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Concept
Drug lord
Summary
A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin, or narcotrafficker is a type of crime boss, who is in charge of a drug-trafficking network, organization, or enterprise.
Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they are normally not directly in possession of something illegal but are insulated from the actual trade in drugs by several layers of staff. The prosecution of drug lords is therefore usually the result of carefully planned infiltration into their networks, often using informants from within the organizations.
When a group of independent drug lords collude with each other, in order to improve their profits and dominate the illegal drug trade, they form an organization called a drug cartel. The formations of drug cartels are very common in Latin American countries.
Since the 1970s, research on organized crime leadership (and, by extension, drug lords) has evolved. Where once studies emphasised the importance of the leader's human capital (e.g. individual traits), it has now developed to focus upon the leader's social capital (e.g. information and resource brokers, social status, access to information).
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and Drug barons of Colombia
Known as "El Padrino" (The Godfather) and "El Jefe de Jefes" (The boss of bosses) was born in 1946, and is the founder and former leader of the Guadalajara Cartel, the first mexican super-cartel ever established. He had strong ties with the Cali Cartel and Escobar's Medellin Cartel as he distributed drugs for them. He controlled almost all of the drug trafficking in Mexico and the corridors along the Mexico–United States border in 1970s and the 80s. Until the end of the 1980s, Guadalajara Cartel headed by Félix Gallardo was one of the most powerful cartels in the world. He had a huge involvement in politics and bribed political authorities to protect himself and his business. After his capture in 1989 for the alleged murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena, Félix and allegedly the Mexican Government decided to divide up the trade he controlled as it would be more efficient and less likely to be brought down by law enforcement.
Official source
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