El Chito's Drug War In Mexico

Trust is an illusion, nothing more than a word, maybe even a trick to the drug dealing men of Mexico. The drug cartel leaders of Mexico's most infamous cartels can really only trust themselves. The drug world is a dog eat dog kind of world. Chapo had enlisted the help of El Chito to escape Puente Grande, as he drove the getaway car. “...Chapo told the guard he was thirsty. El Chito went into a shop to buy him a bottle of water. When he got back to the car Chapo was gone (pg 31).” Chapo knew the more anyone knew about his whereabouts upon his escape, the more likely he was to get caught. He simply abandoned the man who had helped him escape prison for fear that he could not trust him. Chapo was careful of who he told any crucual information
and continued to rule his cartel in a discrete way. Theses cartels have hundreds, some even thousands of employees but the leaders will mostly likely ever be in close contact twenty or so of their employees. The more the people who are low totem pole know, the more dangerous it is; the new kids to join must gain their trust seeing their lives could easily be taken at any moment. Many men that are wanted by Mexico’s government, the DEA, and the United states undergo plastic surgery to alter their appearances. El Chapo, El Mayo, & El Azul are just a few amongst the many to do so. They can not trust anyone they meet so they are constantly altering their outer looks so no one can identify them. In most businesses the employers hope to have a trusting relationship within their counterparts but in these cartels the boss really can only trust himself. El Mayo and Chapo had a peace accordance for example but Chapo became slightly threatened and broke this, starting a drug war. He broke their trust in respecting each other's territories, lines were crossed and fight began. The cartels would sometimes even dress in military style uniforms and confuse people as to who they were, misguiding them. Locals in towns could barely trust their Mexican government but local enforcements created fear amongst their civilians as to their involvement with the cartels. When under pressure from the cartels it was nearly impossible to not comply. Government officials too could not even trust their elected peers, they were all suspicious of one another working with cartels. Key drug lords rose to power by learning from within the system, El Padrino who was an escort for the Sinaloa governor Leopoldo Sanchez Celis later created the Guadalajara Cartel.
Little to no trust creates room for corruption. The problem outlined throughout the entire novel can be found that corruption lies all throughout Mexico. It constantly reaffirms that many government officials were all most likely rightfully accused of being involved with the drug cartels. Some are even being found guilty of conspiring with the cartels; “... two former senior staff in Mexico’s Interpol offices were arrested: one would be charged with accepting $10,000 a month from Chapo and his people in exchange for making sure officials sympathetic to the Sinaloans were in high ranking positions…(pg.210).” Also, Police officers contributed to this corruption; it’s suspected El Chapo is able to constantly be one step ahead of the police and DEA because of insider police tip offs. A whole new level of corruption takes place in Mexico's prison systems. Malcolm Beith talks about the prisons complete lack of power of the inmates, the inmates ruled the prisons. It is even rumored that El Chapo was able to take trips at night out of the prison. Chapo had been transferred to Puente Grande which had quite the reputation.“...which by this point had jokingly come to known as ‘Puerta Grande’, or Big Door (pg 59).” Besides that El Chapo was able to hold privates feasts for him and friends, control his business, and anyone that just got in his way he just paid off. It had become his personal playground, he could casually drink Cuba Libres as he was supposedly being incarcerated. This was the prison he later escaped using the oldest trick in the book, a laundry basket. Chapo never found himself in a problem when he managed to have money. The guards were on payroll by Chapo therefore he was their employer. When money would not work, threats ensured the guards cooperation.This proving how deep in corruption Mexico’s prison systems are, the guards are controlled by the inmates. “‘They’ve all been paid,’ said Antonio, who has lived in Reynosa all his life. ‘The soldiers, the government, everyone’ (pg 187).”
Money and greed is what really perpetuates the drug war in Mexico.
The goal, as discussed is the Last Narco, is to make money in the fastest way possible. Whenever these men come across a problem the first things that comes mind to fix the problem is money. Their motive or incentive for selling these drugs is the millions and billions they make. The greed overwhelms their lives, taking over their minds. Money is more than an object to them, it is a ticket to live. They pay anyone off who gets in their way. Money is the name of the game. Throughout the entire nivle Malcolm Beith talks about how they are constantly trying to think of new ways to transport more drugs so they can make more profit. Money was the name of the game, the corruption derived from the greed of the citizens of Mexico. Everyone began to want a piece of the wealth, and for small rural towns in Mexico that made huge difference in Sinaloa, where Chapo grew up they grew opium and could used that to create cocaine. This brought in huge amounts of money for these people that would otherwise be barely making it as regular farmers. The excitement of the new found money lead to only growing more and more, they wanted more and more money. Thousands, millions of dollars lie within the rural areas of Mexico where they grow enormous amounts of poppy; “22,000 acres of poppy - enough to produce eight tons of heroin…(pg 79).” The amount of money that lays within just a couple acres is mind blowing. With teh creation if more and more frames to produce more opium came more new inventive ways to transport the new heroin and cocaine. Carrillo Fuentes who became known as “Lord of the Skies” would haul up to twelve tons of cocaine in one plane trip to the United States. “The flight back to Mexico would carry the proceeds: up to $60 million in one trip.” The money was flowing in and he had to come up with ways to do this faster to get more money, transferring more drugs. He found planes that could exceed 500 nautical
miles an hour and could outrun the radar planes used by UsS costume. The greed is what leads to violence but in the case of Carillo Fuentes is able to lead to new innovative ideas. The money motivated these drug lords to come up with creative ideas they would have never otherwise even come across. Throughout the entire novel money is constantly being brought up as the motivator but the divider between people too. A simple dispute over money could easily lead to death, money is no joke in Mexico. Tehr