The History and Fate of El Chapo
A 50-year saga came to an end Tuesday, February 12 as infamous drug lord Joaquin Guzman, more commonly known and El Chapo, was given a guilty verdict on 10 indictments in a US court.
El Chapo’s story starts with the Sinaloa cartel in the early 1970’s. Starting by trafficking and overseeing shipments of narcotics from the interior of Mexico through border towns, El Chapo gradually worked his way to the top of the organization. In 1984, the death of DEA agent Kiki Camarena led to a US led retribution that killed many high ranking members of the Sinaloa cartel. El Chapo and two others reformed the Sinaloa cartel leaving him in charge of lucrative trafficking corridors that included multiple US border crossings.
From 1987 to 1993, El Chapo was under the spotlight of Mexican and American authorities. For the first time, witnesses came forward to the US government in 1987 and made it known that El Chapo had become the new leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. The Tijuana Cartel conflict from 1989-1993 put El Chapo under even more scrutiny from the authorities. The conflict left a trail of death in its wake and as a result El Chapo had to flee Mexico to Guatemala. In Guatemala, the army arrested El Chapo and extradited him back to Mexico.
The Mexican courts sentenced El Chapo to 20 years for drug trafficking, criminal association, bribery, and gun charges in 1993. While in Puente Grande prison El Chapo’s organization saw no decline as leadership was taken over by his brother El Pollo. Inside prison, El Chapo was still able to maintain his lavish lifestyle with cases full of money being brought in by his associates so he could bribe guards and other staff. In 2001, after spending 2.1 million dollars on bribing 78 prison guards, El Chapo was smuggled out of the prison in a laundry cart.
El Chapo’s leadership of the Sinaloa cartel continued from the shadows during a manhunt that lasted from 2001-2014. In 2014, following tips from multiple former bodyguards, Mexican police arrested El Chapo for the second time. From 2014-2016, El Chapo was kept under much more intense security, however in 2016, he escaped prison again. This time El Chapo’s men dug nearly a mile long tunnel complete with a motorcycle for him to escape through.
After being recaptured later in 2016, El Chapo was extradited to the US to face his charges. A multitude of charges were placed on EL Chapo in 6 states including drug trafficking with intent to distribute, conspiracy association, organized crime, money laundering, homicide, illegal possession of firearms, kidnapping, and murder. El Chapo’s trial came to an end last Tuesday with a unanimous jury decision. Sentencing is yet to happen, but El Chapo will likely receive a life sentence.
Throughout the trial, much of the interworking of the Sinaloa have come into the view of United States authorities. The big question going forward will be can the new intelligence provided by El Chapo lead to the destruction of the Sinaloa cartel, or will the Cartel continue to dump narcotics into the United States under a new regime.
By Jake Bogartz