Mexico drug lord makes "Forbes" most powerful list

(Vatican Radio) The most wanted drug trafficker in the World again makes a brief and lowly appearance on Forbes Magazine's most powerful list.

Listen to correspondent James Blears's report...

Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman is the leader of Mexico's most powerful crime syndicate- the Sinaloa Drug Cartel. Experts estimate it's responsible for more than 25 percent of the massive transit narcotics shipments into the United States. The booming and growing illicit industry currently has a turnover of more than 40 billion dollars annually. Guzman bribed his way out of a so called Mexican maximum security prison in January 2001, less than a week before he was due to be extradited to the United States. He's yet to be re-captured.
Yet Forbes Magazine conservatively estimates his wealth as unchanged from last year at a relatively modest one billion dollars. This year he ranks as 67th on its most powerful list- four places down from 2012. Their prudence and caution might be well placed, because due to an outcry, he was last year removed from Forbes Richest list.
The truthful and honest answer is that Forbes is only guessing and doesn't really have a clue about Guzman's real wealth or relative power. US Authorities are a lot closer to the mark. He's top of all their most wanted lists.