In this courtroom sketch, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, right, is seated at the defence table with his interpreter, in the US trial of the infamous Mexican drug lord, in New York, February 4, 2019.
The world's most infamous cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who rose from poverty in rural Mexico to amass billions of dollars, was found guilty in a US court on Tuesday of smuggling tons of drugs to the United States over a violent, colourful, decades-long career.
Jurors in federal court in Brooklyn convicted Guzman, 61, head of the Sinaloa Cartel, on all 10 counts brought by US prosecutors.
TRT World's North America correspondent Jon Brain reports from New York.
Guzman, whose nickname translates to "Shorty," faces life in prison for smuggling tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States.
He was also found guilty on money laundering and weapons possession charges.
'No escape and no return'
Richard Donoghue, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said he expected Guzman to receive life without parole when sentenced on June 25. "It is a sentence from which there is no escape and no return," Donoghue told reporters.
Ray Donovan from the US Drug Enforcement Agency said the verdict is a victory for law enforcement.
Guzman, one of the major figures in Mexican drug wars that have roiled the country since 2006, become almost legendary for escaping from Mexican high-security jails twice and avoiding massive manhunts.
He cultivated a Robin Hood image among the poor in his home state of Sinaloa.
Guzman sat and showed no emotion while the verdict was read. Once the jury left the room, he and his wife Emma Coronel, put their hands to their hearts and gave each other the thumbs up sign. His wife shed tears.
Guzman was extradited to Washington for trial in 2017 after he was arrested in Mexico the year before. He was then held in solitary confinement for two years.
Though other high-ranking cartel figures had been extradited previously, Guzman was the first to go to trial instead of pleading guilty.
TRT World's Craig Copetas has more on the historical context to this case.
The 11-week trial, with testimony from more than 50 witnesses, offered an unprecedented look at the inner workings of the Sinaloa Cartel, named for the state in northwestern Mexico where Guzman was born.
He did not take the witness stand during the trial.
Despite Guzman's downfall, the Sinaloa Cartel still has the biggest US distribution presence of Mexican cartels, followed by the fast-growing Jalisco New Generation Cartel, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
Together, they are the biggest producers of drugs sold on US streets.
TRT World's Nick Harper reports from New York.
After sentencing on June 25, Guzman is likely to be transferred to a so-called "supermax" prison in Colorado, sometimes called the "Alcatraz of the Rockies" and considered one of the most secure in the US.
His conviction is seen as a big win for the US, which failed to obtain the extradition of Escobar, the Colombian drug lord who was killed in a police operation in 1993.
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