El Chapo's son faces US sanctions over fentanyl trafficking
May 9, 2023
The son of the Mexican drug kingpin is the latest Sinaloa cartel figure to be sanctioned in the US. He is accused of trafficking the deadly drug into the US with the help of Chinese companies.
The US Department of Treasury announced the sanctionsImage: Nathan Posner/AA/picture alliance
Joaquin Guzman Lopez and three members of the powerful Sinaloa cartel have been sanctioned for allegedly trafficking fentanyl — currently considered the deadliest drug in the US —and other drugs into the country.
Last month, the US charged Guzman Lopez's three brothers with running a fentanyl trafficking operation fueled by Chinese chemical and pharmaceutical companies.
The father himself — the notorious El Chapo, the leader of the Sinaloa cartel — is currently serving a life sentence in a US prison.
El Chapo's former safehouse raffled off in national lottery
As the Mexican government gives away the safehouse which former drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman fled in 2014 in a national lottery, a look back at his extraordinary life.
Image: Adriana Gomez/AP/picture alliance
Jailbreak
The leader of the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, nicknamed "El Chapo" ("Shorty") due to his short stature, was first arrested in 1993 in Guatemala. He was extradited to Mexico and sentenced to 20 years in jail for murder and drug trafficking. In January 2001, he escaped from Mexico's Puente Grande maximum-security prison, reportedly in a laundry cart.
Image: AFP
The shower to freedom
"El Chapo" remained at large until 2014. The world's most-wanted drug lord was finally captured in the Mexican city of Mazatlan. But in 2015 he escaped again, through a tunnel dug in the shower room of the Altiplano prison in Almoloya de Juarez. Security camera footage showed the moment he went into the shower cubicle before disappearing.
Image: YURI CORTEZ AFP via Getty Images
An elaborate plan
The drug boss's escape took him along a 1.5-kilometer-long (nearly 1-mile-long) tunnel dug beneath the shower cubicle. At the end of it was a motorcycle rigged on a special rail system with two metal carts in front of it. The Sinaloa cartel had already perfected the art of underground construction work. Such passageways take months to build and cost millions.
Image: YURI CORTEZ AFP via Getty Images
Exit strategy
"El Chapo" escaped through this trapdoor. The exit was concealed in a half-built house. But his freedom was shortlived. The narcissistic cartel boss appeared to have fallen victim to his own legend.
Image: YURI CORTEZ AFP via Getty Images
Arrested again
The Mexican drug boss was recaptured just six months later after a shootout between his bodyguards and marines in Los Mochis in Sinaloa state. He may have contributed to his downfall by giving an interview to Hollywood actor Sean Penn. The Mexican foreign ministry agreed to extradite him to the United States in May 2016.
Image: Jose Mendez/dpa/picture alliance
Maximum security
Guzman was transported to court in the United States under maximum security. In February 2019, he was found guilty on all charges, including murder, drug trafficking and participating in a money laundering conspiracy. US judges sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 30 years.
Image: TIMOTHY A. CLARY AFP via Getty Images
Bizarre 'El Chapo' cult
Over the years, a cult has built up around the famously slippery drug lord. There is a musical subgenre that celebrates Mexican cartel bosses, and Guzman has dozens of "narcocorridos," or drug ballads, dedicated to him. You can also buy "El Chapo" T-shirts and caps, as well as other merchandise.
Image: ULISES RUIZ AFP via Getty Images
Code 701
In 2009, Forbes ranked "El Chapo" as the 701st richest person in the world, estimating his net worth to be more than $1 billion (€850 million). Many fan articles linked to the drug lord therefore bear the number 701.
Image: ULISES RUIZ AFP via Getty Images
Tasteless branding
You can buy Tequila bottles or even COVID-19 face masks with "El Chapo" branding. Few seem concerned by the fact that Joaquin Guzmán was responsible for a bloody drug war, which has claimed more than 150,000 lives since 2006. One brand line is registered by Guzman's daughter.
Image: ULISES RUIZ AFP via Getty Images
Raffle to win safe house
A safe house that once belonged to "El Chapo" is being raffled off in a state-run lottery. The two-bed home with its beige-tiled kitchen is unremarkable — except for its hydraulic bathtub. That concealed the entrance to a network of escape tunnels.
Image: Fernando Llano/AP/picture alliance
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Deadly fentanyl
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 71,000 people died in the US from overdosing on synthetic opioids such as fentanyl in 2021. The figure is an increase from about 58,000 the year before.
Fentanyl, America's silent killer
07:06
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US authorities tasked with combating drug trafficking have said that Mexico and China are the main sources for fentanyl smuggled into the country.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has denied that drug cartels were producing fentanyl, but said that precursor chemicals and finished fentanyl have been smuggled into Mexico from China.
