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Top 10 astonishing revelations about Joaquín Guzmán Loera's life.

If you think you know everything about Joaquín Guzmán Loera, think again!

By Shadow ManPublished about a year ago 5 min read
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Joaquin Guzman Loera photo by United States Department of Justice- Wikimedia Commons.

Joaquin Guzman Loera, also known as "El Chapo"

was a notorious Mexican drug lord and a former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most powerful international crime syndicates in history.

Despite his small stature and stocky build, he rose to become one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world, with the Sinaloa Cartel being responsible for an estimated 25% of all illegal drugs entering the United States from Mexico. Guzman's legacy is shrouded in sensationalism, with numerous shocking facts surrounding his life, career, and eventual capture.

Here are ten of the most jaw-dropping revelations about the life of Joaquin Guzman Loera.

1. Joaquin Guzman Loera was physically abused by his father when he was a young adult, and he also got into the drug trade through him

Joaquin Guzman Loera photo by United States Department of Justice-Wikimedia Commons.

Joaquin was born in Sinaloa and raised in a poor farming family, but he was subjected to physical abuse from his father and also became involved in the drug trade through his father.

During his early adulthood, Joaquin assisted his father in growing marijuana for local dealers.

2. He started working with former drug trafficker and Sinaloa cartel leader Hector Luis Palma Salazar

Joaquin Guzman Loera photo by DEA-Wikimedia Commons.

Joaquin began working with former drug trafficker and Sinaloa cartel leader Hector Luis Palma Salazar in the late 1970s.

He did, however, assist Salazar in mapping drug routes through Sinaloa and into the United States.

Furthermore, Joaquin later surprised Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, one of the founders of the Guadalajara cartel in the 1970s, with his drug trafficking tactics.

3. Following the arrest of Hector Luis Palma Salazar, Joaquin established his own Cartel in 1988

Joaquin Guzman Loera photo by DEA-Wikimedia Commons.

After the Mexican Army arrested Hector Luis Palma Salazar on June 23rd, 1995, Joaquin took control of the Sinaloa cartel in 1988.

Furthermore, Joaquin oversaw operations involving the production, smuggling, and distribution of large amounts of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin into and throughout the world's two largest users, the United States and Europe.

He accomplished this, however, by pioneering the use of distribution cells and long-distance tunnels near borders, allowing him to export more drugs to the United States than any other trafficker in history.

4. Joaquin's leadership of the Sinaloa cartel brought him enormous wealth and power, which matched Pablo Escobar's influence and wealth

Joaquin's leadership of the Sinaloa cartel brought him enormous wealth and power, and according to Forbes, he was ranked as one of the world's most powerful people between 2009 and 2013.

Furthermore, the Drug Enforcement Administration estimated that he had equaled Pablo Escobar's influence and wealth.

Furthermore, Joaquin's drug empire made him a billionaire, and he was ranked the 10th richest man in Mexico and the 1,40th richest man in the world in 2011 with a net worth of approximately one billion dollars.

5. According to a US indictment, Joaquin and the Sinaloa cartel bribed Juan Orlando Hernandez with millions of dollars to help him become President of Honduras

According to a US indictment, Joaquin and the Sinaloa Cartel bribed Juan Orlando Hernandez, a Honduran lawyer, politician, and drug trafficker, with millions of dollars between 2012 and 2013, allowing him to become President of Honduras in 2013.

This power, however, aided the cartel and its allies in controlling and protecting vital maritime and air transshipment routes between the United States and South America.

6. At the time of his arrest in 2014, he imported more drugs into the United States than anyone else

Joaquin imported more drugs into the United States than anyone else at the time of his arrest in 2014.

He did, however, take advantage of the power vacuum created by Colombian cartel crackdowns, gaining business and market share there as Colombia's own cartels were decimated.

Furthermore, he took similar advantage of the situation when his rival cartels were brought down by the Mexican government's harsh crackdown. Nonetheless, the Sinaloa gang escaped relatively unscathed.

7. Following the fall of the Amezcua brothers in 1999, Joaquin saw an opportunity in the methamphetamine business and seized it

After the arrest of the Amezcua brothers on methamphetamine trafficking charges in 1999, Joaquin saw an opportunity in the methamphetamine business.

And, because there was a need for leadership throughout Mexico to coordinate Methamphetamine shipments north, Joaquin jumped at the chance.

He did, however, cultivate his own ties to Thailand, China, and India to import the necessary precursor chemicals through his leadership.

Joaquin built large methamphetamine laboratories in the mountains of Sinaloa, Durango, Jalisco, Michoacan, and Nayarit, rapidly expanding his organization.

As a result of his nomadic lifestyle, he was able to cultivate contacts throughout the country, as he was now operating in 17 of Mexico's 31 states.

Furthermore, as his business grew, he delegated Methamphetamine production to his trusted friend Ignacio Coronel Villarreal so that Joaquin could continue to be the boss of bosses.

8. Netflix and Univision produced the Series El Chapo based on the Life of Joaquin Guzman Loera

In 2017, Netflix and Univision began co-producing El Chapo, a series based on Joaquin's life. However, the series premiered on Sunday 23rd April 2017 and was followed by a 20-minute Facebook live after-show titled "El Chapo Ilimitado. In addition, Alejandro Edda plays Joaquin Guzman in the Netflix television series Narcos: Mexico.

9. Several Mexican Narco Ballads used music to tell the story of Joaquin's exploits

Several Mexican narco ballads recount Joaquin Guzman and his organization's exploits. However, some American artists, including rappers Gucci Mane, YG, The Game, Skrillex, and Uncle Murda, have made songs with references to Joaquin.

  • Read Next: 10 Shocking Secrets About Pablo Escobar

10. Joaquin has been recaptured three times, but he is still imprisoned and imprisoned in ADX Florence Colorado U.S

Joaquin was apprehended in Guatemala in 1993 and extradited to Mexico, where he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder and drug trafficking.

He bribed correctional officers, however, and escaped from maximum federal security in 2001.

Furthermore, his status as a fugitive resulted in a combined reward of $8.8 million dollars from Mexico and the United States for information leading to his capture.

He was arrested in Mexico in 2014, but escaped before formal sentencing in 2015 via a tunnel dug by associates into his jail cell.

Furthermore, Mexican authorities apprehended him after a shootout in January 2016 and extradited him to the United States a year later.

In 2019, he was found guilty of a number of criminal charges related to his leadership of the Sinaloa cartel, sentenced to life in prison, and is currently incarcerated in ADX Florence, Colorado, USA.

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Shadow Man

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