23 December 2004
United States Offers $5 Million for Capture of Mexican Drug Lord
Award for information leading to capture offered by State Department
By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The U.S. government is offering a $5 million award for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of a fugitive Mexican drug trafficker, Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman-Loera.
In a December 20 statement, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said Guzman-Loera is wanted in the U.S. state of California for conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, money laundering, and criminal forfeiture. The reward for information leading to Guzman's capture is being offered by the U.S. State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
Guzman-Loera is known for his use of a sophisticated tunnel in Douglas, Arizona, to smuggle cocaine from Mexico into the United States in the early 1990s. In 1993, a 7.3-ton load of his cocaine, concealed in cans of chili peppers destined for the United States, was seized in the city of Tecate, Mexico.
At about the same time, an even more sophisticated tunnel that stretched from Tijuana, Mexico, to the Otay Mesa, California, area was discovered. A month after the discovery, Guzman-Loera was arrested in Mexico on homicide and drug charges. In January 2001, he escaped from a maximum-security prison in Mexico and quickly regained full control of his internationally based drug trafficking organization, which he controls to this day, according to DEA.
Guzman-Loera is also on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of "Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons," which specifies that anyone under the jurisdiction of the United States cannot do business with any person or entity on the list.
The State Department said in its "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report" for 2003 that Mexico is the principal transit country for South American cocaine entering the United States, with an estimated 70 percent of the U.S.-bound cocaine shipments passing through Mexican territory. Mexico is by far the leading foreign source of marijuana consumed in the United States and, together with Colombia, one of the principal sources of heroin, the report said.
The report noted that the United States and Mexico "achieved unprecedented levels of cooperation" in fighting drug trafficking and other transnational crimes in 2003. The report added that bilateral teams meet regularly to plan operations, exchange information and conduct investigations. In 2003, Mexico extradited a record 31 fugitives to the United States, the report said, adding "opportunities exist" for enhancing bilateral cooperation, particularly in the areas of eradication and interdiction.
The DEA said that anyone with information about the whereabouts and activities of Guzman-Loera should call the DEA Hotline at 001-866-294-0820 (in Mexico, Central America, and South America); 1-866-294-0820 (in the United States); or send an e-mail message to chapotips@usdoj.gov.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=December&x=20041223121959AEneerG0.6471216&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html
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