Who is 'El Chapo' Guzman, Public Enemy Number One?

Christian Science Monitor ^ | Feb. 15, 2013 | Michael Tarm

[AuntB]

A drug kingpin in Mexico who has never set foot in Chicago has been named the city's new Public Enemy No. 1 — the same notorious label assigned to Al Capone at the height of the Prohibition-era gang wars.

The Chicago Crime Commission announced the move Thursday, saying it considers Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman even more menacing than Capone because he's the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, which supplies most of the narcotics sold in the city. "Of the two, Guzman is by far the greater threat. ... And he has more power and financial capability than Capone ever dreamed of."

Guzman is thought to be holed up and guarded by a personal army in a Mexican mountain hideaway. And there's nothing to indicate he's ever been anywhere near Chicago...

"Ninety-nine percent of the people in the United States have never heard of this man," he said. "Concerted action ... must be taken now against Guzman before he establishes a bigger network and a bigger empire in the United States."

Yet Riley said Guzman — whose nickname means "shorty" in Spanish — is more ruthless than Capone, whose nickname was "Scarface."

"If I was to put those two guys in a ring, El Chapo would eat that guy (Capone) alive,"

"This is where Guzman turns his drugs into money," he said.

Cartels, blamed for more than 50,000 deaths in Mexico in recent years, are rarely directly linked to slayings in Chicago. But Bilek said Thursday that cartel-led trafficking is an underlying cause of territorial battles between street gangs that are responsible for rising homicide rates.

[AuntB]

"Guzman "virtually has his fingerprints on the guns that are killing the children of this city," Bilek told a news conference."

Geee...I wonder where he got those guns??????? Paging Eric Holder....

On the same page: RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Mexico? Take our quiz.

[AuntB]

Hat tip to Mike Cutler for sending out this article.

[Gabrial]

“Mexican mountain hideaway”

I am sure Bammy is stocking up HellFires for use on his kill list. Why not death by drone?

[JimSEA]

Seems a tad PC to avoid someone actually in Chicago. Rahm in 2016??

[RetiredTexasVet]

I think the Sinaloa cartel is the one that the Food Stamp President and Eric “the Corrupt” are subsidizing and furnishing guns to. Since the cartel is a division of the Chicago City Mob, I think this was just a diversion to con people into thinking they are actually doing something, especially with The One and Moo in town to whine about gun violence.

[AuntB]

“I think the Sinaloa cartel is the one that the Food Stamp President and Eric “the Corrupt” are subsidizing and furnishing guns to. Since the cartel is a division of the Chicago City Mob, I think this was just a diversion to con people into thinking they are actually doing something, especially with The One and Moo in town to whine about gun violence.”

I think you’re real close, RTV.

[JustSayNoToNannies]

he has more power and financial capability than Capone ever dreamed of.

Thanks to the War on Drugs.

[AuntB]

Agreed!

[Tau Food]

Is this just another example of an industry being strangled by nanny state government regulation?

Poor Chapo, smothered with red tape.

[Liz]

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK--THE WAR ON DRUGS: Our nation'$ billion dollar "Merida Initiative" blankets Mexico with tax dollars----and Eric Holder'$ Fast and Furious----have successfully armed some of the most savage Mexican drug cartel gangs with the finest in automatic weapons........

REFERENCE: The Mérida Initiative (also called Plan Mexico by critics) is a so-called "security cooperation agreement" between the United States and the government of Mexico and the countries of Central America, with the declared aim of combating the threats of drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and money laundering. The assistance includes training, equipment and intelligence.

In seeking partnership with the United States, Mexican officials point out that the illicit drug trade is a shared problem in need of a shared solution, and remark that most of the financing for the Mexican traffickers comes from American drug consumers. U.S. law enforcement officials estimate that US$12 to 15 billion per year flows from the United States to the Mexican traffickers, and that is just in cash, i.e., not including the money sent by wire transfers.

