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<ul class="summary-list"><li>In recent months, US authorities have arrested the wives of three <keyword id="459010" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sinaloa-cartel">Sinaloa Cartel</keyword> figures, including "<keyword id="2945995" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="El-Chapo">El Chapo</keyword>" Guzmán.</li><li>The arrests shed light on what cartel operatives and security experts say is the overlooked but important role wives play in Mexican organized crime. </li></ul><p>Ciudad Juarez, MEXICO - The infamous Sinaloa Cartel is relying on its wives to keep its more complicated operations going, according to cartel operatives, security analysts, and government indictments.</p><p>The arrests of <keyword id="7480052" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="emma-coronel-aispuro">Emma Coronel Aispuro</keyword>, the wife of jailed kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, and of Mia and Olivia Flores, wives of Pedro and Margarito Flores, twin brothers and distributors for the cartel, offer a glimpse of the influence kingpins' wives have over the cartel's operations.</p><p>On February 22, Coronel was arrested at Dulles <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">International</keyword> Airport in Virginia and charged with helping her husband operate the cartel he led for decades. Coronel <a href="https://www.insider.com/el-chapo-wife-emma-coronel-aispuro-pleads-guilty-2021-6">pleaded guilty</a> to drug-trafficking and conspiracy charges in June.</p><div type="image" title="El Chapo" height="772" width="1030" msid="84663781" hostid="261"></div><p>Aispuro is also accused of aiding at least two of Guzman's escapes by planning and passing messages, the first in 2012 when he slipped away from US and Mexican authorities in Cabo San Lucas and the latter in 2015 when he escaped from Mexico's Altiplano maximum-security prison.</p><p>"The Defendant agrees that by providing assistance to Guzman, she aided and abetted the objectives of the DTO as a whole," prosecutors said in Coronel's 12-page indictment.</p><p>According to a Sinaloa Cartel operative in Culiacan, the cartel's home turf, Coronel's arrest is "surprising" but the accusations aren't.</p><p>"Authorities don't pay much attention to the wives [of cartel members]. That's what was pretty much surprising about this arrest, but the fact that she was operating for the organization is not news. She is not the first" and won't be the last wife to do so, the operative, who asked for anonymity for safety reasons, told Insider.</p><p>The cartel member said most of the kingpins' wives are in charge of the "complex" tasks, such as money laundering, coordinating operations, and communications with other cartel members, authorities, or lawyers.</p><div type="image" title="Emma Coronel leaves federal court with her daughters" height="1333" width="2000" msid="84663782" hostid="261"></div><p>Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a security expert and author of "Los Zetas Inc.," said that while organized crime is a "very patriarchal world," women are leveraging their presence in it.</p><p>"The prejudice we have of women, where we think they are weaker, incapable of getting involved in a world like organized crime, is actually playing on their favor," she told Insider.</p><p>Correa-Cabrera said women have access to privileged information and to places where men might be limited.</p><p>"<keyword id="7488100" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Emma-Coronel">Emma Coronel</keyword> could access and move freely from inside and outside prison only because she is El Chapo's wife. She could even attend the trial of her husband while being investigated by US authorities," Correa-Cabrera said.</p><p>"Women are still playing a secondary role inside the criminal organizations but [are] definitely growing their presence," Correa-Cabrera added.</p><p>The wives of the Chicago-based Flores twins, who have been accused of working with the Sinaloa Cartel to smuggle drugs into the US, appear to reflect that trend.</p><div type="image" title="Pedro and Margarito Flores" height="1258" width="2000" msid="84663783" hostid="261"></div><p>Pedro and Margarito Flores were sentenced in 2015 to 14 years in prison and were released late last year into witness protection after agreeing to cooperate against Guzman.</p><p>Vivianna Lopez, 40, also known as Mia Flores, and Valerie Gaytan, 45, also known as Olivia Flores, were arrested in June on money-laundering charges, which allege they helped clean hundreds of thousands of dollars of their husbands' drug proceeds for more than a decade.</p><p>The twins' wives wrote a book called "Cartel Wives," in which they describe what it's like to be married to cartel members and their lives after their husbands' arrests.</p><p>"As for the personal side of this story, we want to provide an unfiltered look into why people enter a life of crime," the book's introduction <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VBL5B9/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1&amp;asin=B06ZZLN48R&amp;revisionId=9ecec072&amp;format=1&amp;depth=1format=1&amp;depth=1">says</a>.</p><p>"During 2005 to 2008, our husbands trafficked $2 billion to Mexico, and we would see these houses full of money," Olivia <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FUiMiSWZLg">told Insider</a> in a 2017 interview.</p><p>"We knew exactly what they were doing. We didn't know details, but we knew what they were doing," Olivia <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/el-chapo-cartel-wives-interview">told Vogue</a> in a 2018 interview.</p><div type="image" title="A drug lab in Sinaloa, Mexico." height="1333" width="2000" msid="84663784" hostid="261"></div><p>The Sinaloa Cartel operative said the involvement of kingpins' wives could be a double-edged sword, since they have "very sensitive information."</p><p>"It's very easy [for] things to go wrong when talking about the wives of the 'patrones.' They are always around, they gather information, and they could be of much help to the organization, but also could be selling that same information to another group or to authorities," the operative said.</p><p>The operative declined to comment specifically on the Flores twins and their wives.</p><p>This month, both Olivia and Mia pleaded not guilty to money-laundering charges. Both are living under assumed identities because of the dangers posed by their husbands' cooperation, according to their book.</p><p>Coronel pleaded guilty to all charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 15. She faces up to life in prison.</p>

