Much like how the Oscar Pistorius trial captured the world’s attention, you can expect to hear plenty about the trial of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, which kicked off yesterday in a Brooklyn federal court.

We know that prosecutors believe they have a mountain of evidence against El Chapo, the ruthless leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, and during their opening salvo yesterday, they wasted no time.

They quickly painted him as a “grisly villain driven by cash and narcotics to commit untold acts of violence”, as the Daily Beast reports:

“Money. Cash. Murder,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Fels told the jury in his 30-minute opening statement. “A vast global narcotics trafficking empire—that’s what this case is about, and what the evidence will show.”

“And the kingpin?” Fels said rhetorically, gesturing toward Guzman, “that man.”

…Fels claimed that Guzman moved so much coke that just four of his shipments could provide “more than a line of cocaine for every single person in the United States.”

Here’s a staggering figure – El Chapo is accused of bringing more than 200 metric tons of cocaine into the US.

Also in court was Emma Coronel (below), El Chapo’s wife, who watched on from the gallery.

She had her own set of gripes:

The ever-dutiful Coronel, who sported a silky black pantsuit that hugged her hourglass figure, complained to Guzman’s lawyers that he didn’t look his best.

“That’s not our biggest problem,” Eduardo Balarezo, another lawyer on Guzman’s team, told Coronel. “Tomorrow, he’ll be more handsome.”

El Chapo’s lead lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, said that his client was the victim of a vast conspiracy that reached the top levels of Mexican government, as well as US law enforcement:

Witnesses who are cooperating against Guzman, 61, have been lying “since they could walk,” Lichtman said…

Lichtman claimed Guzman is being used as the fall guy for Sinaloa co-leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. The alleged drug lord, 70, has also been indicted. There is a $5 million bounty on his head, but he remains on the run, Lichtman pointed out.

“He bribed the entire government of Mexico—including the current president of Mexico,” Lichtman argued in an attempt to explain Zambada’s freedom, also saying “the current and former president of Mexico received hundreds of millions in bribes from Mayo…”

One former president, Felipe Calderon, who served between 2006 and 2012, was dismissive on Twitter:

The trial is expected to last four months, so strap in for the long haul on this front.

[source:dailybeast]