Top 10 Notorious Mexican Drug Lords
Joaquín Guzmán
Affiliation: Sinaloa cartel
Born: April 4, 1957, in La Tuna, Sinaloa
Bounty: $5 million (U.S.), 30 million pesos (Mexico)
What We Know: Guzmán stands just 5 ft. 6 in. tall. He escaped from a high-security prison in a laundry cart in 2001 and has since been blamed for starting bloody turf wars all over Mexico. He reportedly got married to an 18-year-old beauty queen in 2007; in 2008, his son was shot dead and Guzmán reportedly had 50,000 red roses sent to the funeral.
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Ismael Zambada
Affiliation: Sinaloa cartel
Born: Jan. 1, 1948, in Sinaloa
Bounty: $5 million (U.S.), 30 million pesos (Mexico)
What We Know: Zambada reportedly once worked as a furniture removal man before becoming a gangster. He's an old ally and friend of Joaquín Guzmán and appeared on the front cover of Mexico's top newsmagazine Proceso this year. He said in the interview he had one wife and five mistresses and claimed that the army had been close to catching him several times.
Heriberto Lazcano
Affiliation: Los Zetas
Born: Dec. 25, 1974, in Veracruz
Bounty: $5 million (U.S.), 30 million pesos (Mexico)
What We Know: Lazcano served in the Mexican armed forces as part of the elite Airborne Special Forces Group. He reportedly received U.S. and Israeli military training, but defected in the late 1990s to work as an enforcer for the Gulf cartel. He has since broken off to head one of the most murderous gangs in the Mexican drug war, the Zetas — allegedly responsible for the recent massacre of 72 migrants.
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Vicente Carrillo Fuentes
By Ioan GrilloAffiliation: Juarez cartel
Born: Oct. 16, 1962, in Guamachilito, Sinaloa
Bounty: $5 million (U.S.), 30 million pesos (Mexico)
What We Know: Fuentes inherited the Juarez cartel from his brother, who was known as the Lord of the Skies because of a fleet of Boeing 727 jet airliners used to traffic cocaine. He allegedly formed a ruthless band of killers, including corrupt police officers, known as La Linea. His cartel is also said to work with a U.S. prison gang, the Barrio Azteca, to carry out murders.
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Alias: El Coss
Affiliation: Gulf cartel
Born: Aug. 1, 1971, in Matamoros
Bounty: $5 million (U.S.), 30 million pesos (Mexico)
What We Know: Costilla heads a cartel that supposedly first grew out of a gang of bootleggers back in the days of American prohibition. Costilla was indicted in the U.S. for being part of a group that threatened an FBI and DEA agent with Kalashnikov rifles. He used to work closely with the Zetas cartel, but now is at the forefront of a war to exterminate them.
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Héctor Beltrán Leyva
By Ioan GrilloAlias: El H (The H)
Affiliation: Beltrán Leyva Organization
Born: Feb. 15, 1965, in Sinaloa
Bounty: $5 million (U.S.), 30 million pesos (Mexico)
What We Know: He was one of five brothers who trafficked tons of drugs to the U.S. The brothers used to work with other Sinaloan gangsters but took their leave in 2008 and have been in a violent turf war with Joaquín Guzmán's faction since. His brother Arturo was shot dead by marines in December 2009. Gunmen then massacred a marine's family in what appears to be an act of retribution. Leyva has been indicted in New York and the District of Colombia.
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Aliases: El Mas Loco (The Maddest One), El Chayo
Affiliation: La Familia Michoacana
Born: March 8, 1970, in Guanajuatillo, Michoacan
Bounty: $5 million (U.S.), 30 million pesos (Mexico)
What We Know: González specializes in trafficking crystal meth. He converted to evangelical Christianity while in the U.S. and has since written his own Bible, which is compulsory reading for his troops. He invokes principles of divine justice when setting out to defeat his enemies and is also a fan of the Godfather trilogy and the film Braveheart
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Juan José Esparragoza
By Ioan GrilloAlias: El Azul (The Blue)
Affiliation: Sinaloa cartel
Born: Feb. 3, 1949, in Chuicopa, Sinaloa
Bounty: $5 million (U.S.), 30 million pesos (Mexico)
What We Know: Esparragoza is allied to Joaquín Guzmán and Ismael Zambada. His nickname is linked to the complexion of his skin, which is considered by some as dark enough to be blue. He is believed to have had plastic surgery and sources say he recently had a huge wedding-anniversary bash in central Mexico.
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Alias: Tony Tormenta
Affiliation: Gulf cartel
Born: March 5, 1962, in Matamoros
Bounty: $5 million (U.S.), 30 million pesos (Mexico)
What We Know: He is the brother of Osiel "the Friend Killer" Cárdenas, who led the Gulf cartel until his arrest in 2003. He now runs the organization along with Jorge Eduardo Costilla. Ezequiel Cárdenas allegedly forged links with the Italian Mafia to move drugs through the U.S. and on to Europe.
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Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano
By Ioan GrilloAlias: El Ingeniero (The Engineer)
Affiliation: Tijuana cartel
Born: Circa 1980 in Tijuana
Bounty: $2 million (U.S.), 30 million pesos (Mexico)
What We Know: The heir of the Arellano Félix clan that has held sway over the border city of Tijuana since the 1980s. His uncles were portrayed in the movie Traffic as the Obregón brothers. Although weakened by the rise of other criminal outfits, the Tijuana cartel still controls a valuable piece of trafficking turf along the Mexican border.
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