How Rich and Powerful is ‘El Chapo’? By Kevin Tiongson

As we know notorious mexican drug lord “Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been arrested. Or if you didn’t know, now you do. He was recaptured on February 22, 2014 after his escape from prison 13 years prior.  How did he not get arrested sooner?

El Chapo; known for being the boss of the Sinaloa Cartel is a folk hero in the narcotics world. His cartel is dubbed as “Mexico's most powerful organized crime group” by the Los Angeles Times and “biggest drug lord of all time” by Forbes. Notorious for  trafficking drugs like Cocaine, Marijuana, Meth and Heroin. Forbes magazine said “The cartel is responsible for an estimated 25% of all illegal drugs that enter the U.S. via Mexico.”

Just to show you how rich El Chapo actually is; he has been featured in Forbes magazine’s list of most powerful people in the world every year since 2009. He was 41st in 2009 and is currently 67th. And how dangerous he is; about 70,000  people have been killed in the past six years alone due to the drug wars in Mexico.

Now what do we generally know about drug lords and different bosses? What we know from movies and television is that to be the leader of a Cartel, one must have brains, guts and a sense of authority and fear surrounding you.

How do these drug lords even make money and keep making money? They smuggle their product into countries where they are most expensive. For example an certain amount of coke will sell for $ 2,000 in Mexico, while it would sell $ 10,000 over here in the U.S. . The Sinaloa cartel have been reported in trafficking their product in 54 countries, not just the U.S.

Being a drug lord is hard work, you’ve got to stay hidden but also be able to enjoy your money. Said drug lord would need connections, loyal followers, trusted lieutenants and enforcers. Tony Montanas’ security wouldn't pass for todays technology and security measures. El Chapo would not only need trusted men but would need state of the arc anti surveillance technology to aid is anonymity.

He would need to spend a bulk of his hard earned cash to hide effectively and still live a lavish lifestyle one kingpin would. He’d need a secluded location where he could build and live in a comfortable home, even though he was arrested in a somewhat modest condo.

Some cartels have been known to dig underground tunnels, some tunnels connect from Mexico to the U.S. The condo and other stash houses used by the Sinaloan Cartel had entrances to the tunnels underneath the bathtubs leading to neighboring towns, used for escape, transport and whatnot. Tunnel networks have long been used by underground communities and such, and is a smart way of transporting their products and escaping.

Nick Herman, a college student said “I didn’t know about the tunnels but come to think of it its a genius way of evading the cops. Seems like something every crime group probably use. The government should look into those.”

On February 22, 2014 after his hideout in Sinaloa, El Chapo’s residence was seized and  El Chapo was found in one of the tunnels trying to escape after the authorities tried to and succeeded to knock down the steel reinforced doors of his condo. What will this arrest do for the drug war? Nothing; cut off the head and another will grow.