*GUILTY* EL Chapo - Drug Cartel Chief, arrested Trafficking/conspiracy/firearms

[YESorNO]

Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 26m26 minutes ago
Alex Cifuentes said that he sold cocaine and heroin in New York on behalf of Chapo from 2008 til 2010. Shipments came into the city every 8-15 days, which he noted wasn’t all that often. At the time, cocaine went for $40,000/ kilo and heroin – always pricier – for $44,000/ kilo.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 27m27 minutes ago
Alex Cifuentes enlisted two Dominicans, Antonio and La Serie, to run operations in “los torres” the code name for New York, meaning “the towers.” (They handled large denomination bills – mostly $100s and $50s and no less than $20s.)


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 26m26 minutes ago
Looking to further expand, Chapo also wanted to establish a landing strip in the Dominican Republic – serving as a springboard for his drugs from Venezuela to Mexico.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 26m26 minutes ago
A few code names used amongst the cartel at this time: “muebles” meaning “furniture” for “plane,” “los torres” meaning “the towers” for “New York” and “Loco’s” for “Venezuela,” because they called the then-president of the country, Hugo Chávez, “Loco Chavez.”


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 22m22 minutes ago
Of all the drugs we’ve talked about in the trial so far, meth - which is widely used in parts of the U.S. - is far less mentioned than most. Today Alex Cifuentes said he was influential in shipping ephedrine, the main ingredient in meth.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 20m20 minutes ago
Alex Cifuentes said the cartel’s produced ephedrine included the blood vessel irritant monoethanolamine, which was supposed to cause anxiety among users, pushing them to take more to ease the feeling. Instead, users complained of headaches.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 20m20 minutes ago
Andrea Velez was the Miss Moneypenny of the Cifuentes family. Just about every anecdote Alex Cifuentes has told starts with this “friend” and secretary. Among other tasks, she researched drug prices and tried to locate targets. (“Give me his last name, he must have Facebook.”)


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 20m20 minutes ago
In case Andrea Velez’s name sounds familiar: It should be. Alex Cifuentes’s trusty secretary is the other informant on the F.B.I. payroll. (The other, better paid one was Cristian Rodriguez, Chapo’s I.T. guy.)


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 21m21 minutes ago
Drug shipments into New York halted in 2010, but a few years later in 2013, Alex Cifuentes put the feelers out to re-establish cartel operations there. Who do you think he reached out to? His go-to secretary, Andrea, of course.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 21m21 minutes ago
After Alex Cifuentes’s nephew, Jaime Roll, tried to kidnap Alex’s mother and stole some of Chapo’s cocaine, the Cifuentes clan decided to off their own heir. Andrea had a connection in Medellín named Timberiche who was tapped to help.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 21m21 minutes ago
But in a twist of cartel charity, Timberiche ultimately convinced Chapo to hold off and look into the situation further to make sure there hadn’t been a misunderstanding. (Jaime Roll is therefore still alive.)


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 21m21 minutes ago
In 2008 Chapo and his right-and-left-hand man, Alex Cifuentes, began to suspect an associate, Juan Bonito, of being a snitch. Chapo said he’d pay $50,000 to off Bonito. (But ultimately, he was not killed either.)


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 21m21 minutes ago
Alex Cifuentes said that he also helped get Chapo firearms, securing him a selection of “C4 explosives, grenades and RPG rifles” from Honduras, as well as other firearms from Ecuador.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 20m20 minutes ago
“Ráfaga” is Spanish for “burst” or “explosion” and when it comes to assault rifles that means (in Alex Cifuentes’s mild wording) that more than one shot comes out at a time. When asked if Chapo’s assault rifles had the ráfaga capability, Alex said “todas” -- all of them.
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 29m29 minutes ago
In other Chapo trial news, Judge Cogan has responded to letters from @nytimes and @vicenews by ordering parts of the case docket to be unsealed. Some documents will remain secret, but this is a big step in the direction of transparency.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5684434-El-Chapo-trial-Judge-Cogan-s-order-in-response.html …

VICE News‏Verified account @vicenews 28m28 minutes ago
What is El Chapo doing in a courtroom in Brooklyn? @keegan_hamilton joined @today_explained to talk his coverage of the trial and our podcast Chapo: Kingpin on Trial. Listen now

Chapo Big House
Today, Explained

"Brooklyn really does have everything: a basketball team, a laundromat-pinball bar, and now the drug lord trial of the century. Keegan Hamilton, host of the “Chapo” podcast from Vice News, explains what it’s like to stare deep into the eyes of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, aka “El Chapo”."

