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The top 10 drug lords EVER: Meet the world's most wanted traffickers
By Alun Palmer
Feb 24, 2014
After Mexico's most notorious drugs gangster Joaquin 'Shorty' Guzman was arrested 13 years after he escaped from jail, we chart the other Mr Bigs of the drugs world
Mexico's most notorious drugs gangster Kingpin Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman was finally captured after 13 years on the run.
His escape from jail in a laundry basket and subsequent stint as the country's most high-profile trafficker was finally brought to a close this week.
After his arrest by Mexican and American detectives, in the Mexico seaside resort of Mazatalan, we take a look back at some more of the world's drug lords.
El Chapo
He once escaped from a high security jail by hiding in a laundry basket. But now police in Mexico hope to keep hold of Joaquin Guzman, one of the world's most wanted drug barons.
Known as El Chapo or "Shorty" because of his 5'6" stature, he was the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, which smuggles huge amounts of illegal drugs into the US.
He was arrested in Sinaloa state, in a joint operation with US anti-drugs forces which had offered £3.2 million reward. Worth a $1billion, Shorty was called the "most powerful drug trafficker in the world" by the United States Department of the Treasury, and rated one of the most powerful people in the world every year since 2009 by Forbes magazine.
Supergrass: Frank Lucas
Frank Lucas
Lucas cut out the middleman and imported heroin directly from south east Asia to the United States, bragging that he smuggled it back in the coffins of dead American serviceman from Vietnam. Denzel Washington played him in the film American Gangster.
In 1976 he was sentenced to 70 years in prison after being convicted of drugs charges.
Five years later behind bars, having turned drugs supergrass he was released and went into the witness protection programme.
Manuel Noriega
He might have been a major drug lord but General Noriega was the CIA's drug lord. The Panamanian, who was military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989, was a prize American asset but was also involved in drug trafficking and money laundering.
He was central to the plan to swap guns for drugs with the Nicaraguan contras.
When the US invaded Panama in 1989, Noriega was eventually captured as a prisoner of war.
In Miami he was tried and convicted of drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering, and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
In 2011 he was extradited back to Panama to serve the rest of his sentence.
Jonathan Almanza-Orejuela and Jose Santacruz-Londono
Formed in the early 1970s by Jonathan and Jose, the Cali Cartel slipped under the radar compared to its ultra violent competitor the Medellin Cartel.
The Cali Cartel had a public face as respected businessmen but were involved in counterfeiting, kidnapping and importing cocaine from Peru and Bolivia to Colombia
Continued http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/top-10-drug-lords-ever-3180026
By Alun Palmer
Feb 24, 2014
After Mexico's most notorious drugs gangster Joaquin 'Shorty' Guzman was arrested 13 years after he escaped from jail, we chart the other Mr Bigs of the drugs world
Mexico's most notorious drugs gangster Kingpin Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman was finally captured after 13 years on the run.
His escape from jail in a laundry basket and subsequent stint as the country's most high-profile trafficker was finally brought to a close this week.
After his arrest by Mexican and American detectives, in the Mexico seaside resort of Mazatalan, we take a look back at some more of the world's drug lords.
El Chapo
He once escaped from a high security jail by hiding in a laundry basket. But now police in Mexico hope to keep hold of Joaquin Guzman, one of the world's most wanted drug barons.
Known as El Chapo or "Shorty" because of his 5'6" stature, he was the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, which smuggles huge amounts of illegal drugs into the US.
He was arrested in Sinaloa state, in a joint operation with US anti-drugs forces which had offered £3.2 million reward. Worth a $1billion, Shorty was called the "most powerful drug trafficker in the world" by the United States Department of the Treasury, and rated one of the most powerful people in the world every year since 2009 by Forbes magazine.
Supergrass: Frank Lucas
Frank Lucas
Lucas cut out the middleman and imported heroin directly from south east Asia to the United States, bragging that he smuggled it back in the coffins of dead American serviceman from Vietnam. Denzel Washington played him in the film American Gangster.
In 1976 he was sentenced to 70 years in prison after being convicted of drugs charges.
Five years later behind bars, having turned drugs supergrass he was released and went into the witness protection programme.
Manuel Noriega
He might have been a major drug lord but General Noriega was the CIA's drug lord. The Panamanian, who was military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989, was a prize American asset but was also involved in drug trafficking and money laundering.
He was central to the plan to swap guns for drugs with the Nicaraguan contras.
When the US invaded Panama in 1989, Noriega was eventually captured as a prisoner of war.
In Miami he was tried and convicted of drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering, and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
In 2011 he was extradited back to Panama to serve the rest of his sentence.
Jonathan Almanza-Orejuela and Jose Santacruz-Londono
Formed in the early 1970s by Jonathan and Jose, the Cali Cartel slipped under the radar compared to its ultra violent competitor the Medellin Cartel.
The Cali Cartel had a public face as respected businessmen but were involved in counterfeiting, kidnapping and importing cocaine from Peru and Bolivia to Colombia
Continued http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/top-10-drug-lords-ever-3180026
