The Guardian

Will El Chapo's conviction change anything in the drug trade?

The nearly half a century old ‘war on drugs’ shows no sign of ending, and neither does the illegal trafficking
Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, second from right, accompanied by US marshalls, gestures a ‘thumbs up’ to his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, as he leaves the courtroom on Tuesday. Photograph: Elizabeth Williams/AP

Standing on the steps of the Brooklyn courthouse amid flurries of sleet and snow, US attorney Richard Donoghue hailed the conviction of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán as a famous victory in America’s longest conflict.

“There are those who say the war on drugs is not worth fighting. Those people are wrong,” he said.

But that war – now nearly half a century old – shows no sign of ending, and neither does the trade in illegal narcotics.

In the course of Guzmán’s eleven week trial, prosecutors presented the Sinaloa Federation as a vertically-integrated organization with a clear chain of command leading all the way up to one all-powerful boss: El Chapo.

But Guzmán

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Guardian

The Guardian3 min readWorld
Historians Come Together To Wrest Ukraine’s Past Out Of Russia’s Shadow
The opening salvo in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year was not a rocket or a missile. Rather, it was an essay. Vladimir Putin’s On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians, published in summer 2021, ranged over 1,00
The Guardian4 min read
‘Almost Like Election Night’: Behind The Scenes Of Spotify Wrapped
There’s a flurry of activities inside Spotify’s New York City’s offices in the Financial District. “It’s almost like election night,” Louisa Ferguson, Spotify’s global head of marketing experience says, referring to a bustling newsroom. At the same t
The Guardian4 min read
Whether In Song Or In Silence, Shane MacGowan Exuded The Very Essence Of Life
Shane MacGowan and I sat in near silence for two hours last year. We were at his home, just outside Dublin. I’d been warned by his wife, the writer Victoria Mary Clarke, that he was depressed and anxious, not really in the mood to talk. But nothing c

Related Books & Audiobooks