Recent arrests reveal more about how cartel wives help run operations for Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Retired <keyword id="6355946" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="fbi">FBI</keyword> agent <a href="https://jerriwilliams.com/">Jerri Williams</a> looks at eight money-laundering scams in <keyword id="406" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Movies">movies</keyword> and TV shows.</li><li>She breaks down "Ozark" S1E4 (2017), "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), and "<keyword id="3050190" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Narcos">Narcos</keyword>" (2015-2017).</li><li>Williams is the author of "<a href="https://jerriwilliams.com/books/fbi-myths-and-misconceptions-a-manual-for-armchair-detectives">FBI Myths and Misconceptions: A Manual for Armchair Detectives</a>."</li></ul><p><em>Below is a transcript of the <keyword id="21654" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="video">video</keyword>. </em></p><p>- There is more <keyword id="6354840" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="money">money</keyword> here than we could spend in 10 lifetimes. I certainly can't launder it.</p><p>Jerri: That's pretty realistic too. You're going to have to have a lot of small businesses to run through millions of dollars.</p><p>Hi, I'm Jerri Williams, and I was a special agent with the FBI for 26 years. I investigated economic crime, financial fraud. I'm also the author of "FBI Myths and Misconceptions: A Manual for Armchair Detectives." Today we're going to look at money-laundering clips in movies and judge how realistic they are.</p><p><strong>"Ozark" S1E4 (2017)</strong></p><p>Marty: Money-laundering 101. Say you come across a suitcase with 5 million bucks in it. What would you buy? A yacht? A mansion? A sports car?</p><p>Jerri: Now, his money-laundering 101 is a little right, but he has some things that are wrong.</p><p>Marty: The IRS won't let you buy anything of value with it.</p><p>Jerri: The IRS will let you spend as much money as you have, but they want to know where you got it from. And they also want to make sure that they get their cut. So, if a criminal or a bad guy goes in and wants to lay down a million dollars for a home, that is going to be reported to the IRS. I think it's called Form 8300. And if they're suspicious about the activity, it's also going to be reported to FinCEN.</p><p>Marty: You gotta age it up. Crumple it, drag it through the dirt.</p><p>Jerri: You don't need to run it through a wash machine. But I guess if a criminal has some illegal source of money and it's coming in brand-new, crisp bills and he's trying to pretend that it's part of his normal revenue from a business, I guess he would want to make it look like it has been handled, but I've never heard of that before.</p><p>Marty: Next, you need a cash business.</p><p>Jerri: This clip is very realistic. Strip clubs and casinos, restaurants and bars, any type of business where cash is being used and transacted are just the perfect kind of businesses to do <keyword id="6355008" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Money-laundering">money laundering</keyword>.</p><p>Marty: That mixture goes from an American bank to a bank from any country that doesn't have to listen to the IRS. It then goes into a standard checking account, and violà. All you need is access to one of over 3 million terminals. Because your work is done.</p><p>Jerri: Well, your work is done once the money is in the banking system. It doesn't need to be sent anywhere else. It's now, you know, clean, legitimate money.</p><p>The only thing that he doesn't talk about is the fact that when you deposit that money, if it's over $10,000, you have to fill out what is called a CTR, or a currency transaction report. And this is required of any bank. And, of course, on that form, you have to indicate where the money came from.</p><p>I would give this clip about a 7 out of 10. I think they got a lot of it right about the general, basic part of money laundering.</p><p><strong>Rating: 7/10</strong></p><p><strong>"Narcos" (2015-2017)</strong></p><p>Steve: And Gacha had the most successful emerald mine of all time. He would inject bad stones with oil to make them shiny and have his friends in Miami buy the emeralds with drug money and give them as gifts to hookers in town.</p><p>Jerri: And this is another example of money laundering. If no one is looking to put a value on those gems or diamonds or whatever that you're exchanging for cash to legitimize your illegal funds, then, you know, on paper it appears that a legal transaction has occurred.</p><p>Steve: And that's what they did.</p><p>Jerri: This is very realistic, and it's based on the truth. Drug dealers in South America did get to a point where they had so much money that they buried it. Rumor is that that money is still buried someplace, and people are constantly searching to find it.</p><p>Steve: They hid it in caletas, hiding places in walls and ceilings.</p><p>Jerri: I was involved in a search once. All of the cash was hidden in the floorboard of the van. It was pretty exciting to come across thousands and thousands of dollars, although tedious to have to count.</p><p>I would give this clip a 10 out of 10. It's pretty authentic. There's been nobody that I'm aware of that has hidden as much cash as Escobar has, and he's legendary.</p><p><strong>Rating: 10/10</strong></p><p><strong>"<keyword id="603866" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Breaking-Bad">Breaking Bad</keyword>" S5E8 (2012)</strong></p><p>I didn't know what else to do. I tried weighing it. I figured one bill of any denomination weighs a gram. There are 454 grams to a pound.</p><p>Jerri: Money is handled on a regular basis, especially in drug dealing, and so all of that is going to make each particular bill weigh differently than it did when it was a nice, crisp, clean, fresh bill. So there's really no way of determining how much money is there just by weighing it.</p><p>I just stack it up, keep it dry, spray it for silverfish. Most of the time the money is just stored in a bag.</p><p>Jerri: I have heard so many times about drug dealers or criminals who have gathered money together and stored it in a place only to come back later to find out that it's water-damaged, that it's rotting away, that it's been eaten by animals or insects.</p><p>There is more money here than we could spend in 10 lifetimes. I certainly can't launder it, not with 100 car washes.</p><p>Jerri: That's pretty realistic too. You're going to have to have a lot of small businesses to run through millions of dollars. I think I'd give it a 10 out of 10. I think it's pretty realistic, the issue of having too much money to spend and the way it's being stored.</p><p><strong>Rating: 10/10</strong></p><p><strong>"Scarface" (1983)</strong></p><p>Where does this check go? Montana Realty Company.</p><p>Jerri: This is the point where the money laundering occurs. It turns into money laundering running it through a realty company. And so this is a pretty authentic part of the scene. I have heard of many businesses that have been used as fronts for criminal activity, and it's kind of sweet and funny that many of them use the names of their spouses, their wives, or their children. It's kind of sweet until the federal government comes in and confiscates.</p><p>All right, freeze! Get 'em up! Get your hands up!</p><p>Officer: Put your hands against the wall, turn around.</p><p>Jerri: Let your undercover agent or your informant get out of the scene before you come and make an arrest. There is no rush. You know the money's there, you know the transaction's been made, you have the camera, the video of everything.</p><p>Officer: Put 'em up against the wall. You're under arrest for violation of the RICO statute.</p><p>Jerri: So, he mentions RICO here. RICO is the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization Act, and it is used when you are investigating a large organization. You see that eye there on the clock?</p><p>Say, "Hi, honey."</p><p>Jerri: I think they could have done a better job [laughs] of disguising it. I would wonder if there was a camera being poked out of this clock. Most of the time I have hidden audio equipment on the cooperating witness or the undercover agent's person. You know, a beeper or in a cellphone or in a book. Many times lamps are used just because they're at the right height and they're very effective tools for hidden cameras. I would rate it about a 7 or 8. I think it's pretty realistic when it comes to the exchange of funds. You know, I have problems with the fact that they're sitting there counting the money, you know, for hours on end.</p><p><strong>Rating: 8/10</strong></p><p><strong>"The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013)</strong></p><p>Let me ask you something. What about her family, right?</p><p>Jerri: How would anybody think they're gonna get through the security system at most airports with money like that strapped all over their body? Before we became much more security-conscious here in the United States, anyway, the TSA, you know, I would still think would've caught that. Nowadays you're going to have to go through a body scanner as well as all your carry-on luggage.</p><p>I mean, they all got Swiss passports, right?</p><p>Jerri: The woman and her family are what we would call money mules. People that are being paid to transfer illegal sums. A money mule can also be paid just to open up bank accounts and then make those deposits and transfers in their own name on behalf of the criminal. It's very common that a criminal will ask a family member or a friend to do this, but they can also just pay a stranger.</p><p>I mean, she's got parents, she's got a brother, right? Brother's got a wife, that's five f---ing people. Six, seven trips, boom.</p><p>Jerri: One of the things that really bothers me about this scene is that I know this particular case that this movie is made about, and it was an investment fraud. The money was already in the banking system. So I'm not even sure where all this cash came from. It was not a cash business. I hope this is a scene that is set for comedy, because it's pure comedy. There are parts of the whole movie that are pretty good. I mean, it is based on a real case, but these scenes, not good at all. I would rate it as low as a 1 or a 2.</p><p><strong>Rating: 2/10</strong></p><p><strong>"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (2011)</strong></p><p>Immigration official: I can confirm that he left Sweden on a private jet that landed in Paris last week.</p><p>Jerri: Transferring funds from an account that she doesn't own into her own account. This is what people think about when they think about money laundering. But, in fact, it's not money laundering. It's identity fraud, it's wire fraud, it's embezzlement.</p><p>I have a number of accounts at Bank of Kroenfeld, Cayman Islands. I'd like to transfer those accounts and convert them to bonds.</p><p>Naturally, you have the clearing codes.</p><p>Naturally.</p><p>How many accounts will you be transferring?</p><p>30.</p><p>Jerri: Because of digital fingerprinting and facial recognition, I think it's becoming harder and harder to do identity fraud through disguises. So, you know, she's getting away with this, but the documentation, her passport, and other types of identification must be able to be verified.</p><p>Reporter: Where fugitive financier Hans-Erik Wennerstrom is: here in this Caribbean island's --</p><p>Jerri: Now it's money laundering, because she has taken funds and she has disguised and concealed them. She's taken money that was in the banking system and she's transferred those funds and converted them into bonds.</p><p>How many of these would you like to convert for deposit?</p><p>All 50 into five accounts.</p><p>Jerri: These counterfeit bonds, I assume they're counterfeit, to a Swiss banker. And so they're going to have to have the appropriate weight and the appropriate stamps and the appropriate official markings that these types of bonds would normally have. And it's a criminal act of the banker if they do not verify the identity of the person. Or if they believe that those funds were part of a criminal activity, the banker would not accept those funds in the bank, because doing so would also be a criminal act. The things that you hear about Swiss bank secrecy has to do with once those funds have been legitimately deposited. But banking in Switzerland still works just like any other bank around the world. They still want to know who you are. I think that I would give it probably a 10 out of 10.</p><p><strong>Rating: 10/10</strong></p><p><strong>"American Made" (2017)</strong></p><p>You know the drill, everybody gets a burn bag. Into it you put anything with Barry Seal's face or name on it.</p><p>Barry: Come on, boys, we gotta move.</p><p>Jerri: I can tell you watching this just makes me so happy. There are some agents in the FBI who would rather poke their eyes out with a stick than to have to go through documents and papers. Of course, now a lot of this stuff is going to be online. This still goes on, but it's a lot easier, I would imagine, to destroy evidence that's online than it is, you know, boxes and boxes of paper like this.</p><p>Agent: Seal! DEA! Back away from the truck with your hands in the air.</p><p>Jerri: I have been in many situations, especially during searches, where we come in and identify ourselves and immediately have to tell people to stop.</p><p>Agent: ATF! Drop your weapons!</p><p>Whoa, whoa, whoa, DEA!</p><p>ATF! Put your guns down! It's cool! Everybody's friends here!</p><p>Jerri: Now, this particular case happened before the late 1980s. Maybe something like this could happen, but it doesn't happen anymore. Not since they created what is called HIDTA so that they can deconflict or prevent all of those agencies coming up on the same type of case together. You don't want to have any law-enforcement agency or law-enforcement officer or agent harmed because of friendly fire. So I would rate this movie clip about a 5. The last half, when we had all of these law-enforcement agencies converging at the same time, no, that's not very realistic.</p><p><strong>Rating: 5/10</strong></p><p><strong>"Mickey Blue Eyes" (1999)</strong></p><p>A last-minute addition to your catalog. Lot No. 277 A, oil on canvas, signed by the artist. "The Road to Damascus" by Jonathan Graziosi.</p><p>Jerri: This part of the clip is pretty funny. Art is in the eyes of the beholder, and it's harder for authorities to be able to determine what is the value of art. And unlike other businesses, the art dealer does not have to complete that CTR, like we talked about, to let the IRS know that this transaction has been made.</p><p>50,000, anyone? No? Oh, well, too bad then.</p><p>Jerri: Money laundering doesn't usually occur at an auction like this. Each art in an auction would have the provenance, where you know exactly who is the artist, how much this work of art has sold for before. It has a trail of how much it's worth, how much it's been valued in the past.</p><p>We have $50,000.</p><p>Jerri:  When you have a single purchaser, then that again is when the radar goes off, that this might be a suspicious activity here.</p><p>Quite a painting you have for yourself, sir. Thank you.</p><p>Jerri: Somebody at that level should be suspicions that a painting of that quality would sell for this amount.</p><p>Now he's part of the conspiracy, and so if I were able to give him any advice, I'd tell him this is the point where he needs to come clean to the FBI. I would rate this scene about a 7 or an 8. I think they got a lot of the things right about using art in a money-laundering scheme.</p><p><strong>Rating: 7/10</strong></p>

A retired FBI Economic Crimes Investigator rates 8 money-laundering scams in movies and TV

