Beyond The Horizon
ICYMI: The Los Chapitos And Their Fentanyl Empire (Part 1)
The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world. It is based in the Mexican state of Sinaloa and has a global reach, with operations in several countries, including the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. The cartel is known for its ruthless tactics, including violence, bribery, and corruption.The Sinaloa Cartel was founded in the late 1980s by a group of drug traffickers, led by Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, who is now serving a life sentence in the United States.
Since then, the cartel has grown into a powerful criminal organization with a complex hierarchy and sophisticated operations.The cartel's primary source of income is the trafficking of illegal drugs, primarily cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine. The Sinaloa Cartel is responsible for a significant portion of the drugs that enter the United States from Mexico, and it has been estimated that the cartel's annual revenues exceed $3 billion.The cartel operates through a network of cells and affiliates, each with its own area of operations and responsibilities.
The top leadership of the cartel is believed to be composed of a small group of individuals, including Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who is considered the current leader of the cartel.The Sinaloa Cartel is known for its brutal violence, and it has been responsible for numerous assassinations, bombings, and other violent acts. The cartel has also been accused of using bribery and corruption to maintain its power and influence, and it has been reported that the cartel has bribed law enforcement officials and politicians in Mexico and other countries.
Despite efforts by law enforcement to dismantle the cartel, it remains a significant force in the global drug trade. The Sinaloa Cartel continues to adapt and evolve, using new technology and tactics to evade law enforcement and expand its operations.
In this episode we explore how the Los Chapitos took the mantle from their father and turned the Sinaloa cartel into a Fentanyl producing empire.
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source:
SPECIAL REPORT-How El Chapo’s sons built a fentanyl empire poisoning America (msn.com)
- Duration:
- 18m
- Broadcast on:
- 10 Jul 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
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In this episode, we're going to keep the conversation about El Chapo's sons, the Las Chapitos, and how they built a fentanyl empire that poisoned America. Today's article is from Reuters and the headline Special Report. How El Chapo's sons built a fentanyl empire poisoning America. This article was authored by Drayzen Jorgic. In January 2017, days after Mexico extradited the notorious drug-trafficer Joaquin El Chapo Guzman to the United States, local cops in his home state of Sinaloa fell under attack. Some were shot dead in broad daylight, others vanished, and were never found. In all, 13 police officers died or disappeared in the months that followed. And that's just a common occurrence down in Mexico. You go down to one of these cartel hotspots and you start arresting members of the cartel and bosses and otherwise, you can expect a lot of blowback in the area from the locals. That spree was the start of a shift in tactics within Guzman's Sinaloa cartel. According to four intelligence and security officials, one that signaled the arrival of a new force inside of one of Mexico's most powerful drug syndicates. The kingpins, four sons, and with the Las Chapitos being buoyed by their last name, it made it a lot easier for them to step into that vacuum and fill the void of power that their father had left behind. Collectively known as Las Chapitos or Little Chapos, the four siblings were once mocked by adversaries as entitled princelings more concerned with flashing their wealth on Instagram than the grubby work of moving tons of cocaine into the United States. Yet, the brothers have resuscitated a drug empire teetering after their father was locked behind bars and diversified the business by embracing a new line of synthetic drugs. Well, I think that's a bit overstated to say that the Sinaloa cartel was degraded after El Chapo's arrest because that's not the truth. We all know that El Mayo has always been behind the controls here and while El Chapo getting arrested certainly wasn't, you know, the greatest news that the Sinaloa cartel ever had, it didn't end their operation and it certainly didn't put a dent in who they are. Their early bet on Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin, helped supercharge an opioid epidemic that has placed them squarely in the crosshairs of American anti-narcotics agents 100%. I mean, they've always been on the radar on the map, but now with Fentanyl doing what it's doing across America and elsewhere, they have become the top priority. Last month, US authorities laid out extensive new charges against the brothers in indictments filed in multiple jurisdictions and up bounties for two of the siblings to 10 million apiece, cementing their status as some of the world's most powerful and wanted drug lords. As officials, portrayed them as the face of a highly addictive poison that's killing nearly 200 Americans daily. And while it's all fine and well that we have a boogeyman, let us not forget that the real driver for this Fentanyl epidemic is the fact that we have so many addiction problems here in America. The addicts want these drugs, so the market, you better be damn well sure, is gonna provide them. The Chappitos pioneered the manufacture and trafficking of the deadliest drug our country has ever faced. Anne Milgram, the US Drug Enforcement Administration Chief said at an April 14th press conference in Washington. They