We have not heard about El Chapo for a while.  He is sitting in a New York jail, probably watching "las novelas" – Mexican soap operas – on one of the Spanish channels.  He may also be watching the presidential debates in Mexico and wondering why no one remembers him anymore.

We've always known that El Chapo was a ruthless killer of Mexican policemen and soldiers.  Not surprisingly, El Chapo did a lot more, as we see in this report:

Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman may face murder charges after several former Mexican police officers accused him of killing six Americans and a DEA agent within a nine-week span in late 1984.

Three former Mexican police officers told the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles they witnessed Guzman carry out the killing spree between late 1984 and early 1985.  Jorge Godoy, one of the former cops who is now under witness protection, told WFAA that Guzman took pleasure in killing people.

Very interesting, but not surprising.

According to the story, the victims were Americans on missionary work for the Jehovah's Witnesses in Mexico.  Guzmán's group killed the men and raped the women.  Allegedly, El Chapo killed them personally.

It's interesting that El Chapo would target U.S. nationals for a couple of reasons:

1. Why give the U.S. another reason to bring you here for justice?  I've read in the Mexican press that cartel leaders have told their executioners to avoid Americans altogether.  They understand that such a move would get into the U.S. media and hurt tourism.  My guess is that cartel leaders may have investments in tourist locations and do not want a drop in business.

2. Killing missionaries will not win over public opinion, as a good friend told me on the phone.  In other words, missionaries are seen as good people.

We don't know whether El Chapo knew he was killing missionaries or someone else.  No matter what, he is going to have a lot of trouble defending it in his upcoming trial.

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