TRIAL OF THE CENTURY
Inside El Chapo’s £38m trial where cocaine kingpin will be taken to court by helicopters and jurors kept secret to stop them being executed
JOAQUIN 'El Chapo' Guzman’s trial starts today in New York and at a cost of £38m it's set to be the most expensive in US history.
Elaborate precautions have been taken to protect witnesses, the jury and a intense security operation will unfold to ferry the drug lord to the fortress court.
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The notorious Mexican drugs baron had been on the run after escaping from jail via a specially dug tunnel before he was caught in 2016 and extradited to the United States for the trial.
So it's no surprise the courthouse and surrounding area was on complete lock-down.
Heavily armed federal officers and bomb-sniffing dogs were seen patrolling outside.
You can expect the same today and for the case's four month duration.
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Airport-style metal detectors have been installed at the courthouse entrance and at the door of the courtroom itself to stop weapons being smuggled in.
Today he arrived in the early hours across Brooklyn Bridge in a heavily armed motorcade.
The timing of his commute from his jail in Lower Manhattan came after his lawyers argued closing the bridge during rush hour would spark anger among New York commuters and therefore prejudice his trial.
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The 12 jurors, who will remain anonymous and sit behind a screen, will be escorted by US marshals to and from court every day.
And no one's hiding the ominous nature of the case from them.
Questions for them on an initial screening form asked if they've ever heard of "El Chapo" along with, "have you, or has anyone close to you, ever felt fearful of or threatened by people who you thought were associated with drug crimes?"
El Chapo for his part has vowed not to liquidate any members of the jury.
Meanwhile the same safety measures prosecution witnesses who will be nameless and will be hidden when they testify.
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The nickname El Chapo means “shorty” in English.
But despite his 5ft 5ins stature he is accused of running the world's largest drug cartel, smuggling more than 155 tonnes of cocaine into the United States, reaping profits of £10billion.
During the marathon trial in a Brooklyn federal court jurors will have to decide whether he is guilty of 11 trafficking, firearms and money laundering charges.
Hundreds of thousands of pages of documents detailing his drug empire have been brought to court as evidence in what has been described as a "watertight case".
Evidence will include details of a so called murder house and videos allegedly showing torture.
Tunnel used in drug lord Joaquin Guzman's escape
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Prosecutors said recently that Guzmán's sons "remain in charge of his vast drug trafficking empire".
Guzmán was captured after his whereabouts were apparently given away in an interview he gave to the actor Sean Penn while trying to arrange a film about his own life.
A Netflix drama about him has already run to three seasons.
Judge Brian Cogan, who will preside over the trial, said: "There are not many cases whose allegations are dramatised in popular television productions before the trial has even begun."
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