First he turned on 'El Chapo.' Then he secretly recorded him. Now in hiding, the Chicago twin testifies against the alleged Mexican cartel boss. - Chicago Tribune

The large November 2008 heroin drop near O'Hare International Airport was unusual for more than one reason.

For starters, the Sinaloa cartel had sent 20 kilos instead of the promised 18, perhaps as a test of loyalty to see whether someone on the receiving end might skim the extra product. Second, the courier taking delivery of the drugs for the Chicago wing of the cartel was actually a Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

And finally, the ranking cartel member in charge of the city and the U.S. distribution that came with it was using the drug purchase to try to lure the biggest alleged narcotics trafficker in the world, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, into talking about it in a recorded telephone conversation. Pedro Flores eventually spoke to Guzman about whether money for the heroin should go to Mexico or get picked up locally.

"Look, someone is going to give you the number of the guy that is in Chicago. They are going to give it to you now," Guzman could be heard to say. He then told Flores to say hello to his brother, a twin who was helping run the Sinaloa cartel's business in the city, bringing in tons of cocaine for movement around the country.

Flores told the story in his second day on the witness stand in federal court in Brooklyn, where Guzman is the defendant in a landmark drug-trafficking trial, thanks in large part to Flores' work with the DEA. Flores continued to share with an anonymous jury hearing the case how the drug business worked on the ground, and how El Chapo ruled over it and directed operations.

Secret recordings

Flores and his twin Margarito rose from local dealing in Chicago to run the cartel's massive operation to bring drugs into America, and their cooperation represented a monumental strike against Guzman.

The phone call and others played in court Wednesday were key in the federal effort against the alleged drug lord. Jurors heard Guzman's own voice greeting Flores with "Amigo!" on a call and discussing a price break on the Chicago heroin.

The window into Sinaloa drug operations sometimes reached a granular level, as Flores, with his roots in the city's Little Village neighborhood, talked about chores as mundane as setting up the dozens of cell phones for his crews to use.

When he would do so, he tested out the phones with a number familiar to most Chicagoans, 312-588-2300.

"What's that?" a prosecutor asked.

"That's the number for Empire carpeting," Flores replied, without saying the number in the company's ubiquitous, sing-song advertising jingle. "I used to always dial that number."

The response got little reaction in the New York City courtroom.

El Chapo had arrived at the defense table Wednesday in what seemed like a good mood. Dressed in a blue suit and tie, he waved to some onlookers and raised a hand to his head in what appeared to almost be a salute to a pair of senior-citizen courtroom sketch artists who have been making chalky drawings of him for days.

He listened as Flores continued to tell jurors that Guzman was the head of cartel operations that included his own branch that moved many tons of drugs to Chicago on trains and trucks for distribution. The panel listened to several calls between Flores and cartel leaders including Guzman, who agreed to drop the price of the Chicago shipment by $5,000 a kilo.

Flores described being unable to answer one phone call from Guzman because he was standing with a group of people and didn't want to take his store-bought digital recorder out of his pants pocket to tape the drug kingpin.Two weeks after the calls with his boss, Flores said he turned himself in to the DEA full time and took himself out of harm's way. He said he was essentially controlling the flow of cartel cocaine and heroin into Chicago and the U.S. from Mexico, right up to that point.

Allegations of a cartel hit

In a cross-examination later Wednesday, Guzman's lawyer, William Purpura, raised questions about past statements Flores has made to authorities about who was supplying his drugs, especially early in his career. The defense has sought to push blame for drug operations onto Guzman's co-defendant in the case, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who remains at large.

Purpura tried to cast doubt over whether it was El Chapo's voice on the phone calls at all, playing for jurors a video of a TV interview of him, where Guzman's voice sounded slower than on the Flores recordings.

The lawyer also spent time chipping away at the image Flores had painted for jurors over two days: that he was just in the business for the money, ordered no killings of anyone, and only helped the government once he feared for his life.

To do so he tried to tie Flores to a significant Chicago gang murder. Latin King boss Rudy Rangel Jr. was gunned down in a Little Village barber shop in 2003, and Purpura pointed out Flores had previously described Rangel, whom he knew from the neighborhood, as a thief who would rob drug dealers.

After Rangel was murdered, his widow went on to marry Flores' brother, Margarito Flores, Purpura noted. Flores testified that he did not order anyone to kill Rangel.

The lawyer also tried to show that Flores could have a motive to lie — in helping the government prosecute Guzman, Flores could face as little as two years in prison, instead of life.

Purpura also noted that the twins' spouses have made good on the family's stories. They recently put out a book called "Cartel Wives," which has been optioned for TV or a movie.

Flores might even get to see Margarito again. Purpura asked whether the two are still as close as ever.

"I've been away from him for about nine years," Flores said, "but in spirit, yes."

The trial, which has been going on for a month, is expected to break for the holidays after Thursday, and could last several weeks into the new year.

jcoen@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @JeffCoen