Trial witness describes El Chapo’s lavish lifestyle

Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman was so rich, he had a private zoo where big cats roamed. So rich, he bought a $10 million beach house. And so rich, he traveled to Switzerland for an anti-aging treatment.

Guzman’s excesses were detailed during his U.S. trial on Tuesday by former cartel crony-turned-government witness Miguel Angel Martinez, who told jurors that a ‘cocaine boom’ in the early 1990s fueled the lavish spending spree.

‘He had houses at every single beach,’ said Martinez, formerly a close friend and top assistant. ‘He had ranches in every single state.’ The drug lord also gifted employees with luxury cars.

Martinez described how the Sinaloa cartel was smuggling tons of cocaine into the United States – through tunnels dug under the border, in tanker trucks with secret compartments, even in fake chili pepper cans. 

‘They got intoxicated because whenever you would press the kilos, it would release cocaine into the air,’ Martinez told the jury in his colorful testimony.

Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman was so rich, he had a private zoo where big cats roamed. His son Ivan Guzman shared photos of their lifestyle on social media

While big cats are the favored pet of the rich Narcos, snakes, poisonous insects and even chimpanzees are featured in social media posts

While big cats are the favored pet of the rich Narcos, snakes, poisonous insects and even chimpanzees are featured in social media posts

Labels and unique pistol handle designs are the hallmarks of the Narcos

Labels and unique pistol handle designs are the hallmarks of the Narcos

A designer Versace watch is pictured in a social media post

A designer Versace watch is pictured in a social media post

Ivan Guzman posted a picture of his gold-plated AK-47 in his Ferrari

Ivan Guzman posted a picture of his gold-plated AK-47 in his Ferrari

Here, three bikini-clad ladies are pictured on a quad bike are treated to a day's fun at Sinaloa beach in Mazatlán

Here, three bikini-clad ladies are pictured on a quad bike are treated to a day’s fun at Sinaloa beach in Mazatlán

The leaders of Antrax, the militarized wing of the Sinaloa Cartel, have raised its profile among the Instagram community - the skull signet ring denotes membership of the armed faction

The leaders of Antrax, the militarized wing of the Sinaloa Cartel, have raised its profile among the Instagram community – the skull signet ring denotes membership of the armed faction

What came back in the other direction, he said, was tens of millions of dollars in cash.

Much of it ended up in Tijuana, where Guzman would send his three private jets each month to pick it up, Martinez said. On average, each plane would carry up to $10 million, he said.

The cartel used stash houses to hide much of the cash, Martinez said. Samsonite suitcases stuffed with U.S. currency also were taken to Mexican banks, where workers were bribed to exchange it for pesos, no questions asked, he said.

Guzman also used his jets to fly around the Mexico with armed bodyguards to visit all his homes, including an Acapulco beach house featuring the zoo with a ‘little train’ used to ride around and see lions, tigers and panthers, he said. There also was a yacht docked there called ‘Chapito,’ he said. 

A handcuffed Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman is made to face the press as he is escorted to a helicopter by Mexican soldiers and marines at a federal hangar in Mexico City on January 8, 2016

A handcuffed Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman is made to face the press as he is escorted to a helicopter by Mexican soldiers and marines at a federal hangar in Mexico City on January 8, 2016

Among his other expenses were ‘four to five’ women in Guzman’s life, Martinez said with the defendant’s wife listening from the gallery. ‘We had to pay them all,’ he said.

Over time, the kingpin who grew up in poverty developed a taste for world travel, he said. His entourage visited Macau to gamble and Switzerland so he could get a ‘cellular youth treatment,’ he said.

The good times were spoiled by a bloody turf war with a rival cartel that grew so heated it sent a team of hit men to an airport in Guadalajara to try to take out Guzman, Martinez said. 

They instead killed a Roman Catholic cardinal, outraging the Mexican public enough to touch off a massive manhunt for Guzman, who was arrested before carrying out a plan to hide out in El Salvador, he said. 

One of many designer bags stuffed with high-denomination notes on the #narcostyle hashtag

One of many designer bags stuffed with high-denomination notes on the #narcostyle hashtag

'He had houses at every single beach,' said Martinez, formerly a close friend and top assistant

‘He had houses at every single beach,’ said Martinez, formerly a close friend and top assistant

The drug lord also gifted employees with luxury cars, Martinez said during testimony

The drug lord also gifted employees with luxury cars, Martinez said during testimony

A bikini-clad woman poses next to a tiger. El Chapo was so rich, he had a private zoo where big cats roamed

A bikini-clad woman poses next to a tiger. El Chapo was so rich, he had a private zoo where big cats roamed

Guzman was extradited to the U.S. last year from Mexico. He has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges, with his lawyers claiming he’s being framed by shady cooperators.

This undated handout photograph obtained from Brooklyn federal court on November 26 shows a photo of Mexican drug lord Guzman

This undated handout photograph obtained from Brooklyn federal court on November 26 shows a photo of Mexican drug lord Guzman

In opening statements, a defense attorney suggested Martinez couldn’t be trusted as a witness, saying he had such a severe cocaine habit while he was working for Guzman that it damaged his nose. 

He admitted Tuesday that ‘unfortunately’ he was using up to 4 grams of coke each day at the time, but hadn’t touched it for 20 years.

Martinez was on the witness in the third week in federal court in Brooklyn, where there has been a minor stir over prosecutors accusing defense lawyers of violating strict security measures by providing Guzman’s wife, Emma Coronel, access to a cellphone in the courthouse.

The judge indicated Tuesday that any immediate concerns had been resolved.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk