El Chapo: The Man Behind the Hunt

El Chapo, real name Joaquín Guzmàn, is the sixty-one-year-old head of one of the biggest and most terrifying drug cartels in the world. Nicknamed “Shorty” for his stocky, 5’6” build, El Chapo firmly climbed his way up to the top of the narcotics game. Building up along with his narcotics career, an alarming reputation. In 2001, he escaped from jail by bribing prison guards and hiding in a laundry cart. Guzmàn was recaptured in 2014 but broke out from Mexico’s top security prison through a series of underground tunnels in 2015. And until his (hopefully) final re-recapture in January of 2016, Chapo shipped more than half of all cocaine, heroin, and marijuana in the U.S and was public enemy number one of the DEA. Now he sits in an isolated prison cell in the toughest detention center of Manhattan, waiting for his trial to begin.

The story of most infamous drug cartel leader begins from a not so easy childhood. Guzmàn was born deep in the Sierra Madre Mountains in the small, rugged town of La Tuna, Mexico. He grew up in a mud shack with no access to running water or electricity. His family often had money problems and struggled to feed Guzmàn and his ten siblings. The only form of transportation in the town were mules and as a young child, Guzmàn would carry sacks of oranges around to sell them and make money. “He always fought for a better life, even as a small boy,” says Guzmàn’s mother. At the age of 15, he joined a gang called the Gomeros and began his career in the illegal drug business. Chapo steadily gained more influence in the narcotics world, and by the 1980s he was working under Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, founder of the Guadalajara Cartel, the largest drug cartel in Mexico at that time. When Gallardo was arrested, Chapo took his portion of the Guadalajara Cartel and formed it into the Sinaloa Cartel, quickly turning it into one of the most powerful drug trafficking businesses in South America.

Sinaloa has long been at the center of drug activity and marijuana cultivation. Making it the perfect place to originate a narco-trafficking organization, such as what Guzmàn has done with his Sinaloa Cartel. Built out of the debris of the fallen Guadalajara Cartel came two new ruling organizations. The Tijuana Cartel, founded by the Arellano Félix brothers, and the Sinaloa Cartel. These two drug trafficking businesses became enemies in an instant, and anyone who was caught in the crosshairs was guaranteed to never come out alive. In one such instance, the Tijuana Cartel’s attempt to assassinate El Chapo at the Guadalajara airport ended with the death of a Mexican cardinal. Despite the ongoing war, Guzmàn managed to spread the Sinaloa Cartel all through Mexico and America. The influence of Guzmàn’s cartel stretches all the way from New York to Buenos Aires. It operates in 17 different Mexican states, 17 different Mexican states and by some accounts, as many as fifty different countries.

With Chapo now in custody, more details about his notorious life are coming to the surface. Even inspiring the show El Chapo, a collaboration between Univision’s Story House Entertainment and Netflix. Due to a sudden reveal of more evidence, Chapo’s attorneys now proclaim that their client is not guilty. According to his lawyers, Chapo is not the head of the Sinaloa Cartel, but rather he acted out all those killings on the orders of someone else. These surprising swerve in events has caused the trial to be moved back from September to November fifth. Besides the adjustment to the date, a change in location is also being contemplated. The defense wishes to move the trial from Brooklyn to Manhattan due to the immense amount of security that must accompany Chapo to the courthouse. Such a large traveling party has caused the Brooklyn Bridge to close down every time Chapo crosses to get to the Brooklyn courthouse. This has been a major inconvenience for New Yorkers and left many unhappy. Nevertheless, the one thing that seems permanent is Chapo’s current position. It seems that the man behind the hunt is now behind bars.