El Chapo: Public Enemy Number 1

A few thousand miles South of Los Angeles we find Altiplano Prison in Mexico. The famous drug lord, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, escaped from the prison this last week. El Chapo has escaped prison before. Last time he was on the run for more than 10 years and sent huge quantities of drugs to the United States where many thousands are addicts and struggle with rehab.

El Chapo’s gang supposedly built a large, well-lit tunnel that led from a half-built house underground all the way to El Chapo’s prison cell. This escape route seems almost too obvious to pull off but somehow it has succeeded in freeing El Chapo once again. He is an integral player in the drug war that has ravaged Mexico, Los Angeles and most of the continent. This war has claimed thousands of lives in rehab and elsewhere.

The United States has taken special interest in El Chapo because of how much his actions have affected the U.S. as well. They have labeled him Public Enemy Number 1 which was a title reserved for the famous gangster of the 1930s, Al Capone himself. Many of his lieutenants have been captured in Chicago and prosecuted for distributing drugs throughout the nation. It is no doubt leading to many people in rehab in Los Angeles and across the nation.

A probable millions of dealers all get their product down the chain from El Chapo and many of the people in drug rehab are there as a direct result of the drugs he has helped to traffic into the U.S. Los Angeles is not alone in this struggle with drug lords. Mexico has been turned upside down and the balance of power is not what it should be.

Drug cartels in Mexico have huge amounts of weapons and power that even the government doesn’t have access to. Cartels control many smaller cities in Mexico where the inhabitants help to produce drugs and live under the protection of the cartels as well. 

The government has tried many times to fight these armed drug dealers but has been unsuccessful in making true reform come to pass. El Chapo is the most famous of these drug lords and the power that he holds within Mexico is considerable to say the least.

While employees and guards at the Altiplano prison are being questioned, the United States has promised to help Mexico in whatever way possible to see that El Chapo is again captured and placed in prison. Guatemala has also set up a strict border watch because El Chapo has been known to take refuge there before.

Nate Myers is a health writer reporter for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. Information provided by Miramar Recovery Center.

Image Credit: Flickr