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Alejandro Dias</span></p><p class="caption">A police officer stands guard at a crime scene where two men were found hanging from a bridge in Atizapan de Zaragoza, near Mexico City, March 30, 2013.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Bodies were found hanging from bridges in Baja California Sur several days before Christmas, along with banners known as "narcomantas."</strong></li><li><strong>Such displays were common during previous times of inter-cartel fighting, but it's the first time one has appeared in Baja California Sur.</strong></li><li><strong>Violence has risen precipitously through Mexico over the past three years.</strong></li></ul><p><br />During the early morning hours of December 20, the bodies of six men were found hanging from bridges in the northwestern Mexican state of Baja California Sur, a popular tourist hub where <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-record-homicides-new-data-crime-numbers-2017-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deadly violence has risen</a> precipitously in recent years.</p><p>Around 4:30 a.m., two bodies were found hanging from a bridge near the international airport in the municipality of Los Cabos, at the southern end of the state. Around 5 a.m., two more bodies were found in Cabo San Lucas, hanging from a bridge over a highway connecting that city to San Jose del Cabo.</p><p>Around 6 a.m., another two bodies were found hanging from a highway bridge near the international airport in the capital, La Paz, which is north of Los Cabos.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Christopher Woody/Mexican government data</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span>There has been a sharp increase in violence - much of it attributed to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sinaloa-jalisco-cartels-fighting-in-baja-california-sur-2016-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fighting between organized-crime groups</a> - in Baja California Sur over the past three years. </span></p><p><span>The 650 homicide victims in the state between January and November this year was a 223% increase and a 284% increase over the same periods in 2016 and 2015, respectively.</span></p><p><span>But the December 20 incidents were reportedly <a href="https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/bodies-of-six-found-hanging-from-bridges/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the first time</a> bodies had been found hung from bridges in the state.</span></p><h2><span>'A cleansing'</span></h2><p>Narcomantas - public announcements by criminals that often accompany corpses - were left with the bodies.</p><p><span>They were <a href="http://zetatijuana.com/2017/12/crece-nivel-de-violencia-en-bcs-seis-cadaveres-colgados-en-puentes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attributed</a> to the "Guzmanes y Tegoripeños" gang, and o</span><span>ne reportedly said, in part, "This is what will happen to anyone who does not fall into line with us. It has been made more than clear that we hold all the power and that Baja north and south are ours."<br /></span></p><p><span>Several such signs have been attributed to the gang over the past two months, threatening government officials and boasting of "a cleansing" in the area. </span></p><p><span>A sign attributed to the group also appeared in the days after Baja California Sur's human-rights ombudsman and his son <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/homicides-hit-new-high-mexico-alongside-increase-in-robberies-2017-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were gunned down</a> in late November. </span></p><p><span>The gang's name <a href="http://zetatijuana.com/2017/11/ombudsman-abatido-narco/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appears to refer</a> to Tegoripa, a small town in Sinaloa state's Badiraguato municipality, which is where Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was born. Guzman's surname appears to be the basis for the other half of the gang's name.</span></p><p><span>Bodies hung from bridges or other structures with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tijuana-cartel-violence-2016-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">narcomantas appeared frequently</a> elsewhere in Mexico during the major cartel clashes of the 2000s and early 2010s.</span></p><p><span>Several such displays <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tijuana-cartel-violence-2016-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were found around Tijuana</a> in late 2016, and a body was hung from a bridge <a href="http://www.reforma.com/aplicacioneslibre/articulo/default.aspx?id=1282806&amp;md5=3a2e83ea2e2ccd3a7393f162aca3b996&amp;ta=0dfdbac11765226904c16cb9ad1b2efe&amp;lcmd5=2996c647ce7380aef7e58bb2d83b9d96" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in nearby Nayarit</a> state a few days before the incident in Baja California Sur, part of a wave of killings in the state suspected of being organized-crime related. Narcomantas were found at the scene of several of those crimes, including at the bridge.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Tomas Bravo</span></p><p class="caption"> A man walks by a banner hung by suspected hit men from the Zetas gang at a pedestrian bridge in Monterrey, November 6, 2010. The banner, mainly in slang, celebrates the death of a leader of the Gulf cartel, a Zetas rival. </p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p>Tourist hubs like Los Cabos have long avoided the kind of bloodshed seen elsewhere in the country during the last decade of its drug war.</p><p>But those areas have seen <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-narco-violence-present-in-most-popular-tourist-areas-2017-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increasing violence</a> in recent months.</p><p>Amid the dizzying increase in homicides through Baja California, the Los Cabos municipality, home to Cabo San Lucas, has also seen a spike: from 49 homicide cases (which can contain more than one victim) through all of 2016 to 286 through the first 11 months of this year - a 483% increase.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)</span></p><p class="caption">Mexican soldiers inside Plaza Las Americas mall following reports of gunfire in Cancun, Mexico, January 17, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>As of the end of the summer, increasing violence in those places, which has largely taken place outside tourist areas, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-narco-violence-present-in-most-popular-tourist-areas-2017-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hadn't appreciably affected</a> tourist activity (though feelings of insecurity among residents have risen).</p><p>From June to August, Los Cabos saw a 6% increase in hotel occupancy compared to the previous year, as well as a 17% increase in passenger arrivals during the first nine months of the year.</p><p>Nevertheless, violence in those tourist areas did prompt the US State Department to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-warnings-about-mexicos-tourist-hotspots-seen-as-a-nafta-gambit-2017-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issue a travel warning</a> for Baja California Sur at the end of August. Quintana Roo, home to Cancun and Play del Carmen, was also included.</p><p>Many areas of Mexican have been listed for some time, but the August notice was the first time those two states had been included.</p><p>At the time, Mexican officials admitted there were areas of concern in the country, but <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-warnings-about-mexicos-tourist-hotspots-seen-as-a-nafta-gambit-2017-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">they also said</a> the timing of the notice could have been a sign of political maneuvers by Washington in relation to ongoing NAFTA talks.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cartel-wives-reveal-el-chapo-money-hid-billion-henchmen-us-mexico-trafficking-drug-lords-2017-10">The wives of El Chapo's henchmen reveal how they hid and spent $2 billion</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

New, grisly displays in a Mexican tourist hub underscore spiraling narco violence

<p><span>Margarito and Pedro Flores, twin brothers from Chicago, Illinois, are credited with helping take down one of the most infamous narco-terrorists in the world, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. Their wives, authors of the book "</span><a href="http://amzn.to/2rUuYMZ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cartel Wives</a><span>," reveal how the brothers hid all the money they trafficked. In 2015, the brothers were sentenced to 14 years in prison. The following is a transcript of the video:</span></p><p><strong>Cartel Wives: <span style="font-weight: 400;">So during 2005 to 2008 our husbands trafficked $2 billion to Mexico. And we would see these houses full of money. You know, they had hydraulic walls that would just come out like 007 with millions of dollars. We would have a room full of money. $1-$2 million sitting in the room, you know, for us to grab at our expense and that was usual. They had workers that worked there, you know, eight-hour shifts, three shifts per day just counting money and they would count maybe a million dollars in a couple hours and run it through the machines. And we're talking, you know, fives and tens and ones, we're talking street money. Now did we benefit from it? Did we live a good life? Yes, of course, we did. We were spoiled, we ate well, we traveled, we would sometimes want to stay on vacation for a month on the beach and just live life to its fullest but at the end of the day we wanted to denounce that life and we knew what mattered to us was love and family and simplicity. </span></strong></p>