Chapo Big House


VICE News‏Verified account @vicenews 36m36 minutes ago
And once you're done listening to @today_explained. Head over to @Spotify and listen to every episode of Chapo: Kingpin on Trial

Chapo: Kingpin on Trial
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2m2 minutes ago
Keegan Hamilton Retweeted AUSTIN

A bonus episode about the trial is coming soon…

---AUSTIN‏ @the_Real_Antko
Replying to @vicenews @VICE and
Are there more episodes coming?
3:27 PM - 14 Jan 2019

 

[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 15m15 minutes ago
By the end of the day, Alex had testified about much more cartel business: buying C-4 explosives from from the widow of a Honduran drug trafficker and rocket-propelled grenade launchers from the corrupt Ecuadorian Army captain who working with Chapo.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 12m12 minutes ago
He also talked about moving $ from the US to Mexico & then to Colombia. Some of the $ was put on debit cards issued by a company his brother Jorge started with a partner. Some passed thru a crooked insurance firm in Atlanta. Some was sent by wire transfer from banks in China.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 11m11 minutes ago
All of this insanity was on top of the bizarre scandal that erupted over the weekend involving one of Chapo's lawyers, Jeff Lichtman. According to the NY Post, Lichtman had an affair w/a client in a separate case w/whom he exchanged steamy texts messages.

Sarma Melngailis had a steamy affair with her married lawyer

January 12, 2019

https://nypost.com/2019/01/12/sarma-melngailis-had-an-x-rated-relationship-with-her-married-lawyer/


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 8m8 minutes ago
The story would've been irrelevant had Lichtman not joked w/the woman about bringing "a belly dancer" into jail to visit Chapo. The judge had to deal with the issue. This morning he spoke w/the jurors personally to make sure they hadn't read the piece and weren't affected.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 10m10 minutes ago
"I received an absolutely unambiguous adamant, 'What are you talking about, judge?'" he reported on his conversation w/the panel.
"It's clear to me they really did--not one of them--have any idea what I was talking about."


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 9m9 minutes ago
So that was today. What on earth will tomorrow hold?
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[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 35m35 minutes ago
Alan Feuer Retweeted Alan Feuer

If you've ever been curious about how El Chapo lived on the lam in the mountains of Mexico, see below. You'll find him rising late, chatting on a long-range cordless, eating his wife's enchiladas, trysting w/his mistresses, planning to direct a film about himself & much more...

--- Alan Feuer on Twitter


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3m3 minutes ago
We heard testimony today that Chapo planned to make a movie about his life way back in 2007, which predates the Sean Penn fiasco. The defense maintains that Chapo's taped interview w/ Rolling Stone was for a movie script. Hear @balarezolaw discuss it here:

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[YESorNO]

El Chapo lawyer who sexted Sarma Melngailis may be barred from visiting drug lord

January 13, 2019

"The cringeworthy text messages that revealed an affair between the “Vegan Bernie Madoff” and her lawyer could lead to major problems for the attorney as he represents accused drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman’s texts regarding Guzman to crooked “kinky beets” restaurateur Sarma Melngailis, his client and lover, are certain to come under official scrutiny and may get him barred from visiting the Mexican cartel boss in jail, legal experts told The Post on Sunday.

A former federal prosecutor said the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office would likely launch a probe into Lichtman’s claim that he was “hiring a belly dancer” to visit with Guzman....."

https://nypost.com/2019/01/13/el-ch...gailis-may-be-barred-from-visiting-drug-lord/
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Jurors questioned about steamy affair El Chapo’s lawyer had with vegan chef client

January 14, 2019

"Jurors in the El Chapo trial were questioned Monday about The Post’s weekend coverage of the steamy affair the drug lord’s attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, had with his vegan client.

