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The Last Narco: Inside the Hunt for El Chapo, the World's Most Wanted Drug Lord
The dense hills of Sinaloa, Mexico, are home to the most powerful drug lord since Pablo Escobar: Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. Guzman is among the world’s ten most wanted men and also appeared on Forbes magazine’s 2009 billionaire list. With his massive wealth, his army of professional killers, and a network of informants that reaches into the highest levels of government, catching Guzman was considered impossible—until now. Newly isolated by infighting amongst the cartels, and with Mexican and DEA authorities closing in, El Chapo is vulnerable as never before. Newsweek correspondent Malcolm Beith has spent years reporting on the drug wars and follows the chase with full access to senior officials and exclusive interviews with soldiers and drug traffickers in the region, including members of Guzman’s cartel. The Last Narco combines fearless reporting with the story of El Chapo’s legendary rise from a poor farming family to the “capo” of the world’s largest drug empire. The Last Narco is essential reading about one of the most pressing and dramatic stories in the news today—a true crime thriller happening in real time.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
March 2, 2021
This book was first published in 2010. The author, Malcolm Beith, is based in Mexico City. In the prologue the author is on the ground in Badiraguato asking for Chapo (Shorty). This guy must be on a death wish. Makes good reading though. He does not get to speak to the head of the Sinaloa cartel but instead speaks to the mayor. The prologue sets up the rest of the book perfectly. There is hardly any legit business opportunities in the area. You want to feed your family? You need to work. The only work that is going to pay you is working for the cartel. That is what people do.
A lot has happened since 2010. That is a whole decade ago now. In 2001 Chapo Guzman escaped Puente Grande prison and had been on the run ever since. What the book cannot tell you is that he is caught in 2014, put in prison, escapes and is caught again. He is now in ‘The United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility (USP Florence ADMAX) is an American federal prison in Fremont County near Florence, Colorado’. That last bit of info is from Wikipedia.
The book begins with that 2001 escape. A daring escape…in a laundry cart. So much for the Mexican maximum-security prison but he did have inside help from a guard (and plenty of others). Even in prison he ‘was able to continue running his business…’. On the outside one of his ‘younger brother’s, Arturo, had been granted operational control’. It is fascinating stuff. Then you have to remember the violence that surrounds these drug cartels. Horrific violence.
Beith provides a brief historical overview of Sinaloa. It’s not an area that’s heaped in historical significance. It tended to be rather lawless, ‘The worst sort of criminal has always found himself welcome in Sinaloa’. Chapo was certainly in that category as he rose from being in charge of transporting drugs in the late 1970s to the absolute apex of the cartel. It was actually after his escape that his status rose.
The book looks at the other cartels and how Chapo interacted with them once he was on the run. It is not a completely detailed account and certainly jumps around a bit too much. If you want a broad sweep of the cartels then this is ok - ish. It is not a page-turner by any stretch. It does show how Chapo expanded his empire at an incredible rate whilst on the run.
We always hear about the drugs being supplied by the cartels in Mexico to consumers in the US but with the advent of methamphetamine the addiction figures rose in Mexico. The search for Chapo also stalled as violence rose and 9/11 in the US put priorities elsewhere.
The book started off as if it was really a hunt for Chapo that would incorporate investigative journalism. In the end it provides a general history of the cartels. No doubt, the author knows his stuff but it is rather a misleading title and I was actually disappointed. Ioan Grillo’s ‘El Narco’ does a better job in my opinion. He does say ‘…this book is not really meant to be an investigation, per se. I have no desire to wind up dead, my decapitated corpse dumped on a roadside in north-western Mexico’.
A lot has happened since 2010. That is a whole decade ago now. In 2001 Chapo Guzman escaped Puente Grande prison and had been on the run ever since. What the book cannot tell you is that he is caught in 2014, put in prison, escapes and is caught again. He is now in ‘The United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility (USP Florence ADMAX) is an American federal prison in Fremont County near Florence, Colorado’. That last bit of info is from Wikipedia.
The book begins with that 2001 escape. A daring escape…in a laundry cart. So much for the Mexican maximum-security prison but he did have inside help from a guard (and plenty of others). Even in prison he ‘was able to continue running his business…’. On the outside one of his ‘younger brother’s, Arturo, had been granted operational control’. It is fascinating stuff. Then you have to remember the violence that surrounds these drug cartels. Horrific violence.