The wives of El Chapo's henchmen reveal how they hid and spent $2 billion

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Netflix just released the list of titles that are coming to — and leaving — the site in September. </li><li>The new Marilyn Monroe film "Blonde," which stars Ana de Armas, will be available next month.</li></ul><p>Netflix just released the list of new titles that will be available to stream in September, as well as what's being removed.</p><p>Several new films, including "Blonde" — the Marilyn Monroe movie starring Ana de Armas as the late Hollywood icon — will be added to the streamer next month. </p><p>But other titles, including "Saved by the Bell" and "Mean Girls," will be removed from Netflix in September, too. </p><p>Here's everything coming to — and leaving — the site in the next few weeks. </p><div type="image" title="Cher, Tai, and Dionne embrace in this scene from the 1995 film &quot;Clueless.&quot;" height="1290" width="1721" msid="93876890" hostid="261" sizebytes="74498"></div><h2>Arriving in September</h2><h2>Available 9/1/22</h2><p>"A Cinderella Story"</p><p>"A Clockwork Orange"</p><p>"A Good Old Fashioned Orgy"</p><p>"A Knight's Tale"</p><p>"A Little Princess"</p><p>"American Beauty"</p><p>"Austin Powers in Goldmember"</p><p>"Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery"</p><p>"Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me"</p><p>"Barbie Mermaid Power"</p><p>"The Bridges of Madison County"</p><p>"Clueless"</p><p>"Despicable Me"</p><p>"Despicable Me 2"</p><p>"Dolphin Tale 2"</p><p>"Fenced In — Netflix Film"</p><p>"Friday After Next"</p><p>"He's Just Not That Into You"</p><p>"I Survived a Crime: Season 1"</p><p>"If Beale Street Could Talk"</p><p>"The Italian Job"</p><p>"John Q"</p><p>"JoJo's Bizarre Adventure STONE OCEAN Episodes 13-24" — Netflix Anime</p><p>"Just Friends"</p><p>"Liss Pereira: Adulting" — Netflix Comedy</p><p>"Little Nicky"</p><p>"Love in the Villa" — Netflix Film<br /><br />"Morphle Halloween Candy Magic Pet"</p><p>"Next Friday"</p><p>"The Notebook"</p><p>"Off the Hook" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Resident Evil"</p><p>"Resident Evil: Apocalypse"</p><p>"Resident Evil: Retribution"</p><p>"Road House"</p><p>"Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles: Season 2" — Netflix Family</p><p>"Save the Last Dance"</p><p>"Scarface"</p><p>"Snow White &amp; the Huntsman"</p><p>"Story Time Book: Read-Along: S1"</p><p>"This Is 40"</p><h2>Available 9/2/22</h2><p>"Buy My House" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Dated and Related" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Devil in Ohio" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives: Season 2" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Fakes" — Netflix Series</p><p>"The Festival of Troubadours" — Netflix Film</p><p>"Ivy + Bean" — Netflix Family</p><p>"Ivy + Bean: The Ghost That Had to Go" — Netflix Family</p><p>"Ivy + Bean: Doomed to Dance" — Netflix Family</p><p>"You're Nothing Special" — Netflix Series</p><h2>Available 9/3/22</h2><p>"Little Women" — Netflix Series</p><h2>Available 9/5/22</h2><p>"Call the Midwife: Series 11"</p><p>"Cocomelon: Season 6" — Netflix Family</p><p>"Once Upon a Small Town" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Vampire Academy"</p><h2>Available 9/6/22</h2><p>"Bee and PuppyCat" — Netflix Family</p><p>"Get Smart With Money" — Netflix Documentary</p><p>"Rodrigo Marques: King of Uncouth" — Netflix Comedy</p><p>"Sheng Wang: Sweet and Juicy" — Netflix Comedy</p><p>"Untold: The Race of the Century" — Netflix Documentary</p><div type="image" title="cobra kai" height="1391" width="1855" msid="93876892" hostid="261" sizebytes="44580"></div><h2>Available 9/7/22</h2><p>"Chef's Table: Pizza" — Netflix Documentary</p><p>"Indian Predator: The Diary of a Serial Killer" — Netflix Documentary</p><h2>Available 9/8/22</h2><p>"Entrapped" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Diorama" — Netflix Film</p><h2>Available 9/9/22</h2><p>"Cobra Kai: Season 5" — Netflix Series</p><p>"End of the Road" — Netflix Film</p><p>"Merlí. Sapere Aude: Season 2" — Netflix Series</p><p>"No Limit" — Netflix Film</p><p>"Narco-Saints" — Netflix Series</p><h2>Available 9/12/22</h2><p>"Ada Twist, Scientist: Season 3" — Netflix Family</p><h2>Available 9/13/22</h2><p>"Colette"</p><p>"Jo Koy: Live from the Los Angeles Forum" — Netflix Comedy</p><p>"In the Dark: Season 4"</p><h2>Available 9/14/22</h2><p>"Broad Peak" — Netflix Film</p><p>"The Catholic School" — Netflix Film</p><p>"El Rey, Vicente Fernández" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Heartbreak High" — Netflix Series</p><p>"The Lørenskog Disappearance" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Sins of Our Mother" — Netflix Documentary</p><h2>Available 9/15/22</h2><p>"Dogs in Space: Season 2" — Netflix Family</p><p>"Intervention: Season 21"</p><p>"Terim" — Netflix Documentary</p><h2>Available 9/16/22</h2><p>"The Brave Ones" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Do Revenge" — Netflix Film</p><p>"Drifting Home" — Netflix Anime</p><p>"Fate: The Winx Saga: Season 2" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Gymnastics Academy: A Second Chance" — Netflix Family</p><p>"I Used to Be Famous" — Netflix Film</p><p>"Jogi" — Netflix Film</p><p>"Love Is Blind: After the Altar: Season 2" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Mirror, Mirror" — Netflix Film</p><p>"Santo" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Skandal! Bringing Down Wirecard" — Netflix Documentary</p><p>"This Is the End"</p><p>"Travelin' Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall"</p><h2>Available 9/19/22</h2><p>"Go Dog Go: Season 3" — Netflix Family</p><h2>Available 9/20/22</h2><p>"Patton Oswalt: We All Scream" — Netflix Comedy</p><h2>Available 9/21/22</h2><p>"Designing Miami" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Fortune Seller: A TV Scam" — Netflix Documentary</p><p>"Iron Chef Mexico" — Netflix Series</p><p>"The Perfumier" — Netflix Film</p><p>"The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist" — Netflix Documentary</p><h2>Available 9/22/22</h2><p>"The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone" — Netflix Documentary</p><p>"Karma's World: Season 4" — Netflix Family</p><p>"Snabba Cash: Season 2" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Thai Cave Rescue" — Netflix Series</p><h2>Available 9/23/22</h2><p>"A Jazzman's Blues" — Netflix Film</p><p>"ATHENA" — Netflix Film</p><p>"The Girls at the Back" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Jamtara - Sabka Number Ayega: Season 2" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Lou" — Netflix Film</p><p>"Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles" — Netflix Family</p><h2>Available 9/24/22</h2><p>"Dynasty: Season 5"</p><p>"Fullmetal Alchemist The Final Alchemy" — Netflix Film</p><h2>Available 9/26/22</h2><p>"A Trip to Infinity" — Netflix Documentary</p><p>"My Little Pony: Make Your Mark: Chapter 2" — Netflix Family</p><h2>Available 9/27/22</h2><p>"Elysium"</p><p>"The Munsters"</p><p>"Nick Kroll: Little Big Boy" — Netflix Comedy</p><h2>Available 9/28/22</h2><p>"Blonde" — Netflix Film</p><p>"Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga" — Netflix Documentary</p><p>"Inheritance"</p><p>"Inside the World's Toughest Prisons: Season 6" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Too Hot to Handle: Brazil: Season 2" — Netflix Series</p><h2>Available 9/29/22</h2><p>"The Empress" — Netflix Series</p><h2>Available 9/30/22</h2><p>"Anikulapo" — Netflix Film</p><p>"Entergalactic" — Netflix Special</p><p>"Floor is Lava: Season 3" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Human Playground" — Netflix Series</p><p>"Phantom Pups" — Netflix Family</p><p>"Rainbow" — Netflix Film</p><p>"What We Leave Behind" </p><div type="image" title="Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett in &quot;The Talented Mr. Ripley.&quot;" height="720" width="960" msid="93876893" hostid="261" sizebytes="56584"></div><h2>Leaving in September</h2><h2>Leaving 9/1/22</h2><p>"Quantico: Seasons 1-3"</p><h2>Leaving 9/2/22</h2><p>"Freaks"</p><h2>Leaving 9/3/22</h2><p>"The Vampire Diaries: Seasons 1-8"</p><h2>Leaving 9/9/22</h2><p>"Nightcrawler"</p><h2>Leaving 9/10/22</h2><p>"How to Train Your Dragon 2"</p><h2>Leaving 9/12/22</h2><p>"Offspring: Seasons 1-7"</p><h2>Leaving 9/14/22</h2><p>"Saved by the Bell: Seasons 1-6"</p><p>"Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style"</p><p>"Saved by the Bell: The College Years"</p><p>"Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas"</p><h2>Leaving 9/17/22</h2><p>"Skylines"</p><h2>Leaving 9/18/22</h2><p>"Dark Matter: Seasons 1-3"</p><p>"Dark Skies"</p><h2>Leaving 9/25/22</h2><p>"Blade Runner 2049"</p><p>"Blade Runner: The Final Cut"</p><h2>Leaving 9/29/22</h2><p>"Gotham: Seasons 1-5"</p><div type="image" title="Rachel McAdams and Lindsay Lohan in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot;" height="2398" width="3198" msid="93876894" hostid="261" sizebytes="188656"></div><h2>Leaving 9/30/22</h2><p>"3 Ninjas: Kick Back"</p><p>"Argo"</p><p>"Boogie Nights"</p><p>"Catch Me If You Can"</p><p>"The Cave"</p><p>"Constantine"</p><p>"Dirty Harry"</p><p>"Dumb and Dumber"</p><p>"Full Metal Jacket"</p><p>"I Am Legend"</p><p>"Insidious"</p><p>"Made of Honor"</p><p>"Mean Girls"</p><p>"My Babysitter's a Vampire: Seasons 1-2"</p><p>"Old School"</p><p>"The Perfect Storm"</p><p>"The Rite"</p><p>"Seven"</p><p>"The Sweetest Thing"</p><p>"Taxi Driver"</p><p>"The Talented Mr. Ripley"</p>

Everything coming to — and leaving — Netflix in September

<p><span>Margarito and Pedro Flores, twin brothers from Chicago, Illinois, are credited with helping take down one of the most infamous narco-terrorists in the world, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. Their wives, authors of the book "</span><a href="http://amzn.to/2rUuYMZ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cartel Wives</a><span>," reveal what El Chapo was really like. In 2015, the brothers were sentenced to 14 years in prison. The following is a transcript of the video:</span></p><p><span><strong>Cartel Wife:</strong> <span style="font-weight: 400;">When they would go up to the mountains and they would come back, they would tell us, you know, that he took care of himself. He didn't do drugs himself. He didn't drink. He wanted to keep his mind and his body healthy. He would take vitamins. He was a very violent man so everybody was intimidated by him. He didn't have to yell. He would just study people and it's like he was looking right through them.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-weight: 400;">You know, he was just studying everything, every word they were saying because in this business, you know, nobody trusts anybody. But he had a soft side for my husband and my brother-in-law and I'm sure that they crushed him when they decided to cooperate and this is why he was extradited to the United States. </span></span></p>

