US

Escaped Mexican Drug Lord ‘El Chapo’ Has A California Driver’s License

Photo of Patrick Howley
PATRICK HOWLEY
Political Reporter
10:48 PM 07/13/2015
Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is currently on the run after escaping this weekend from a maximum-security prison near Mexico City.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who said El Chapo is “everything that’s wrong with Mexico,” is feeling first-hand the danger of El Chapo’s freedom. A Twitter account reportedly run by El Chapo’s son threatened that El Chapo “would make you [Trump] swallow your bitch words.”
While Trump seeks help from the FBI in dealing with the threat, he also has to be wary of El Chapo’s border-hopping tendencies: the escaped drug lord has a U.S. driver’s license.
El Chapo was given a California driver’s license in 1988, according to a Drug Enforcement Administration report. El Chapo used the alias “Max Aragon” to get the license.
Because, really, “Max Aragon” is a pretty believable name for a Mexican guy.
El Chapo was wanted in the United States at the time “Max Aragon” got the driver’s license.
Fortunately for El Chapo, illegal immigrants can now get driver’s licenses legally in the state of California under a new law that went into effect in January under Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. In the first three days of the new law going into effect, more than 46,000 illegals applied for licenses in the state, prompting “Black Friday”-style lines and wait times outside DMV offices.