Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s self-described “right-hand man” alleged that the drug kingpin paid a $100 million (£77m) bribe to Mexico’s former president. The shocking testimony came about during a New York trial on Tuesday
Alex Cifuentes, a Colombian trafficker who once served as Guzman’s close personal aide and secretary, said Guzman accepted a bribe from President Enrique Peña Nieto, who served from 2012 to 2018.
Cifuentes told the court he informed United States authorities of the bribe in 2016. He claimed Peña Nieto received the money from Guzman’s friend Maria in Mexico City in October 2012, when he was president-elect. The revelation was made during questioning by defence attorney Jeffrey Lichtman – not prosecutors.
Lichtman asked Cifuentes about statements he made to American officials in November 2017 claiming the president told Guzman he “didn’t need to stay in hiding” if he paid the money. Reports indicate Peña Nieto originally asked for $250m.
Peña Nieto has not responded to the accusations, but he has previously dismissed allegations of corruption revealed during the trial. The president’s former chief of staff, Francisco Guzman, dismissed Cifuentes’ testimony on Twitter calling it “false, defamatory and absurd.” And the ex-president’s spokesperson called the claim “false and defamatory” when it surfaced earlier in the trial.
Cifuentes is testifying about his two years spent hiding in the mountains of Sinaloa with Guzman. He was arrested in 2013 and turned against his boss when he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in a deal with US prosecutors.
Guzman has been on trial since November after he was extradited to the US in 2017 under charges of trafficking cocaine, heroin and other drugs while running what has been described as the world’s largest drug cartel. If found guilty, he faces life in prison.
The 61-year-old drug lord made headlines twice for breaking out of prison, including escaping through a mile-long tunnel in 2015.
