59 · Lucy Anna Gray]

Alex Cifuentes also said...

[16 January 2019 15:04 · Lucy Anna Gray]

Pena Nieto has previously denied taking bribes and his former chief of staff took to social media to reject the accusation that El Chapo paid him $100m.

"The declarations of the Colombian drug trafficker in New York are false, defamatory and absurd," wrote Francisco Guzman in a post on Twitter, adding that the Pena Nieto government "located, detained and extradited" the Mexican kingpin.

[16 January 2019 15:09 · Lucy Anna Gray]

El Chapo has been on trial in federal court in Brooklyn since November. He was extradited to the United States in 2017 to face charges of trafficking cocaine, heroin and other drugs into the country as leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. 

[16 January 2019 15:11 · Sarah Harvard]

Cifuentes did not specify if his brother actually gave a bribe or a gift to the alleged DEA agent.

[16 January 2019 15:28 · Lucy Anna Gray]

El Chapo has been accused of working "with an Italian mafia figure in Canada named Tony Suzuki."

The court heard yesterday that the two men allegedly worked together to smuggle a variety of drugs across the border into Canada.

[16 January 2019 15:48 · Lucy Anna Gray]

Alex Cifuentes (L), a close associate of the accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman (R-front) is seen testifying in this courtroom sketch.

REUTERS / Jane Rosenberg 

[16 January 2019 15:49 · Sarah Harvard]

Alex Cifuentes, El Chapo's "right-hand man," testified that he witnessed his brother bribe a man he believed to be a DEA agent.

[16 January 2019 16:00 · Sarah Harvard]

Jeff Lichtman, Chapo's lawyer, brought up past statements Cifuentes gave to US authorities about the alleged DEA bribe. Prosecutors asked the judge to block Lichtman from asking Cifuentes about alleged DEA corruption.