Beith provides a brief historical overview of Sinaloa. It’s not an area that’s heaped in historical significance. It tended to be rather lawless, ‘The worst sort of criminal has always found himself welcome in Sinaloa’. Chapo was certainly in that category as he rose from being in charge of transporting drugs in the late 1970s to the absolute apex of the cartel. It was actually after his escape that his status rose.
The book looks at the other cartels and how Chapo interacted with them once he was on the run. It is not a completely detailed account and certainly jumps around a bit too much. If you want a broad sweep of the cartels then this is ok - ish. It is not a page-turner by any stretch. It does show how Chapo expanded his empire at an incredible rate whilst on the run.
We always hear about the drugs being supplied by the cartels in Mexico to consumers in the US but with the advent of methamphetamine the addiction figures rose in Mexico. The search for Chapo also stalled as violence rose and 9/11 in the US put priorities elsewhere.
The book started off as if it was really a hunt for Chapo that would incorporate investigative journalism. In the end it provides a general history of the cartels. No doubt, the author knows his stuff but it is rather a misleading title and I was actually disappointed. Ioan Grillo’s ‘El Narco’ does a better job in my opinion. He does say ‘…this book is not really meant to be an investigation, per se. I have no desire to wind up dead, my decapitated corpse dumped on a roadside in north-western Mexico’.
January 21, 2013
I've always been drawn to books, films or television shows about gangs, jails and the criminal underworld. Makes me sound like a weirdo, right? I'm just fascinated by the lifestyle and how such barbarism and violence can exist in the world, and how taking life is meaningless to the criminals involved. It's just hard to comprehend how the spectrum of human compassion can be so diverse, and what factors caused it to be so.
This is a thoroughly well researched book about the life and hunt for El Chapo, the world's most wanted drug dealer and the leader of the Sinaloa cartel. The author was extremely brave, as all journalists are, to collect this information and put this book together and to tell the story that needed to be told. The level of corruption in Mexico is staggering,as well as the total monies involved that the cartels are in possession of. While it is full of terrifying stories and descriptions of humanity at its worst, it's also balanced by heroic tales of good police cops refusing bribes and determined to seek justice. The classic tale of good versus bad, it's just a shame that in Mexico's case at least, the bad appears to not only prevail but be utterly in charge.
This is a thoroughly well researched book about the life and hunt for El Chapo, the world's most wanted drug dealer and the leader of the Sinaloa cartel. The author was extremely brave, as all journalists are, to collect this information and put this book together and to tell the story that needed to be told. The level of corruption in Mexico is staggering,as well as the total monies involved that the cartels are in possession of. While it is full of terrifying stories and descriptions of humanity at its worst, it's also balanced by heroic tales of good police cops refusing bribes and determined to seek justice. The classic tale of good versus bad, it's just a shame that in Mexico's case at least, the bad appears to not only prevail but be utterly in charge.
October 5, 2010
This is a very informative and seemingly well-researched insight into the birth and development of the drug cartels in Mexico and how the current climate of violence in Northern Mexico came to be. The book gives a general review that starts since the days when Mexican drug dealers worked as mere intermediaries for Colombia's cocaine cartels, helping them smuggle their produce into the USA, and it proceeds to explain how the Mexicans divided among themselves the smuggling corridors, creating the now well known drug cartels, and how these expanded and became increasingly stronger with the years. The main focus of the book is -as the title indicates- on the Sinaloa cartel and its boss, Joaquin "el chapo" Guzmán: his personal life, his "career" as a druglord, his stay in prison, his escape from jail, his feuds with rival drug dealers, etc. And of course there is much information about the war on drugs, its successes and failures, and the corruption at all different levels. All in all I found it a highly interesting read.
March 21, 2017
Leider nur drei Sterne, obwohl das Buch das Potential für mehr hatte.
Es geht um den Aufstieg von El Chapo zum damals wohl größten Drogenbaron nach Pablo Escobar und dann natürlich um die Jagd auf ihn. Die ja dann bekanntlich doch erfolgreich war und mit seiner Auslieferung an die USA endete.
Leider fehlt dem Buch ein wenig der rote Faden, es wird ein wenig zu stark hin und hergesprungen. Mal in den Themen und dann auch wieder zeitlich. Man merkt dann doch, dass sich der Autor stark an Zeitungsartikeln orientiert hat.
