A secret Canadian-based communications platform allowed reputed cocaine kingpin Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman to control hit men, organize global drug trafficking and direct corrupt cops, according to evidence in an ongoing Brooklyn trial.It was only after Colombian Cristian Rodriguez, Guzmanâs in-house computer geek, moved four servers out of Canada that American authorities were able tap into the encrypted messaging system at the heart of his billion-dollar empire, prosecutors argued at trial this week.Rodriguez is now a co-operating witness for the prosecution.Guzman faces life in prison on conspiracy charges, as prosecutors contend he used the Canadian-based system to run an empire that trafficked narcotics and weapons and played a central role in Mexican drug wars that have left thousands dead.Guzman has pleaded not guilty to charges of international drug trafficking and conspiracy to murder rivals.The trial has not heard where in Canada the four servers were located.Read more: At El Chapoâs trial, a son betrays his father, and the cartelBloodshed and bribery rampant under El Chapo, witness says in U.S. trialU.S. trial to tell epic tale of Mexican drug lord âEl ChapoâThe central role of communications didnât surprise a Toronto-based journalist who covered organized crime on the Mexican-U.S. border in the early 2000s, before he was forced to seek asylum in Canada over cartel death threats.âThese guys have resources â both human and economic- to implement advanced networks,â Luis Horacio Najera said in an interview on Thursday. âThey also have a new mindset that understands and know how to use technology for criminal purposes, which is remarkable.âThat Star has examined some of the evidence from the ongoing case.According to the evidence presented by prosecutors, Rodriguez developed the Canadian-based platform for Guzman, trained associates in how to maintain the systems and helped upgrade and repair the ...
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