The U.S. Congress passed legislation in late June 2008 to provide Mexico with $400 million and Central American countries with $65 million that year for the Mérida Initiative. The Merida Initiative was announced on 22 October 2007 and signed into law on June 30, 2008.

[AuntB]

“The U.S. Congress passed legislation in late June 2008 to provide Mexico with $400 million and Central American countries with $65 million that year for the Mérida Initiative. The Merida Initiative was announced on 22 October 2007 and signed into law on June 30, 2008. “

Do remember, that is above the millions we send every year...just because.

[Liz]

Viscious Mexican gangs and drug cartels are said to operate freely across the border in Austin---the Texas state capital---right under the noses of the pols. Read on.

EDITED Zeta hit man details killings on both sides of border mySA.com | January 24, 2012 | Jason Buch / FR Posted by SwinneySwitch

LAREDO, TEXAS — A hit man for the Zetas Mexican drug cartel calmly related to jurors in a drug conspiracy trial---to his role as a hired killer.

In US District Court. Rosalio Reta pointed to Gerardo Castillo Chavez, 25, and identified him as a fellow Zeta. Reta, 22, told jurors that he had been in a team of hit men headed by Gabriel Cardona, an admitted Zeta, who has pleaded guilty to five murders that occurred in Texas 2005-06.

Reta said he was the triggerman in the murder of Moises Garcia, a Mexican Mafia prison gang member, in Dec 2005.

Reta, a U.S. citizen, received national media attention after the teenager was deported from Mexico in 2006 at age 17. He's known for his distinctive facial tattoos and boasts that he became a killer when he was 13 years old.

Prosecutors say Castillo Chavez was also a sicario, or hit man, in a crew that worked with Cardona's group, gunning down two people at a busy Laredo, Texas intersection in April 2006.

He faces up to life in prison if convicted on firearms and racketeering charges and wide-ranging drug conspiracy charges; prosecutors presented evidence of a decade's worth of Zeta operations in Texas.

Reta said that he fled to Mexico after two murders in Texas, for which he's now serving 70 years in prison, and worked with Castillo Chavez.” In May 2006, Reta testified, a team of killers was dispatched to El Punto Vivo, a nightclub in a suburb of Monterrey, Mexico.

“Hitmen Chema and Chavezs went into the bar,” Reta said. “They shot, they threw some grenades and they killed four people.”

Afterward, the hit squad went to a convenience store for snacks and drinks. Prosecutors played security video showing Reta and three others making purchases.

Jurors also heard Laredo police detective Robert Garcia testify that he linked the sicarios using phone records.

The big break came when an insider---a DEA informant---was tasked by the Zetas with renting a safe house for Cardona's crew. Garcia said he worked with the feds to thwart the Zetas' attempted hits and to gather evidence.

Defense attorneys questioned Reta as to why someone who had shown great care to hideout after killings in the U.S. would so brazenly hang out at a convenience store, even microwave popcorn, after committing a high-profile killing in Mexico.

“In Mexico, the cartels run everything,” Reta replied. “So it doesn't matter if you get caught on video. We are the law over there.

Rosalio Reta.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Careful there, Rahm. Guzman appears to be our guy. Keep this up and you'll piss off some powerful people among that Gang of 100 that skulks around DC.

[trebb]

A bit of misdirection - the Blacks aren’t killing the Blacks because of socialist programs that have destroyed their families and fostered an entitlement paradigm, they’re doing it because of Guzman...

[JustSayNoToNannies]

Is this just another example of an industry being strangled by nanny state government regulation?

No, it's another example of an industry being placed in criminal hands and having its profit margin hyperinflated by nanny state government prohibition.

[1010RD]

Yep. Instead of blaming their own ridiculous policies from welfare, gun control and the WOD, they blame a guy who’s just a friendly south of the border narco-trafficker.

[JustSayNoToNannies]

a guy who’s just a friendly south of the border narco-trafficker.

El Chapo is just a mad dog - the Drug Warriors are the ones who drastically lengthened his leash.