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

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
Damaso Lopez still testifying, now on cross examination. We've heard him discuss murders that were committed on Chapo's orders. He also narrated several wiretapped phone calls where Chapo could be heard talking about drug business. All very damaging for Chapo.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
Cross-examination so far has tried to raise questions about why the government didn't show any proof that the murders were committed, i.e. photos of bodies, autopsies, crime scene reports, etc.
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 8m8 minutes ago
Cross-examination of Damaso Lopez still underway. He claimed he was involved in planning the 2015 escape but not the construction of the tunnel: "I never knew, not even about one shovel of earth that was removed there. His sons were doing that."


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 5m5 minutes ago
Chapo's lawyer @balarezolaw pressed Damaso on his involvement in the 2001 laundry cart escape.

Damaso said he wasn't involved. Balarezo asked why Chapo didn't use the laundry cart again instead of the tunnel: "It's pretty spectacular right?"

Damaso replied: "It's very real."


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 5m5 minutes ago
One other fascinating detail: We heard that Chapo invited an American lawyer to Culiacán in 2014 to meet w/ his four sons and Damaso about possible cooperation with the US government. Damaso said he also made his own outreach in 2016.
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3h3 hours ago
Damaso Lopez was just asked about his role in the 2017 killing of journalist Javier Valdez.

His response, under oath: "My son and I are innocent of this man's murder."

He blamed El Chapo's sons.

But that's not what we heard from Javier's colleagues.

EP 7: The Fallout


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 48m48 minutes ago
Lic said he didn’t participate in the digging of the tunnel, and that Chapo’s sons were in charge of that. “I never knew about even one shovel of earth,” he said.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 47m47 minutes ago
After emphasizing Emma’s role in the planned escapes, Lic backtracked a bit. He said Chapo’s sons were involved, of Emma he said: “What I said was that my comadre” (meaning Emma) “brought me a message from my compadre” (meaning Chapo), conveying her more as a messenger.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 22m22 minutes ago
Lic held Chapo’s sons responsible for the May 2017 shooting death of @Riodoce_mx co-founder Javier Valdez Cárdenas. The reporter was killed because he “disobeyed the orders that the sons of mi compadre gave him.” (Alternate version holds Lic and son, Lopez Serrano, responsible.)


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 18m18 minutes ago
Tomorrow we will hear from a handwriting expert who will testify to the authenticity of three letters signed with Chapo’s initials “JGL” -- for Joaquín Guzmán Loera.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 4m4 minutes ago
From one of the translated letters: “The danger is the people from the company … without a dedo they will never find you all. And a dedo will always be someone close to us.” Here, “company” refers to “cartel” and “dedo,” meaning “finger” is a snitch.

Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 9m9 minutes ago
The letters again point to Emma’s role facilitating her husband's business while Chapo was in jail. Chapo tells Lic in this letter: “Please be alert, compadre. She will explain.” Lic told us today that Emma met with him in person in Cualicán to deliver her husband's messages.

Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 8m8 minutes ago
After the jury left, defense attorney William Purpura told the court he disagreed with the plan to qualify John Paul Osborn as a handwriting expert, calling it a “junk science” and adding “It’s not a science at all, at best it is a skill.” Osborn takes the stand tomorrow.
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[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 48m48 minutes ago
To wrap the day Damaso was asked on cross examination about a gesture he gave Chapo when he took the stand. He patted his heart with his hand. When asked why he did it, Damaso said, "I love him." So why was he testifying against Chapo? "Circumstances have placed me in this spot."


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 47m47 minutes ago
Many of the witnesses have had similar gestural exchanges w/Chapo. When Jorge Cifuentes, a Colombian ally, walked past the kingpin leaving the courtroom, he crossed both his arms over his chest and pumped them back and forth.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 45m45 minutes ago
Vicente Zambada Niebla--the cartel prince and son of Chapo's partner, Ismael Zambada--gave Chapo a kind of smug winking smirk from the stand. Jorge Cifuentes' brother, Alex, nodded solemnly at Chapo as if to say, "This is how it ends, old friend."