Trotzdem ist es ein gutes und interessantes Buch über ein wirklich spannendes Thema.
Es geht um den Aufstieg von El Chapo zum damals wohl größten Drogenbaron nach Pablo Escobar und dann natürlich um die Jagd auf ihn. Die ja dann bekanntlich doch erfolgreich war und mit seiner Auslieferung an die USA endete.
Leider fehlt dem Buch ein wenig der rote Faden, es wird ein wenig zu stark hin und hergesprungen. Mal in den Themen und dann auch wieder zeitlich. Man merkt dann doch, dass sich der Autor stark an Zeitungsartikeln orientiert hat.
Trotzdem ist es ein gutes und interessantes Buch über ein wirklich spannendes Thema.
June 26, 2013
Que libro tan... ¿triste? ¿esclarecedor? ¿bueno?
El libro es una investigación (aunque el autor dice que no) hemerográfica que incluye muchas entrevistas de primera mano que muestran mucha de la situación del crimen organizado en nuestro país, y lo complicadísimo que es salir del problema.
Gobiernos que durante décadas se han olvidado de sus gobernados y le han entrado al juego de la corrupción hace comprender (mas no justificar) que algunas personas tomen el camino oscuro, ya que literalmente no tienen otra opción. Es algo que a las personas que vivimos en zonas urbanas nos cuesta trabajo entender, pero comprendiendo las miserias de las sierras, que relata muy bien el autor, y el nulo interés de las autoridades de llevar los servicios más básicos como agua, electricidad y educación, hace por momentos hasta sentir simpatía por los criminales que en algunos casos han llenado los huecos de poder de las autoridades, convirtiéndose en modernos "Robin Hood".
También nos habla de la evolución que han tenido las bandas de traficantes, pasando de los capos casi-honorables a bandas muchísimo más violentas. Es interesante los recuentos que hace de las alianzas entre carteles que existieron y como después, y por qué causas se rompen y traicionan.
Me gustó que el autor, tomando la historia del Chapo como hilo conductor, nos narra lo que fue mucho de la última década, y que en la vorágine de las noticias hemos, o al menos yo, ya había olvidado. En este sentido, también se hace un muy justo reconocimiento a los periodistas honestos que han perdido la vida mientras desempeñaban su labor. Aunque también hace mención de sus cuatro fuentes principales de noticias: El Universal, Reforma, La Jornada y Milenio; fundamentalmente las primeras dos por considerar que las otras tienen unos vínculos e intereses políticos muy particulares (si no me dicen eso de La Jornada, no me doy cuenta) y utiliza a los últimos dos solo cuando cubren la noticia de forma exclusiva.
A lo largo del libro salen a relucir muchos problemas nacionales, como son los "celos profesionales" en el momento de compartir información entre las diferentes instituciones policíacas y militares, lo que hace aún más complicado seguir el paso de los carteles. También menciona el clima político como un factor muy relevante dentro de todo este problema.
El libro recibe su nombre porque
El libro es una excelente lectura, que sin duda elevará los niveles de paranoía del lector.
El libro es una investigación (aunque el autor dice que no) hemerográfica que incluye muchas entrevistas de primera mano que muestran mucha de la situación del crimen organizado en nuestro país, y lo complicadísimo que es salir del problema.
Gobiernos que durante décadas se han olvidado de sus gobernados y le han entrado al juego de la corrupción hace comprender (mas no justificar) que algunas personas tomen el camino oscuro, ya que literalmente no tienen otra opción. Es algo que a las personas que vivimos en zonas urbanas nos cuesta trabajo entender, pero comprendiendo las miserias de las sierras, que relata muy bien el autor, y el nulo interés de las autoridades de llevar los servicios más básicos como agua, electricidad y educación, hace por momentos hasta sentir simpatía por los criminales que en algunos casos han llenado los huecos de poder de las autoridades, convirtiéndose en modernos "Robin Hood".
También nos habla de la evolución que han tenido las bandas de traficantes, pasando de los capos casi-honorables a bandas muchísimo más violentas. Es interesante los recuentos que hace de las alianzas entre carteles que existieron y como después, y por qué causas se rompen y traicionan.
