I just received a copy of this article from Forbes.com. Apparently, Joaquin Guzman Loera, a.k.a. "El Chapo" and one of the heads of the Sinaloa Federation, is #701 on the Forbes list of the world's billionaires:
"Mexico's most wanted man...[is] one of the biggest suppliers of Cocaine to the US. In 1993, [he] was arrested in Mexico on homicide and drug charges. [Guzman] escaped from federal prison in 2001, reportedly through the laundry, and quickly regained control of his drug trafficking organization, which he still controls today. In 2008 Mexican and Colombian traffickers laundered between $18 billion and $39 billion in proceeds from wholesale shipments to the US. [Guzman], an alleged tunnels expert, is believed to have directed anywhere from a third to half of that during the past 8 years. [He] apparently started out working with Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, "El Padrino", or the Godfather, head of the most powerful drug trafficking group in Mexico at that time. [The] U.S. government is offering a $5 million reward for his capture." Link to Full Article
Just a couple of thoughts on this article. First, I'd like to know who does his books and made his net worth (which Forbes lists as $1 billion) available to Forbes. I imagine this is just an estimate, and I'm not sure how Forbes or anyone else goes about gauging those numbers. Second, glamourizing a drug kingpin by adding him to a list that is normally reserved for people like Bill Gates or the Sultan of Brunei is probably not a good idea. Kids, gang members, and others who are potential recruits for the cartels might see this sort of thing and say, "hey, I'd like to work for #701...there's gotta be some money in that for me!" I'm deeply disappointed that Forbes would add someone the likes of Guzman Loera to their "elite" list.
Recent Comments