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El Chapo to Move for New Trial Due to Juror Misconduct as US Indicts El Chapo’s Sons

February 27, 2019 by Evan Schleicher Leave a Comment

The indictment of Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman’s sons, Joaquin Guzman Lopez and Ovidio Guzman Lopez, on charges of conspiracy to distribute drugs, was unsealed by the U.S. Justice Department last week. The two are believed to live in Mexico currently, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The unsealing of their indictment comes just days after Eduardo Balarezo, El Chapo Guzman’s lawyer, wrote a letter informing the U.S. District Court that he intended to file a motion for a new trial after a report surfaced indicating that jurors in the first trial had committed misconduct by following media accounts during the trial. This would undermine Guzman’s access to a trial by an impartial jury which is guaranteed in the 6^th Amendment. In light of this news, Judge Cogan granted Balarezo’s request for an extension, giving the defense until March 28^th to file the motion for a new trial. In an interesting note, it was Judge Cogan who, after the trial concluded, commended the jury for their professional conduct on the panel.

According to a VICE News report, citing an anonymous juror as their primary source of information, at least five jurors and two alternates in the trial had been exposed to press coverage of child rape allegations against Guzman which had not been admitted as evidence during the trial. While the unnamed juror said that this news did not influence the decisions of the other jurors, the granting of the appeal would only require that the probability of prejudice be raised, and not that identifiable or verifiable prejudice be proven. This distinction arises from the case of Estes v. Texas. Further, the case of Sheppard v. Maxwell concluded, in an 8-1 decision, that “though freedom of discussion should be given the widest range compatible with the fair and orderly administration of justice, it must not be allowed to divert a trial from its purpose of adjudicating controversies according to legal procedures based on evidence received only in open court.” Because jurors were discussing news related to the trial and because evidence not admitted in open court may have influenced juror’s decisions, it is likely the case will be reopened.

Finally, it might be assumed that the unsealing of the indictments of Guzman’s sons was a direct response to this challenge of the trial’s legitimacy. However, given that the unsealing occurred before news of this new motion broke, it appears that these events are unconnected.

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Evan Schleicher is an Editorial Intern with the International Enforcement Law Reporter. He is also an MA candidate in Security Policy Studies at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.

6th AIRCOP Meeting Discusses Detecting Illicit Traffic By Air

February 21, 2019 by Alex Psilakis Leave a Comment

On February 11, 2019, 90 representatives from various international organizations and national law enforcement agencies met at the INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, France for the 6^th Global Meeting of the Airport Communication Project (AIRCOP). AIRCOP is a coordinated effort by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL, and the World Customs Organization (WCO). It strives to improve the capacities of international airports to catch and confiscate illicit goods including drugs, as well as high-risk passengers at any and all points of their journey.

The meeting, which ran from February 11 to 13, gathered a wide variety of attendees. It featured members from AIRCOP national focal points, particularly from countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, where AIRCOP focuses their operations. It also included trainers and mentors from national law enforcement agencies that partner with AIRCOP, as well as international agencies that work alongside AIRCOP, including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT). Private donors, like the European Union (EU), also attended. The EU is the largest financial contributor to AIRCOP, largely because it began as an operation specific to the EU. In 2010, the EU launched the Cocaine Route Programme, which aimed to reduce cocaine trafficking to Europe via passenger transportation, cargo, and mail. Since then, the project has expanded in scale and scope, utilizing global cooperation to assist regions most vulnerable to drug trafficking.

The meeting touched on a variety of topics. Participants discussed the evolving threats that criminals pose, often appearing “smarter” or “faster” than national law enforcement personnel. They pointed specifically to organized crime and terrorism as threats AIRCOP must address. Attendees also reflected on AIRCOP’s past successes, achieved through cooperative techniques such as the sharing of best practices. Those successes include seizing eight tons of cocaine, $14.5 million in undeclared funds, and two persons wanted on INTERPOL Red Notices, among many others. Various high-level officials presented remarks outlining AIRCOP’s growth and success. UNODC Division for Operations Director Ms. Miwa Kato, for example, noted that, “Through our joint efforts, we have come a long way, not only by welcoming new countries, but also by targeting and combating all types of threats that occur on airport platforms.” Other premier personnel, including Tim Morris, INTERPOL Executive Director of Public Service, and Ana Hinojosa, WCO Director of Compliance and Facilitation, offered remarks as well.

AIRCOP has confronted – and continues to confront – an array of global issues. In 2017, they partnered with EUROPOL and the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) to crack down on an international airline ticket fraud scheme. While AIRCOP focused their operations on airports in Africa and the Middle East, they assisted in detaining a total of 195 individuals. Several of these individuals aimed to smuggle illicit substances across borders, using the cheaply purchased tickets to fly back and forth with greater frequency. Over 60 countries from around the globe participated in the operation. More recently, the UNODC – one of AIRCOP’s three branches – has noticed an increase in drug trafficking throughout West Africa, where the profits made from selling drugs routinely go to terrorist organizations. Although AIRCOP has noticed drugs like methamphetamine streaming through airports in Nigeria, Ghana, and Benin, the UNODC has stressed that drug trafficking is harming the entire region, with Executive Director Yury Fedotov noting that, “UNODC is registering new alarming trends on drug trafficking in West and Central Africa with disruptive and destabilizing effects on governance, security, economic growth, and public health.” Drugs transported throughout the region include not just methamphetamine, but heroine, cocaine, and a variety of opioids.