What El Chapo is really like - according to the wife of one his closest henchman

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Roberto Armenta</span></p><p class="caption">A man walks by the "Chapo" roast chicken restaurant near the main plaza of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's hometown in the municipality of Badiraguato, in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, July 17, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, convicted in New York in February, is awaiting what will almost certainly be a life sentence.</li><li>In Mexico, cartel violence churns on as cartels jockey to fill the void, and recent incidents suggest the organization he helped build is pursuing its next target.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>Former Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is in a Manhattan jail awaiting what will almost certainly be a life sentence in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-el-chapo-likely-heading-for-colorado-prison-where-no-one-has-escaped-2019-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of the US's most secure prisons</a>.</p><p>Since his capture in early 2016, Mexico's criminal groups have fought on, and the cartel he founded and its rivals now appear to be opening a new phase in their battle for dominance.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-history-of-el-chapo-guzman-sinaloa-cartel-chief-drug-lord-2017-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The rise and fall of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, the world's most ambitious drug lord</a></em></p><p>Less than two weeks after <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sinaloa-cartel-el-chapo-guzman-drug-trial-guilty-verdict-2019-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Guzman was found guilty</a>, at least five narcomantas - banners <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tijuana-cartel-violence-2016-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conveying messages</a> from criminal groups - were found in Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city and the capital of Jalisco state, a stronghold of the Sinaloa cartel's main rival, the Jalisco New Generation cartel.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Tomas Bravo</span></p><p class="caption">A banner thought to have been hung by the Zetas cartel on a pedestrian bridge in Monterrey in northern Mexico, November 6, 2010.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The same message appeared on all the banners, <a href="https://www.proceso.com.mx/572790/se-multiplican-narcomantas-atribuidas-al-mayo-zambada-ahora-aparecen-en-jalisco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to a report</a> by Mexican <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> outlet Proceso, announcing the start of a "cleansing" in Mexico, supported by the government, and promising the return of "the old school" - likely referring to the "old guard" of drug traffickers, of whom Zambada is only one still alive and free.</p><p>The messages in Guadalajara were attributed to Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, whose name appeared on them. Those and other banners with similar messages have been seen as indications Zambada wants to impose new order on the criminal underworld.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/el-chapo-guzman-4-billion-the-us-got-now-it-has-to-get-his-12019-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The US got 'El Chapo' Guzman - now it has to get his $14 billion</a></em></p><p>In Sinaloa state, banners attributed to Zambada <a href="https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/sinaloa-cartel-el-mayo-zambada-mexicos-last-capo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeared</a> with the message: "Either line up or I'll line you up."</p><p>Zambada, who has never been captured, was Guzman's peer at the top of the Sinaloa cartel and is now believed to be running the it alongside Guzman's sons, after they triumphed in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/police-in-sinaloa-state-are-outmanned-outgunned-and-overwhelmed-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a months-long internal fight</a> for control.</p><p>Days after the banners appeared in Guadalajara, the brother of Damaso Lopez Nuñez, Guzman's right-hand man before <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trial-of-el-chapo-guzman-revealing-details-about-his-prison-escapes-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">being captured and testifying</a> against him, <a href="https://riodoce.mx/noticias/asesinan-en-quila-a-hermano-de-damaso-lopez-nunez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was killed</a> in Sinaloa state.</p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Alejandro Acosta</span></p><p class="caption">Police near the covered body of a person killed when a bus was torched during a operation to arrest leaders of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, in Guadalajara, March 9, 2012.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>"The Sinaloa cartel is conducting retribution against Damaso's relatives for the attempted assassination of Mayo and Chapo's sons," Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, told Business Insider in March, referring to a 2017 incident in which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/internal-fighting-in-sinaloa-cartel-attack-on-el-chapo-sons-in-mexico-2017-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zambada and Guzman's sons accused Lopez</a> of inviting them to a meeting and attempting to kill them.</span></p><p><span>"The other thing too is that the Sinaloa cartel is trying to basically wipe out the Jalisco New Generation cartel ... and there's an internal insurrection within the Jalisco New Generation cartel," Vigil said, in reference to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-catch-cjng-jalisco-cartel-gunmen-who-shot-down-army-helicopter-2018-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a group in Guadalajara</a> called the Nueva Plaza cartel, which is believed to be challenging CJNG with the backing of its rivals, including the Sinaloa cartel.</span></p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-defense-chief-says-opium-legalization-may-help-reduce-violence-2018-10" data-analytics-position="19">Mexican troops are in the streets to fight the drug war, and the country's former defense chief says legalization may be 'a way out'</a></em></p><p>"The Sinaloa cartel is taking advantage of that insurrection, as well as the fact that the Mexican government is really pursuing" CJNG leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aka "El Mencho," said Vigil, noting that the Sinaloa cartel's maneuvers were "not necessarily" related to Guzman's conviction. The CJNG has also attracted special attention from authorities because of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-catch-cjng-jalisco-cartel-gunmen-who-shot-down-army-helicopter-2018-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">its propensity for violence</a>.</p><p><span>The Jalisco cartel has not let this go without a response. On March 5, another narcomanta was found on a footbridge in Tijuana with a message directed at Zambada. It said the city "<a href="https://zetatijuana.com/2019/03/cuelgan-narcomanta-dirigida-al-mayo-zambada/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is not your plaza</a>" and was signed by people claiming to be members of the Tijuana New Generation cartel, which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cjng-and-sinaloa-cartel-violence-in-tijuana-2016-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has partnered with the CJNG</a> to contest the Sinaloa cartel's control of Tijuana and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-mexican-drug-cartel-narco-tunnels-on-the-us-border-2016-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">its valuable cross-border smuggling routes</a>.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Jorge Duenes</span></p><p class="caption">A Mexican soldier next to the entrance to a cross-border tunnel, surrounded by packs of marijuana, in Tijuana, November 3, 2010.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>On March 31, another narcomanta was found with two bodies in the city of Aguascalientes, capital of the small central Mexican state of the same name. </span></p><p><span>According <a href="https://lacensura.com/de-pico-y-pala-cartel-de-sinaloa-advierte-al-cjng-con-2-asesinados-en-aguascalientes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to media reports</a>, the banner and the bodies, which showed signs of torture, were meant as a message from the Sinaloa cartel to the CJNG.</span></p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-mexico-violence-affects-tourists-tourism-2018-4" data-analytics-position="9">Violence is high in Mexico's most popular tourist destinations - but some groups are more at risk</a></em></p><p><span>According <a href="https://laopinion.com/2019/04/05/cartel-de-sinaloa-y-jalisco-nueva-generacion-abren-nuevo-frente-en-su-guerra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to the reports</a>, one of those found dead was the main drug distributor in a residential neighborhood in the city - another sign the feud between the two cartels, both of which have focused on transnational drug smuggling, could be developing into <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tijuana-residents-stealing-concertina-barbed-wire-on-border-for-homes-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a fight over street-level drug sales as well</a>.</span></p><p><span>Fighting for those sales has been blamed for increasing violence in Mexico, particularly in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, as well as Mexico City.</span></p><h2>'H<span>is days are numbered'</span></h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>US Justice Department</span></p><p class="caption">The Sinaloa cartel's leadership, according to the US Justice Department.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Zambada is believed to have run the Sinaloa cartel alongside Guzman since its emergence in the 1990s. (Guzman's <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">defense</keyword> team <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/el-chapo-trial-mexican-presidents-accused-of-taking-cartel-bribes-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argued Zambada was really the top capo</a>.)</p><p>Zambada and Oseguera now appear to have established themselves atop of Mexico's narco hierarchy. Though Zambada may be attempting to exercise his clout on other groups, the stability of his own is not assured.</p><p>"I think if I were Mayo I would be keeping my eye out and exert a tremendous amount of authority on the Sinaloa cartel to prevent internal insurrections," which has to be one of his concerns, Vigil said.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rafael-caro-quintero-fbi-most-wanted-narco-2018-4" data-analytics-position="11">The FBI just put the 'narco of narcos' on its 10 Most Wanted list</a></em></p><p>Zambada is believed to be about 70, older than Guzman, and is thought to be in poor health, suffering from diabetes, Vigil said. His age and health - along with the relative inexperience and impetuousness of Guzman's sons, presumably the next in line for control - are issues of which rivals and partners alike are aware.</p><p><span>"He doesn't have access to good medical care, being up in the mountains" of northwest Mexico, Vigil said.</span><span></span></p><p><span>"So I think his days are numbered, and when that happens ... Chapo Guzman's sons really have never gotten their hands dirty. They were just thrust into the upper ranks of the cartel," Vigil said. "I personally think they're incapable of running the cartel, and they don't have the respect of the rank and file."</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.gob.mx/semar/prensa/la-armada-de-mexico-informa-sobre-la-localizacion-de-un-laboratorio-clandestino-para-la-produccion-de-drogas-sinteticas-en-sinaloa-53588?idiom=es">Mexican Naval Secretariat</a></span></p><p class="caption">Mexican authorities examine materials found in a suspected drug lab in Sinaloa state.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>With Guzman's sons at the helm, "then you're going to see the Sinaloa cartel diminish in terms of stature and in terms of capabilities, and [it] will definitely fracture ... [and] have forces within that will break off," with the sons and Guzman's brother trying to control as much as they can, Vigil said.</span></p><p><span>"It's not going to be as powerful as it is now. It's going to disintegrate" much like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/osiel-cardenas-gulf-cartel-joe-dubois-daniel-fuentes-2017-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Zetas or the Gulf cartel did in the face of increased pressure</a> and after important leaders were taken out.</span></p><p><span>Uncertainty about the future doesn't mean business is hurting. The Sinaloa cartel, which has always functioned more like an alliance of factions rather than a traditional hierarchical organization, has been resilient, thr</span><span>iving off the cocaine trade and, more recently, off heroin and synthetic drugs.</span></p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-mexicos-zetas-cartel-fell-from-a-powerhouse-to-warring-factions-2018-4" data-analytics-position="12">How Mexico's fearsome Zetas went from a powerhouse cartel to a weakened group of rival factions</a></em></p><p><span>The cartel is believed to control <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-as-opium-poppies-bloom-mexico-seeks-to-halt-heroin-trade-2019-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">swaths of opium-producing territory</a> in Mexico, and a "cook" in northwest Mexico told Sinaloa-based news outlet Rio Doce in late 2017 that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sinaloa-cartel-sending-mexican-herion-to-the-us-2017-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heroin production had expanded dramatically</a>.</span></p><p>Mexico's west coast, along which the Sinaloa is oriented, is valuable <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sinaloa-and-cjng-cartels-fighting-in-colima-mexico-2016-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for cartels bringing in precursor chemicals</a> needed to make drugs like methamphetamine. Violence in Pacific coast port cities has been blamed on fighting for control of that region. Labs making synthetic drugs <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/synthetic-drug-meth-production-el-chapo-guzman-home-turf-2016-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have been busted repeatedly</a> in Sinaloa state in recent years.</p><p>Mexican cartels continuing attention to US drug use was illustrated in early April, <a href="https://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/descubren-el-primer-laboratorio-de-fentanilo-en-la-historia-de-culiacan/1307412" target="_blank" rel="noopener">when the first lab</a> in Mexico known to produce fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid, was found in a home in Culiacan, Sinaloa's state capital.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cartel-wives-reveal-el-chapo-money-hid-billion-henchmen-us-mexico-trafficking-drug-lords-2017-10">The wives of El Chapo's henchmen reveal how they hid and spent $2 billion</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

'El Chapo' Guzman is awaiting his fate in a US jail, but the Sinaloa cartel already has its next fight lined up

