While there’s been much discussion of how and when President Trump’s proposed wall on the southern border of the U.S. will get built, one topic that’s been less argued about is who will pay for the wall. Ultimately, it’s likely that Mexico will pay for the wall one way or another — either via import taxes or tariffs — but in the meantime, it looked for a long time like U.S. taxpayers might have to foot the bill initially for the cost of the wall.
Now, however, Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has proposed a novel way to fund the barrier that might make the financial burden for U.S. citizens a little easier. The solution? Get infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman to pay for the wall!
Currently, the U.S. is in possession of $14 billion that’s been seized from the diminutive drug baron, who’s been extradited to a U.S. prison following multiple jail escapes and court battles in Mexico. “Fourteen billion dollars will go a long way toward building a wall that will keep Americans safe and hinder the illegal flow of drugs, weapons and individuals across our southern border,” stated Cruz.
“Ensuring the safety and security of Texans is one of my top priorities.” Cruz also indicated that seizures from other Mexican drug lords could be used as contributions toward the border barrier to “offset the wall’s cost and make meaningful progress toward achieving President Trump’s stated border security objectives.”
Toward this end, Cruz has introduced a bill, titled the Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order (EL CHAPO) Act, in the Senate. “The U.S. Government is currently seeking the criminal forfeiture of more than $14 billion in drug proceeds and illicit profits from El Chapo, the former leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, who was recently extradited to the U.S. to face criminal prosecution for numerous alleged drug-related crimes, including conspiracy to commit murder and money laundering,” said Cruz.
Guzman was transferred to the U.S. in January from a prison in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua under an agreement with the Mexican government that he wouldn’t be executed by American authorities. This is despite the fact that Guzman was wanted by the U.S. for drug trafficking, organized criminal activity, weapons smuggling, money laundering and murder and had been said to have entered the United States twice while on the run from Mexican authorities.
In fact, four competing states in the U.S. were vying for the right to jail Guzman, including Texas, California, Illinois and New York. In the end, prosecutors from New York’s Eastern District won the right to have their case take priority due to Guzman’s network importing nearly four tons of cocaine into that state between 2002 and 2003.
“It’s a calculus that involves a lot of different issues, but what it boils down to at the end of the day is: who’s got the best charges and who’s got the best evidence,” commented Theresa Van Vliet, an ex-chief of narcotics at the Department of Justice.
Originally, Guzman and one of his allies were charged with 12 murders committed between 2000 and 2008 as well as multiple attempted murders and murder conspiracies against competing drug cartels. One of the men Guzman had killed was Roberto Velasco Bravo, the director of investigations for organized crime in Mexico.
Another was Vicente Antonio Bermúdez Zacarías, a Mexican judge who had been involved in the drug baron’s extradition proceedings. When asked about the murder charges being dropped, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in New York’s Eastern District said, “No comment.”
However, despite murder not being on the prosecutors’ plate, ‘El Chapo’ stands next to no chance of seeing daylight once he enters U.S. prison. “There are many life sentences that can be found in [El Chapo’s] narcotics counts,” said Kendall Coffey, former U.S. attorney in Florida, who has handled major drug cases in the past. Florida also had charges pending against Guzman, but prosecutors in that state teamed up with those in New York.
Guzman stands accused of money laundering and illegal drug sales in the United States, with narcotics being sent over U.S. borders by submarine and boat crews, truck drivers and pilots. Money was tracked as it flowed from the U.S. back to Guzman’s home country. For Mexico, Guzman’s American indictment is actually a way the former country can save face, as U.S. prosecutors had previously accused the Mexican government of corruption and incompetence.
Readers may remember that back when President Trump announced his presidential campaign and made his famous speech about Mexican criminals, ‘El Chapo’ had threatened Trump via Twitter, saying, “if you keep pissing me off, I’m going to make you eat your words, you f***ing blond milk-s***er.” (The latter word is a homophobic Mexican slang term.)
Guzman also threatened Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, tweeting, “And you @EPN, don’t call me a delinquent, because I give people work, unlike you, you cowardly politician.”
Guzman also referred to himself in his tweets, saying “There’s no jail for such a big midget” (Guzman stands roughly five feet six inches tall). He also waxed philosophical, writing, “Never say never; this world keeps turning. In this life, he who risks nothing cannot win.”
Previously, Guzman’s son had hinted at his father’s upcoming escape from jail, tweeting, “Good things come to those who wait” and that “Soon, the General will be back.”
In response, Trump asked one of his campaign rally audiences, “Can you envision Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton negotiating with El Chapo? Trump, however, would kick his ass!” When Guzman heard about this speech, he had his lawyer ask rhetorically, “What is he going to do? Kick him around like a soccer ball?”
Trump was unfazed by Guzman’s threats, saying, “El Chapo and the Mexican drug cartels use the border unimpeded like it was a vacuum cleaner, sucking drugs and death right into the U.S. We get the killers, drugs and crime, and they get the money.” Trump claimed the FBI was following up on Guzman’s tweets.
Ultimately, the Mexican government recaptured Guzman in 2016 after one of his notorious escapes through a tunnel that was over a mile and a half long. When Guzman was arrested, he had smuggled more drugs into the U.S. than any other single person, including more than 500 tons of cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy (MDMA) and marijuana.
In 2011, Forbes magazine ranked Guzman the world’s 41st Most Powerful Person and the 10th Richest Man in Mexico. The magazine also called him “the biggest drug lord of all time,” while the DEA says that Guzman matched infamous drug smuggler Pablo Escobar in terms of his reach and influence.
The city of Chicago named Guzman “Public Enemy Number One,” despite Guzman never setting foot in that city, and multimillion-dollar rewards for his capture had been offered by the governments of the United States and Mexico.
Currently, Guzman is being held in the maximum-security wing of Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges in his indictment.
