The war on drugs in the United States continues to make progress in reducing unlawful drug supply in the country. The country has seen unprecedented arrests and a dramatic decline in drug-related cases due to the federal and local governments working together to enforce national drug laws. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the case of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, a notorious and divisive drug lord. The purpose of this work is to analyze the law enforcement operations and enforcement strategies that were used to handle the case. The paper would also discuss the subsequent prosecution and the effect of this case on illegal drug supply reduction.
On February, 2019, the United States justice system eventually found El Chapo, the infamous drug lord, guilty of all charges leveled against him. El Chapo, a Mexican national had previously escaped police attempts to arrest him for more than a decade is said to be the owner of Sinaloa, the world's largest drug trafficking network. During that time, his Sinaloa Cartel had amassed enormous wealth and influence, giving him an unfair advantage over Mexican and US law enforcement. He had escaped from Mexican prisons, an act that was successful due to the assistance he got from his illegal personal army, money influence, and cooperation with some officers. However, after his tunnel escape in 2015, he was not lucky and was successfully gunned down. He was deported from Mexico to States by the government, where he would face charges of money laundering, drug trafficking, and murdering innocent people. After a court trial in 2019, the United States v. Joaquin Guzman, the man was found guilty on all the charges.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The operations of law enforcement
In cooperation with the FBI, the DEA waged war on El Chapo's Sinaloa drug cartel in 2015, which become the United States and the world's single most significant drug trafficker case of that time. These efforts came after Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared that his country's efforts to combat criminal groups had failed and that the time had come to undertake more effective operations to fully combat the groups. His first detention took place in Guatemala in 2001, and he managed to escape from Mexico’s maximum prison shortly after. Following his escape, he engaged in a series of illegal activities to corrupt government officials to widen his channels.
In 2016, the police apprehended him, and the government stated that the convicted criminal would be extradited to the United States. Since he was unusually strategic, the police had a hard time apprehending him. The police used his top and trusted lieutenants to access his inner circles and arrest the drug lord. The police used wiretaps and confessions from his close lieutenants so they could gather sufficient and reliable information regarding the drug lord (Nevett, 2019). He hid in Argentina's neighborhoods before his arrest, where he was laundering money. He was back in Durango in 2011, living in terrain areas where the police could not apprehend him. In 2016, the police used security devices to apprehend him and eventually return him to jail. Despite the cartel receiving many setbacks from the government, he continued to resist coordinated army attacks.
Along with President Calderon's government, the DEA conducted a careful crackdown aimed at attacking and dismantling this organization right where it started. In 2011, the teams mobilized a force of more than 50,000 army officials to combat cartel members (Whitely & Smith, 2019). To counter the new oppressive measures, these attempts were met with a barrage of aggression from the cartels members.
Even though the police killed critical figures in the cartel, it seemed that the illegal businesses continued to operate normally, indicating that the police were unable to destabilize them. The police discovered that the company's multimodal leadership policies ensured that older, less aggressive leaders were replaced with younger, more aggressive ones who steered the company in their perceived right direction.
Law Enforcing Strategies
The DEA officers realized that apprehending this man as the gang leader would permanently destabilize his group of cartels, so they did so. They kept in mind that different approaches worked for different operations they had previously undertaken, so they collaborated closely with their community colleagues to develop appropriate strategies to combat the menace. The police used investigative tools to find a connection between the Sinaloa cartel and minor networks in the United States to make the case solid and strong before the law (Morales, 2019). Finally, the team invested in local officers who would collaborate with the DEA to ensure that the strategies' implementation was as effective as possible.
Subsequent Prosecution Of The Case
According to a report released after his court appearance, Chapo would face a life sentence if convicted of the charges leveled against him. The jury established that the drug lord was guilty of all ten of the charges. The trial was more argumentative because he had previously been charged in a scenario where he had escaped from jail.DEA officers provided over 50 witnesses, reviewed videos, and read intercepted communications during the two-month trial, all of which amounted to ample evidence that El Chapo had committed all of the crimes in question (DEA,2019). The case revealed that the cartel transports drugs to the United States by air, radar-evading helicopters, tankers, and passenger cars. In the end, his guilt was undisputed because he had a single witness, who had nothing to say in support of El Chapo before the prosecution team.
Impact Of The Case On Drug Supply Reduction
The United States may have succeeded in arresting the drug lord El Chapo and finally imprisoning him, but the fight is far from over. One factor to remember is that the United States has been approaching the conflict incorrectly. More strategic and effective measures need to be undertaken by the government to win and control the fight against illegal drugs fully. It has no hope of reducing the alarming numbers of people trafficked unless it improves its diplomacy with its neighbors (Whitely & Smith, 2019). Arresting El Chapo or any other leader is insufficient since such individuals work with vast networks that continue to operate tirelessly, and suppressing only a few individuals is ineffective.
The DEA's case against the infamous drug lord is doubtful and sections of the people felt the due process of law was not adequately followed. The arresting officers were able to apprehend El Chapo, but still, it remains to be seen if this action would clear the streets of narcotics. As a state, we need to have more hands-on measures to eradicate illegal drugs from our cities. Although apprehending El Chapo may appear to be a victory, the US government still has a long way to go in its fight against drug trafficking.
From this case, it’s acceptable to conclude that eliminating drug kingpins does not eliminate drug trafficking in a given region but instead helps to transfer leadership responsibility to different cartel members. We still have other gangs still operating and supplying drugs to the country and such groups are still at large. The DEA should use more collaborative and diplomatic methods in the future to apprehend these criminals and free our nation from illegal drug supply.
References
DEA. (2019). Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Sinaloa cartel leader, sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years . https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2019/07/17/joaquin-el-chapo-guzman-sinaloa-cartel-leader-sentenced-life-prison-plus
Morales, M. (2019). What it was like to capture el Chapo, from the DEA agent who helped take him down . CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/12/us/what-it-was-like-to-capture-el-chapo-donovan/index.html
Nevett, J. (2019). How el Chapo fell victim to his own legend . BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35271257
Whitley, J., & Smith. (2018). 'El Chapo' may face new charges for the murder of six Americans, DEA agent . wfaa.com. https://www.wfaa.com/article/features/originals/el-chapo-may-face-new-charges-for-the-murder-of-six-americans-dea-agent/287-546210570
