1. Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán
Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, the man who became known as “El Chapo” (“Shorty”), certainly looks unassuming: 5’6” tall, middle aged, average looks. But his unremarkable appearance is deceptive. Guzmán is the kingpin of the Sinaloa Cartel, the source of the largest percentage of drugs imported into the United States every year: cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin, all delivered by the ton through elaborate land and air distribution channels.
Guzmán seemed fated for the drug trade. His uncle was one of the original Mexican drug smugglers, and young Joaquín was soon involved in the family business. He rose to prominence in the cartel quickly, as internecine fighting claimed rivals both within the cartel and without. In 2006, violating a pact between cartels, Guzmán ordered an assassination that spurred what has come to be referred to as the Mexican Drug War. This conflict between cartels has resulted in over 60,000 deaths and 12,000 kidnappings. Along the way, Guzmán has become a billionaire and one of the most powerful men in the world.
2. Pablo Escobar
If one man could be said to represent the idea of a “drug kingpin,” that one man would be Pablo Escobar. While running the Medellín Cartel out of Colombia in the 70s and 80s, Escobar’s ruthless tactics ensured a steady flow of cocaine into America. Some sources estimate that 80% of the cocaine imported into this country came through Escobar’s enterprise, some 15 tons per day at its peak.
Escobar became one of the world’s richest men (with an estimated worth of nearly $10 billion) through eliminating rivals and fostering corruption within the Colombian government. Officials who didn’t bow to bribery often met violent ends. He assassinated candidates for office, judges, police officers, and reporters. He planted a bomb on an airplane to kill a candidate for president; the candidate was not on the plane, but 110 innocent people were. Ultimately, Escobar would be responsible for the deaths of over 4,000 people.
3. Griselda Blanco
Not all drug kingpins are men. One of the most ruthless drug “queenpins” of all-time was Griselda Blanco, nicknamed “La Madrina,” or “The Godmother.” Blanco was one of the key figures in the Medellín Cartel and has been credited with being a mentor to Pablo Escobar, who would eventually become her enemy.
Blanco reveled in her “godmother” status, going as far as naming her youngest son Michael Corleone after the character in The Godfather. Like a character in a movie, however, she would have an ironic end. She was gunned down in front of a butcher’s shop by an assassin on a motorcycle, murdered by the very same method she had so often used to dispatch her own enemies.
4. Osiel Cárdenas Guillén
Like certain mafiosos, it helps to have a memorable nickname if you’re going to be a drug kingpin. Osiel Cárdenas Guillén has one of the grimmer ones: “El Mata Amigos,” or “The Friend Killer.” Cárdenas earned the sobriquet by murdering his friend Salvador Gómez, who was in line to assume control of the Gulf Cartel in 1996. Needless to say, the Gulf Cartel soon had a new top man.
The U.S. Border Security Handbook describes the Gulf Cartel as “particularly violent,” and under Cárdenas’s leadership, it expanded its reach. He infiltrated the formerly incorruptible Mexican Special Forces branch of the military and amassed a private mercenary army that protected his interests and enforced his will. This army eventually became known as Los Zetas (“The Zs”), a brutal group more likely to behead an official than bribe him. With such an organization at his beck and call, Cárdenas’ cartel became one of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world.
5. Frank Lucas
Originally from North Carolina, Lucas arrived in New York and soon got involved with local gangster “Bumpy” Johnson. After Johnson died, Lucas saw an opportunity to move into the drug trade that had up to that point been dominated by the Italian mafia. Using military contacts overseas, he established a distribution network directly from Southeast Asia.
Poppies were grown and processed into heroin and flown in military planes back to the U.S. (Lucas himself has asserted that heroin was sometimes packed into the coffins of soldiers being flown back from Vietnam). The purity of the heroin, combined with the violent tactics of Lucas towards competitors and the corrupt New York City police force of the early 70s, ensured that Lucas was soon making millions of dollars a month.
Here are some expanded lists:
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