Mexican Drug Lord El Chapo Guzman Out of Most Powerful People Ranks Dolia Estevez - Forbes
go to original November 6, 2014

¿Es El Chapo? - Documentary asks the question, Is "El Chapo" really behind bars? (drlaffodaypcs)

For the first time since 2009, Mexican drug lord Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán is out of Forbes’ list of The World’s Most Powerful People. Early this year, Guzmán, once the world’s most powerful drug lord according to U.S. law-enforcement, was arrested in his home state of Sinaloa. He is currently in a high-security prison near Mexico City.

Asked by e-mail why El Chapo was no longer included in the list, Michael Noer, Executive Editor of Forbes Magazine, said: “He is in jail; I’m sure he is still a rich and powerful drug dealer but the Mexican state has reasserted its power over him.”

Last year Guzmmán ranked 67th out of 72 people. El Chapo was also dropped from Forbes World’s Billionaires list in 2013 due to the complexity of assessing his wealth and his unknown whereabouts. Before he was hunted down by the Mexican military in the port city of Mazatlan in February, Guzmán had successfully avoided being caught for 13 years by paying bribes and having a broad network of corrupt law enforcement officials on his payroll. Guzmán ran the Sinaloa Cartel, a multibillion-dollar criminal organization, which despite his incarceration continues to be the U.S. #1 supplier of illegal drugs.

With Guzmán out, only two Mexicans rank among the world’s most powerful people. Billionaire Carlos Slim Helú ranked 14th on the list, down two slots since last year, while President Enrique Peña Nieto, ranked 60th, down from 37th a year ago.

Read the rest at Forbes

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