Chupeta, El Chapo's ally, recounts how he sent cocaine to the United States.



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NEW YORK – Juan Carlos Ramirez Abbey is full of pride. Always speak using "I" at the beginning of sentences. The sinister Colombian drug trafficker, known in the drug world as "Pacifier", boasts that his cocaine is the best on the market. "Excellent quality," he said in a testimony in federal court in Brooklyn, where Mexican drug chief Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is on trial. But for the illicit product to reach the final consumer, it must have a structure perfectly adapted to transport it, distribute it and reap the benefits of the wildest and cruelest capitalism imaginable.

Just look at Chupeta's face, aged 55, to understand that he was a true chameleon. The former cartel official Norte del Valle has the face completely disfigured after the multiple facial operations that he had to do to have him appear outside the court. He has subjected his company to this same vampire transformation, to the point of describing the drug trafficking sector as an agile enterprise in constant evolution, able to adapt to working conditions.

He explained that the change of tactics was aimed at maximizing benefits and ensuring their survival. Ramírez Abadía was one of the most violent leaders of drug trafficking. He ordered, according to his own words, more than 150 badbadinations of rivals who opposed him and thus preserved his power. In less than two decades, it was out of reach to sell more than 500 tons of cocaine in the United States, which mainly went through the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.

"Pacifier" started working with "El Chapo" because he was the fastest and most efficient at the time. "He was looking for the best quality," he explained. It was in the early 90s, after a first meeting in a hotel in Mexico City, which took two months to define the operation. "It was more expensive than the others," he explained, "but this guaranteed the protection of the cargo and my employees."

Ramírez Abadía considered himself an entrepreneur and a great negotiator. He understood that security had a cost that he had to pay. The first shipment arrived in less than a week, while others did the work in a month or more. "I did not expect it," he admitted. 90% of this medicine was sold in New York. "Pacifier" explained how he manipulated the market for more control. "Often, I kept the goods to raise prices and make a bigger profit," he said.

& # 39; invasion & # 39;

He innovated in transport to avoid interception of ships. He began shipping planes from Colombia to Mexico and even up to 14 planes loaded with cocaine overnight on clandestine runways where "El Chapo" had a waiting team for the unloading and refueling planes. The move was such that the employees on their payroll said it looked like an "invasion".

At that time, the authorities of the United States and Colombia began to tighten the siege, so that, to avoid losses, he designed with the leaders of the Sinaloa cartel transport of drugs to Mexico by fishing boats. who sail in the Pacific Ocean. "Nobody had used them before," he explained, "it was a virgin road." To show his confidence in the new strategy, he fills a boat with 10 tons of cocaine. Then came the idea of ​​doing it with semi-submarines.

Juan Carlos Ramírez and Joaquín Guzmán concluded a contract thanks to Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, current leader of the Sinaloa cartel. Jesús "El Rey" Zambada, his brother, also detailed in his testimony the complex logistical structure of the company. They controlled all the movements in detail. Cocaine was clbadified by origin and quality in warehouses in Mexico City. And strict accounting has been established to track payments, including murderers and journalists.

There came a time when the corruption agreements with the Colombian and Mexican authorities ceased to work, increasing the risk for businesses. "The seizures are the biggest tragedy for a drug dealer," he admitted. "The lollipop," he says, was already "super rich" when the forces of the law were on his heels. He decided to change tactics again, anticipating his arrest, and dismantled the entire distribution structure in the United States.

'Behind the Scenes & # 39;

Instead of sending him to the American market, he thought he could escape justice by selling him directly to the Sinaloa cartel. "I wanted to act behind the scenes," he said, "I would earn less, but I thought I had fewer problems with US authorities." "Pacifier" ended up leaving Colombia. He operated in Venezuela and Brazil, where he was arrested in 2007 and extradited a year later.

The FBI estimates that he was responsible for 60% of cocaine in the United States. He is currently a member of the witness protection program in the United States, where he resides, and is one of the main cooperators in the criminal case against "El Chapo". The Colombian authorities confiscated badets valued at more than one billion dollars, including Botero's paintings. By his testimony, he corroborates the description that Miguel Ángel Martínez, also known as "El Gordo", was also responsible for the structure of the Mexican cartel, of which he was the administrator.

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