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Mexico's Attorney General's Office/Handout via REUTERS</span></p><p class="caption">Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escorted by soldiers in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, as he is extradited to New York, January 19, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Opening arguments in the trial of accused Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman started Tuesday.</strong></li><li><strong>The prosecution described him as a brutal drug trafficker who built a billion-dollar organization.</strong></li><li><strong>The <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">defense</keyword> cast him as a the victim of a conspiracy mounted by fellow cartel members, the Mexican government, and US authorities.</strong></li></ul><p>Opening statements on the first day of accused Mexican cartel chief Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's trial were delayed by six hours, after two jurors were replaced.</p><p>But both sides came out swinging in a case expected to last up to four months.</p><p><span>"Money. Drugs. Murder. A vast global narcotics trafficking organization," <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/nyregion/el-chapo-trial.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Assistant US Attorney Adam Fels. "</span><span>That is what this case is about."</span></p><p><span>Guzman, 61, is accused of leading what prosecutors <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/el-chapo-faces-biggest-us-drugs-trial-050635997.html?guccounter=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> became "the largest drug trafficking organization in the world" between 1989 and 2014, smuggling 155 metric tons of cocaine and other drugs and making $14 billion.</span></p><p>Guzman himself faces 17 criminal counts and, if convicted, a life sentence.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Recaptured drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escorted by soldiers at the airport in Mexico City, after being recaptured in Mexico, January 8, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span>Fels said Guzman got a modest start in the 1970s, selling marijuana in Mexico before starting to build tunnels into the US. The tunnels distinguished Guzman, allowing him to move large quantities of drugs with such speed that he earned a new nickname, "Rapido," or the quick one.</span></p><p><span>Guzman was soon sending 10 to 15 planes "stuffed with cocaine" a day from Colombia to Mexico, where the drugs could be smuggled into the US, <a href="https://www.apnews.com/3517ac275298464291cf4b288fc07e49" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Fels. With business booming, Fels said, Guzman started taking aim at rivals, kicking off several bloody turf wars in the 1990s.</span></p><p><em><strong>Read also</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/el-chapo-guzman-sinaloa-cartel-not-guilty-charges-in-us-2017-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'El Chapo' Guzmán has pleaded not guilty - here's the case US prosecutors say they have against him</a></em></p><p><span>After the 1993 killing of Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo, who w</span><span>as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-us-trial-to-tell-epic-tale-of-mexican-drug-lord-el-chapo-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gunned down in Guadalajara</a> in what is believed to have been an attempt to kill Guzman, the rising trafficker fled to Guatemala, where he was captured, returned to Mexico, and convicted on drug and murder charges. </span></p><p><span>But he continued to run his cartel for eight years before the first of two successful escapes.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>(AP Photo/El Debate)</span></p><p class="caption">A helicopter arrives to where seven men were killed in a shootout in a marijuana field, in the northern Mexico state of Sinaloa. Authorities said the traffickers removed the drugs before police arrived on the scene. The shootout occurred on a mountain marijuana plantation in Higueras de Abuya, 55 miles south of Sinaloa state capital, Culiacan, July 14, 1999.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Fels told jurors that they would see evidence of enough seized cocaine for each person in the US to try some - "</span><span>328 million separate, sniffable lines of coke," New York Times reporter Alan Feuer <a href="https://twitter.com/alanfeuer/status/1062525523895730178" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Twitter, adding that prosecutors believed for every shipment they caught, Guzman got another 100 by them.</span></p><p><span>Fels also said the prosecution would show Guzman paid off Mexico's military and police and bought assault rifles, grenade launchers, and explosives to fight "<a href="https://www.apnews.com/3517ac275298464291cf4b288fc07e49" target="_blank" rel="noopener">war after bloody war</a>." He said Guzman personally shot two members of a rival cartel and had their bodies burned.</span></p><p><span>Prosecutors have said they would present a vast amount of evidence: <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/el-chapo-faces-biggest-us-drugs-trial-050635997.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">300,000 pages</a> and at least 117,000 recordings. So much that the defense team has said it hasn't been able to review it all.</span></p><h2><span>'This mythical Chapo figure'</span></h2><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes</span></p><p class="caption">Women read wanted posters in the main plaza of Mexico City, showing pictures of drug-cartel leaders who allegedly contracted gunmen blamed for the killing of Mexican Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo and six others in Guadalajara on May 24, 1993. Mexican federal authorities offered a $5 million cash reward for information leading to their arrest.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Guzman's defense sought to cast the accused cartel chief as a middling member of the vaunted Sinaloa cartel - a "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/nyregion/el-chapo-trial.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nobody</a>."</span></p><p>"He's blamed for being the leader while the real leaders are living freely and openly in Mexico," Jeffrey Lichtman, one of Guzman's lawyers, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mexico-el-chapo/el-chapo-is-a-scapegoat-for-drug-lord-who-bribed-mexicos-president-lawyer-idUSKCN1NI18V" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Tuesday.</p><p>"In truth he controlled nothing. Mayo Zambada did," Lichtman said, referring to Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, 70, who is thought to have cofounded the cartel with Guzman and is in hiding in Mexico. Zambada was indicted alongside Guzman but has never been arrested.</p><p><em><strong>Also read</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rafael-caro-quintero-fbi-most-wanted-narco-2018-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The FBI just put the 'narco of narcos' on its 10 Most Wanted list</a></em></p><p><span>"While the world focuses on this mythical Chapo figure," Lichtman said, "the world is not focusing on Mayo Zambada."</span></p><p>Guzman's defense team appears to be arguing Guzman was built up by Zambada and the Mexican government, which used him as a "<a href="https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/seguridad/el-chapo-revela-que-dio-sobornos-presidentes-de-mexico" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scapegoat</a>" for the killing of Posadas.</p><p><span>Zambada made Guzman a target through corruption and by working with "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/nyregion/el-chapo-trial.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crooked</a>" agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration, Lichtman said, adding that t</span><span>he US only "<a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/nepbmx/el-chapos-lawyer-just-claimed-mexicos-president-took-millions-in-bribes-from-sinaloa-cartel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pretends to want</a>" Zambada.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar </span></p><p class="caption">Suspected Mexican drug trafficker Vicente Zambada Niebla is presented to the media in Mexico City March 19, 2009.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Zambada remains free because of "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/nyregion/el-chapo-trial.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hundreds of millions of dollars</a>" in payoffs that "<a href="https://www.apnews.com/3517ac275298464291cf4b288fc07e49" target="_blank" rel="noopener">go up to the very top</a>," Lichtman said - including to the current president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, and his predecessor, Felipe Calderon.</span></p><p><span>Both swiftly denied the allegation.</span></p><p><span>"The government of [Enrique Peña Nieto] pursued, captured and extradited the criminal Joaquín Guzmán Loera," a spokesman for the current president <a href="https://twitter.com/ESanchezHdz/status/1062477593704771584" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. "The affirmations attributed to his lawyer are completely false and defamatory."</span></p><p>Peña Nieto leaves office at the end of November. Calderon, who left office at the end of 2012, also rejected the claim.</p><p>"The affirmations said to be made by the lawyer of Joaquín 'el Chapo' Guzmán are absolutely false and reckless," Calderon <a href="https://twitter.com/FelipeCalderon/status/1062473039227613184" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. "Neither him, nor the Sinaloa cartel nor anyone else made payments to me."</p><p>Corruption was said to be one of Guzman's main tactics, and allegations of bribes from narcos are nothing new for Mexican politicians. But the accusations made on Tuesday are as yet unsubstantiated.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Edgard Garrido/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto drinks water as he speaks during an investment announcement from brewer Grupo Modelo in Merida in Yucatan state, at Los Pinos Presidential house in Mexico City, May 29, 2015</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Guzman's lawyers said they would detail them further as other witnesses - many of them convicted cartel figures - testify, <a href="https://twitter.com/alanfeuer/status/1062492606792380431" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Feuer.</p><p><span>Lichtman also took aim at the cooperating witnesses, of whom the prosecution <a href="https://elpais.com/internacional/2018/11/13/mexico/1542148254_820575.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wants</a> to call 16. Like the jurors, their identities are being kept secret for their protection.</span></p><p><span>"Why is the government going so far in this case using these gutter human beings as the evidence?" he said. "It's because the conviction of Chapo Guzman is the biggest prize this prosecution could ever dream of."</span></p><p><span>El Mayo's son, Vicente Zambada, who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-likely-el-chapo-trial-witness-pleads-guilty-in-chicago-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pleaded guilty to </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-likely-el-chapo-trial-witness-pleads-guilty-in-chicago-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trafficking conspiracy</a> in Chicago, has agreed to cooperate "in any investigation" as part of his deal and could take the stand <a href="https://www.apnews.com/3517ac275298464291cf4b288fc07e49" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as soon as</a> Wednesday.</span></p><p><span>"T</span><span>hey work together when it suits them, Mayo and the US government," Lichtman said. He told the jury the case would force them to "throw out much of what you were taught to believe about the way government works."</span></p><p><span>Judge Brian Cogan excused the jury for the day after the defense presented its theory and asked both sides to provide written briefs on the claims, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/nyregion/el-chapo-trial.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggesting</a> the defense's line of argument will face more scrutiny.</span></p><p><span>Lichtman's remarks were cut short because of the delay needed to pick new jurors. Opening arguments did not begin until 3:30 pm, and the day closed with Cogan <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/cartel-bribes-to-mexican-presidents-alleged-at-start-of-el-chapo-trial/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcing</a> that another juror's mother-in-law had died on Monday, telling both sides to wait for more news.</span><span></span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cartel-wives-reveal-el-chapo-money-hid-billion-henchmen-us-mexico-trafficking-drug-lords-2017-10">The wives of El Chapo's henchmen reveal how they hid and spent $2 billion</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

'Money. Drugs. Murder': The first day of 'El Chapo' Guzman's US trial started with some big accusations

