Tension between the United States and Mexico proves that the cartels are able to manipulate both sides of the border with their power. The Sinaloa cartel leader, Juaquin “El Chapo” Guzman recently evaded authorities after capture and imprisonment once again. Also, in a tease to authorities, Guzman’s son Alfredo posted a photo on Twitter that shows a man with a mustache, face partially covered by an emoticon, who is believed to be El Chapo himself, as the Drug War Times reported.
The Mexican side did not want to extradite Guzman to the United States after discovering one of the narco boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada’s son, known as “El Vicentillo” was arrested then offered a deal by the U.S. government. It has been reported that Jesus Niebala-Zambata was arrested in Chicago in 2009 and told authorities he had immunity because he signed a deal with the DEA in the U.S., which allowed him to traffic tons of drugs through the U.S. in exchange for information related to rival drug cartels in Mexico.
The Drug cartel led by Chapo has used Chicago, a violent city that often tops the U.S. murder cities list, as a distribution hub to deliver cocaine and heroin shipments that are bound for cities such as Minneapolis-St. Paul (an area that is known to have some of the purest heroin in the U.S.) via the I-90 and I-94 routes. Chicago has a significant Latino population as well as a major concentration of gangs including the Devil’s Disciples, Gangster Disciples (GD), Latin Kings, Mexican Mafia, Vice Lords and several other sets, cliques and organizations.
It was reported recently that several top prison officials at Altiplano prison, the maximum security facility in Mexico Guzman escaped from, were arrested in connection with his evasion. Guzman, just like in the last prison break, used tunnels to make his getaway.
The drug war has claimed thousands of lives on both sides of the border, but the battles have been ruthlessly bloody on the Mexican side, where people are often burned alive, dipped in acid, fed to lions on ranches owned by the rich cartel bosses and blown to bits by grenades in broad daylight. The guns flow south from the U.S. side while the drugs flow north from the Mexican side. The border areas are heavily battled for by rival cartels including the Gulf, Los Zetas and Sinaloa cartels. These areas are known as “plazas”. The gateway to I-35, which runs through key cities like Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas and Minneapolis-St. Paul, are coveted by the drug dealers.
Forbes has estimated the net worth of El Chapo to be somewhere around $1 billion. There is currently a $3.8 million reward for Guzman’s capture. Mexico has still not agreed to extradite El Chapo even if he is captured once again and El Vicentillo is considered a top witness against the drug lord.
