![]() ![]() There has never been a clear definition of what exactly constitutes a cartel, and as smaller, more transient gangs replace larger organisations, going after leaders like Guzmán seems increasingly pointless. Above all, his trial demonstrated how disposable any single person is in the larger machinations of the narco-state. Guzmán’s arrest did not magically rid Mexico, or the US, of violence or drugs. Over the past 13 years, Mexico’s internal war on drugs has dominated the media, resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 people and failed to stop narcotrafficking. “Narco fatigue” – the exhaustion that comes with being oversaturated by news and pop culture about the drug trade – had long ago set in. Many people didn’t want to discuss El Chapo at all. While people could still name the Sinaloa cartel’s leaders and lieutenants, they were more interested in the newer cartels, such as Jalisco Nueva Generación or the local La Unión. Guzmán’s image had mostly disappeared from the magazine covers on display at the news kiosks that dot the streets of the capital. When I was in Mexico City this spring, a month after the verdict, talk of the trial had already died down. His lawyers are seeking a retrial on the basis of jury misconduct, but the chances of that happening are slim. He will be sentenced at the end of June, and is almost certain to be jailed for life. By the time he appeared in court in 2018, he was a late-night TV punchline, a symbol of extreme wealth and an escape artist with a talent for leaving law enforcement with their hands empty.Īt the trial, Guzmán was found guilty of all charges against him, including the most serious – having engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise. While the workings of his business may be a mystery, Americans have heard of El Chapo. In an address to the media after the verdict was handed down, US government officials emphasised this point and the role of illegal fentanyl in perpetuating the opioids crisis. Nor are many people aware that cartels are increasingly responsible for fentanyl, a form of synthetic heroin, entering the US. It is not common knowledge that Mexico launched its own war on drugs in the mid-2000s, or that the biggest cartels are sophisticated operations worth billions of dollars. But while Mexican cartels regularly appear in the US media, most people are unfamiliar with the circumstances that contributed to their rise. Regardless of where you are, if you are breaking American laws, “eventually, we’re going to get you”.Īmericans spend around $109bn on illegal drugs each year, and Bloomberg estimates that the Sinaloa cartel makes at least $11bn in annual sales to the US. Jack Riley, a retired Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) chief who recently published a book about his role in Guzmán’s arrest, told me that in the view of US authorities, catching El Chapo was an important warning to criminals around the world. Barack Obama called Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto to congratulate him on the arrest, and in a move that could be interpreted either as a parting gift to Obama or a peace offering to his successor, Guzmán was extradited to New York on 19 January 2017, a day before Trump took office. When he was captured by Mexican marines on 8 January 2016, Guzmán became the prize feather in the cap of the country’s law enforcement. As Guzmán’s lawyers liked to tell anybody who would listen, even before their client set foot in Brooklyn, he had already been convicted in the court of public opinion. ![]() The following year, that same magazine named Guzmán one of the world’s most-wanted fugitives, second to only Osama bin Laden. He has been the subject of dozens of books, two popular TV series and, in 2009, was included in Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires. In addition to smuggling thousands of tonnes of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and synthetic narcotics across the US-Mexico border, he had successfully pulled off two dramatic escapes from prisons in Mexico. ![]() The diminutive 61-year-old (his nickname, El Chapo, means “shorty” in Spanish) was known around the world as a leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, and the most high-profile drug kingpin since Pablo Escobar. There was little expectation that Guzmán would mount a convincing defence. The government called 56 witnesses, the defence called only one: an FBI agent, who finished testifying within an hour. “United States of America v Joaquín Guzmán Loera” had lasted approximately three months – it took prosecutors that long to present what they described as “an avalanche” of evidence, which had taken more than a decade to compile. J ust after midday on Tuesday 12 February, word came down that the verdict was ready in what had been widely described as the trial of the century. ![]()
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