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 44m44 minutes ago
It reached the point where Judge Cogan recently stepped in & asked the prosecutors to tell their witnesses to stop.
The one witness they didn't have to worry about was the young IT guy who betrayed Chapo, Christian Rodriguez. He walked out of the courtroom avoiding Chapo's gaze.
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 29m29 minutes ago
Just published @vicenews:

This is the story of how El Chapo escaped from prison by riding a motorcycle through a mile-long tunnel, according to his trusted lieutenant.

It involves a smartwatch, a $2 million bribe, and Emma Coronel.

El Chapo witness reveals new details about the epic motorcycle tunnel escape

Jan 23, 2019

"BROOKLYN — He could hear the rumbling beneath his prison cell for weeks. It was so loud that the other inmates were starting to complain. He was starting to get impatient.

It was the summer of 2015, and Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was locked up in El Altiplano, a maximum-security prison near the city of Toluca that houses many of Mexico’s most notorious drug lords. He wasn’t planning to stay for long....

The 2015 escape was Chapo’s most legendary feat. But the full story of how the tunnel was built, exactly how Chapo escaped, the massive bribe that was allegedly paid, and the details of what happened afterward wasn’t told until López, also known as El Licenciado, took the witness stand during El Chapo’s trial at the U.S District Court in Brooklyn. And for the first time, López claimed that El Chapo’s wife, Emma Coronel, was allegedly a key player in the escape, coordinating the plot with the drug lord’s sons.
Coronel, who sat impassively in the courtroom while López testified, declined to comment through an attorney...."

El Chapo witness reveals new details about the epic motorcycle tunnel escape

Inside El Chapo’s Escape Tunnel

Jul 24, 2015

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 33m33 minutes ago
Working on another story now about Damaso and the killing Javier Valdez. Stay tuned for more updates.
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[YESorNO]

Molly Crane-Newman‏Verified account @molcranenewman 46m46 minutes ago

El Chapo’s sons murdered an acclaimed journalist after he refused to publish fake news: witness

JAN 23, 2019

"El Chapo’s sons murdered an acclaimed journalist after he refused to publish fake news, an ex-cartel member testified Wednesday.

Damaso Lopez Nuñez, the latest turncoat to take the stand in the trial of cocaine kingpin Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman, said despite contradictory reports his namesake son, Damaso Lopez Serrano, was responsible for ordering the murder of renowned Mexican journalist Javier Valdez, it was, in fact, the drug lord’s two sons who ordered the killing.

Valdez, who covered drug trafficking and organized crime in Mexico, co-founded Riodoce de Sinaloa in 2003 — a reporter from which is covering Chapo’s trial in Brooklyn federal court gavel to gavel.

The internationally celebrated journalist was fatally shot outside the publication’s offices in May 2017...."

El Chapo’s sons murdered an acclaimed journalist after he refused to publish fake news: witness - NY Daily News

(Mexican award-winning local journalist Javier Valdez in 2013. Valdez, who reported on violent drug gangs in Mexico, was shot on May 15, 2017. [FERNANDO BRITO / AFP/Getty Images])
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[YESorNO]

'El Chapo's' sons killed Mexican journalist: trial witness

JANUARY 23, 2019

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sons of accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman murdered a journalist well known for his coverage of drug cartels, a former associate testified at Guzman’s U.S. trial on Wednesday.

Damaso Lopez Nunez, a former top lieutenant to Guzman, made the accusation in Brooklyn federal court under cross examination by one of Guzman’s lawyers. The lawyer, Eduardo Balarezo, had asked Lopez whether his own son, Damaso Lopez Serrano, might have been involved in the May 2017 murder of Javier Valdez.

Valdez, known for his signature straw hat, was the founder of the RioDoce online newspaper and author of the book “Narcoreporting” about the dangers faced by journalists covering Mexico’s drug war. His murder provoked public outcry about cartel violence....

When Lopez first stepped up to the witness stand on Tuesday, he looked at Guzman and bumped his fist to his chest. Asked by one of Guzman’s lawyers on cross-examination Wednesday why he made the gesture, Lopez answered, “Because I love him.”

