Joaquín Guzmán

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Guzmán's conviction in January 2022 despite his arguments concerning, notably, juror conduct, detention conditions and certain evidentiary rulings. On 6 June 2022, the US Supreme Court denied his petition for certiorari.

A federal jury in Brooklyn found Guzmán guilty on all ten counts, including leading a continuing criminal enterprise, drug trafficking, using a firearm in connection with drug crimes and money laundering conspiracy. The continuing criminal enterprise count included twenty-six drug-related violations and a murder conspiracy.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Accused

Mexico extradited Guzmán to the United States, where he arrived on 19 January 2017. He then faced six federal indictments; the principal case proceeded in the Eastern District of New York.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Accused

Mexican forces located Guzmán in Los Mochis. Following an assault and shootout with his guards, he used another concealed exit and fled through the sewers before federal police finally intercepted him.

State of the evidence

Documented

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Directly implicated

Guzmán escaped from Altiplano federal prison through a tunnel dug from an outside property to the shower in his cell. The US case describes more than a year of preparation and a tunnel equipped, among other things, with a motorcycle on rails, revealing exceptional logistical capabilities despite his incarceration.

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Directly implicated

After escaping, Guzmán rebuilt his criminal power and formed a leadership core of the Sinaloa cartel alongside Ismael Zambada García. The network controlled international chains of drug production, transit, importation and distribution into the United States.

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Directly implicated

A federal jury in Brooklyn found Guzmán guilty of leading a continuing criminal enterprise responsible for importing and distributing massive quantities of drugs. The trial described shipments transported by boats, submarines, carbon-fibre aircraft, trains with concealed compartments, trucks and tunnels.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

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Directly implicated

After thirteen years as a fugitive, Guzmán was arrested at a hotel in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, following an extended operation. His capture temporarily ended his clandestine leadership of the cartel.

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Directly implicated

The federal case describes the bloody war waged by the Sinaloa cartel against the Juárez organisation for control of the Ciudad Juárez corridors. Prosecutors associated the conflict with thousands of deaths among rival group members and associated people, and Guzmán's continuing criminal enterprise conviction included a murder conspiracy.

Attribution

Directly implicated

The cartel generated billions of dollars in revenue that the organisation repatriated and concealed through transporting cash, trade and front companies. Guzmán was convicted of participating in a money laundering conspiracy at his federal trial.

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Directly implicated

At trial, several former accomplices described Guzmán ordering his hitmen to abduct, question, torture and kill rivals. A former killer also claimed to have seen him personally beat and shoot victims, including a man who was then buried alive.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

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Personally implicated

The trial established that the cartel used millions of dollars in bribes to secure protection, advance notice of police operations, tolerance of drug, weapons and cash movements, and assistance from guards or public officials. The DOJ described a network extending from local agents to armed forces members and political officials.

Attribution

Directly implicated

A computer engineer testified that Guzmán paid him approximately $1 million to design an encrypted communications network linking associates in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Canada and the United States. The system combined phones and encrypted applications to limit interception by police and rivals.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Guzmán escaped from Puente Grande federal prison in January 2001. The Department of Justice states that he left the facility concealed in a laundry trolley, in an operation that became emblematic of the cartel's corruption and influence.

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Directly implicated

Before becoming a leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquín Guzmán worked as a drug transport operative for Colombian organisations and acquired the nickname "El Rápido" because of the speed with which he moved shipments to the United States. This period laid the foundation for his rise within Mexican trafficking.

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Directly implicated

Guzmán was arrested on 9 June 1993 on murder and drug trafficking-related allegations, then sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment in Mexico. He was held in high-security federal prisons.

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Accused