Me gustó que el autor, tomando la historia del Chapo como hilo conductor, nos narra lo que fue mucho de la última década, y que en la vorágine de las noticias hemos, o al menos yo, ya había olvidado. En este sentido, también se hace un muy justo reconocimiento a los periodistas honestos que han perdido la vida mientras desempeñaban su labor. Aunque también hace mención de sus cuatro fuentes principales de noticias: El Universal, Reforma, La Jornada y Milenio; fundamentalmente las primeras dos por considerar que las otras tienen unos vínculos e intereses políticos muy particulares (si no me dicen eso de La Jornada, no me doy cuenta) y utiliza a los últimos dos solo cuando cubren la noticia de forma exclusiva.
A lo largo del libro salen a relucir muchos problemas nacionales, como son los "celos profesionales" en el momento de compartir información entre las diferentes instituciones policíacas y militares, lo que hace aún más complicado seguir el paso de los carteles. También menciona el clima político como un factor muy relevante dentro de todo este problema.
El libro recibe su nombre porque
El libro es una excelente lectura, que sin duda elevará los niveles de paranoía del lector.
October 30, 2010
The book helped me get a better picture of the competing conspiratorial criminal organizations that nearly dominate Mexico, about the wars between these brutal competitors, about the corruption that pervades Mexican culture and why that corruption exists and continues from generation to generation due to threats, bribes, and acceptance.
Beith took some risks in researching the book and more risk by publishing when one considers how many journalists who have written about Mexican drug trafficking and the gangsters who ply the narcotics trade- the Narcos- and how many of those brave journalists have been murdered for upsetting one drug lord or another.
The drug wars have claimed the lives of 28,000 in Mexico over the last four years. (It's worse than the Middle East for violence in Mexico, a nation that banned private gun ownership!) Narcos wield fully automatic AK-47s (Russian or Chinese guns), grenades, grenade launchers, and bazookas in their war. Los Zetos is an army of trained killers working with the Gulf Cartel.
The wealthy and organized criminal organizations employ submarines, airplanes, tunnels, etc. to bring their heroine, cocaine, marijuana, and other drugs across our borders.
Beith took some risks in researching the book and more risk by publishing when one considers how many journalists who have written about Mexican drug trafficking and the gangsters who ply the narcotics trade- the Narcos- and how many of those brave journalists have been murdered for upsetting one drug lord or another.
The drug wars have claimed the lives of 28,000 in Mexico over the last four years. (It's worse than the Middle East for violence in Mexico, a nation that banned private gun ownership!) Narcos wield fully automatic AK-47s (Russian or Chinese guns), grenades, grenade launchers, and bazookas in their war. Los Zetos is an army of trained killers working with the Gulf Cartel.
The wealthy and organized criminal organizations employ submarines, airplanes, tunnels, etc. to bring their heroine, cocaine, marijuana, and other drugs across our borders.
April 9, 2013
The Book is about Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera known as “El Chapo Guzman”. He was born in 1957 in the poor Mexican town of La Tuna de Badiraguato, Sinaloa. He is one of the top 5 world's most wanted. In 2001 he escaped and hasnt been captured ever since. Malcolm says El Chapo employs 150,000 men, women and children in his murderous operation. No one knows where he is. It is also about the Mexican Cartels all over Mexico that try to smuggle drugs through the US and about drug wars.
What struck me about the book was how he escaped from jail in 2001 and how the guardians didn't even notice when he got on a car. And now he is the richest person on earth and no one knows where he is at. He has hundreds of people working for him to protect him life and to make his cartels grow. And in 2011 more than 34 thousand people were killed that year because of drug wars. The book was really descriptive and I really enjoyed reading this book.
What struck me about the book was how he escaped from jail in 2001 and how the guardians didn't even notice when he got on a car. And now he is the richest person on earth and no one knows where he is at. He has hundreds of people working for him to protect him life and to make his cartels grow. And in 2011 more than 34 thousand people were killed that year because of drug wars. The book was really descriptive and I really enjoyed reading this book.
July 20, 2015
This book is mostly a summary of the Mexican drug wars between roughly 2004 and 2009. Guzman is definitely a focus, but mostly about how he continued to run the Sinaloa cartel even while on the run. There's not really that much about the hunt for him specifically.
As a history of the drug wars in those years it's broad but good. My main complaint is the history is presented in a surprisingly non-linear fashion, so the book jumps around between those years and can be a little hard to follow.
