The Sinaloa cartel allegedly bribed former Mexico’s Presidents, Enrique Peña Nieto and former President, Felipe Calderón, claimed Jeffrey Lichtman, Joaquín Chapo Guzmán’s lawyer, before the jury during the drug lord’s trial.
Felipe Calderón quickly denied the accusations through his Twitter account:
Enrique Peña Nieto has made no comments, but his spokesperson posted a message on Twitter, denying the claims:
Lichtman also claimed that the true Sinaloa Cartel leader is his co-defendant, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who is at large, and who was paid “the previous Mexican Presidents millions of dollars in bribes.”
His lawyers’ strategy is to claim El Chapo is only a middle-ranking member of the criminal organization, commanded by El Mayo Zambada. They also describe El Chapo as a “mythological figure” used by the Mexican government as a “scapegoat” in the murder of Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo.
The Yucatan Times Newsroom with information from El Universal
