HomeNewsBriefUS Indictment Shows Escalating Political Battle for Mexico's 'El Chapo'
BRIEF

US Indictment Shows Escalating Political Battle for Mexico's 'El Chapo'

EL CHAPO / 9 OCT 2014 BY MARGUERITE CAWLEY EN

The latest superseding indictment of Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman from the Eastern District of New York illustrates just how desperate prosecutors in the US are to get their hands on Mexico's infamous drug lord.

The indictment of Chapo and fellow Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael Zambada Garcia, alias "El Mayo," was filed on September 25 this year (PDF). It includes more than 20 counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder of informants, members of rival cartels, and Mexican officials and police.

There are, however, few details of the murders, with some of the victims listed as "members of Los Zetas" (or other criminal groups) and no specifications given as to where or how the murders occurred or how Guzman or Zambada were specifically linked to the cases.

The newest indictment is a significant leap from a 2009 indictment (PDF) signed by the same attorneys' office, which makes allusion only to cocaine trafficking charges but says nothing about murder. In addition, the new indictment includes counts of marijuana, methamphetamine and heroin trafficking that were not included in the earlier document and goes into greater detail on the dates and sizes of drug shipments. 

InSight Crime Analysis

The scramble to get Chapo to a US courtroom began immediately after he was captured in February in Mexico. He remains in a high security prison, while Mayo is still at large.

The Eastern District of New York indictment raises the bar and indicates just how political this possible extradition has become on the US side. (See InSight Crime's assessment of the Mexican political battle here.) By increasing the counts against major drug lords like Chapo, courts throughout the US aim to outdo each other and claim the credit in case of an extradition, thus raising their prestige.

SEE ALSO: Sinaloa Cartel News and Profile

Unnamed sources told the New York Daily News that if Chapo is ever handed to the US, New York is expected to be his first destination. The murder counts may be a way of drawing more attention to the New York attorneys' efforts in an attempt to ensure this happens. But the charges provide little in the way of substance -- the who, how or where -- making them seem largely political.

A similar political impetus can be seen in Chicago's Crime Commission and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) naming Chapo "Public Enemy Number One." Local police and federal authorities told InSight Crime that although he supplies a huge amount of drugs to Chicago, his organization is not responsible for the violence in that city.

Not all prosecutors are so blatantly political. A 2012 indictment from the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division (PDF) also accused Chapo and various associates of murder. However, the El Paso document provided specific details of how a Sinaloa Cartel hit man carried out two particular crimes, rather than making broad allegations. 

The irony is that even with all these US Attorneys Offices -- seven in all -- vying for Chapo, he may never be extradited

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 7 MAR 2022

Authorities in Mexico recently seized an historic amount of high-powered weapons and ammunition in a northern border state, laying bare…

MARIJUANA / 13 DEC 2022

The legalization of marijuana at the state level in the US has forced organized crime groups in Mexico to adapt…

GUATEMALA / 4 FEB 2022

A former Guatemala mayor and his family have been accused of smuggling more than a dozen migrants later massacred in…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…