El Chapo is a Mexican drug kingpin who formerly held the top position in the drug trade. He was included in Forbes’ list of the world’s most powerful people shortly after his second escape from Mexico’s most secure prison.
The drug lord built a thriving empire that allowed him to appear on Forbes’ list of billionaires four years in a row. His net wealth was estimated to be above $16 billion as of February 2012, according to the prosecution, which claims that he made $12.67 billion from the narcotics conspiracy. Following his conviction, US District Judge Brian Cogan mandated that Guzman forfeit $12.6 billion.
Who Is El Chapo
Born in the early 1930s in Guatemala, the son of a Mayan father and an Afro-American mother. “El Chapo” Guzmán is a Mexican drug lord, most famous for helping to bring the drug trade into the international mainstream by bringing massive amounts of drugs into the United States and lacing them with violence.
El Chapo, a Mexican drug lord, is believed to have been the world’s, most-wanted man. He was more notorious for his insensitivity to the families and friends of those he has killed rather than for his wholesale bloodshed. El Chapo might not have been the biggest drug lord in the world, but his notoriety has made him a worldwide brand. He became synonymous with Mexican drug trafficking and drug lord stereotypes.
Guzmán oversaw logistics for the Guadalajara and Sinaloa cartels throughout the 1980s. He shipped both heroin and cocaine produced in Colombian and shipped to Mexico. El Chapo became a pro at planning trains, trucks, boats, and airplanes to transport drugs into the US and Europe. Guzmán took charge when the cartel’s top figures were captured.
The cartel started producing meth in Mexico in the late 80s and early 90s. El Chapo was detained in Guatemala in 1993 and given a 20-year prison term in Mexico. In 2001, he managed to escape after successfully bribing multiple security officers. Guzmán evaded detection for more than ten years even though American law enforcement had placed a $5 million bounty on his head. After being eventually apprehended in 2014, he again broke out of prison in July 2015, and he continued to flee till being apprehended in January 2016.
How Did El Chapo Make His Money
El Chapo made his money by running a large drug trafficking operation. The Mexican government estimates that El Chapo has been responsible for roughly 40% of all illegal drugs that enter the United States.
The cartel used fishing boats, submarines, carbon fiber aircraft, trains with hidden compartments, and even global underground tunnels to bring drugs into the US. Following their entry into the country, the drugs were sent to wholesalers in states like New York, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Arizona, and Los Angeles. El Chapo used the profits from his illegal drug trafficking business to expand his reach into legitimate businesses in Mexico. Reloadable debit cards, hacking into US-based insurance companies, cash smuggling from the US to Mexico, and several front companies, including a juice and a fish flour company, were just a few of the intricate methods Guzman used to launder the enormous amounts of money from his drug sales.
He also made money through extortion and bribery, after which he laundered his proceeds in areas such as real estate, mining, and fast-food companies. He also paid off public officials via bribes and distributed cash to local police as a reward for their protection. To defend and advance the interests of the Sinaloa Cartel, the organization was dependent on a massive network of dishonest government personnel and authorities.
Highlights of El Chapo’s Wealth
Beginning his profession, El Chapo was paid a pitiful $2 per day.
In 1992, El Chapo broke the $1 million net wealth barrier.
El Chapo’s net fortune had surpassed $1 billion by 2005.
At the time of his arrest, El Chapo had a net value of $19 billion.
After his imprisonment, El Chapo divided his riches equally among his kids.
Conclusion
In conclusion, El Chapo was a very wealthy man. He has constructed one of the largest empires in history, even though he is now in custody. This indicates that El Chapo’s net worth will not experience a decline very soon. El Chapo has created a variety of methods for money laundering. El Chapo favors a shotgun strategy and employs every trick in the book to spread out law enforcement’s resources as thinly as they can.
