(MENAFN) The trial of accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman will kick off with lawyers' opening statements in a federal court in Brooklyn, amid strong public attention and intense security.
According to federal prosecutors, as leader of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, Guzman, 61, was in charge of massive shipments of heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine bound for the United States.
He faces 17 criminal counts and a potential life sentence.
In addition to smuggling drugs to the United States, the Sinaloa Cartel took big part in narco violence between rival gangs that has torn areas of Mexico apart and defied successive governments.
Guzman's lawyers have demonstrated that they intend to downplay their client's role in the cartel and argue the prosecutors' witnesses are motivated by self interest and not believable.
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