Immediately after taking the bench in Brooklyn federal court, Judge Brian Cogan announced that the attorneys in the Chapo case wanted to “discuss the potential effects of a certain media coverage that tangentially related to the case over the weekend.”
The jurist was referring to a handful of Post stories revealing the X-rated relationship between Lichtman, a married father known for repping John “Junior” Gotti, and convicted restaurateur Sarma Melngailis.

“The attorneys wanted me to inquire of the jury on the record privately to see if any of them had been exposed or if anyone had seen or heard of the article in question,” Cogan explained.

After polling the 12 jurors in the jury room, Cogan said he received a “unanimous adamant, ‘What are you talking about, judge?'” — indicating they weren’t aware of news of Lichtman’s affair.

“It is clear to me that they did not have any idea what I was talking about,” Cogan said. “For me, that closes the matter.”..."

https://nypost.com/2019/01/14/juror...ffair-el-chapos-lawyer-had-with-vegan-client/
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El Chapo attorney's affair, sexting steals spotlight at trial

January 14, 2019

"It’s not often a drug kingpin's trial – the stuff television movies are made of – makes bigger news not through the defendant, but because of his lawyer’s alleged dalliances.

But that's exactly what happened in the trial of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who was extradited to the U.S. in 2017 to face charges of running the Sinaloa cartel, which became the primary supplier of cocaine and other drugs across the U.S.

Hundreds of text messages the New York Post says it obtained allegedly show steamy exchanges between the attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, and a former client, restaurateur Sarma Melngailis. She made headlines herself after being convicted in 2017 of scamming investors in her eatery, as well employees, out of $1 million. She served just under four months in jail....

The revelation of the texts threatened to upend things at the drug lord’s trial. For one thing, mixing legal briefs and cotton briefs is a no-no in the code of professional responsibility, the Post noted.

The New York State Bar Association’s code forbids a lawyer to “require or demand sexual relations with a client or third party incident to … any professional representation,” or “employ coercion, intimidation, or undue influence in entering into sexual relations with a client.”..."

El Chapo attorney's affair, sexting steals spotlight at trial
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[YESorNO]

'El Chapo' dreamed of biopic for years before capture, says trial witness

January 14, 2019

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was interested in directing a movie about his life story as early as 2007, long before his well-known meeting with U.S. actor Sean Penn and Mexican actress Kate Del Castillo in 2015, jurors in Guzman’s U.S. trial heard on Monday.

Alex Cifuentes, Guzman’s self-described one-time “right hand man,” said he learned about a planned movie project while living with Guzman in the mountains of his boss’ home state of Sinaloa from 2007 to 2009....

Del Castillo, who once played a drug trafficker in a well-known Mexican TV soap, revealed soon after the article was published that the meeting came about because Guzman’s lawyers had reached out to her about a possible movie.

When Guzman was eventually recaptured in 2016, Mexico’s then-Attorney General Arely Gomez said his contact with “actresses and producers” was an “important aspect that helped locate him.”

Cifuentes’ own wife first urged Guzman to make a biopic around 2007, Cifuentes said on Monday. Cifuentes said Guzman hired a Colombian producer and planned a book tie-in, and the project got as far as a draft that was shown to his lawyers...."

'El Chapo' dreamed of biopic for years before capture, says trial witness | Reuters
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[YESorNO]

El Chapo Wanted to Kill IT Expert Who Later Helped FBI, Witness Says

January 14, 2019

"(NEW YORK) —.....There also was testimony about Christian Rodriguez, a computer tech hired by the cartel to set up a secure communications system installed with spyware that allowed Guzman to covertly track his associates and love interests.

The kingpin “was really interested in what people were saying about him,” Cifuentes said. “If it wasn’t pertaining to him, then he really didn’t care.”

During another conversation, Guzman informed Cifuentes that Rodriguez had given information to authorities about Cifuentes’ drug dealer brother.

