Word: padrino
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Began his career in the drug trade as an apprentice of "El Padrino" (Godfather) Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, who once headed Mexico's most powerful drug cartel. Guzman founded his own cartel in 1980, quickly establishing posts in 17 Mexican states. Sinaloa, his organization, takes its name from a Mexican state along the Pacific coast long known as a hotbed for drug trafficking. After Gallardo's arrest in 1989, Guzman inherited some of his territory...
...been thorny. Initially Marasco concentrated on local approvals. But before mounting any project in Mexico, especially one involving the border, he learned, it's imperative to move first through federal channels. "The U.S. grants more local authority," says Hector Lutteroth, former deputy mayor of Tijuana. "Here you need a padrino, a godfather, in Mexico City to speed things along." Chris Green, Marasco's chief financial officer, says, "I've done multimillion-dollar deals completely on the phone with some companies in the U.S. before the lawyers papered it and we signed it. That would never happen in Mexico. The businesspeople...