Top 7 Most Notorious Drug Lords
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No - you're not seeing double.
In fact, we've covered lords of crime before - but like most subjects (and criminals),
there's plenty more than just seven to go around.
Organized crime has always been known for its ruthless and systemic patterns, orchestrated
by some debatably talented (yet tainted) personalities.
While last time we concentrated on some of the richest - today, let's take a look at
seven of the most notorious drug lords of all time.
Number seven - Frank Lucas.
Remember that Denzel Washington movie, American Gangster?
Of course you do - that movie kicks ass.
Anyway, as you may already know - that film is a slightly fictionalized retelling of this
real-world hardcore heroin bosses life.
Born in 1930 and raised in North Carolina - Lucas witnessed his cousin's murder by the
hands of the KKK at a young age.
Turning to a life of petty crime, Lucas eventually rose the ranks in Harlem, New York ­ - becoming
a massively successful opiate dealer in the late 1960s and early 1970s by cutting out
the middleman and dangerously purchasing his product directly from the source.
Although he's been in and out of prison his entire life - Lucas, now in his upper 80s,
lives life a free man.
Number six - Griselda Blanco.
A lady she was not.
A badass?
We guess so...
well, one thing IS for certain - Blanco was brutally ruthless, violent and almost certainly
psychotic.
Specializing in cocaine, a childhood of slowly escalating criminal endeavors led to her becoming
an incredibly fearsome Colombian drug lord of the Medellín Cartel.
As one of the founding pioneers of the Miami-based drug trade in the late 70s and early 80s,
she is responsible for the estimated murders of 200 different individuals - including the
shooting of a two year old child.
After spending almost two decades behind bars (where, by the way, she continued to run her
business), she was released and assassinated soon after, by a drive by motorcycle shooting,
one of the same methods she'd employed.
Number five - "Freeway" Rick Ross.
We know what you're thinking - but no, this is not RAPPER Rick Ross - this is Richard
Donnell Ross - otherwise known as "the guy who single-handedly ignited the US crack cocaine
epidemic".
Nicknamed "Freeway" due to the properties he owned along the LA Harbor Freeway, Ross's
crack career became so successful - he was selling tons of the stuff.
That's not an exaggeration either - authorities estimated he purchased and resold several
metric tons of cocaine - with earnings so high, at the peak of his career he'd make
about $3 million per day.
Although he was sentenced to life in prison and incarcerated in 1996, a Federal appeal
was ultimately responsible for his release from custody in 2009.
Number four - Khun Sa.
Born 1934 in Hpa Hpeung village (in the British Burma) - Khun Sa, which literally translates
into "Prince Prosperous" - was a Shan warlord that made one hell of a splash in the criminal
underworld.
First forming his own several-hundred-man army in Burma in the early 60s following the
Chinese Civil War, he went on to become so darkly successful - he was even metaphorically
crowned.
Dubbed "The Opium King", his massive opium smuggling operations in the Golden Triangle
secured not just a legacy - but a fortune and a half as well.
Although he surrendered to the Burmese government, they refused to extradite him - allowing him
to enjoy a life of luxury until his natural passing in 2007.
Number three - Amado Carrillo Fuentes.
Also known as the "Lord of the Skies" (for his penchant toward transporting drugs via
large jet fleets), Amado Carrillo Fuentes got his start by overseeing the cocaine shipments
of his uncle Don Neto in Chihuahua.
After his career flourished and the pressure rose on American and Mexican authorities to
capture him - he underwent a private plastic surgery procedure to drastically alter his
appearance, but never made it out alive.
Even though today's list isn't just about finances - it's worth noting that Fuentes
is regarded as one of THE wealthiest criminals in history - enjoying an estimated net worth
of over $25 billion dollars in the relatively short forty years he spent on this planet.
Number two - Arturo Beltrán Leyva
This former kingpin - also known as the head leader of the Mexican drug trafficking organization,
the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel - was responsible for not only marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine
and heroin production, wholesaling and transport - but also innumerable counts of laundering,
kidnapping, smuggling, extortion, gun-running, torture, contract killing and just straight
up good old-fashioned murder.
After he survived an attempted assassination at his own Christmas party in 2009 - he was
killed by Mexican Navy intelligence just one week later following an hour and a half shootout
with authorities.
Number one - Ismael Zambada García.
Often referred to as "Mexico's Last Kingpin" or even "Public Enemy #1", Ismael Zambada
García has ties to the infamous El Chapo - but unlike his notorious brethren, García's
antics are arguably even more swift and sly than that of his sometimes-incarcerated partner.
As Mexico's most enduring and powerful drug lord - he's resorted to plastic surgery to
disguise himself throughout his travels in Mexico, serving as leader of the Sinaloa Cartel
- an organization that exports cocaine and heroin into Chicago and other cities via trains,
ships, aircraft and even submarines.
The FBI's current bounty price on García?
$5 million dollars - and that's just for pointing them in the right direction!
It's safe to say, this is definitely what you call a dangerous, wanted man.
You made it to the end!
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