Guzman said “that we should look for him to kill him,” Cifuentes testified. His response: “I started looking for him.”

In an intercepted phone call to his mother about his brother, Cifuentes asked her to “send him my regards and tell him that Christian was the one who blew the whistle.”

The hit never happened and the tech ended up helping the FBI collect scores of incriminating text messages that are a centerpiece of the prosecution."

El Chapo Wanted to Kill IT Expert Who Helped FBI, Witness Says
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[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer Retweeted
Jorge Arangure‏Verified account @jorgearangure 1h1 hour ago
Jorge Arangure Retweeted Alan Feuer

Would watch. "The plan, Mr. Cifuentes said, was to have Mr. Guzmán write a book. This literary property would then be turned into a movie, he explained, so the crime lord 'could make the money.'"

---Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 2h2 hours ago
While living in the mountains on the run the Mexican authorities, El Chapo decided to make a film about himself. Naturally, the kingpin wanted to direct.

El Chapo Trial: The Kingpin’s Life on the Lam Consisted of Maids, Plasma-Screen TVs and a Failed Film Project



Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 6m6 minutes ago
PS. In a discussion in chambers about the Lichtman situation, Judge Brian Cogan noted the media coverage of the trial had been "unprecedented," with reporters "thinking of every possible angle," including the fact that a lawyer in the case was texting about it w/his lover.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 4m4 minutes ago
"Does that persuade anyone that maybe we just don't do anything with this and let it go?" the judge asked the parties. "It persuades me," Lichtman said.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 2m2 minutes ago
The awfulness of all of this notwithstanding, the irony here is razor sharp. Last week, Chapo had his intimate texts w/his mistresses revealed to the jury at the trial. Now, his lawyer has suffered the same indignity--in a New York City tabloid...

Drug Kingpin Used Spyware to Monitor His Wife and Mistress, Jurors Told
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 4m4 minutes ago
A note about the situation with Chapo's lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman, who had the details of an affair with one of his clients spilled by @nypost over the weekend…

https://nypost.com/2019/01/12/sarma-melngailis-had-an-x-rated-relationship-with-her-married-lawyer/


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3m3 minutes ago
…Judge Cogan held a meeting in private this morning before the trial began with Chapo's defense team — including Lichtman — and federal prosecutors to discuss whether the story would affect the case, and whether he would need to address the situation with the jury.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 17m17 minutes ago
The transcript of that meeting was not sealed and we now know exactly what was said on the record. Lichtman's co-counsel, William Purpura, called the NY Post story "a rather salacious article," which has "a very good likelihood of causing prejudice to our client Mr. Guzmán."

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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 12m12 minutes ago
Both prosecutors and Chapo's lawyers urged Judge Cogan to ask whether anyone in the jury had come across anything in the press about a member of the defense. Cogan already tells the jurors to avoid media coverage, and he was reluctant to ask them about a specific article.

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 9m9 minutes ago
Cogan: "Maybe we just don't do anything with this and let it go?" Lichtman was on board with this approach.

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 7m7 minutes ago
Purpura argued that the NY Post story warranted special treatment "because of the nature and the content of the article and how offensive it may be, particularly to women jurors."

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2m2 minutes ago
As Cogan explained this morning in open court, he ultimately decided to enter the jury room and ask — without mentioning the New York Post by name — whether any jurors had come across "media coverage tangentially related to the case over the weekend."
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 17m17 minutes ago
Cogan said the jury's response was "absolutely unanimous — 'what are you talking about judge?' I looked in their faces and it was clear to me they really didn't know what I was talking about." Question now is: Does that make the jury more likely to seek out media coverage?


