The ongoing El Chapo trial continues to yield good storylines. Yesterday we learned that Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman once killed a man who insulted his handshake, the type of stories that begets a legend-in-the-making. The latest news to come out of the trial is centered around the high-ranking officials the druglord has silenced with hush money, among them, Mexico's former Chief-of-Security Genaro García Luna who received a single unitary payment of $6 million according to key witness Jesús Reynaldo "El Rey" Zambada García.
Genaro García Luna wasn't the only politician to receive a stipend. According to "El Rey" Zambada García, Gabriel Regino, once the understudy to the incoming president, received a "few million dollars" as well. Both Luna and Regino responded quickly to deny any such claims.
Interestingly enough, Sean Penn, who once duped a Mexican actress into thinking they had formed a partnership to produce an El Chapo bio flick, has heard his name produced more than once over the course of the proceedings. Even though Penn's interview with El Chapo did eventually go forward as planned, the druglord never saw his gesture returned in the form of the so-promised bio flick. The next snubbing came as the the judge presiding over the federal trial formally rebuffed his request to hug his lover Emma Coronel Aispuro. With or without a hug, El Chapo is facing a 17-count indictment, including but not limited to, murder, extortion, and a conspiracy to control the Global narco trade.