Explore expert perspectives concerning Cartel Career, & Prison Escape [2023 Update].

Joaquin Guzman Loera, also known as El Chapo, is a Mexican drug lord who was the former leader of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel. Guzman’s net worth is believed to be $1 billion as of December 2023.

 As the cartel’s leader, El Chapo was in charge of the drug trade between Mexico and the United States.

The Sinaloa Cartel is also the main supplier of drugs trafficked into the United States each year, transported by land and air through a complicated distribution system. 

Guzman’s favorite way of trafficking was an advanced network of underground tunnel systems he also used to escape the prison on 11 July 2015.

According to the New York Times, Guzman made more than $12 billion in his 30 years as cartel leader by trafficking more than 600,000 kilograms of cocaine, 200 kilograms of heroin, and at least 420,000 kilos of marijuana.

According to Forbes, the cartel was making a yearly income of $3 billion under the reign of Guzman, which is still an extended amount as the drug trade is an illegal business and not recorded.