Naman Shrestha
Helmed by Chava Cartas, Netflix’s ‘Facing El Chapo’ is a Spanish true crime drama movie that revolves around the reign of one of the most dangerous and powerful drug lords — El Chapo. Originally titled ‘La Captura,’ the narrative follows two Mexican police officers who unknowingly come face to face with the kingpin who reigns over Mexico and smuggles all kinds of drugs to the United States, Europe, and Asia. The film also highlights the extent of El Chapo’s drug trafficking and other violent crimes.
El Chapo Escaped Prison to Become World’s Most Powerful Drug Trafficker
In the rural community of La Tuna in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, Emilio Guzmán Bustillos and María Consuelo Loera Pérez gave birth to Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera on April 4, 1957. He grew up in a poor farming family with his younger sisters, Armida and Bernarda, and brothers, Miguel Ángel, Aureliano, Arturo, and Emilio. Nicknamed El Chapo, he lost three older brothers during his formative years. It is alleged that El Chapo’s father physically abused him, but also introduced him to the drug trade by allegedly helping him in the cultivation of marijuana for local drug dealers. El Chapo also cultivated opium poppy with his brothers and accompanied his father, who sold marijuana at commercial centers in the area.
By the time he was in his 20s, he reportedly began working with Héctor Luis Palma Salazar, helping him move drugs into the United States. In the mid-1980s, El Chapo also worked for Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo before founding his own cartel in Sinaloa after Gallardo’s arrest in 1988. In the following decade, through his cartel, he amassed a fortune by distributing marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin into the United States, Asia, and Europe. Between 2009 and 2013, Forbes ranked him as one of the world’s richest and most powerful people. According to reports, the Sinaloa drug lord also caused the deaths of thousands of people in drug-related violence and was alleged to be involved in human trafficking.
His first arrest came in 1993 in Guatemala, after which he was extradited to Mexico, where he received a 20-year imprisonment sentence for murder and drug trafficking. After spending about eight years behind bars, in January 2001, El Chapo reportedly bribed several prison guards at Puente Grande maximum-security prison and orchestrated his escape. After his rival Osiel Cárdenas of the Gulf Cartel was arrested in 2003, El Chapo and his close associate Ismael Zambada García became the top drug kingpins of Mexico. For the following decade or so, the US Department of the Treasury called him the most powerful drug trafficker in the world.
El Chapo is Currently Incarcerated at a Colorado Prison, Appealing to be Transferred to Mexico
After staying on the run, escaping justice, El Chapo was arrested again in Mexico in February 2014 as the law enforcement in Mexico and the US worked together. Despite being placed in one of the most secure prisons in Altiplano, Mexico, he managed to escape from his jail cell prior to his formal sentencing in 2015, as his associates dug a mile-long tunnel from a house located right outside the prison walls all the way to El Chapo’s cell. About six months later, the drug lord was recaptured following a shootout in Sinaloa in January 2016. To prevent another prison break, he was extradited to the US in January 2017. His trial on charges of money laundering, drug trafficking, and conspiracies to commit murder began in November 2018. Following several weeks of testimony, he was convicted on all counts in early 2019.
Consequently, he was sentenced to life in prison and an additional 30 years in prison. The judge also ordered him to forfeit $12 billion in restitution for his victims. He was then sent to ADX Florence in Colorado, which is considered one of the most secure prisons in the world. He has mostly been held in solitary confinement, allowing him to spend a few hours every week in a fortified recreational cage attached to his cell. A few years later, his defense counsel appealed to lessen his restrictions as his health allegedly declined due to the restrictive conditions of his cell. On May 1, 2026, the Federal Court for the Eastern District of New York received a letter from Joaquín “El Chapo” Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, who had sent multiple letters highlighting the “cruel” conditions of his imprisonment.
In the letter, he demanded fair treatment and pleaded the US court authorities to transfer him back to Mexico. He wrote, “I have written several letters regarding the fairness and validity of my appeal request for my next hearing, to obtain fair treatment under the law. This is a respectful request regarding the court’s violation of the ‘conclusive evidence’ that was not proven to avoid the dismissal of my case. I ask the District Court for my right to be transferred back to my country and face charges for the violation of my verdict in the interest of fairness under federal law.” As of today, El Chapo is still serving his sentence at USP Florence ADMAX in Florence, Colorado.
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