\'El Chapo\' paid off former Mexican president: witness

Explosive allegations emerged from the El Chapo trial on Tuesday (January 15).

The accused Mexican drug lord's one-time right hand man says he paid a $100 million dollar bribe to former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

And, that El Chapo claimed he was told by Pena Nieto, the kingpin didn't have to live in hiding anymore.

Alex Cifuentes says he told U.S. authorities in 2016 about the bribe.

He testified that he had told U.S. prosecutors it was Pena Nieto who first reached out to El Chapo - asking for $250 million.

Cifuentes says the bribe was paid in 2012 when Pena Nieto was president-elect.

This allegation is among the most powerful to emerge from El Chapo's trial.

It kicked off late last year and until now- it's only featured testimony of lower-level corruption.

But one of El Chapo's lawyers homed in on inconsistencies in Cifuentes' memory.

Cifuentes admits that at a meeting with prosecutors last year he'd told them he was no longer sure of the bribe's exact amount.

El Chapo, real name Joaquin Guzman, was extradited to the United States in 2017, facing charges of trafficking cocaine, heroin and other drugs, as leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Cifuentes is one of about a dozen witnesses who have so far testified against the accused drug lord, in a trial that's provided a window into the secretive world of the world's most powerful drug trafficking cartel.

Reuters could not immediately reach Pena Nieto or his former spokesman for comment.

He has previously denied taking any bribes.