To confront these evolving and developing threats, AIRCOP must do exactly what they outlined in their 6^th Global Meeting – evolve and develop. The international organization has proven highly effective in shutting down illicit trafficking that flows through airports, and by continuing to improve the means by which member states share information and coordinate operations, AIRCOP may prove even more effective.

U.S. Jury Convicts El Chapo on All Counts for Leading the Sinaloa Organized Crime Cartel

February 13, 2019 by Bruce Zagaris Leave a Comment

On February 12, 2019, a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York convicted Joaquin Achivaldo Guzman Loera, known as “El Chapo”, of leading a continuing criminal enterprise – the Mexican organized crime syndicate – commonly known as the Sinaloa Cartel. In particular, he was convicted of 26 drug-related violations and one murder conspiracy. He was convicted of all 10 counts of a superseding indictment, including narcotics trafficking, using a firearm in furtherance of his enterprise, and participating in a money laundering conspiracy. As the U.S. Justice Department press release discusses, the verdict came after a 12-week trial before U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan. El Chapo faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment at his sentencing schedule on June 25.

El Chapo was convicted of serving as the head of the Sinaloa Cartel, which is an international drug trafficking organization responsible for importing and distributing huge quantities of cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine and heroin in the U.S. The prosecution introduced evidence at trial, including testimony from 14 cooperating witnesses, narcotics seizures totaling over 130,000 kilograms of cocaine and heroin; weapons, including AK-47s and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher; ledgers; text messages; videos; photographs; and intercepted recordings. The evidence focused on the drug trafficking activity of El Chapo and his co-conspirators over a 25-year period from January 1989 until December 2014.

Testimony was that El Chap oversaw the clandestine transportation of narcotics to U.S. wholesale distributors and the return of billions of illicit dollars generated from U.S. drug sales. El Chapo employed “sicarios” or hit men, who committed hundreds of acts of violence in Mexico to enforce Sinaloa’s control of territories and to eliminate those who posed a threat to the Sinaloa Cartel.

The evidence was that the Cartel smuggled tens of thousands of kilograms of narcotics through submarines, carbon fiber airplanes, trains with secret compartments, and transnational underground tunnels.

El Chapo employed a sophisticated encrypted communications network to operate his syndicate. He paid an information technology engineer one million dollars to buy and set up a network so that El Chapo could communicate by internet with his drug trafficking associates in Colombia, Ecuador, Canada and the U.S. without fear of the interception of his calls El Chapo used encrypted cell phones and apps.

Various co-conspirators testified that El Chapo directed his hitmen to kidnap, interrogate, torture, and shoot members of rival drug organizations, at times carrying out acts of violence himself.

The evidence showed that El Chapo and his organization used a vast network of corrupt government officials, including local law enforcement officers, prison guards, state officials, high ranking members of the armed forces, and politicians.

El Chapo’s business produced billions of dollars in illicit proceeds and used various methods to launder money, including bulk cash smuggling. At one point, U.S. law enforcement seized $1.26 million from hidden compartments in a truck driven by El Chapo’s brother in Douglas, Arizona in 1989. El Chapo oversaw numerous shell companies, including a juice company and a fish flour company to launder the cartel’s narcotics trafficking proceeds.

El Chapo faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for leading a continuing criminal enterprise, and a sentence of up to life imprisonment on the seven remaining drug counts. The government will seek a forfeiture money judgment for billions of dollars constituting the cartel’s illegal drug-trafficking proceeds.

El Chapo was a mythical dark folk hero, notorious for his innovative smuggling operations, his violence against competitors, his prison breaks using intricate tunnels, and the inability of law enforcement to capture him once he escaped from prison, even though he gave media interviews. When law enforcement did find his hiding places, El Chapo often escaped through secret compartments leading under the houses where he stayed, making his way through the sewer system to freedom.

The conviction signals a major achievement of bilateral law enforcement cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico although the dominance of El Chapo and the Sinaloa Cartel will be immediately replaced by other cartels, so long as the demand exists in the U.S.

The IELR this month will have a more comprehensive article on the case.

CARICOM HEADS ISSUE COMMUNIQUÉ ON SECURITY, MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION AND OTHER ENFORCEMENT INITIATIVES

July 9, 2018 by Bruce Zagaris Leave a Comment

At 39^th meeting of the heads of government of the Caribbean Community in Montego Bay, Jamaica on July 4-6, 2018, several significant actions occurred on international enforcement and security cooperation, as shown by the Communique.

Jamaica signed the CARICOM arrest warrant treaty, which enables Jamaica and CARICOM countries to more easily surrender individuals without need to extradite them.