Overall, it's okay as a broad history of the drug wars for those years but it's nothing particularly special.
As a history of the drug wars in those years it's broad but good. My main complaint is the history is presented in a surprisingly non-linear fashion, so the book jumps around between those years and can be a little hard to follow.
Overall, it's okay as a broad history of the drug wars for those years but it's nothing particularly special.
January 15, 2013
The book “The last Narco” is about a Mexican cartel that gets arrested and get out when he wants to because, he pays the police and everyone in jail. He cartel can do whatever he wants to because he is the boss. Nobody that can mess with him or even touch him. El chapo (the cartel) is tired of being locked up so he escapes from prison. The police keeps looking for the cartel because he is dangerous and has a lot money. The police looks everywhere for him but when they are close to capture him he escapes and runs away. Still today they keep looking for him.
January 5, 2013
Lo mismo de siempre!
May 11, 2023
This is the story of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the Mexican drug lord and leader of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel. Uneducated and dirt-poor, El Chapo worked his way from tending the drug fields to moving drugs to lead one of the largest worldwide cartels. The interesting thing about El Chapo was his low-key behavior. El Chapo built schools and hospitals because the Mexican government did not meet the citizens' needs. The people loved him because he kept the peace. When there was a problem, he solved it without fanfare.
The government did not know he existed until 1987. First, Guzman learned the ropes by aiding other drug lords to move drugs from Columbia and Mexico into the US. Then, after a few years, Guzman created his distribution system into the US. In his heyday, Guzman was responsible for massive shipments of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana to the US and Europe. Guzman may have been uneducated, but he was an intelligent businessman. He pioneered several unique systems that made him wildly successful. For example, he used deep and long tunnels into the US (90 feet down and 2000 feet into the US) and created distribution cells (workers who didn't know anyone above the one who hired him). By 2009, Forbes Magazine named Guzman one of the most prominent billionaires in the world.
In 1993, El Chapo was apprehended and sent to Puente Grande prison. He ran his drug empire from prison, but when he found out he would be extradited to the US, he did not want to land in American jails, so he staged his escape by rolling out in a laundry cart. This increased the legend of El Chapo. However, things changed over the years, and the different drug lords began fighting each other. Chapo was from the old school, where he kept the peace and provided for people experiencing poverty. However, as the fighting intensified, Chapo had to fight by the new rules -- anything goes.
Here are some staggering statistics; the average narco (person involved with the drug trade) had a life expectancy of 3.5 years. The largest killer of men from 18 to 29 (in Mexico) was drug-related murders. By the year 2000, young men joined the drug trade in droves. They had no conscience, and they murdered or maimed without a thought. By 2009, more than 2900 young people were being shot down yearly in Sinaloa. Life is so cheap in Mexico that someone will kill another for $35.
Another gruesome statistic is that Mexico has little education and poor health care. There are no jobs if one is lucky enough to get an education. Graft and corruption have riddled the system. It isn't just politicians but the army, the police, the military, etc. This is why illegals keep streaming across the border. The death rate is staggeringly high, and no one is safe.
This book ended before El Chapo was apprehended in 2014. The Mexican government initiated a manhunt for him in 2001, but Guzman had bought off so many soldiers, police, citizens, and politicians that it was almost impossible to catch him. Guzman was clever because he only trusted long-term associates and relatives. However, the government went after Guzman's associates and relatives to grind down his cartel.
Guzman hid in remote areas of the Sierra Madre Mountains for long periods. However, as more significant cohorts were killed or jailed, Guzman had to take more chances to run his empire. By this time, the other drug lords were after Chapo, as well as the government. His days were numbered. Readers may want to go to Wikipedia to read how Chapo was caught. The author of this book was an American magazine writer who was given open access to leaders to tell the story. He admitted that he closed the account because he feared for his life.
A sobering thought: This author says that one million people in the US are in the drug trade (as of 2010).
The government did not know he existed until 1987. First, Guzman learned the ropes by aiding other drug lords to move drugs from Columbia and Mexico into the US. Then, after a few years, Guzman created his distribution system into the US. In his heyday, Guzman was responsible for massive shipments of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana to the US and Europe. Guzman may have been uneducated, but he was an intelligent businessman. He pioneered several unique systems that made him wildly successful. For example, he used deep and long tunnels into the US (90 feet down and 2000 feet into the US) and created distribution cells (workers who didn't know anyone above the one who hired him). By 2009, Forbes Magazine named Guzman one of the most prominent billionaires in the world.