Nonetheless, Lopez said, “the circumstances” compelled him to testify.

“I chose to think about my family,” he said."

'El Chapo's' sons killed Mexican journalist: trial witness | Reuters
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El Chapo allegedly had employee killed for playing hooky

January 22, 2019

"And you think your boss is a hard *advertiser censored*.

Jurors seated on the drug trafficking trial of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman heard Tuesday about how he had his cousin and longtime underling whacked in 2011 — because he caught the guy playing hooky.

Juan “Juancho” Guzman made the mistake of telling the cartel boss he was out of town, only to be spotted soon after at a “public park” in Culican, Mexico, according to former Sinaloa cartel capo Damaso Lopez Nunez.

“My compadre became angry, because he had lied to him,” said Lopez, referencing the drug lord and Juancho...."

https://nypost.com/2019/01/22/el-chapo-had-his-employee-killed-for-playing-hooky/

(Damaso Lopez Nunez AFP/Getty Images)
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[YESorNO]

Ex-'El Chapo' lieutenant says he discussed killing cop as favor to mayor

JANUARY 22, 2019

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former top lieutenant to accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman on Tuesday said he and his former boss once discussed killing a police officer as a favor to a local politician.

Damaso Lopez Nunez, testifying against Guzman in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, walked jurors through a BlackBerry message exchange in September 2013 in which he said he told Guzman that the mayor of La Paz, a city in the state of Baja California Sur, wanted them to “remove” a “cop that has been bothering her.”

Guzman, Nunez said, responded that they should do the mayor the “favor,” because she was a favorite for a state-level office in an upcoming election. He said they should make the hit look like “revenge from some gangbanger.”

Lopez did not say whether the murder took place.

The mayor of La Paz in 2013 was Esthela Ponce Beltran, who could not immediately be reached for comment...."

Ex-'El Chapo' lieutenant says he discussed killing cop as favor to mayor | Reuters
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[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 1h1 hour ago
El Chapo’s wife, Emma Coronel, has sat through testimony about her husband’s numerous infidelities. But today she was confronted w/her own misconduct—helping Chapo escape from prison. In a tunnel. On a motorcycle.

El Chapo’s Wife Is Implicated in His Infamous Prison Escape

January 23, 2019

El Chapo’s Wife Is Implicated in His Infamous Prison Escape
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[Niner]

Thursday, Jan. 24th:
*Trial continues (Day 34) (@ 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 29.
1/16/19 Day 30: State witnesses: Alex Cifuentes Villa. Victor Vazquez, a DEA agent who was involved in the capture of Chapo in 2014. Trial continues on 1/17.
1/17/19 Day 31: State witnesses: Victor Vasquez, DEA agent (in Mexico) who captured El Chapo in 2014. Homeland Security Investigative agent (no name given). Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez, a former state legislator from Sinaloa who became romantically involved with Chapo. Trial continues on Tuesday, 1/22, as 1/21 is a holiday.
1/22/19 Day 32: State witnesses: Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez. Dámaso "Lic" López Nuñez aka El Licenciado. the former deputy director of security and custody at Puente Grande prison in Jalisco, who orchestrated Chapo's epic prison escape through a mile-long tunnel in 2001. Trial continues on 1/23. Prosecutors say the government could rest its case against El Chapo as soon as Thursday. The defense is expected to call its first witness next Monday.
1/23/19 Day 33: State witnesses: Dámaso López Nuñez aka El Licenciado. Trial continues on 1/24.

 

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3h3 hours ago
Hello from Day 34 of El Chapo's trial.

Dámaso Lopez aka El Licenciado will be back on the witness stand this morning. My story @vicenews on his explosive testimony yesterday about Chapo's 2015 prison escape on a motorcycle through a mile-long tunnel.