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 14m14 minutes ago
The irony here is that last week the jury heard hours of testimony about how Chapo installed spyware on phones that belonged to his wife and mistresses. Chapo's romantic texts were projected on a screen for the jury to read. Now his lawyer's steamy messages are on public display.
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[Niner]

Tuesday, January 15th:
*Trial continues (Day 29) (@ 9am ET) - NY – *Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (El Chapo) (~61) arrested & charged with smuggled 155 tons of cocaine into U.S. Sinaloa drug cartel chief. Guzmán faces 17-count indictment charging him with drug trafficking, murder conspiracy & money laundering spanning nearly three decades. Plead not guilty to all charges. No bail.
Prosecutors say Guzmán ran Mexico's Sinaloa cartel from 1989 to 2014. In that time, they allege the cartel brought cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine & marijuana into the U.S. Prosecutors also charged Guzmán in connection with the assassinations of thousands of competitors. Plead not guilty to all charges. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
Trial expected to last several months. Also for trafficking, conspiracy & firearms in California, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Florida & New York.
Skipping over Day 1 thru 24.
1/8/19 Day 25: State witnesses: Edgar Iván Galván, a low-level Sinaloa cartel operator in El Paso. FBI Special agent Stephen Marston (explaining how the FBI cracked El Chapo's encrypted phone network). Trial continues to 1/9.
1/9/19 Day 26: State witnesses: FBI Special Agent Stephen Marston. Cristian Rodriguez, the Sinaloa cartel IT guy who became an informant for the FBI. Trial continues on 1/10.
1/10/19 Day 27: State witnesses: Christian Rodriguez, IT guy for cartel. Alex Cifuentes Villa, a Colombian narco. Trial continues on Monday, 1/14.
1/14/19 Day 28: The prosecution has indicated that it intends to rest on or around Jan. 23. State Witnesess: Alex Cifuentes Villa, described himself as Chapo's "secretary, his right-hand man, and his left-hand man." Trial continues on 1/15.

 

[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 3h3 hours ago
Thank you to the headline writers of the NY Post for brightening my morning. Ingmar Guzmán!

 

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3h3 hours ago
Hello from Day 29 of El Chapo's trial. More testimony coming this morning from Alex Cifuentes, including the start of cross-examination. He'll likely be on the witness stand all day again.



Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
I spoke about El Chapo and the latest developments in trial with @rameswaram on @today_explained. We covered everything from the taco order that got him captured to the IT guy who will get him convicted.

Chapo Big House
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[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 2h2 hours ago
It seems people around El Chapo had main gigs & side gigs. Andrea Velez's main gig was personal assistant to Alex Cifuentes, a trafficker close to Chapo. But she also ran a modeling agency in Mexico Cty. We just learned she would provide 'female friends' to a top Mexican general.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 2h2 hours ago
Apparently, the women had 'private parties' w/the general, Cifuentes said this morning at Chapo's trial. Chapo tried to leverage the situation. He asked Andrea to give the general (never named) a $10 million bribe. If she succeeded, she herself would get $1 million.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 2h2 hours ago
Though the plot failed (& Chapo ultimately tried to kill Andrea), it was only one of the insane tales Cifuentes told as he finished direct examination. He veered from telling stories about traveling to Ecuador in a 6-person boat w/a cooler filled w/$1 million cash to buy coke...


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 2h2 hours ago
...to recounting how he lived at a small ranch outside Culiacan protected by Chapo's special security team, the Anthrax Group. He's a hardcore narco w/a heart. We heard a recorded call of him today talking to his mom while hiding from the cops during a dragnet in Los Cabos.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 2h2 hours ago
More on the Los Cabos raid--and Chapo's involvement in it--later...
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Alex's boat broke down off the coast of Costa Rica. They were stranded, he said, until "the US Coast Guard rescued us." They alerted Chapo to what was happening and dumped everything over the side of the boat, including the cash in the icebox.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Alex gave a fake name and said he was transferred to several boats. He eventually ended up back in Mexico: "Thanks to Don Joaquin and El Mayo, who had made some arrangements, we were released."

What arrangements?

"Bribes."


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Alex ended up at one of Chapo''s houses in Culiacan. It had a tunnel hidden under the bathtub. To open it, he said, you plugged something into an electrical outlet, then pushed a button behind the mirror. "The bathtub would open up as quickly as if it were the trunk of a car."


