"Chapo" leaves a big gap in the Sinaloa cartel, but remains a profitable activity

Yes Joaquín "Chapo" Guzmán He returned to his hometown of Badiraguato, in the state of Sinaloa, in northern Mexico, where there would be a party. The prodigal son, founder of the powerful drug cartel that bears the name of the state, would come back and would be encumbrado again by the settlers who describe it as if it was an accident. divinity.

The narco leader was sentenced Tuesday in New York of the 10 crimes he was accused of for leading a criminal empire that transported tons of drugs to the United States for 25 years. Under US law, he will be sentenced to life imprisonment when his sentence is released on June 25.

But in Badiraguato, the story is different. He is revered with songs, known as "narcocorridos", and also with photographs and phrases that quote the famous 61-year-old capo. If I came back, it would be a relief, say the villagers, because when I was there, there was neither poverty nor violence. It was, they say, a territory with an unrecognized autonomous government and a generous leader.

Who is the "Chapo" Guzmán, the "most powerful drug trafficker in the world"

"Since Mr. Chapo is no longer there, there is more poverty, and people have to go down (from the mountain), because it's steeper, it's the hardest, "says Jorge Valenzuela, a resident of Potrero de Bejarano, a community bordering the state of Chihuahua. money to people, gave him to plant, to buy things, there is no one to do it, "adds Valenzuela, a native of this Golden Triangle town, located in the mountains of northwestern Mexico.

Nine out of 10 people living in Badiraguato live in conditions of poverty or extreme poverty, according to data from the Mexican government. It is the municipality that has the most social and economic problems in Sinaloa. It is also the municipality where the number of roads built is the lowest, but among those whose rural roads are more leading to the mountain, where the main activities are mining – 33% of the territory is conceded to companies extraction – and marijuana production.

Public data from the Department of National Defense reveal that the largest volume of marijuana eradication is concentrated in Sinaloa in 2018, with the destruction of 43,976 hectares, or 31% of the total eliminated in the country. Drug production was the industry that Guzmán led with the Cartel of SinaloaTwo years ago, he was arrested in Los Mochis, in the north of the state.

"Here, everyone has plantations, but as Mr. Chapo is not there, people do not plant almost anymore, because they sold it to him", regrets Jorge Valenzuela, a resident of Potrero de Bejarano.

The capture of Guzmán provoked an internal war with which the cartel redefined the direction, explains Cristóbal Castañeda, Secretary of State for Public Security. The sowing territory was fought by different groups, one headed by Aureliano Guzmán, brother of "Chapo", the other by Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, his children, and another by a man named Héctor Román. The cartel "is still a very important force in the Mexican criminal world," said Alejandro Hope, a security badyst, at the AP news agency.

The conflicts led in 2018 to the displacement of 295 families from the villages of Potrerillos, Carricitos, Saucitos, San Javier, San Javier de Arriba, Cieneguita de los Lopez and Sierrita de Potrerillos. "What affected us was the extradition (of Guzmán), the splitting of criminal groups" this was generated, says Castañeda at the AFP agency. More than two years later, the resettlement was consolidated, leaving the former leader behind and without any sign of further violence, Castañeda said. "This continues the downward trend of the different crime rates," he said.

The residents of Badiraguato are not satisfied with the arrest and conviction of Guzmán. For them, the fall of Chapo has led to an imperceptible poverty in the economic censuses, but it has manifested itself in the decline of their enterprises that fed the inhabitants of the Sierra.

In the Sierra de Badiraguato, the drug continues to be produced. There are still gunmen and a parallel authority that defies even the government forces. Shamelessly circulate shoulder rifles, high-frequency radios, armored trucks, and clothing with the number 701, recalling the position in which the loader Forbes In 2009, Guzmán was placed on the list of the richest men in the world. The criminal organization continued to develop, for example, the lucrative fentanyl trade, the synthetic drug that can be purchased in China for $ 9,000 a year. kilo, cut to 1% purity, converted into pills and sold in the United States at prices that represent a round bargain.

In the United States, the cartel continues to operate through a huge distribution system this ensures that the drug reaches the local trafficker and, therefore, the consumer's hand. "Each of our 23 divisions is conducting an open investigation, at least locally, related to the Sinaloa cartel," said Will Glaspy, an officer with the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), who held positions at various points across the border. . He is responsible for the division in Houston, Texas. "That's how powerful your distribution network is in the United States."

Joaquín Guzmán Loera, half-literate peasant, has become one of the richest and most powerful men on the planet. He became almost a legend after two spectacular escapes from high security prisons. In his beloved Badiraguato, there is no manor or visible luxury, poverty reigns, but with the "Chapo", its inhabitants have never felt unprotected, despite the flaws. The "Chapo" is still there, they say.