Chicago Tribune

How Chicago became a key hub in El Chapo's massive U.S. drug operation: Chicago twin testifies in historic trial

NEW YORK - In untold hundreds of truck and train shipments, tons of cocaine rolled into Chicago hidden among loads of vegetables, shrimp, and even live sheep.

The city acted as the American distribution center of the vast network of the Sinaloa cartel, and was run by Chicago twin brothers who had declared allegiance to a person they referred to often simply as "The Man." Both would eventually turn against their boss, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, and one of them, Pedro Flores, began testifying in Guzman's historic trial in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

In harrowing detail over three hours, Flores explained his rise from dealing cocaine with family members on the Southwest Side to working as a top lieutenant for the world's most notorious drug lord. He told an anonymous jury in New York that he has cooperated against some 50 people in the cartel network

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