Who Is "El Chapo"? A Look at the Master of the Underground Tunnel
Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera ( Spanish pronunciation: [ xoaˈkin art ʃ iˈβaldo ɡuzˈman loˈeɾa ] born either 25 December 1954 or 4 April 1957 ; disputed) [3] is the Mexican drug lord who heads the Sinaloa Cartel , a criminal organization named after the Mexican Pacific coast state of Sinaloa where it was formed. Known as " El Chapo Guzmán " ("The Shorty Guzmán", pronounced: [el ˈtʃapo ɡuzˈman] ) for his 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) stature, he became Mexico's top drug kingpin in 2003 after the arrest of his rival Osiel Cárdenas of the Gulf Cartel , and until his February 2014 arrest, he was considered the "most powerful drug trafficker in the world" by the United States Department of the Treasury . [4] [5] Guzmán has been ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the most powerful people in the world every year since 2009, ranking 41st, 60th and 55th resp...