inherited a global drug empire and made it more ruthless, more violent and more deadly. Huh, sounds to me like Anne Milgram and the DEA is admitting that cutting the head off the snake or going after the boss doesn't end the problem and sometimes it makes the problem even worse. I've talked about this numerous times as we've discussed this topic. It's all fine and well, the decapitation strategy, it sounds great, go after the scumbag who's in charge. Pretty simple, but like in everything else in the world, it's not that simple. It's a nuanced problem that is going to require a nuanced solution. Las Chappitos for the first time ever released a public letter last week denying claims that they traffic fentanyl and rebutting allegations made by US officials in the Washington press conference. We have never produced, manufactured or marketed fentanyl or any of its derivatives. We are victims of persecution and they made us a scapegoat. The brothers said in a letter, Mexico's millennial news aired its contents on May 3 along with an interview of Guzman family lawyer Jose Rafugio Rodriguez who provided the broadcaster with the document. Denying that they had this in a lower cartel, the brothers said, drug traffickers in the media have exploited their father's fame to implicate them in crimes of which they are innocent. I wonder how they kept a straight face while writing this letter. El Chapo is serving a life sentence in a supermax prison in Colorado. Marielle Colón Miro, Guzman's US-based attorney, said her client was unable to comment due to restrictions barring him from speaking to the media. The four brothers, two born to El Chapo's first wife, the others to another range in age from 33 to 40 according to the US Department of Justice. Headed by Yvonne El Chapo's eldest son, the siblings have emerged as key figures in the Cinoloa cartel, US and Mexican anti-narcotics officials said. While the syndicate is a loose confederation of trafficking factions that cooperate on logistics and security, the Guzman's block is a pillar of the organization, the official said, and Las Chapitos have quickly consolidated power within it. Again, they're using their father's name to do that. Everybody understands who El Chapo is and if their dad has given them the green light to take up operations, people are going to fall in line. To chronicle the rise of this new generation of narco juniors as children of established traffickers are known in Mexico, Reuters spoke with four Cinoloa cartel operatives and visited a house where gang members assembled pills stuffed with methamphetamine, another cash cow. The news agency also interviewed dozens of sources including law enforcement, intelligence and government officials in Mexico and the United States, as well as local residents who have witnessed the changing of the guard. I've heard the same thing from my sources. Things have very much changed as far as the playing field within the Cinoloa cartel since El Chapo's arrest and the emergence of the Las Chapitos. Remember, there's a lot of infighting going on at the same time. You have several different factions but mainly Las Chapitos and El Mayo's faction. So those two are fighting for supremacy within the Cinoloa cartel, while at the same time navigating all of the other issues they have with external foes. So it's certainly a balancing act for the Las Chapitos but they've been able to maintain that act ever since they've emerged on the scene and not only that, they haven't just held what they've owned previously, they've expanded, they've become more progressive if you will with their drug trafficking. The rapid ascendancy of Las Chapitos, many details of which are told here for the first time show how authorities may have underestimated the former party boys. A 2019 showdown with Mexico's army in Kulea Khan, Cinoloa's capital already has cemented their place in Narcoa lore. Soldiers, Captain Ovidio, the youngest of the four siblings, then quickly released him on the orders of Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador after cartel foot soldiers fought troops and shootouts that killed 14 people, including several bystanders. And this has always been the mode for the cartels. Oh, you're going to arrest one of us, we're going to cause mayhem, we're going to cause all kinds of chaos and we're going to force your hand. And that's been a very successful strategy for the cartels for a very long time. This new generation is more violent, said one retired Mexican police officer in Cinoloa before they would interrogate and then kill you, now they kill and ask questions later. Within the cartel, the brothers have battled elders opposed to them assuming their father's mantle, including El Chapo's former right hand. The Maso Lopez, according to US and Mexican security forces, but these young guns have also built a reputation as sharp businessmen. They've helped transform Mexico from a transit country for Chinese produced fentanyl into a major production hub, half a dozen US officials and DEA sources have said. To do that, they said, Las Chapitos built a network of clandestine laboratories across Cinoloa and ramped up smuggling of precursor chemicals from China. And if you think that the Chinese CCP isn't hip to what's going on here, you're out to lunch. Everybody's getting a taste. Everything that happens in China, the local party boss is getting a taste, believe it. And that's no different here, working with the local party bosses, the local criminal element. You know that the Cinoloa cartel has their hooks already in, and any place that they do business, you know that they're going to have operatives on site as well. A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. Maybe you can save too. With Medicare's Extra Help Program, my premium is zero and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year, or