In 1993, El Chapo was apprehended and sent to Puente Grande prison. He ran his drug empire from prison, but when he found out he would be extradited to the US, he did not want to land in American jails, so he staged his escape by rolling out in a laundry cart. This increased the legend of El Chapo. However, things changed over the years, and the different drug lords began fighting each other. Chapo was from the old school, where he kept the peace and provided for people experiencing poverty. However, as the fighting intensified, Chapo had to fight by the new rules -- anything goes.
Here are some staggering statistics; the average narco (person involved with the drug trade) had a life expectancy of 3.5 years. The largest killer of men from 18 to 29 (in Mexico) was drug-related murders. By the year 2000, young men joined the drug trade in droves. They had no conscience, and they murdered or maimed without a thought. By 2009, more than 2900 young people were being shot down yearly in Sinaloa. Life is so cheap in Mexico that someone will kill another for $35.
Another gruesome statistic is that Mexico has little education and poor health care. There are no jobs if one is lucky enough to get an education. Graft and corruption have riddled the system. It isn't just politicians but the army, the police, the military, etc. This is why illegals keep streaming across the border. The death rate is staggeringly high, and no one is safe.
This book ended before El Chapo was apprehended in 2014. The Mexican government initiated a manhunt for him in 2001, but Guzman had bought off so many soldiers, police, citizens, and politicians that it was almost impossible to catch him. Guzman was clever because he only trusted long-term associates and relatives. However, the government went after Guzman's associates and relatives to grind down his cartel.
Guzman hid in remote areas of the Sierra Madre Mountains for long periods. However, as more significant cohorts were killed or jailed, Guzman had to take more chances to run his empire. By this time, the other drug lords were after Chapo, as well as the government. His days were numbered. Readers may want to go to Wikipedia to read how Chapo was caught. The author of this book was an American magazine writer who was given open access to leaders to tell the story. He admitted that he closed the account because he feared for his life.
A sobering thought: This author says that one million people in the US are in the drug trade (as of 2010).
September 25, 2018
So I listened to the audio version of this book because I enjoy (if that is the right word) reading true crime books and the fact that my Hubby and I take frequent trips to Mexico and wanted to learn more about the dangers of the drug cartels. To say that the cartels are ruthless, is like saying Jack the Ripper had dating issues. In fact, on one trip to Cabo, we just missed seeing several bodies hanging from a highway overpass that were put there by a drug cartel to send a message to a rival cartel. Barbaric!
Back to the book... The book was very well researched and the writing was solid. My two complaints is that I would have liked to learn more about how the cartels operate across the boarder in the U.S. and at times the book became redundant with account after account of arrests, murders and how corrupt the Mexican authorities are toward the cartels. Still, it is fascinating reading in a very scary sort of way.
Back to the book... The book was very well researched and the writing was solid. My two complaints is that I would have liked to learn more about how the cartels operate across the boarder in the U.S. and at times the book became redundant with account after account of arrests, murders and how corrupt the Mexican authorities are toward the cartels. Still, it is fascinating reading in a very scary sort of way.
September 4, 2023
This is a dated but interesting history for the hunt of the Drug Lord of Drug Lords, El Chapo. It’s not as much investigative journalism as history (with good reason—the author himself was clear that he didnt want to be killed while writing the book). It’s an intriguing and frightening book. (Want to feed your family AND stay alive? Cartels, baby. With no guarantees on either one). The problem with the book is that it’s absolutely packed with names—cartel, government, law enforcement, military—and acronyms for every agency known to man. I read the book w one finger in the glossary, and that’s not an exaggeration. Still, a worthwhile read if only to learn the horrific conditions the average Mexican citizen lives in.
SPOILER: the book ended in 2010, so not included is the fact that El Chapo was eventually captured and is living out his days in a Colorado maximum security prison.
