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'El Chapo' trial becomes New York's latest tourist attraction

Published:Tuesday | December 18, 2018 | 12:00 AM
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AP
In this December 3 photo, Australian tourists Wayne Burg and his daughter Lydia stand in front of Brooklyn's federal courthouse in New York, where they were viewing the trial of Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman. Burg is a criminal lawyer in his home country and said he did not want to miss the chance to witness one day in the trial of 'El Chapo'. (AP)
AP
US law enforcement authorities escort Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman (centre), from a plane to a waiting caravan of SUVs at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, New York on January 19, 2017. File
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NEW YORK (AP):

There was a time, after a spectacular prison escape, when Joaquin Guzman was the most wanted man in the world.

The thrill of being able to see the man known as 'El Chapo' up close - and live to tell the tale - has been drawing curious New Yorkers, fans of TV crime shows, and even tourists to the Brooklyn courtroom where the infamous Mexican drug trafficker is being tried on charges that could put him in a US prison for life.

"It was surreal. It was like I was seeing the (Netflix) TV show El Chapo," said spectator Peter Stolt, 23, who attended three days of the trial in November and hopes to show up for at least one more.

Stolt, who recently graduated from Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, said what impressed him most was when Miguel Angel Martinez, a former assistant to Guzman who is now a prosecution witness, testified in dramatic detail how he survived several attempts on his life that he claimed were ordered by Guzman, one after an ominous serenade by a Mexican brass band.

"The grenade, the song. ... It's crazy. That was scary. It's crazy that we are hearing this first-hand," Stolt said.

Guzman was extradited to the United States last year to face charges accusing him of running the Sinaloa cartel, which smuggled tons of cocaine into the US.

The six weeks of testimony from law-enforcement officials, an imprisoned cocaine kingpin from Colombia, and flashy Mexican drug smugglers have contained enough material to fill several seasons of Miami Vice or Narcos. There has been testimony about secret smuggling tunnels built beneath the border, assassination attempts, bribery of high-level police officials, private jets filled with millions of dollars in cash, and factories churning out cocaine-filled cans disguised as hot-pepper containers.

Guzman's lawyers say the low-life cooperators are lying in an attempt to frame him and get an easier sentence in their own drug-trafficking cases.

Wayne Burg, a 49-year-old Australian criminal lawyer, went to see the trial with his 21-year-old daughter, Lydia, during their December vacation in New York. Going to federal court to see El Chapo was a must-do before a Knicks game.

"The amount of drugs, the amount of money ... these are extraordinary levels," said Burg, who ended up with his daughter in the overflow room watching on a video feed because there was no space in the courtroom.

"We had a great holiday, but the case was one of the highlights!" he said.