Chicago Crime Commission and DEA name new Public Enemy Number One Joaquin Guzman Loera

Head of criminal enterprise is far worse than Capone ever was

CHICAGO, Feb. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --The Chicago Crime Commission and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are joining forces to name a new Public Enemy Number One.  The title, originally coined for Al Capone by the Chicago Crime Commission in 1930 and used only for Chicago's most dangerous criminals, is being assigned to Joaquin Guzman Loera, one of society's most vicious, ruthless and powerful individuals.

"Not since the Chicago Crime Commission's first Public Enemy Number One has any criminal deserved this title more than Joaquin Guzman Loera," said J.R. Davis, President and Chairman of the Chicago Crime Commission.  "Compared to Guzman, Al Capone looks like an amateur," Davis stated. "Guzman is currently heading the largest and most powerful crime organization in Mexico," he added.

"Guzman is the major supplier of narcotics to Chicago. His agents are working in the Chicago area importing vast quantities of drugs for sale throughout the Chicago region and collecting and sending to Mexico tens of millions of dollars in drug money," Davis continued.  

Guzman heads the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico which allegedly smuggles heroin, cocaine, marijuana and other narcotics between Mexico and United States.  "Chicago has been identified as a key recipient of these drugs and as a trans-shipment hub for the cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel has found willing business partners among the 100,000 street gang members in Chicago and in the suburbs," according to Arthur Bilek, Executive Vice President of the Chicago Crime Commission.   

In Mexico, the Sinaloa cartel and other feuding cartels are responsible for tens of thousands of murders, some gruesome beyond belief. "Under Guzman's leadership, the Sinaloa cartel has been known to kidnap, torture, kill and mutilate. "Additionally, because of the violence associated with gangs and the drug trade, you can say that Guzman's fingerprints are on much of the violence plaguing Chicago today," Bilek added.

That sentiment was echoed by Jack Riley, Special Agent In Charge for the DEA, Chicago Field Office. "While Chicago is 1,500 miles from Mexico, the Sinaloa drug cartel is so deeply embedded in the city that local and federal law enforcement are forced to operate as if they are on the border,"  according to Riley. 

"The city of Chicago, which has one of the largest police departments in the country, has been dealing with organized crime groups since the early 1930s, most notably the Chicago Mob or Outfit.  But as ruthless as Al Capone and the Mob once were, Mexican drug trafficking organizations like the Sinaloa Cartel put them to shame," Riley commented.

"If I pitted Chicago's traditional organized crime group against Guzman and the Sinaloa Cartel, it wouldn't be a fight.  In my opinion, Guzman is the new Al Capone of Chicago.  His ability to corrupt and enforce his sanctions with his endless supply of revenue is more powerful than Chicago's Italian organized crime gang," Riley said.

As head of the DEA Chicago Field Division, Riley spearheads the charge to thwart Guzman in Chicago.  "The new Chicago Strike Force, comprised of federal, state and local law enforcement is pushing hard against Guzman and the violent gang and drug-related crime in Chicago by implementing a strategy of focusing on the choke point where drug cartel and gang members interact to exchange drugs and money," Riley said.

"Because of cultural and language barriers, this choke point is the Achilles heel where the criminals and their enterprise are most vulnerable.  If we can successfully exploit these choke points, we can arrest cartel and gang leaders, disrupt and stress cartel operations, and ultimately capture Joaquin Guzman Loera and dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel," Riley concluded.

Mexican media reports that Guzman is in a remote hideaway in a rural area of the western Sierra Madre, guarded by a virtual army of well armed henchmen and that the entire region is protected by an alerting network to notify the Guzman forces of potential attempts to capture or kill him by government authorities.

Presently there is a $5 million reward from the United States government and another approximately $2 million from the Mexican government offered for information leading to Guzman's capture. If captured, Guzman will be tried in United States Federal Court in Chicago where he has been indicted. 

SOURCE Chicago Crime Commission