logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2024
49m 56s

El Chapo's Sons Built a Fentanyl Empire:...

The Underworld Podcast
About this episode
With El Chapo locked up in a supermax prison and never going home, there's been a battle to maintain the power of his feared Sinaloa cartel. Many thought his sons, groomed to take his place, would falter. Seen mostly as spoiled rich kid "narco juniors" who possessed neither the intelligence nor the strength to outmaneuver older, more experienced druglords, t ... Show More
Up next
Yesterday
The Biggest Unknown Drug Dealer in US History
He might just be the biggest US drug smuggler you’ve never heard of. 1.3 billion in product moved. 16 different aliases. Bank accounts in 10 countries. A phantom, and a logistical genius. Stewart Newton quietly built what feds called the biggest ever drug smuggling operation in N ... Show More
1h 11m
Aug 25
Shafted: How Cartels are Killing for Rare-Earths
Bolivia's Cerro Rico has been spewing out tons of silver for centuries. It was the economic bellows of the Spanish Revolution, whose lust for the precious metal came at the price of some eight million slaves. Some of the empire's earliest gangs formed around the Cerro. They were ... Show More
44m 57s
Aug 18
The Heroin Warlord of Pakistan: Armed Tribesman, the CIA, & a Smuggling Empire
5000 armed tribesman at his beck and a call. A mountain compound in a lawless territory. A seat in Pakistan’s parliament bought and paid for. And a heroin and hash empire that stretched from the mountains of Afghanistan to million dollar mansions in Long Island. Ayub Afridi start ... Show More
1h 2m
Recommended Episodes
May 2023
The sons of El Chapo go from Insta-fame to Most Wanted
With their father in prison, the sons of El Chapo have taken over the family business. The Justice Department calls the cartel run by Los Chapitos the “most violent and most prolific fentanyl trafficking operation in the world.” Plus, closing arguments for the rape and defamation ... Show More
11m 36s
Feb 2021
El Chapo Part 2: The Tunnel King
In the early 1980s, Chapo Guzmán is still in his mid-20s. But he’s already grabbed the attention of the Guadalajara Kingpin. Promoted to the Cartel's inner circle, he uses tunnels, ships and even submarines to transport contraband. Chapo assumes personal control of Sinaloa State ... Show More
41m 12s
Jan 2024
El Chapo: Cocaine kingpin
The story of Mexican drug lord Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, better known as El Chapo, the leader of one of the world’s most prolific, violent and powerful drug cartels.BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng follow El Chapo from childhood in the Mexican moun ... Show More
50m 48s
Apr 2021
Kingpins: El Chapo
Today, we’re taking a look at a quote from Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. The once-leader of the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico, Guzmán used his crime syndicate to sell billions of dollars worth of drugs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 
6m 14s
Feb 2021
El Chapo Part 1: Public Enemy Number One
El Chapo: the scourge of Mexico and America’s most-wanted. Joaquín Guzmán Loera, to use his real name, escaped from custody multiple times and dodged death many more. For years, he rode roughshod over Mexican justice and evaded the long arm of the US Government. He became an A-li ... Show More
38m 39s
Jul 2020
“El Chapo” Pt. 1: Joaquín Guzmán
Before he became the most powerful drug cartel leader in the world, building tunnels to evade authorities and growing his power even from inside prison, Joaquín Guzmán Loera was a small-town marijuana farmer in Sinaloa, Mexico. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoic ... Show More
38m 40s
Mar 2021
El Chapo Part 7: The Curtain Falls?
A desperate flight through a sewage pipe is not enough to deliver El Chapo to freedom. Arrested and extradited to the United States, his story closes in a packed Brooklyn courtroom, in front of the world’s media. But even as Chapo departs the stage, Mexico remains under siege fro ... Show More
34m 6s
Mar 2021
El Chapo Part 4: The Great Escape
It’s 2001, and Mexican drug baron Joaquín Guzmán Loera has spent nearly a decade behind bars. But now he becomes a fugitive once more, as he pulls off the most daring escape his super-max prison has ever seen. DEA agents wrangle a sit-down with a new, priceless informant. Meanwhi ... Show More
47m 25s
Mar 2021
El Chapo Part 4: The Great Escape
It’s 2001, and Mexican drug baron Joaquín Guzmán Loera has spent nearly a decade behind bars. But now he becomes a fugitive once more, as he pulls off the most daring escape his super-max prison has ever seen. DEA agents wrangle a sit-down with a new, priceless informant. Meanwhi ... Show More
39m 22s
Mar 2021
El Chapo Part 6: Hollywood Comes Calling
It’s late 2014, and El Chapo is finally back behind bars. The prison he’s in has a reputation as a fortress - it’s even more secure than the last one. But if anyone’s going to have a crack at busting out, it’s Chapo Guzmán. Specially trained diggers hatch a plan for one of the mo ... Show More
36m 3s