Drug lords, often known as the drug barons, kingpins or narco-traffickers are high ranking criminals who control a sizable network of people working towards illicit trade of drugs. It is very difficult to find these criminals and it is more of a challenging task to take them down or for a trial, as they always armed with the protection of their gunmen and also high officials. It is even more difficult to prove they are criminals as they are not in direct possession of drugs and also, they have loads of contacts in high ranking places in the governments. So, to catch these criminals, the police and the forces have to be stealthy and have to plan infiltrations or informants into their network to gain the required information.
Over the years, there have been a large number of drug lords all over the world. While the government has been able to get hold of a few, some are still working illegally right under their noses. These are just a few:
- El Chapo:
He was the leader of the Sinaloa cartel. It smuggled large amounts of illicit drugs in the U.S. He once escaped from a high-security prison by hiding in a laundry basket. He was arrested in the Sinaloa state and it was a joint operation which had offered a reward that was worth $1 billion. Since 2009, Forbes magazine labeled him as one of the most powerful people in the world.
- Frank Lucas:
He imported heroin directly from South East Asia to the United States and cut out the middle man. He is now a retired drug trafficker after serving almost 12 years in prison.
- Manuel Noriega:
General Noriega was the CIA’s drug lord. He was a valuable American asset, but he was actively into drug trafficking and money laundering. When the US invaded Panama, he was captured as the prisoner of war. In Miami, the court found him guilty after the trial, and he was sentenced 30 years in prison.
- Pablo Escobar:
He was one of the first drug lords to create international routes for cocaine trade from Columbia to the US. He led the cartel known as the Medellin cartel, one of the most dangerous criminal organization in the history of crime, killing almost 5000 people. During his peak, Escobar earned the title of the 7th richest man in the world. He was responsible for smuggling 80% of the cocaine which was entering the USA.
- Ismael Zambada Garcia:
He is also one of the biggest and the most influential drug lords of the world. He used to smuggle cocaine and heroin into Chicago and other US cities via train, ship, jet and even submarine.
- Curtis Warren: He was once featured on the Sunday Times Rich List with a fortune of £198m. He is currently serving 13 years behind bars for smuggling £1 million of cannabis into Jersey.
So, here is the list of the most powerful drug lords of all time. They were all masterminds of crime and today and have earned the label as the most famous criminals of all time. Most of these drugs Lords are behind bars or killed in an encounter.
