Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, leader of the Sinaloa cartel, who was arrested last Feb. 22 in Sinaloa by Mexican authorities, denied belonging to any drug trafficking group and claimed he is a humble farmer.
Guzmán, who until Feb. 22 was considered to be one of the most wanted criminals in the world, presented his statement at the Federal Social Readaptation Center Number 1, of the Almoloya de Juárez maximum security prison last Feb. 23, barely a day after being arrested in a building in Miramar de Mazatlán, Sinaloa; however, a video with a fragment of his statement was released on Wednesday.
In the document, which is already circulating in social networks and YouTube, Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera answers 7 questions in which he contradicts the criminal profile the police has of this criminal.
According to Mexican newspaper Excélsior, Guzmán, who spent 13 years on the run after escaping from the Puente Grande prison in Jalisco, presented his second statement to an agent of the federal public prosecutor and a state-provided lawyer.
According to Univisión, in his previous statement, the drug trafficker claimed that he does not smoke or use drugs, that he did not remember his telephone number, that he was not a drug trafficker but rather a farmer and that, even though he enjoys alcohol, he only drinks sporadically.
In his new statement, Guzmán once more denied his links to organized crime and claimed, again, that he farms for a living.
Here we present a complete transcription of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's statement.
Federal Public Prosecutor Agent: "May the defendant say to which organization he belongs."
Joaquín Guzmán Loera: "I don' belong to any cartel or own any cartel."
FPPA: "May the defendant say what he does for a living."
JGL: "I'm a farmer."
FPPA: "May the defendant say what he cultivates."
JGL: "Maize, sorghum, beans and safflower."
FPPA: "May the defendant say whether he knows a member of organized crime."
JGL: "I don't know any members of organized crime."
FPPA: "May the defendant say if he has any injuries. If so, may he say how he got them, and if relevant, if he wishes to present a complaint."
JGL: "I have no injuries and I do not want to report anyone."
FPPA: "May the defendant say how he has been treated by personnel."
JGL: "I have been treated very well by the lawyer."
FPPA: "May the defendant say if his human rights were respected at all times."
JGL: "My human rights were respected by the personnel who arrested me."