Bob Dylan’s declaration that “the times are a changin’ ” continues to prove as Chicago names a new public enemy No. 1. Just how much are the times a changin’? The new man to bear the title isn’t even American or thought to be in the United States. Instead he’s a Mexican drug lord blamed for the majority of narcotics in Chicago. The man, known for the nickname “El Chapo,” which means “Shorty” is true to his nickname, standing just 5-feet 6-inches tall.
Forbes magazine estimates his net worth, accumulated from drug trafficking, at about $1 billion, and the U.S. Department of Treasury considers him the most influential trafficker in the world.
As the primary supplier of narcotics in the Chicago area, he and those working for him have imported massive quantities of drugs into Chicagoland, subsequently collecting and sending to Mexico an estimated tens of millions of dollars.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is heading up a strike force hoping to weaken the cartel and create leads to capture the man, and hopefully bring him up on drug charges. El Chapo is thought to be in hiding in Mexico after escaping from a maximum security prison there by hiding in a laundry cart. Their strategy includes setting up “choke points” where drugs and money are exchanged between cartel operatives and Chicago gangs.
The head of Chicago’s DEA opined that the fugitive drug cartel leader is “the new Al Capone of Chicago” due to his ability to corrupt others and to enforce his sanctions with his insurmountable supply of revenue.
Source: CNN, “Chicago’s new Public Enemy No. 1: ‘El Chapo’,” Mariano Castillo, February 15, 2013