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Chapo's bathtub tunnel connected to the sewer system underneath the streets of Culiacan. We visited this house and went inside the end of the tunnel network for episode 6 our podcast. Listen:

EP 6: The Hunt


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Alex said his secretary Andrea Velez ran a modeling agency in Mexico City. "She would introduce female friends to the general of the nation at private parties." He didn't ID the general, but said Chapo asked Andrea to offer this man a $10 million bribe "to leave him in peace."


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
If the bribe was successful, Andrea would get a $1 million bonus. The man refused, Alex said, "because the general hated Joaquin very much." Afterward, Chapo accused Andrea of lying and ordered her to be killed. The hit was never carried out.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Cross-examination of Alex Cifuentes starting now. Stay tuned for more updates.
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[YESorNO]

Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 2h2 hours ago
When Chapo was arrested in February 2014, he was put in the same jail as Alex Cifuentes, who watched his boss being escorted into the jailhouse. The guards started yelling “everyone against the wall, everyone against the wall.’ They were yelling ‘It’s Chapo, it’s Chapo.’”


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 2h2 hours ago
Alex Cifuentes said that El Chapo often drove around in a golden Subaru with tinted windows and normal tires. “It wasn’t a car that called a lot of attention to itself,” he said.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 2h2 hours ago
Jeffrey Lichtman seems back to himself in court, even cutting a joke when a technical glitch kept a recording from playing for some time. "Can you turn up the volume?" he asked. It was a hard weekend for sure, but time passes differently in this trial, and it's already Tuesday.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 2h2 hours ago
Alex Cifuentes had $1,050,000 of Chapo’s cash, secured in an icebox on a boat en route to Ecuador when the boat ran into technical difficulties on October 2012. The six men on board were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. Beforehand, they threw everything - even the $$ - overboard.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 2h2 hours ago
They were arrested “But thanks to Don Joaquín and Mayo Zambada who had made various arrangements, we were released.” By arrangements, Alex Cifuentes meant bribes.
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[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 49m49 minutes ago
Actually, first a detour into Alex's past.
At age 10 & 11, he just said, he was in charge of drying and packing kilos of coke for his family business. This was in the Pablo Escobar era and Alex was thrilled as a teen when Escobar's right-hand man moved into his mother's building.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 51m51 minutes ago
Alex said that Escobar and his people had an office nearby. The office had ts own bowling alley. As a boy, Alex liked to bowl w/the bodyguards who worked there.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 48m48 minutes ago
At 15 or so Alex's mom sent him from Medellin to Cali. He got a job w/his brother Fernando who worked for a major drug dealer named Don Efra Hernandez. He was earning $1 million Colombia pesos a month, he said, and carried three guns on him "discretely in case they are needed."


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 48m48 minutes ago
His whole family was in the drug trade. Fernando ultimately killed Don Efra (and was killed for having killed him.) His other brother Jorge was arrested in 2012 and testified at this trial. His Dolly was also arrested and cooperated w/US authorities.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 44m44 minutes ago
Then there was his mom who (to return to the story) Alex was calling while hiding in Los Cabos from the police. It was Feb 22, 2012, & the city was going wild. Not only was the G-20 summit in town but Mexican forces, working w/the FBI, had just tried to raid Chapo @ a safehouse.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 41m41 minutes ago
Chapo had been for a while w/his maid Marie and mistress Agustina, staying in a gated luxury villa. He'd walk around town in jeans, sneakers, sunglasses & a black ball cap, carrying a backpack w/guns and grenades, Alex said.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 41m41 minutes ago
He drove--or was driven in--a gold Suburban with tinted windows. With no trace of irony, Alex said, "It wasn't a car that called a lot of attention to itself."


