Drug trafficking brothers with connections to the Sinaloa cartel were using freight trains to import tons of cocaine into Chicago a month

• Pablo and Margarito Flores distributed narcotics shipped from the Sinaloa cartel throughout North America
• Their contact was a man named Alfredo Vasquez-Hernandez, who allegedly ran logistics for the cartel's leader, Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman
• With an investment from the brothers, Vasquez-Hernandez began a furniture importing business, using the cover to ship cocaine by freight train
• The walls of rail cars would be lined with cocaine, then sent up to Chicago to be distributed, cash flowed in the opposite direction
• After his 2013 escape from prison, El Chapo, directed cartel business while hiding in the mountains 

By Pete D'amato

Published: 20:31 EST, 14 November 2014 | Updated: 22:22 EST, 16 November 2014

Using a furniture business as a front and freight trains for shipping, two brothers built a major Chicago drug ring that imported two tons of cocaine a month, newly unsealed documents reveal.

Pablo and Margarito Flores vanished into a witness protection program after giving testimony about their illicit enterprise, including their connection to the Sinaloa cartel and its leader Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman.

The testimony that produced indictments against more than a dozen drug traffickers, including 'El Chapo,' was only revealed recently, shedding light on how the brothers invented numerous schemes to import drugs and smuggle cash back into Mexico.

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Brothers: Margarito (left) and Pedro Flores (right) coordinated the distribution of cocaine out of Chicago, aided by a top lieutenant in the Sinaloa cartel

'My name is Pedro Flores,' one brother began his testimony to a federal grand jury, which the Chicago Sun-Times reports was done in the presence of heavy security in June 2009. 

'From 2006 through 2008, we were coordinating, at its peak, the distribution in Chicago to our customer base of 1,500 to 2,000 kilograms of cocaine per month.'

That dizzying amount of important narcotics brought in $60million per month and was coordinated with the help of Alfredo Vasquez-Hernandez, who prosecutors allege was logistics chief for El Chapo's cartel.

According to testimony, Vasquez-Hernandez facilitated transportation of cocaine into Mexico with trucks, planes and 'narco subs,' semi-submersible, often high-tech watercraft that could bring narcotics shipments from Colombia.

747s with the seats removed could ferry up to 13 tons of contraband into Mexico as well, using the cover of a 'humanitarian aid mission' providing clothing in Central and South America.

The brothers also testified they gave Vasquez-Hernandez $600,000 to set up a importing and logistics business that shipped furniture into Mexico via freight trains.

El Chapo: The Flores brothers' testimony helped bring indictments against the presumed leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman

Mexico drug boss escorted to helicopter by soldiers

Flying high: El Chapo used 747s like the one pictured in this file photo to transport cocaine from labs in Colombia to Mexico, where it made its way north

Submersible: Cartels also use homemade 'narco subs,' which can evade detection as they transport drugs to Mexico from Colombia

Once the trains were in Mexico, however, what came back across the border were tons of cocaine - literal tons - with cash heading back.

With the help of a 'crew' based in Chicago, the Flores brothers said they distributed the cocaine throughout the United States, even reaching over the border into Canada.

'Pedro and I maintained approximately 30 large customers for cocaine and heroin,' Margarito's testimony reads, with buyers in Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, Los Angeles and Vancouver.

In the transcript of an audio recording also released, Vasquez-Hernandez appears to speak about trying out a Lamborghini belonging to El Chapo's son.

'I drive it during the day, so it can be seen. Otherwise, what the f— is it for then?' 

Vasquez-Hernandez pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, and though he claims he's never met El Chapo, prosecutors allege he's known the kingpin since childhood and is one of his closest lieutenants.

Though he was arrested by the Guatemalan Army in 1993 and extradited to Mexico, El Chapo escaped custody in 2001 by hiding in the laundry cart and being wheeled to freedom. 

Over more than a decade, he eluded law enforcement, reportedly spending most of his time in the mountainous regions around Sinaloa, reported New Yorker.

With the aid of a few trusted lieutenants, El Chapo continued to run his lucrative narcotics business, with the city of Chicago announcing him to be Public Enemy Number One in 2013.

Finally, in 2014, he was brought down by the Mexican Navy's special forces in a joint operation with US officials, though it still remains to be seen whether he will be extradited to the US to face charges.

The Flores brothers have gone into protective custody, with their extended family moved from Mexico to protect them from retribution.

'I know that once the people I have talked about today found out I was cooperating,' Margarito says in his testimony, 'they would try to kill me and my family.'

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