Mexican drug lord 'El Chapo' convicted by NY jury

Mexican mobster Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has been convicted of crimes spanning a quarter-century in a trial that laid bare his lavish lifestyle and penchant for extreme violence as head of one of the world's most powerful gangs.

The 61-year-old former boss of the notorious Sinaloa cartel -- famed for his brazen escapes from Mexican prisons -- faces life in prison for smuggling tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States.

He was also found Tuesday guilty on money laundering and weapons possession charges during a three-month trial in which witnesses described the mob boss beating, shooting and even burying alive those who got in his way.

"The verdict was a tremendous victory for the rule of law, for Mexico, the United States and other countries that have been victims of the Sinaloa cartel," Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, told AFP.

"Chapo Guzman was the world's greatest drug lord of all time," Vigil added.

"He surpassed other drug lords, including Pablo Escobar."
In a three-month trial that unfolded like a real-life telenovela, Guzman's ex-henchmen and a former mistress took the stand under the gaze of the stocky gangster, whose nickname is Spanish slang for "shorty."