El Chapo witness reveals new details about the epic motorcycle tunnel escape


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3h3 hours ago
2015 wasn't El Chapo's first jailbreak. On cross, @balarezolaw asked about the 2001 escape in a laundry cart, which Dámaso was suspected of orchestrating. He put this image on a screen in the courtroom, drawing laughs from the jury and a swift objection from prosecutors.

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3h3 hours ago
Dámaso denied involvement in the 2001 escape. The point of that ridiculous image was to raise questions about the plausibility of El Chapo being pushed out of prison in a laundry cart with no help. We discuss an alternate theory in our podcast.

EP 3: The Federation
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
The next witness will be a handwriting expert who will analyze several letters that Chapo sent to Dámaso from prison in 2015. Here's what those look like.

There's no great mystery about the author — they are signed "J.G.L." Joaquín Guzmán Loera.

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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
The defense can't admit that Chapo wrote the letters because they are highly incriminating. Here are some translated excerpts.

Chapo references "kilos" and "tons", debt collection, and heavy weapons such RPG7s. He's not even attempting to use code.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5692265-El-Chapo-s-prison-letter-to-Damaso-Lopez.html …

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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
The letters vaguely mention Chapo's escape plan. Chapo tells Dámaso to contact his wife, Emma Coronel. He testified that she played a key role in the escape. As noted by @alanfeuer, that wasn't the first time she's been accused of crimes during the trial.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/nyregion/el-chapo-trial.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage …

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
The letters also reveal the mundane side of the drug business, like Chapo telling Dámaso to turn on his crop duster so the engine doesn't fail.

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
One more notable excerpt: This is a reference to "narcomenudeo," or street-level drug dealing in Mexico. Dámaso was said to control drug sales in Mazatlán with Chapo's sons, earning 2 million pesos (~$105,000) per week.

The "widows" are actual widows — the wives of dead gunmen.

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
Heading up to the courtroom, stay tuned for updates from today…
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[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 3h3 hours ago
Given the astonishing revelation at the Chapo trial yesterday that the kingpin's wife, Emma Coronel, was deeply involved in planning his famous 2015 tunnel-and-motorcycle escape from prison, the severe conditions of his pre-trial confinement are starting to make more sense,


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 3h3 hours ago
Among the restrictions was that Emma was not allowed to visit him in the Manhattan federal jail where he was held since his extradition in Jan 2017. The judge even denied a request to let the couple hug each other before the trial began. We now know why those limits were imposed.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 3h3 hours ago
According to yesterday's witness, Damaso Lopez Nunez, Emma was the chief intermediary between her husband and his closest crew on the outside, ferrying his orders to them to execute the escape plan.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 3h3 hours ago
Apparently, she served as Chapo's messenger not just once, but twice. After Chapo was re-re-captured after escaping Altiplano, Emma again relayed orders from her husband to his crew in a second failed attempt to break him out.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 3h3 hours ago
When the special administrative measures, as they're called, were initially imposed on Chapo, it seemed at the time a bit like overkill. Same for when Judge Cogan denied the spousal hug motion. The government filed a flurry of secret motions about all of this early on.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 3h3 hours ago
Of course, prosecutors knew at the time what no one else did. That Emma was, by the account of one of Chapo's closest aides, neck deep in the planning of one gonzo jail break and the attempt to perpetrate a second.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 3h3 hours ago
As a sidenote Damaso was the security director at Puente Grande prison just before Chapo escape from there in 2001. He denied being involved in that escape, saying a low-level laundry worker named Chito working on his own put Chapo in a laundry cart and wheeled him out the door.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 3h3 hours ago
The defense was skeptical of his account on cross-examination yesterday, suggesting that a mere prison laundry worker could not have broken the crime lord out without help.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 3h3 hours ago
As a demonstrative aide--not official evidence--the defense displayed this cartoon rendering of Chito and Chapo to the jury. It gets at what a bizarre geyser of insanity this trial has become.

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 33m33 minutes ago
On a more serious note at today's trial we're likely to hear more about the murder of Javier Valdez, cofounder of the Sinaloa newspaper Rio Doce. Shortly before he was gunned down in Culiacan in 2017, Valdez interviewed Damaso. Yesterday Damaso blamed the killing on Chapo's sons.
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[YESorNO]

Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán's trial: Eleven crazy moments

January 24, 2019

"The trial of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán hasn't been short on details of the drug cartel kingpin's colourful lifestyle.

