Part 6/15:
The interview touches on Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, whose notoriety and mythos are amplified by media sensationalism. The officer criticizes the romanticization of cartel figures by Hollywood and Western media, comparing figures like Sean Penn’s interview with El Chapo to a propagandistic celebration of these gangsters. According to him, El Chapo and the Sinaloa cartel are more than just drug traffickers—they are political and social actors, investing in communities and populist projects, which renders full eradication nearly impossible.
He sheds light on how even top-tier cartel leaders like El Chapo are part of a larger, clandestine hierarchy—rumored to include successors who operate under a veil of secrecy, making law enforcement efforts akin to ‘whack-a-mole.’