Published on : Thursday, December 20, 2018
However, a new and remarkable event has lately turned out to be a must-see attraction: the drug scheme trial of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the Mexican crime lord known as El Chapo.
For the last several weeks, the epic legal drama has been attracting curious crowds of narco-tourists, often before dawn, expecting a quick look of the most famous drug dealers of the world.
So far, among the visitors, a French scholar of organized crime, an off-duty group of Guatemalan diplomats, a couple from Lithuania, a retired Connecticut banker and a strange man carrying a Bible whom court security officers took to calling “The Reverend.”
“Everyone back home is jealous — they can’t believe I’m at the El Chapo trial,” said Greg Gold, a lawyer from Denver, who turned up for the spectacle last week. “It’s better entertainment than ‘Les Mis.’”
Court buffs are, of course, a common sight at prominent proceedings. However, the Federal District Court in Brooklyn, where the case of Mr. Guzman is being heard, has had its share of blockbuster trials in all these years, with boldface defendants like John Gotti, rarely, if ever, have so many ordinary people dropped in for a peek.