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Tony Rivera</span></p><p class="caption">A worker with a latex mask of two-time prison escapee and top drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, at the plant in Cuernavaca, Mexico, October 13, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>The trial of accused Mexican kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman started this week in New York City.</strong></li><li><strong>A jury has been selected, and Guzman's lawyers want the court to let him hug his wife before opening statements next week.</strong></li><li><strong>The court said no, citing ongoing concerns that the elusive cartel chief could be plotting something else.</strong></li></ul><p>Jury selection for the trial of accused Mexican cartel chief Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is over, but the purported Sinaloa cartel leader will face the court alone when the trial gets underway next week.</p><p>In a November 6 letter, Guzman's <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">defense</keyword> team asked Judge Brian Cogan to allow Guzman to give his wife, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/el-chapo-guzman-wife-fears-for-his-life-2016-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Emma Coronel Aispuro</a>, "a brief momentary greeting to include perhaps an embrace" after entering the courtroom on November 13, before opening statements.</p><p>"It can be a brief embrace in open court with the courtroom railing between them," the letter, written by one of Guzman's lawyers, continued. "This entire process should not take more than a few seconds."</p><p>The letter justifies the "humanitarian gesture" by citing the conditions Guzman has faced since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-extradites-joaquin-el-chapo-guzman-sinaloa-cartel-kingpin-2017-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he was extradited to the US from Mexico</a> in January 2017, hours before President Donald Trump took office.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP</span></p><p class="caption">Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman arrives at Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York, on January 20, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>He has been held under tight security in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan.</p><p>He has been held in a windowless cell with the lights on at all times for 23 hours a day during the week and 24 hours a day during the weekend. He has had limited contact with outsiders and none with his wife, which has been "to prevent [Guzman] from committing, soliciting, or conspiring to commit additional criminal activity," the defense's letter states, quoting the prosecution.</p><p>Guzman's legal team has made numerous complaints about his treatment.</p><p><em><strong>Read also:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coast-guard-capturing-more-drug-smuggling-narco-subs-2018-10">The Coast Guard is catching more drug-running subs, but most 'very stealthy' narco subs are probably going undetected</a></em></p><p>In March 2017, after seven weeks in US custody, lawyers said the conditions, which were "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/el-chapo-guzman-jail-in-the-us-complaints-abuses-hallucinations-2017-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">far more extreme</a>" than those in Mexico, had already caused him to have hallucinations. Later that spring, his lawyers said the repetition of a "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/el-chapo-complaints-about-us-jail-and-rhinoceros-program-2017-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nature program about a rhinoceros</a><span>" on a TV he had access to, and other limits on his confinement, were furthering his "sense of frustration and isolation."</span></p><p><span>Amnesty International <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-el-chapo-prison-conditions-worst-in-us-prevent-proper-defense-lawyers-2017-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the conditions appeared "unnecessarily harsh and to breach international standards for humane treatment."</span></p><p>The court was sympathetic to the November 6 request, but even though the defense team said the embrace would be supervised and "would not pose a threat to security," Cogan was unwilling to grant it.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Brendan McDermid</span></p><p class="caption">Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's wife, Emma Coronel, left, and attorney Michelle Gelernt after a court appearance in Brooklyn, February 3, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Guzman's behavior during the proceedings has been "exemplary," Cogan said in his response on Thursday. And Guzman has "displayed considerable grace under pressure."</p><p>"Nevertheless, having conferred extensively with the U.S. Marshals Service about defendant's request, the Court is constrained to deny it," Cogan adds. "The Marshals have stressed that acceding to the request would be contrary to all the security procedures that have been put in place ... and would treat defendant differently than any other person in the Marshals' custody who is subject to such measures."</p><p>US officials have taken special efforts to secure Guzman while in their custody, called Special Administrative Measures, or SAMs, largely in response to the reputation Guzman has earned as a powerful criminal figure who has bribed and threatened authorities throughout Mexico and Latin America.</p><p>Guzman has also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-tricked-into-mistakes-that-helped-el-chapo-escape" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mounted sophisticated escapes</a> while held in Mexico. In early 2001, he broke out of Puente Grande prison in southwest Mexico. (It was rumored he snuck out in a laundry cart, though he is believed to have simply walked out.)</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Brendan McDermid</span></p><p class="caption">A motorcade carrying Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman crosses the Brooklyn Bridge following a court appearance in Brooklyn, February 3, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>He was captured 13 years later, but after a year in another prison closer to Mexico City, he broke out again, riding a modified motorcycle on rails through <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-of-el-chapo-guzman-escape" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a mile-long, ventilated, lighted tunnel</a> that went from a partially completed house under the prison, emerging in the shower of his cell, where grinding sounds were picked up by prison security systems on the night of his escape.</p><p>The court upheld the SAMs imposed on Guzman in May 2017, Cogan noted, "including the restriction that prohibits defendant from communicating with or having any physical contact with his wife."</p><p><em>Now read: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-defense-chief-says-opium-legalization-may-help-reduce-violence-2018-10">Mexican troops are in the streets to fight the drug war, and the country's defense chief says legalization may be 'a way out'</a></em></p><p>At that time, the court recognized the measures were "tailored to the Government's legitimate objectives of preventing defendant from coordinating any escape from prison or directing any attack on individuals who might be cooperating with the Government."</p><p>The factors that justified those measures at that time are still present, Cogan said, especially "on the eve of trial, when the reality of the potential liability defendant faces if convicted may be setting in."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cartel-wives-reveal-el-chapo-money-hid-billion-henchmen-us-mexico-trafficking-drug-lords-2017-10">The wives of El Chapo's henchmen reveal how they hid and spent $2 billion</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The US is so worried about 'El Chapo' Guzman escaping that it won't even let him hug his wife

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Fernando Carranza</span></p><p class="caption">Forensic technicians at a crime scene where three men were gunned down by unknown assailants, in the municipality of Tlaquepaque, on the outskirts of Guadalajara, Mexico, January 10, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Mexico is gearing up for a nationwide election this summer.</strong></li><li><strong>Politicians and party officials are increasingly finding themselves at risk around the country.</strong></li><li><strong>The government has promised to provide protection - and so have some narcos.</strong></li></ul><p><br />Mexico saw <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-violence-most-killings-in-decades-2017-2018-violent-start-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">record violence in 2017</a>, when its 25,339 homicide cases were the most in a year since the government began releasing data in 1997.</p><p>The homicide rate also rose to 20.51 per 100,000 people in 2017 from 16.8 per 100,000 in 2016 - higher than the 19.37 per 100,000 in 2011, the drug war's peak.</p><p>Newly released data <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-record-homicides-new-data-crime-numbers-2017-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">underscores the growing insecurity</a> in the country, but for politicians, particularly those at the local level, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-political-killings-narco-underworld-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the final months in 2017</a> and first months of this year were especially deadly.</p><p>Those politicians are preparing for general elections in July, when more than <a href="https://www.bakerinstitute.org/mexico-2018-election-overview/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">3,400 positions</a> - including the presidency, hundreds of federal legislature seats, and eight state governorships - will be up for grabs.</p><p>There are varying estimates of the toll this violence has taken.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Jorge Valenzuela</span></p><p class="caption">A federal policeman stands guard outside a polling station where gunmen stole ballot boxes during local elections in Durango, July 4, 2010.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Mexican <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> site Nacion321 <a href="http://www.nacion321.com/seguridad/suman-58-politicos-asesinados-durante-el-proceso-electoral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> last month that between September 2017 and the beginning of March, 58 political figures, including mayors, deputies, and candidates, were killed. Excelsior <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com.mx/2018/03/13/proceso-electoral-tenido-de-rojo-van-63-candidatos-a-puestos-de-eleccion-asesinados_a_23384504/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in mid-March that since September, 62 political figures, including candidates, mayors, former mayors, city councilors, and party members, were slain around the country. At the beginning of April, El Universal <a href="http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/sociedad/en-7-meses-42-politicos-asesinados-en-el-pais#.WsLXusjuN1c.twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that 42 political figures, including mayors, former mayors, councilors, activists, and party functionaries, had been killed since September.</p><p>According to El Universal's <a href="http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/sociedad/en-7-meses-42-politicos-asesinados-en-el-pais#.WsLXusjuN1c.twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>, the most recent, killings took place in 16 states - the most in Guerrero, which had 12, eight in Oaxaca, and three each in Jalisco and Veracruz. Thirteen members of the governing center-right Institutional Revolutionary Party were slain, 10 from the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, and five from the conservative National Action Party. Morena and Movimiento Ciudadano, both leftist parties, had three members killed.</p><p>Historically, the trend is a new one.</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"In the past, back in the '80s and early '90s, that was a rare occasion, but starting the early 2000s, especially when the cartels just became super-size, if you will, and especially when [President Felipe] Calderon went after them with a vengeance starting in 2007, then the cartels wanted protection," Mike Vigil, former director of international operations for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, told Business Insider in March</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"At that point in time, there were so many cartels," Vigil said. "They were all vying for power. They were all vying for territory, and they knew that in order to operate, they needed protection. So they would kill political candidates if they felt that they were not going to protect their interests."</span></p><h2><strong>This year 'has been bad'</strong></h2><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell</span></p><p class="caption">A woman exits a privacy booth between signs reading, in Spanish, "The vote is free and secret," after voting for governor in Chimalhuacan, Mexico state, June 4, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p>The uptick <a href="https://justiceinmexico.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/180117_CALDERON-WRKPPR_v3.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has been attributed</a> to Mexico's political opening in the 1990s and 2000s, when the devolution of authority from the federal level to municipal authorities gave local officials more resources and a bigger role in dealing with criminal actors. Freer and fairer elections - and the resulting shifts in the balance of political power - also interrupted standing agreements between politicians and criminals.</p><p>As a consequence of those fragmented agreements, "drug-trafficking organizations started targeting locally elected authorities to deter unfriendly candidates, blackmail non-cooperative officials, buy-in collaboration, and ultimately show the reach of their power," <a href="https://justiceinmexico.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/180117_CALDERON-WRKPPR_v3.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to a report</a> by the University of San Diego's Justice in Mexico program.</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first known case in recent decades of an aspiring, current, or former mayor being killed was in 2002, according to the report. "Since then, at least 150 mayors, mayoral candidates, and former mayors were killed through 2017, with an average of 10 victims per year and a peak of 20 assassinations in 2010," the report states.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p><p>That violence has remained elevated. In 2016, <a href="https://justiceinmexico.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/180117_CALDERON-WRKPPR_v3.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">when six</a> of the country's 2,435 mayors were slain, the likelihood a member of that group would be killed was 12 times higher than for a member of the general population and three times higher than for journalists, who have faced considerable danger in recent years.</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"In every election cycle in Mexico, there's an increase in violence against local politicians," James Bosworth, founder of Hxagon, a political-risk analysis firm, told Business Insider. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell</span></p><p class="caption">Mexicans watch as votes are counted at a polling place in Toluca, the capital of Mexico state, Mexico, June 4, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It tends not to be happening in Mexico City or Guadalajara or Monterrey ... it tends to happen in more rural towns, but there is an increase, and this year it has been bad," said Bosworth, whose work has focused on Latin America. "I don't know exact numbers, but a significant number of local politicians have been threatened, have been shot at, [or] have been killed."</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The dynamics of the criminal underworld appear to have increased these dangers. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-war-on-cartels-failure-violence-defense-intelligence-agency-chief-2018-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Major criminal groups have weakened and fragmented</a>, in part because of the government's kingpin strategy, which targets organized-crime leaders. That pressure pushed criminals out of major metro areas into regions with limited government presence, Vigil said, and the remaining factions tend to have smaller territorial reach.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span>Alejandro Hope, a former official for Mexico's civilian intelligence agency, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-02/mexico-enters-election-year-with-spate-of-political-killings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in January that fragmentation has made criminals more concerned about <keyword id="6358883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="politics">politics</keyword>. "Organized crime has become more politicized because it's become more local," he said.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span>Smaller groups have also become more assertive, Bosworth told Business Insider.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span>"It's not just big groups becoming smaller. There's a lot of smaller groups that have increased their influence," he said. "These sort of second- and third-tier criminal groups that are out there in Mexico, at the neighborhood level, they clearly have an interest in affecting local politics."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Henry Romero</span></p><p class="caption">People and soldiers near at a crime scene where a man was killed by unknown assailants outside a building in Chilpancingo, in Mexico's Guerrero state, November 15, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"This is a local gang in charge of this city or even this neighborhood, deciding to go after local politicians, and in many ways that's a much tougher problem for the Mexican government to solve," he added.</span></p><h2><strong>Trying to guarantee candidates' safety</strong></h2><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mexico's Interior Ministry has offered a limited solution, <a href="https://www.animalpolitico.com/2018/04/estado-mayor-presidencial-policia-federal-cuidaran-a-candidatos-presidenciales/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">presenting</a> a protection plan for presidential candidates who request it. Candidates for the federal legislature can also request security.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But federal authorities aren't the only ones making guarantees about candidates' safety. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The bishop of the Chilpancingo-Chilapa dioceses in Guerrero state, Salvador Rangel Mendoza, <a href="https://www.proceso.com.mx/528143/el-narco-se-comprometio-a-no-interferir-en-el-proceso-electoral-asegura-obispo-de-chilpancingo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said this week</a> that narcos there promised not to kill political candidates or party figures, on the condition that those running for office not try to buy votes and fulfill their promises if elected.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"What they ask for is a free, just, and secret vote, nothing more," <a href="http://www.milenio.com/policia/obispo-chilpancingo-chilapa-narcos-muerte-candidatos-guerrero-salvador-noticias_0_1149485272.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Rangel, a <a href="https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/guerrero-bishop-met-with-drug-cartel-boss/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proponent</a> of dialogue with criminal groups. He made the announcement after visiting a rural area in central Guerrero where two groups were fighting for control. He wouldn't identify with whom he spoke.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That guarantee is almost certainly geographically limited and likely contingent on the whims of the criminals involved. And the government's ability to protect candidates and challenge criminal groups remains limited, particularly in remote areas. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"The Mexican government too often just sort of lumps it in as, 'Hey, that's just crime. It happens,'" Bosworth said of attacks on political figures. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"When this many local politicians are targeted and killed, there's clearly some political motivation behind some of these killings, and they need to be more thoroughly investigated," he added. "The intellectual authors of the murders need to be brought to justice."</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cartel-wives-reveal-el-chapo-money-hid-billion-henchmen-us-mexico-trafficking-drug-lords-2017-10">The wives of El Chapo's henchmen reveal how they hid and spent $2 billion</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Violence against politicians is increasing ahead of Mexico's election - but some cartel leaders are now promising safety

