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First of all, he tried to kill his niece's husband. And then he ordered his nephew to kill his cousin because he was planning to kidnap his grandmother.
It is not the screenplay of a twisted narconovela, but the story of Alex Cifuentes Villa, the youngest son of an important family of Colombian drug traffickers who for years worked closely with the Mexican chief Joaquín "Chapo" Guzmán and whose tribulations came to light at his trial in New York.
Alex Cifuentes, who started trafficking drugs at age 10, learning the trade of his mother, father and brothers, was arrested in Mexico in November 2013 and then deported from Colombia to the United States. Prisoner in this country, collaborates with the government in exchange for a possible reduction of his sentence.
For four days he was an incredible witness to the trial at Chapo, with whom he lived for two years in the Sinaloa mountains, revealing to the jury in great detail the daily life of the famous former leader of the Sinaloa cartel in hiding, including visits from his wife and lovers, and how he managed his multimillion-dollar business.
– First company –
But he also revealed the acute problems of his family at the insistence of the defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman.
Cifuentes, 50, said that in 2008 he paid his nephew Jaime Roll Cifuentes – son of his sister Lucia Inés – just over a thousand dollars to locate Juan Zapata or "Juan Bonito", his granddaughter's partner, who worked with they in the drug industry and those who wanted to kill because there were "inconsistencies of money with him and we thought he was an informer".
El Chapo, he said, told him he would put $ 50,000 to kill Juan Bonito.
And then he also decided to kill his nephew Jaime, because "he stole a cocaine and tried to kidnap my mother", that is, his grandmother, he said.
Cifuentes, however, told the jury that he could not kill either.
Discovering the transcripts of the meetings that Alex Cifuentes had with the American prosecutors, Lichtman launched a question after the other on the dysfunctional family, trying to present the witness as a liar and criminal without scruples, capable of everything in exchange for get what he wants.
"Do you have a sister-in-law, Patricia, did you tell the government that you threatened to kill her?" Lichtman Churches. "And you threatened to kill your ex-wife, Valentina?"
The prosecution objected to both questions, to which Cifuentes did not answer.
Alex's brother, Jorge, was arrested in Venezuela in 2012 and is held in the United States, where he works with the government. He attended the Chapo trial in December.
Another sister, Dolly, was arrested in 2011 and deported to the United States the following year, but was released unexpectedly in 2015. Two brothers were killed: Fernando and Francisco, aka "Pacho", ex and partner of Pablo Escobar. The last sister, Lucia Inés, was arrested in Colombia in 2014 with her son Jaime Roll Cifuentes.
– "An honest man" –
The witness also said that he tried to hire the Hells Angels to kill his secretary and great friend Andrea Fernandez Velez in Canada.
Andrea was his most trusted person. He met her through a Colombian actress and, since she had no place to live, offered her her apartment in Cancun.
Andrea managed all his little money, bought his clothes, his watches and all his personal items, even "$ 500 sheets", according to Lichtman. He managed his agenda and contacts and, as his spokesperson, he met members of the Colombian FARC guerrilla or corrupt military officers.
He also had a modeling agency in Mexico City that facilitated the female company for the Mexican military, all paid for by Chapo.
On one occasion, at the request of the Mexican chief, Fernandez offered an unidentified Mexican general 10 million dollars to stop chasing Chapo, but rejected the offer, and the accused, furious, he decided to kill her, Cifuentes said.
"He betrayed my employer," he said.
Cifuentes insisted in spite of all that is "an honest man".
"Are you an honest man?" Churches in disbelief Lichtman.
"Yes sir," replied Cifuentes.
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