After receiving an update on current and emerging Crime and Security issues in the region, the Heads mandated the Regional Security Agencies to work closely with the National Security Heads to address the various challenges emphasizing the need to strengthen the network of security head in the region to promote further information and intelligence sharing.

The Heads underscored the importance of strengthening the use of information and Communications technology in the fight against illicit trafficking in narcotics and firearms, trans-border criminal activities and cyber attacks. They emphasized the importance of working more closely with their international development partners to help the region in this regard.

CARICOM Members were encouraged to urgently update all legal instruments to combat crime and enhance regional security.

The Heads observed with great concern the amendment approved by the UK House of Commons to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill requiring the UK Government to ensure that the British Overseas Territories, but not Crown Dependencies, establish public registers of beneficial ownership information by no later than December 31, 2020.

They expressed solidarity with the territories “adversely affected by this unfair and unilateral action to legislate in areas of domestic policy constitutionally devolved to the territories without the consent of the people. Moreover, the action ran counter to an alternative arrangement to public registers earlier negotiated and agreed with the UK government and put in place at great cost to the overseas territories.”

According to the Heads, this they view as similar to the “unfair, unilateral and punitive extraterritorial measures such as blacklisting and de-risking taken against their own countries financial services sector, also a critical aspect of their economies, despite their best efforts at transparency and compliance.”

The Heads welcomed the report of the Regional Commission on Marijuana, which reviewed information and studies pertaining to marijuana legislation regulating its use and classification, findings related to research conducted on the medicinal use of marijuana as well as the economic and social impact and its implications for the region.

The Heads accepted in principle the need for changes in the classification of the drug which will make it more available for medicinal purposes and research. The acknowledged the region must intensify its lobbying at the international level to facilitate reclassification.

The Communiqué shows that the Caribbean Single Market Economy continues to facilitate streamlined procedure to enforcement cooperation, such as the CARICOM arrest warrant treaty. They continue to try to develop common approaches and policies to transnational criminal threats, such as illicit trafficking in narcotics and firearms, trans-border criminal activities and cyber attacks.

The Heads are also developing common approaches to efforts by extraregional actors to impose tax transparency and money laundering/counter-terrorism financial regulatory and enforcement policies on them. They are especially supportive of the overseas territories because the same policies, e.g., the requirement to have corporate public registers, will undoubtedly be imposed on them, even as they continue losing their financial service markets to other jurisdictions, especially to states in the U.S. which do not even have any private registers and the Trump Administration has not prioritized or pledged to meet international standards in tax transparency or anti-money laundering.

CARICOM has developed a number of regional enforcement and security mechanisms, including CARICOM Implementing Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police, and subregional enforcement mechanisms, such as the Organization of East Caribbean States (OECS) Regional Security System.

U.S. and Brazil Start Permanent Forum on Security

May 23, 2018 by Bruce Zagaris Leave a Comment

On May 22, 2018, the United States and Brazilian governments issued a joint statement following the start of the U.S.-Brazil Permanent Forum on Security.

The initiative arose during a meeting in Brasilia at which U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan was accompanied by the Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs Manisha Singh and Acting Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Francisco Palmieri.

The Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Secretary General Marcos Garvão hosted the U.S. delegation in a working lunch and a meeting where they discussed several aspects of the U.S.-Brazil partnership.

The start of the Permanent Forum on Security arises from “consistent cooperation between the United States and Brazil on fighting transnational crime, and based upon the strengthening of collaboration of law enforcement and security agencies in both countries.”[1]

The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. State Department will coordinate the Forum, which aims to facilitate interagency teamwork and design operating strategies in six pre-defined areas: drug trafficking, arms trafficking, cybercrime, money laundering and financial crimes, terrorism, and institutional cooperation.

The first working meeting of the Forum will occur later this year in Washington, D.C.

During the visit, the two sides also issues related to criminal cooperation, such as space cooperation and defense. They discussed the recent exchange of diplomatic notes completing the process for the U.S.-Brazil Open Skies Aviation Agreement and welcomed the resumption of negotiations on a Technology Safeguards Agreement. They exchanged ideas on regional issues, including the region’s response to the political, economic, and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.

According to the remarks of Deputy Secretary Sullivan, the U.S.-Brazilian security cooperation has included the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

A future IELR article will include a more comprehensive discussion of the Forum, its scope and some of the implications.

[1] State Department, Western Hemisphere: U.S.-Brazil Bilateral Cooperation, May 22, 2018

El Chapo to Move for New Trial Due to Juror Misconduct as US Indicts El Chapo’s Sons

6th AIRCOP Meeting Discusses Detecting Illicit Traffic By Air

U.S. Jury Convicts El Chapo on All Counts for Leading the Sinaloa Organized Crime Cartel

CARICOM HEADS ISSUE COMMUNIQUÉ ON SECURITY, MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION AND OTHER ENFORCEMENT INITIATIVES

U.S. and Brazil Start Permanent Forum on Security

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