Joaquín Guzmán Loera, also known as Chapo ('Shorty') is a Mexican former drug lord, and one of the former most powerful men in Mexico.
Initially starting out as Pedro Avilés' personal driver, Chapo was recruited as a driver by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo after the latter killed Pedro. Eventually, Chapo began working under his friend Rafael Caro Quintero, and quickly began to rise through the ranks.
Chapo would eventually lead the Sinaloa cartel after the break-up of the Guadalajara cartel.
Biography
Early life
Chapo greets Rafael Caro Quintero, c.1980
Guzmán Loera was born in rural Sinaloa, and like many of the poor youth he found employment in marijuana smuggling organizations. By 1980, he had joined a smuggling organization run by Pedro Avilés, the 'Lion of Sinaloa'. Guzmán worked as Avilés' personal chauffeur, and got acquainted with marijuana farmer Rafael Caro Quintero. He acquired the nickname 'El Chapo', which translated into 'Shorty', referencing his short stature.
Guzmán drove his boss to Guadalajara, Jalisco to attend a meeting of leaders of several plazas to finalize the formation of a federation of drug traffickers. However, Pedro withdrew from the group after sensing disrespect from Ojinaga-based smuggler Pablo Acosta. Other smugglers also began to withdraw, fearing that Avilés would undercut them. Avilés berates the architect of the plan, Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo for being an upstart, and orders Chapo to drive them back to Sinaloa; to kill Félix Gallardo.
However, unbeknownst to them, the Director-General of the DFS Salvador Osuna Nava was enthusiastic about the plan and decided to replace Pedro with Félix Gallardo. Ernesto 'Don Neto' Carrillo is accompanied by several DFS agents as they intercept Pedro's convoy and kill all of his lieutenants, and allow Félix Gallardo to personally execute his former boss. Chapo, who was unarmed, was spared by Don Neto after he agreed to work as Félix Gallardo's driver. Félix's organization would become the Guadalajara cartel, and at it's peak, pulled in a daily revenue of $15 billion.
Guadalajara cartel
Chapo's friendship with Guadalajara cartel drug lord Caro Quintero allowed him to rise up the cartel, and soon worked as one of Caro Quintero's bodyguards, along with Cuco and Manuel. As Caro Quintero examined a house for purchase along with its realtor, Chapo, Cuco and Manuel drove dirtbikes around it before crashing one into the pool.
At this point, Chapo began working alongside Benjamín and Ramón Arellano Félix; his future enemies. A few months after the cartel's creation, the DFS organize a hit on veteran smuggler and cartel member Victor Molina, who they believed was stealing from them. In the shoot-out at his ranch, one of Ramón's cousins is killed by a DFS agent. In order to prevent Ramón from retaliating against the DFS, Félix has Chapo, Cuco and Don Neto's nephew Amado Carrillo Fuentes ambush the DFS team and capture the agent. Chapo violentely bludgeoned the agent with a pipe wrench before stuffing him in the boot of a car, and presented the agent to a vengeful Ramón, who shot the agent in his genitals, and buried him alive.
Chapo and Ramón confront each other, as Rafael, Cochiloco and Benjamin break them up.
However despite this, the working relationship between Chapo and Ramón began to strain. Ramón mocked Chapo's short stature, and Chapo mocked his fashion choices and alleged that he was a homosexual. Félix Gallardo shifted the cartel towards cocaine smuggling, and angered Alberto Sicilia Falcon in the process. Sicilia controlled smuggling in Tijuana, and allowed the Arellano-Félix brothers to smuggle marijuana through that corridor provided that they don't interfere his cocaine business. Seeing the brothers entering the cocaine business as an act of war, he raided one of Rafael's warehouses and confiscated all the marijuana.
Félix Gallardo sent Rafael and Don Neto to take care of Alberto. Don Neto bribed a significant chunk of the local police force, and along with Rafael, Cochiloco and Chapo, raid one of Sicilia Falcon's warehouses. Chapo demonstrated his brutality by executing wounded guards in point blank range, set the building on fire, and drove away with all of Rafael's weed intact. Sicilia Falcon reacts by sending a corrupt brigade of the Mexican Army to raid one of Rafael's warehouses in Tijuana.
Chapo shooting at the army.
After a brief firefight, Chapo drove Don Neto, Rafael, Cochiloco, Sammy Alvarez and the two Arellano-Félix brothers in a modified pick-up truck. Félix Gallardo eliminated Sicilia Falcon with help from a corrupt Mexican government official. By 1984, marijuana lost its importance within the cartel, and as a result, Rafael Caro Quintero spent his fortunes partying across Mexico, with Chapo accompanying him. In one such party, Chapo is forced to break away a confrontation between Amado and Rafael.
Chapo was present in the Rancho Búfalo when it was raided by the Mexican military. He hurriedly woke up an inebriated Rafael, and protected his boss as he attempted to defend his farm. Despite killing several soldiers, the smugglers were forced to abandon the plantation, and over $8 billion worth of marijuana were seized and burnt by the Mexican army.
The cartel leadership identified the American DEA agent responsible for the raid- Enrique Camarena Salazar. Juan José Esparragoza Moreno, a DFS commander, manipulated Rafael into ordering the abduction of Camarena, and his Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar and had them tortured for information, resulting in their deaths. With the death of an American federal agent being made public, the United States of America reacted strongly. The Americans closed all border crossings and threatened of waging economic warfare against Mexico. The fallout of Camarena's murder led to the arrests of Rafael Caro Quintero and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo. Félix Gallardo disappeared with the help of the DFS.
With all three of the cartel leaders inactive, Sinaloan socialite Isabella Bautista manipulated Benjamín Arellano Félix into calling a meeting to decide on the affairs of the cartel without the founders. Halfway through the meeting, military helicopters begin encircling the hotel, and hundereds of soldiers descend into the rooftops. Within seconds, a squadron of soldiers barge into the meeting, and disarm all guards. Félix Gallardo was escorted in by the military, and he kicked Isabella out of the meeting and took control of the organization.
Sinaloa cartel
After the break-up of the Guadalajara cartel in 1989, Chapo, along with Héctor Palma Salazar and Cochiloco gain control of drug routes in northern Sinaloa, forming the Sinaloa cartel.