SPOILER: the book ended in 2010, so not included is the fact that El Chapo was eventually captured and is living out his days in a Colorado maximum security prison.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2018
This book is of course a little out of date now (not its fault, I bought it second hand) as Chapo is behind bars in the states. Hopefully at some point there will be a new edition. It jumps about a bit and I would have preferred a more linear narrative. At times there are paths hinted at but not taken for example the links between PRI and the narcos. In general the focus is narrow. There's little sense of how Chapo's operations fitted into a the wider mosaic of narco cartels, I was disappointed that a bit more time wasn't spent with the notorious zetas for example. Nevertheless an informative, if depressing read. I have always found Mexico a much nicer place than the one depicted here - maybe that's just tourist naivety but I'd like to think not....
April 27, 2025
Een interessant boek over de opmars en het verloop van “El Chapo”. De beroemdste narco van Mexico. Dit boek geeft veel weer van de vergaande problematiek van corruptie in Mexico en hoe deze corruptheid geholpen heeft tot het groot worden en groot houden van enkele individuen en de drugsmarkt.
Dit boek geeft weinig hoop dat er ooit een winnaar gaat zijn in de oorlog rond drugs. Niet bij dealers, en niet bij overheden…de vraag naar is gewoonweg veel te groot. Én er kan teveel winst in gemaakt worden. Na “El Chapo” zal er een nieuwe drugskoning zijn…
Dit boek geeft weinig hoop dat er ooit een winnaar gaat zijn in de oorlog rond drugs. Niet bij dealers, en niet bij overheden…de vraag naar is gewoonweg veel te groot. Én er kan teveel winst in gemaakt worden. Na “El Chapo” zal er een nieuwe drugskoning zijn…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2018
Una buena investigación periodística sobre los carteles de droga en Mexico y sus conexiones internacionales.
Malcom Beith hace foco en el último gran Narco conocido hasta el momento, el chapo Guzman. Desandando su historia, para poner al lector en conocimiento del origen del criminal y su ascenso en la pirámide de mando. Como así también la guerra desatada en Mexico por el control del suministro de drogas a EEUU hasta la detención del Chapo.
Malcom Beith hace foco en el último gran Narco conocido hasta el momento, el chapo Guzman. Desandando su historia, para poner al lector en conocimiento del origen del criminal y su ascenso en la pirámide de mando. Como así también la guerra desatada en Mexico por el control del suministro de drogas a EEUU hasta la detención del Chapo.
January 24, 2018
This novel was very detailed surprisingly with lots of facts of actual events that happened. However, I question some of the actual facts in the book. I believe that most of what is accounted for did actually happen and is true. It offers a look into the life and upbringing of El Chapo. I enjoyed the way this book was written.
July 31, 2019
Good book. I was hoping it would be more of a biography of El Chapo, but it was kind of mixed stories about his days in prison, his days in power and what the Mexican government/military/police where up to. There was a lot of good information and insight into how the cartel was able to work with the people and various governments of Mexico.
June 2, 2017
My boyfriend gave me his copy of this book. We have similar interest in true crime novels like this. I didn't know much about El Chapo before reading this book. Really interesting and informing. I really enjoyed this read and would recommend!
January 14, 2020
Het is erg interessant om te weten hoe het in elkaar steekt. Helaas was het boek niet echt pakkend genoeg had er heel veel moeite mee. Of ik hem nog een keer zou lezen nee, maar hij mag wel in de kast blijven staan.
August 23, 2017
disjointed narrative but focuses over the major events that catalysed El Chapo's rise, it glosses over the background that led to the rise of Narco states and thr failure of the war on drugs ...
March 3, 2018
DNF at 43% doesnt mean it was bad but I had by this point kind of got the feel for the cycle of desperation, bribery corruption and death that riddles Mexico. Perhaps I just wasn’t in the mood.
April 17, 2018
I lost interest in the book midway. The illustrations in the book were distracting my reading flow.
June 29, 2018
Couldn’t get into it. Abandoned.
January 28, 2019
This book is the non-fiction version Don Winslow's The Cartel. what a tragedy south of the border.
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November 8, 2019Hmm
October 29, 2020
El libro digital carece de una edición correcta, presenta faltas de ortografía, minúsculas en nombres propios y errores en reacción. Incluso hay frases que no están terminadas, mala experiencia.
September 5, 2022
5/10: it was interesting for the first half when talking about how Chapo became such a big deal but it got old towards the end when they were discussing his casualties and other gangs
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January 3, 2023audio
June 29, 2025
Started strong.
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