In the News: Mexican Drug Lord Chapo Guzman Arrested

Most Mexicans can hardly believe that Mexican drug lord Chapo Guzman has been arrested. This chubby little man with a Super Mario mustache was trudged into a helicopter by a masked marine with a gloved hand firmly on his neck. El Chapo, Joaquín Guzmán, was the worlds most wanted and most elusive drug lord and shockingly enough, he has been captured.

Mr. Guzmán was arrested early Saturday in a hotel-condominium in Mazatlán, on the Pacific Ocean in Sinaloa, the Mexican state that is the center of his universal drug operation. Further straining belief, he was taken silently, without a gun fight. The government of President Enrique Peña Nieto has a victory to celebrate but also the huge challenge that comes with taking into custody someone so powerful and unsafe. No one knows what new violence may occur from the beheading of a multibillion-dollar crime set-up that ranges from the mountains of rural Mexico to hubs in Chicago and other American cities and beyond.

Though Mr. Guzmán had allegedly dissociated himself from day-to-day control of his massive operation, many feel sure that the octopus will grow another head and continue as before. There are rival cliques, like the Zetas, known for crazy viciousness and for escalating into human trafficking and extortion, which will certainly seek to seize advantage. There are other splinter narco-groups and the unidentified webs of influence among the government and businesses that will modify to the new reality. There are uncertainties whether the Mexican government will even be able to keep Mr. Guzmán locked up; he had already fled from one maximum-security prison, and he has shown a skill to conduct his businesses from within prison walls. There is already pressure to transfer Mr. Guzmán to the United States, where he faces numerous federal drug charges.

Though Mr. Guzmán has been famous, unreasonably, by balladeers singing of his cruel supremacy, there is certainly relief that he’s in custody. His arrest contradicts the sad certainty of the pessimists who said exploitation was so corrupt that Mr. Guzmán would never be caught. The arrest was made possible by the persistent determinations of Mexican marines and a small embedded team of American agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Marshals Service, reported Damien Cave in the Times. Mexico and the United States should not give up the effort to bring drug kingpins to justice even as the struggle gets more vicious, more drawn-out and more challenging.

There should be no misconceptions that one arrest means task accomplished. It was the United States that provided the greedy request for Mr. Guzmán’s merchandises, along with the currency and the weapons. Responsibility for the ongoing disaster that produced criminals like Mr. Guzmán belongs on both sides of our common border. We have much more to tackle to put a stop to all of the criminals in the drug world and if the United States continues to work with other countries, it could be very beneficial, in my opinion. If you or a loved one are struggling with substance abuse or addiction, please call toll free 1-800-951-6135.

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/opinion/the-capture-of-chapo-guzman.html?_r=1