Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán

File:Juaquin Guzman-Loera.jpg

Mug shot of Joaquín Guzmán Loera

Joaquín Guzmán Loera, also known as Joaquin "el Chapo" Guzmán ("Shorty"), born 1954, is the head of an international drug trafficking organization referred to as either the "Alianza de Sangre" or the Sinaloa Cartel, named for the Mexican Pacific Coast state (Sinaloa) where it was initially formed. He is Mexico's top Drug Kingpin after the arrest of his rival Osiel Cardenas of the Gulf Cartel. During the 1980s, Guzmán was associated with Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (known as El Padrino), head of the dominant drug trafficking group in Mexico at that time. After Félix Gallardo's capture he left the organization and soon gained notoriety as director of his own criminal enterprise.

He is believed to offer US$2,000,000 to lieutenants and sympathizers who keep him safe at each location he travels to. He also changes cell phones daily; witnesses say he changes phones after each conversation. Guzman follows the "Sinaloan" credo of not killing innocent people, supposedly distinguishing him from Osiel Cardena's Gulf Cartel and his "Zetas." This has won him many supporters and sympathizers in Sinaloa, and he has been perceived as a sort of "Robin Hood" character. So far he has evaded operations to capture him, thereby gaining notoriety around the world. [1]

Mode of Operation

Guzmán is well known for his use of sophisticated tunnels--similar to the one located in Douglas, Arizona--to smuggle cocaine from Mexico into the United States in the early 1990s. In 1993 a 7.3 ton shipment of his cocaine, concealed in cans of chili peppers and destined for the United States, was seized in Tecate, Baja California.

When he was arrested in 1991, the drug boss pulled US$50,000 from a suitcase and dumped it on the desk of the Mexico City police chief. He later walked out a free man. In another documented incident, he provided a Jalisco police commander with US$1,000,000 and five Dodge Ram Charger SUVs in exchange for permission for a pair of cargo planes to land without interference. He is known for his cunning and ability to transport large amounts of cocaine without detection.

Controversies

Murder of Cardinal

In May 1993, members of the rival Arellano Félix Organization coordinated a failed attempt to assassinate Guzmán in Guadalajara, Jalisco, which resulted in the much publicized murder of the prominent Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo. Police believe the Arellano Félix organization thought Guzmán Loera was in the car, but the Cardinal was shot instead.

The public was outraged and the federal authorities began making stronger attempts to curtail the drug barons' trade. Guzmán was jailed but continued to run his smuggling network from a luxurious cell, where he kept a selection of wines, entertained prostitutes, and met with many well-known public figures. A few days before he was due to be extradited to the United States, he paid his way out of prison and hid in a laundry van as it drove through the gates. The warden and thirty guards were implicated in the escape, which was rumoured to have cost him US$500,000, and he had also procured the help of the "Mayo" Zambada, "Azul," Esparragoza the Magana, Beltrans, Los Covarrubias from "Atolinga Zacatecas", Eduardo Ortega "El Pacheco" from Mexicali B.C. and Los Huizars from "Jalisco and Zacatecas."

Escape from Mexico

Also in 1993, an even more sophisticated tunnel stretching from Tijuana, Baja California, to the Otay Mesa, California area was discovered. The following month, Guzmán Loera and Victor Ochoa were arrested in Mexico on homicide and drug charges. On January 19, 2001, after their escape from prison, they quickly regained control of the Sinaloa Cartel and el Cartel de Juarez, which they reportedly still control today. Authorities say Guzmán's push to cut down competitors, namely, the Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas, and the Juárez/Tijuana Cartel, on the U.S.-Mexico border, created the chaos that led President Vicente Fox to deploy soldiers and federal police on the streets of Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and Matamoros in June 2005.

Recent Appearances

2004

In November 2004, 200 paras swooped on Guzmán's Sierra Madre stronghold in Black Hawk helicopters. His voice had been heard on a tapped phone line half an hour earlier.

On December 20, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced a US$5,000,000 reward for information leading to Guzmán's arrest and prosecution.

2005

In June 2005, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) grabbed his brother, son, two nephews and a niece. They also seized nine houses and six vehicles. They failed, however, to capture Guzmán.

Guzmán reportedly strolled into a Nuevo Laredo restaurant called " Las Tostadas Sirverias" which is located in the center of the city, with a fleet of bodyguards. After taking his seat, his men collected the cell phones of approximately forty diners and instructed them to not be alarmed. After eating he dropped a handful of hundred-dollar bills on the table and walked to the door. He turned around and said, "Order what you want, and I'll pay," and went on his way.

2007

March 17, Mexican federal agents apprehended US$205.6 million, along with 200,000 and $157,500 pesos, in a mansion in Mexico City.

On August 2, two of the Mexican federal agents who took part in the raid that discovered the US$205.6 million (€149 million) in cash in the Mexico City mansion were found beaten and shot to death in southern Mexico.

In November 2007, Guzman was married in Canelas, Durango, Mexico.

That same month, Guzmán was reportedly seen in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico, repeating the restaurant deed he pulled in Nuevo Laredo [2]

2008

In March 2008, the Guatemalan government reported that Guzmán may have been tied to a gun battle in their country that left ten gunmen dead. Three days later, the Honduran government reported that they were investigating whether he was hiding out in Honduras. [3]

In May 2008, Édgar Guzmán López, Joaquin's son was found dead along with Arturo Meza Cázares (Blanca Margarita "Cázares Salazar's son), "La Emperatriz" (The Empress) in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico.

In the second week of May, 2008, Guzman Loera visited a restaurant in Ciudad Juarez called 'Aroma'. According to the story, Guzman's bodyguards took pictures of all the clients in the restaurant, took their cell phones away and locked the doors until Guzman Loera and another person finished eating until 2:00 AM. Guzman Loera offered drinks, paid everyone's tab in the restaurant and returned the cell phones when he left.

External Links

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-Loera on America's Most Wanted