I love Mexico and stories like this and often write about them on my Gargling Gas blog. Mexico is a wonderful country thriving with wildlife, culture and history. I’ve visited three times and each occasion was a superb experience (even the psycho taxi drivers); unfortunately, the only time Mexico is featured on TV is predominantly in news reports on drug wars and horrendous gang related murders. Drug dealing – particularly large scale like the Mexican Cartel – has an economic and social impact, and it’s these vicious killers and dealers who get to pull the strings both politically and socially, too. Whilst they could build their homes out of cash, the majority of Mexico has to make do with wood and corrugated iron. The Cartel can also afford great luxury and virtually anything they desire, especially when it comes to travelling in style.
One such Drug Lord that travelled in style was Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. Like most drug dealers/traffickers, he started life poor and with a father that had no real aspirations other than the fields and crops. Deciding to have none of the poor life, Guzmán did what it took to get involved with the drug trade and swiftly climbed the ladder to the top – he possessed great managing skills, as well as being knowledgeable gaining a profitable standard of living. Known by most as ‘El Chapo Guzmán’, the Drug Lord put his life and soul into drug trafficking, and this allowed him to turn his dream and passion into reality – collecting and driving rare supercars.
Unfortunately for El Chapo, drugs are very illegal and the authorities took all of his toys away. People weren’t surprised at the news as his collection of exotic cars being seized, as the contents of his garage easily overshadowed other infamous dictator’s collections. It is only now they have been seized that we get a real look at the beautiful vehicles that were stored undercover in Mexico. Like most leaders of drug cartels, his cars are heavily armoured, and perhaps one of my personal favourites has to be his own Municipal Police Patrol car clone, a car he used to commit illegal acts without suspicion – genius.
The world got to see snaps of these cars immediately after the authorities captured the Drug Lord in an underground tunnel connecting to one of his seven houses. Along with the cars, an enormous arsenal of weaponry was also uncovered, including serious amounts of cash and luxury items.
Before you flick through these snaps, you have to understand these were ALL his own – various sources assure that his family own their own supercars, such as several Lambos, Mercedes and 4X4 vehicles.
Below is a list of the cars seized, and whilst the total figure was 43, these included the less interesting vehicles such as utility vehicles and non-armored pickup trucks.
Armored Chevrolet Captiva
Armored Chevrolet Cheyenne
Armored Dodge Ram HEMI X 2
Armored Dodge Ram
Armored Dodge Ram HEMI 4×4
Cloned patrol Dodge Charger
Ducati Hypermotard 1100
Armored Ford Lobo X 2
Armored Jeep Grand Cherokee X 4
Armored Jeep Liberty
Armored Jeep Wrangler X 2
Armored Jeep Commander
Armored Nissan Frontier
Armored Volkswagen Jetta
Mercedes Benz SLS AMG
Mercedes Benz C63 AMG Black Series
Mercedes Benz G63 AMG
Mercedes Benz CLA45 AMG
McLaren Mercedes SLR RENNtech
Nissan GT-R
Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