married couples who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. Go to ssa.gov/extrahelp. Paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Okay, round two. Name something that's not boring. Laundry? Ooh, a book club. Computer Solitaire, huh? Sorry, we were looking for Chumba Casino. That's right, ChumbaCasino.com has over 100 casino-style games, join today and play for free for your chance to redeem some serious prizes. ChumbaCasino.com. Nobody's necessary, we're going to leave it by law. 18+ turns the kitchen to apply. See website for details. The earnings have been astronomical. The cartel can turn $800 worth of precursor chemicals into fentanyl pills, or powder, that reap profits as high as $640,000, according to one of the April indictments, which was filed in the southern district of New York. Now, look at the profit margin there, and then think about the profit margins of cocaine. It is way different, and to be able to produce it all on hand in your own laboratories and cut out all middlemen. That is why the Las Chapitos recognized this for the cash cow it is and why they basically turned their whole entire operation into a fentanyl operation. That cash, US prosecutors say, has bankrolled a war chest used by the brothers, the bribe politicians and cops, and financed an ever-growing army of Sicarios, or hitmen, to protect their interests. And there's a lot of truth to that. If you have a gigantic war chest, chances are, you're going to have a lot of Sicarios. You're going to have a lot more political power. And if the Sinaloa cartel has anything, it's a gigantic war chest. The impact on US streets has been devastating. One American dies from a fentanyl overdose almost every 8 minutes. US Deputy Attorney General Lisa A. Monaco said at the Washington Press Conference, US overdose deaths, the lion's chair due to fentanyl, surged to nearly 107,000 in 2021. Now, think about that for a minute, okay? One American dies from a fentanyl overdose almost every 8 minutes. And if you're wondering why I'm beating on this drum so loud, so often, this is why. Los Chapitos de Cent, US and Mexican officials say, has coincided with a decision by Lopez Obrador to turn away from the aggressive anti-narcotics policies of his predecessors. Well, I'll say this, they didn't work so great either, okay? We're here because Felipe Calderon started this war on drugs down in Mexico in 2006. And at the same time, he was fighting the so-called war on drugs. His top cop was working with the Sinaloa cartel at the same time. So what did they accomplish besides making Mexico a much more dangerous and a much more violent place? They certainly didn't stop drugs from being produced or smuggled through Mexico, did they? So what did they accomplish? After assuming office in December 2018, Lopez Obrador restructured Mexico security forces eliminating teams that were once at the forefront of probing cartel activity. US and Mexico security sources said they say the president also curbs security cooperation with the United States and largely eschewed the so-called kingpin strategy that led previous administrations to arrest El Chapo and other high-profile traffickers. Look, I don't blame AMLO for getting away from the kingpin strategy. That's the decapitation strategy we were just talking about. There is zero proof anywhere that it works. What happens is, is the next man up gets up and that next man might be even more violent than the one you just got rid of. Instead, AMLO has vowed to concentrate on social programs to tackle crime and violence at a grassroots level. A policy dubbed "hugs" not "bullets." And while I get the gist of what he's trying to do here, that's not going to work with people like the CJNG and the Cinaloa cartel. They're not interested in your program, they're interested in creating more drugs, more money, and more power for themselves. That's what they're interested in. Mexico's presidency did not respond to requests for comment about Lopez Obrador's crime-fighting approach. He has repeatedly touted his strategy on multiple visits to Cinaloa. Nothing can be solved with the use of force. You can't put out fire with fire. AMLO told residents in 2019 his supporters note that murders nationwide have stabilized since he took power. The president's critics say the number of homicides above 30,000 a year is still extremely high and that the production and smuggling of drugs into the United States has increased. Mexico's army did ultimately apprehend Ovidio Guzman earlier this year by sending hundreds of troops to raid one of his homes in rural Cinaloa. He's now in a maximum security lock-up near Mexico City, but that arrest had more to do with the army trying to restore its battered prestige rather than a shift in Lopez Obrador's thinking. For US and Mexican officials said, Ovidio's lawyer and AMLO's office did not respond to requests for comment. The army did not comment about its motive for the arrest. Alright folks, we're gonna wrap up part one here and in the next episode we're gonna finish up with part two. All of the information that goes with the episode can be found in the description box. An official message from Medicare. A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. You may be able to save too. With Medicare's extra help program, my premium is zero and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year or married couples who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. Go to ssa.gov/extrahelp paid for by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Hey everyone, it is Ryan Seacrest here, ready to heat up your summer vacation? Get ready, things are about to get sizzling at Chumba Casino. Your summer getting a whole lot hotter with a special daily login bonus waiting just for you. 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