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Mexico's top drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman arrives at Long Island MacArthur airport in New York, after his extradition from Mexico, January 19, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Mexican cartel chief Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was found </strong>guilty in New York City on Tuesday.</li><li><strong>The verdict comes after 11 weeks of testimony from high-profile cartel figures and law-enforcement officials.</strong></li><li><strong>The case revealed an array of sordid details about the Sinaloa cartel and about Guzman himself.</strong></li></ul><p>After six days of deliberations, jurors in New York City returned <a href="https://twitter.com/emilyepalmer/status/1095376113252093952" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a guilty verdict</a> in the trial of Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, finding him responsible for all 17 counts of an indictment that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/el-chapo-guzman-sinaloa-cartel-not-guilty-charges-in-us-2017-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">included</a> drug-trafficking, conspiracy, and use-of-firearms charges.</p><p>The verdict comes after 11 weeks of arguments and testimony - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-defense-case-at-el-chapo-trial-clocks-in-at-30-minutes-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">just 30 minutes</a> of it from the <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">defense</keyword> - in federal court that released a torrent of sensational accusations implicating nearly every level of Mexican law-enforcement and <keyword id="6358883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="politics">politics</keyword>, including the country's current and former presidents, in criminal activity.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-history-of-el-chapo-guzman-sinaloa-cartel-chief-drug-lord-2017-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The rise and fall of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, the world's most ambitious drug lord</a></em></p><p>The narcos and law-enforcement officials who took the stand during the trial revealed a litany of sordid details about the Sinaloa cartel's operations and about the violent, decadent, and sometimes <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/02/nyregion/el-chapo-trial.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">perverse</a> proclivities of Guzman, 61, who is believed to have been the organization's main leader for much of the past two decades.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Mexico's Attorney General's Office/Handout via REUTERS</span></p><p class="caption">Guzman escorted by soldiers in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, during his extradition to the US, January 19, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The defense tried to cast Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who is seen as Guzman's peer at the top of the cartel, as the organization's mastermind.</p><p>The elder Zambada has never been caught, but one of his sons, Vicente, testified against the capo he was once poised to succeed, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sinaloa-cartel-wanted-to-smuggle-100-tons-of-cocaine-on-an-oil-tanker-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealing details</a> about jailbreaks, massive smuggling schemes, and widespread corruption.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-defense-chief-says-opium-legalization-may-help-reduce-violence-2018-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mexican troops are in the streets to fight the drug war, and the country's defense chief says legalization may be 'a way out'</a></em></p><p>Another witness, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/court-documents-show-ties-between-el-chapo-guzmn-and-colombian-cocaine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hildebrando Alexander Cifuentes-Villa</a>, a Colombian drug-trafficking scion, added to the tales of bribery, alleging that Guzman <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/witness-el-chapo-paid-mexican-president-pena-nieto-100-million-bribe-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paid $100 million</a> through an intermediary to President Enrique Peña Nieto, whose six-year term ended in December.</p><p>A representative for Peña Nieto denied the allegation, as did his predecessor, Felipe Calderon, who was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/el-chapo-trial-mexican-presidents-accused-of-taking-cartel-bribes-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">implicated alongside Peña Nieto</a> during the trial's opening arguments.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Elizabeth Williams via AP</span></p><p class="caption">Guzman, center, sits next to his defense attorney Eduardo Balarezo, left, during opening statements at his trial in Brooklyn, November 13, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Cifuentes also told the court of Guzman's cinematic aspirations, saying that Guzman was interested in having a movie made about himself as early as 2007 - long before his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/el-chapo-guzman-rolling-stone-interview-with-sean-penn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mountain-hideout meeting with Sean Penn</a>.</p><p>The Sinaloa cartel is not a hierarchical organization; at times the factions of which it is comprised were at odds with each other. A constant backdrop to Guzman's exploits was violence with partners as well as rivals.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-as-opium-poppies-bloom-mexico-seeks-to-halt-heroin-trade-2019-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mexico supplies most of the US's heroin, but prices are still falling - here's how life is changing in Mexico's heroin heartland</a></em></p><p>Guzman <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-history-of-el-chapo-guzman-sinaloa-cartel-chief-drug-lord-2017-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clashed with members</a> of the Beltran-Leyva family, to which he was related, the Arellano-Felix Organization, and other former partners. Those fights helped push bloodshed in Mexico to record levels.</p><p>The case - particularly the government's evidence - revealed Guzman's paranoia. The kingpin used spyware against friends and enemies, listening in on the calls of lovers and associates. Some of those recordings were played in court, as the technician who set up Guzman's eavesdropping system <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/03/nyregion/el-chapo-trial.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreed to cooperate</a> with the US, turning over calls and text messages.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Mary Altaffer</span></p><p class="caption">Emma Coronel, right, wife of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, leaves federal court in the Brooklyn with her daughters, July 26, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The trial also revealed more about the person who is perhaps closest to Guzman, his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro.</p><p>Three decades younger than Guzman, she is the mother of two of his children and has been a constant presence in the courtroom, even during testimony by her husband's mistress. Guzman and Aispuro appeared to revel in that moment, wearing matching outfits to court.</p><p>Aispuro's role in the the cartel's operations was also fleshed out.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mexicos-cartel-dynamics-and-drug-related-violence-in-2019-2019-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">After a year of record homicides, here's what to expect from Mexico's cartels in 2019</a></em></p><p>According to the testimony of Damaso Lopez Nuñez - a Mexican security official who became Guzman's right-hand man before clashing with Guzman's sons for control of the cartel - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trial-of-el-chapo-guzman-revealing-details-about-his-prison-escapes-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aispuro was the main intermediary</a> during the planning of Guzman's second jailbreak, carrying messages between the imprisoned cartel leader and plotters who were constructing a mile-long tunnel under his cell.</p><p>Aispuro has never been charged with a crime, but her alleged complicity appears to clarify some of the strict security procedures in place around Guzman.</p><p>She has not been able to contact Guzman while he's been in US custody - at the beginning of the trial, the judge presiding over the case turned down a request to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-judge-denies-el-chapo-guzman-a-hug-from-wife-in-court-during-trial-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allow her and Guzman to hug</a> in court.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">A patrol vehicle along the fence at the Federal Correctional Complex, including the Administrative Maximum Penitentiary or "Supermax" prison, in Florence, Colorado, February 21,2007.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Guzman remains <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-even-behind-bars-el-chapos-robin-hood-luster-glows-in-mexico-drug-capital-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highly regarded</a> on his home turf in Mexico - a reputation earned through a mix of intimidation and largesse. The cartel he help build appears solidly in the hands of his sons and erstwhile partner, Zambada, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/internal-fighting-in-sinaloa-cartel-attack-on-el-chapo-sons-in-mexico-2017-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">after months of fighting for control</a> of it in the wake of his capture.</p><p>But in the US, Guzman now faces a life sentence, which he will likely spend at the supermax facility in Florence, Colorado, a maximum-security prison described as "<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/25/us/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-supermax-prison/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">much worse than death</a>" by a former warden.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-mexico-to-try-new-tactics-in-search-for-those-missing-in-drug-war-2019-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More than 40,000 people have gone missing in Mexico's drug war, and the government is trying new tactics to find them</a></em></p><p>Inmates at ADX Florence are highly segregated, but the prison holds a familiar face: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/osiel-cardenas-gulf-cartel-joe-dubois-daniel-fuentes-2017-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Osiel Cardenas Guillen</a>, one-time leader of the Gulf cartel who was extradited to the US in 2007 and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/us/26houston.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced to 25 years</a> in 2010. He cooperated throughout his time in custody and could be released <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/an-american-drug-lord-comes-home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as soon as 2025</a>, before he turns 60.</p><p>Gulf cartel cofounder Juan Garcia Abrego spent 20 years at ADX Florence before he was <a href="https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/After-decades-at-supermax-Mexican-cartel-capo-7294747.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transferred</a> to a high-security prison at the same facility.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cartel-wives-reveal-el-chapo-money-hid-billion-henchmen-us-mexico-trafficking-drug-lords-2017-10">The wives of El Chapo's henchmen reveal how they hid and spent $2 billion</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

You Searched For "narco wives" and got 12 results

Recent arrests reveal more about how cartel wives help run operations for Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel

Luis Chaparro

A retired FBI Economic Crimes Investigator rates 8 money-laundering scams in movies and TV

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