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 38m38 minutes ago
The joint Mexican-US raid failed as Chapo managed to escape, but caused "a ruckus" in Los Cabos, Alex said. The police were going house to house. Alex described seeing Blackhawk helicopters in the sky near the ocean, shining their spotlights on the beach.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 38m38 minutes ago
But after darkness fell that night, Chapo called Alex (who was holed up in his own house talking to mom.) Chapo told Alex he had managed to flee the city and get back to his base in Culiacan.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 34m34 minutes ago
This was just one of Alex's insane narco-tales. The boat ride to Ecuador (w/the $1 million in cash in the cooler) was another. He was traveling w/2 boat captains, a mechanic and 2 of Chapo's gunmen. The US Coast Guard stopped & arrested them.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 34m34 minutes ago
Though he was held for 19 days, no charges were ultimately filed. Chapo later said it was amazing he wasn't prosecuted, claiming Alex had been "born again."


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 33m33 minutes ago
Alex continued committing crimes for Chapo. He helped kidnap an Ecuadorean military officer, Telmo Castro, who was working w/the cartel and believed to be stealing. He plotted to kill one of his Canadian drug associates w/the help of the Hell's Angels.



Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 32m32 minutes ago
Alex lived in one Chapo's safe houses in Culiacan that had an escape tunnel built beneath the bath tub in the bathroom. Behind the mirror, on the right, there was a button that opened the tub hatch. Inside was a set of wooden stairs leading to the tunnel which led to the sewers.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 34m34 minutes ago
Alex was finally arrested on 11/12/2013 at a small ranch outside Culiacan (the one protected by the Anthrax Group.) The Mexican authorities, he said, told him if he didn't cooperate they'd lock him up for 29 years in the same jail as members of the Zetas, Chapo's sworn enemies.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 33m33 minutes ago
In the end, Alex was put in a different prison, Altiplano. And in Feb 2014, a celebrity inmate arrived: Chapo. "Everyone was yelling it was El Senor," he said. He and Chapo, through their lawyers, got their stories straight and denied knowing one another when interrogated.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 25m25 minutes ago
Alex is an odd guy. He's likely the witness referred to in redacted court filings as having an interest in the occult (picked up by watching the Discovery Channel) & frequently using the "services of a witch doctor."


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 25m25 minutes ago
The filings also say the witness's family's wealth and power gave him "delusions of grandeur."
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Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 43m43 minutes ago
After Alex’s arrest he lived in a Chapo safe house with a tunnel under the bathtub “just in case I needed to escape.” By pushing a button on the side of the bathroom mirror, the tub popped up “as if it were the trunk of a car” and was so light he could lift it by his fingertips.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 45m45 minutes ago
After telling Alex Cifuentes told Chapo about his boat trouble and Coast Guard rescue, his boss told him that he had been “born again,” Alex recalled.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 42m42 minutes ago
Nariz: The man you never knew but who knew more than any of the rest of us -- about Chapo’s inner-workings. Alex Cifuentes described him as “el último filtro” - the last and most important filter and Chapo’s private messenger. Only Nariz brought people into the inner circle.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 36m36 minutes ago
More on Andrea Velez, Alex Cifuentes’s go-to secretary: She had a modeling agency in Mexico City and that every Wednesday the general in Mexico City would attend parties with models and other important people. Chapo saw this as a good in and asked Andrea a favor.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 36m36 minutes ago
Chapo wanted to bribe the general with $10 million (+ $1 million for Andrea) to further his connections in Mexico City. But the general refused to meet with him. Angered, Chapo called Andrea a liar and decided to have her killed. “And I agreed,” Alex Cifuentes said.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 35m35 minutes ago
But Chapo’s plan to kill Andrea failed, and she remained alive. Of course, by then Andrea was already an informant for the F.B.I. (and getting paid to do it) … they just didn’t know that yet.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 35m35 minutes ago
An interesting little tidbit from the trial today: Chapo’s gunmen were known as “The Anthrax Group.”


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 32m32 minutes ago
While living in Chapo’s safe house, Alex Cifuentes coordinated drugs going to Canada, in charge of cocaine, heroin and ice sales. And, he told the jury, he was also working on Chapo’s book “on the side.”


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 31m31 minutes ago
Alex Cifuentes was eventually arrested on November 12, 2013 by “you guys, the Americans,” he said to titters in the audience. Questioned my Mexican law enforcement, he didn’t tell them everything about Chapo “because they are very corrupt. How am I going to say that to them?”
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