Here is some of the craziest evidence so far.

Hi-tech murder room...
Narco-mistresses...
Prison escape...
Naked escapades...
Blinged-out weaponry...
Fatal handshake snub...
Death by skipping out...
328 million lines of coke...
Bazooka target practice...
A $50m bribe fund...
'Narco-saint' at court...
A private zoo...."

Crazy moments from El Chapo's trial
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[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 24m24 minutes ago
Speaking of Chapo's sons Damaso has shed light on his complex relationship with them. Yesterday he described how they worked together to break Chapo out of Altiplano in 2015. Today he said that after his arrest they stole his & his family's property and "killed several people."


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 21m21 minutes ago
In surprise testimony yesterday he said in 2014 before Chapo went to prison he wanted Damaso and his sons to turn themselves in & cut a deal with American authorities. The plan was serious enuf that an American lawyer was brought to Culiacan to discuss "an approach" to the US.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 20m20 minutes ago
While that may sound strange, Vicente Zambada Niebla told a similar story, saying Chapo encouraged him to leave the cartel and strike a deal w/the US. Chapo, he said, even offered to reach out to his "contacts" in the DEA to make it happen.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 19m19 minutes ago
There's certainly no clear evidence that Damaso and Chapo's sons ever tried to cut a deal with the US. And after Chapo's most recent arrest leading to his extradition, there was dangerous bad blood between Damaso and the sons.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 16m16 minutes ago
In fact, after Damaso was himself arrested, his own son, Damaso Lopez Serrano, turned himself in to US border officials in July 2017. He had become embroiled in a violent power struggle over control of the cartel with Chapo's sons.
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[YESorNO]

Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 2h2 hours ago
Emily Palmer Retweeted Andrés Manuel

Mexican President @lopezobrador_ said he will meet with the Interior Secretary tomorrow to discuss allegations by Dámaso López Núñez that Chapo's sons were responsible for the May 2017 death of Javier Valdez Cárdenas, a @Riodoce_mx reporter covering narcotrafficking in Cualicán.

---Andrés Manuel‏Verified account @lopezobrador_
Seguimos respondiendo las preguntas de los medios de comunicación. Conferencia matutina en vivo.
5:16 AM - 24 Jan 2019

(Google Translate: "We continue to answer the questions from the media. Live morning conference.")


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 2h2 hours ago
“Mañana hablamos de este tema, de la investigación, la búsqueda de responsables y castigar autores materiales e intelectuales,” dijo @lopezobrador_, sobre la muerte de Javier Valdez Cárdenas.

(Google translate: "Tomorrow we talk about this topic, about the investigation, the search for those responsible and punish the material and intellectual authors," said @lopezobrador_, about the death of Javier Valdez Cárdenas.)


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 2h2 hours ago
“Tomorrow we’ll talk about this theme, of the investigation, search for the responsible parties and punish the material and intellectual authors,” @lopezobrador_ said today, regarding the shooting death of Javier Valdez Cárdenas, a narcotrafficking reporter based in Cualicán.
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 4h4 hours ago
Damaso Lopez is done testifying. He was asked by @balarezolaw whether he knew gunmen named El Koala and El Quilo, the suspected killers of Javier Valdez. Prosecutor objected, Damaso wasn't allowed to answer. The gunmen are said to have belonged to Damaso's faction of the cartel.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 4h4 hours ago
Prosecutors showed another excerpt from one of Chapo's letters to Dámaso. The message referenced "the gringos" and his 2014 capture. Chapo said: "They only told the president after I was arrested." Seems to confirm reports that EPN was kept out of the loop on the hunt for Chapo.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3h3 hours ago
And let's not forget that Chapo allegedly paid a $100 million bribe to EPN…

El Chapo witness claims Mexico’s former president took a $100 million bribe

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3h3 hours ago
Story just published @vicenews:

There was hope that El Chapo's trial might shed new light on the killing of legendary @Riodoce_mx journalist Javier Valdez.

