El Chapo — Where Are You?

John Abrahams

The war on drugs just reached a new height. Within the last week it has been reported that the US and Mexican drug enforcement agencies arrested 24 people associated with the Sinaloa drug cartel. This is a great victory for drug enforcement agencies; however, it is only a small blip on the radar and underscores the importance of the larger battle on the war drugs.

Since the re-capture of El Chapo, the war on drugs has moved into a new or higher level of intensity. El Chapo’s escape last summer has been well documented and reads like a Hollywood movie script with plots and all the twists and turns marked by suspense and intrigue. However, it was only a matter of time before he was going to be captured by drug enforcement agencies. In the end it was his ego and magnanimous personality that did him in, and this time drug enforcement agencies will make sure that he does not escape again.

El Chapo’s recapture ended a six-month manhunt following his escape from a Mexican prison where he had been since 2014. He used an elaborate underground tunnel from the Altiplano prison near Mexico City in order to slip away undetected. This was not the fist time El Chapo had escaped from prison. In 2001 he successfully broke out of prison after being captured in 1993.

It is reported that El Chapo’s Sinaloa cartel has been responsible for the distribution of millions of pounds of illegal drugs, including marijuana, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Much of those narcotics are brought into the United States from Mexico.

It is clear that the first and most important step is to ensure that El Chapo is extradited to the US. The longer he remains in a Mexican prison the higher the likelihood and opportunity he will try to escape again. He has done it twice before and he will do it again if he remains in a Mexican prison for too long. It’s in the best interest of the US and Mexican government to work together and to find a legal framework for bringing him to the US where he can be brought to justice.

The recapture of El Chapo is a small victory in the war drugs and should be celebrated, but we should also remind ourselves that the fight against the war on drugs is an ongoing battle. Just because the players are changing does not mean that the war is over — it just means that the key pieces have been moved but the war continues.

Drug trafficking in Mexico remains a lucrative business, estimated to be well over $50 billion a year. Mexico’s economy is heavily dependent on the income generated from drug trafficking and it is believed that the loss of income associated with such activity can shrink the Mexican economy by 63%. The Sinaloa cartel has been responsible for about one quarter of all illegal drugs brought from Mexico into the US. The arrest of El Chapo and his 24 cohorts will only put a temporary delay on the flow of drugs into the US, and it’s only a matter of time before new leaders emerge and the flow of drugs continue. More should be done to prevent and stem the tide of illegal drugs into the US. Education, intelligence and old fashioned police work are still a mainstay of prevention and should be merged with the use of new technologies and other means to fight the war one drugs.