Jury weighs fate of Mexican drug kingpin

"This trial gave the American public tremendous insight into how these powerful drug trafficking cartels operate", Mike Vigil, former chief of worldwide operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said, according to CNN.

In this courtroom sketch, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, right, is seated at the defense table with his interpreter, in the us trial of the infamous Mexican drug lord, in New York, Monday Feb. 4, 2019.

The unsealing of the documents came at the request of The New York Times and Vice News.

The jury has heard testimony lasting almost three months about Guzman's rise to power as the head of the Sinaloa cartel.

Guzman's lawyers only presented one witness in his defense.

The defense claims his role has been exaggerated by cooperators who are seeking leniency in their own cases.

The defence has argued that Chapo was set up as a "fall guy" by Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, a drug kingpin from Sinaloa who remains at large.

For 5,000 dollars (£3,800), the girl of Guzman's choice would be sent to a secluded Sinaloa ranch, Cifuentes claimed in the papers.

"Joaquin denies the allegations, which lack any corroboration and were deemed too prejudicial and unreliable to be admitted at trial", Guzman's lawyer, Eduardo Balarezo, said in an emailed statement.

The defendant would then have sex with them at one of his Mexican hideouts in the late 2000s, Cifuentes said.

Guzman "called the youngest of the girls his "vitamins" because he believed that sexual activity with young girls gave him "life", Cifuentes claims.

The cooperating witness told investigators that he also had sex with minors without drugging them.

He could be sentenced to life in prison if found guilty on the top charge of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.

In this courtroom sketch, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, center, listens as a prosecutor delivers closing arguments during his trial, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019, in NY.

The cooperator told the government that he saw Guzman "consulting with a witch doctor from whom he obtained sake oils", the papers said.

The 11-week trial, which featured testimony from more than 50 witnesses, offered the public an unprecedented look into the inner workings of the cartel, named for the state in northwest Mexico where Guzman was born in a poor mountain village.

Jurors will be asked to begin deciding the verdict for Guzman, who faces life in prison if convicted.