Instead, it has only led to more questions.

WHO ORDERED THE MURDER OF A LEGENDARY MEXICAN JOURNALIST? EL CHAPO’S TRIAL ONLY ADDS TO THE MYSTERY

Jan 24, 2019

"BROOKLYN, New York — In the months after Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was extradited from Mexico to New York to stand trial as the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, the city of Culiacán descended into chaos. Allies turned against each other, fighting to fill the power vacuum.

El Chapo’s sons — known as Los Chapitos — were on one side. His former right-hand man, Dámaso López Nuñez, was on the other. And a journalist, Javier Valdez Cárdenas, was caught in the middle. While Los Chapitos and López battled for the throne, Valdez chronicled their power struggle in the pages of RioDoce. He was the cofounder of the weekly newspaper and wrote a column, Malayerba, which he used to elucidate the opaque world of organized crime.

At around 12 p.m. on May 15, 2017, Valdez was gunned down in the street moments after leaving his office. Violence against journalists is all too common in Mexico — at least 10 were killed in 2018 — but Valdez’s death sparked exceptional outrage because he was no ordinary reporter. He was a beloved figure, the author of several books, and the winner of The Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom Award. Many murders of journalists go unsolved in Mexico, but Valdez’s case prompted calls to end the impunity and swiftly bring his killers to justice...."

Who ordered the murder of a legendary Mexican journalist? El Chapo's trial only adds to the mystery

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3h3 hours ago
For more on the tragic story of Javier Valdez, listen to episode 7 of our podcast:

EP 7: The Fallout


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3h3 hours ago
Also read this excellent piece about Javier by @ioangrillo:

Inside the Brilliant Career and Tragic Death of Javier Valdez

SEP 19, 2018

"El Chapo, Mexico’s most notorious drug lord, sits in an American jail, awaiting his upcoming trial in Brooklyn. For years, Valdez reported on the cartels, risking his life amid the sicarios in what has become the deadliest assignment in the world outside of a war zone. In the end, it caught up with him. His friend Ioan Grillo recounts his vibrant life and tragic death...."

Inside the Murder of Javier Valdez, the Ríodoce Journalist Killed by the Sinaloa Cartel and El Chapo

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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3h3 hours ago
Statement from @pressfreedom Mexico rep @jahootsen on El Chapo's trial and the investigation into the killing of Javier Valdez

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/43zd3g/el-chapos-former-right-hand-man-says-drug-lords-sons-were-behind-killing-of-legendary-journalist …

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3h3 hours ago
Remarks this morning from @lopezobrador_ about El Chapo's trial and the killing of Javier Valdez. He asked for an update on the investigation and vowed to bring “the material and intellectual authors" of the crime to justice.

https://www.sdpnoticias.com/nacional/2019/01/24/presentara-amlo-informe-sobre-homicidio-de-javier-valdez …

(Google translate:

Mexico.- President Andrés Manuel López Obrador reported that on Friday, January 25, he will present a report on the state of the investigation into the murder of journalist Javier Valdez, who was executed on May 15, 2017 in Culiacán, Sinaloa.

In his morning press conference, the federal president was questioned about the revelations released yesterday at the trial of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. According to the witness Dámaso López, known as "El Licenciado" and identified as one of Guzmán Loera's main collaborators, the children of the capo decided to order the homicide of Valdez for an interview that the communicator made to the "Licenciado" himself and that was not of the taste of the "Chapitos".

President López Obrador said he will ask the Undersecretary of Human Rights, Migration and Population of the Ministry of the Interior (Segob), Alejandro Encinas, to present a report tomorrow regarding the progress of the investigations and called the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) ) to take into account all the elements that may lead to the resolution of the case.

"We are going to ask the Ministry of the Interior, Alejandro Encinas, to present us with a report and tomorrow we will discuss this issue, the investigation, the search for those responsible and punish the material and intellectual authors."...)
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