William Eliu Martinez Trial

The Washington Post carries a story about a lengthy trial concluding in Washington D.C, involving Salvadoran legislator William Eliu Martinez. Martinez is accused of assisting Colombian drug cartels in smuggling tons of cocaine into the US between 1998 and 2002:

Former El Salvador congressman William Eliu Martinez was the perfect frontman, according to prosecutors: a seemingly upstanding politician who, behind the scenes, worked as an operations manager for one of Central America's most notorious cocaine-trafficking rings.

In their closing arguments in Martinez's trial, government attorneys told a federal court jury in Washington yesterday that he helped a drug kingpin smuggle 36 tons of cocaine into the United States from 1998 to 2002 by renting waterfront properties used to ship the cargo and quelling police suspicions about the late-night boat trips.

The trial has had daily coverage in El Salvador's newspapers.