Ray Donovan in front of El Chapo’s jail t-shirt, earned by spearheading an unprecedented hunt for the legendary trafficker that comprised 22 agencies, including the DEA, FBI and Homeland Security. NUNYO & COMPANY’s host declined Ray Donovan’s invitation to be photographed in front of the memento, remarking, “No, thanks. You deserve ALL the credit,” but thinking, “I want no problemo with El Chapo” 😂
Despite multiple surreal escapes from maximum security jails in Mexico, El Chapo now serves a life sentence at Colorado’s Supermax prison, where no one has ever escaped since its 1994 inception.
•Ray Donovan explains how he obtained El Chapo’s jail shirt after the drug lord’s extradition to the United States (16:20)
•Ray Donovan agrees with El Chapo’s remark to Rolling Stones in 2015 that “the day I don’t exist, [drug trafficking] is not going to decrease in anyway at all.” But the DEA honcho adds that “it will change in some ways” given El Chapo’s impact as an innovator. (26:26)
Just a couple of milligrams of fentanyl — which look minuscule next to a penny — can be fatal.
•The public remains relatively unaware that fentanyl is being laced in a host of drugs: cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and even marijuana. (32:23)
Prince is among the roughly 300,000 Americans who’ve died from opioid overdoses since 2000. Like the celebrity musicians Tom Petty and Mac Miller, Prince was killed after ingesting drugs containing fentanyl.
•A $3,000 investment in fentanyl potentially reaps a drug dealer several hundred thousand dollars — “but it also can get you life in prison.” (34:42)
•The Sinaloa cartel tried to resolve the quandary of its popular “China White” fentanyl literally killing its customer base by adding Tramadol, “but it was already too late.” (38:10)
•The biggest trends in drug trafficking involve methamphetamine production, especially its distribution in Middle America; and cocaine increasingly becoming the drug of choice throughout the world. (43:54)
•Ray Donovan provides insight into Prince’s death, including a prosecutor’s conclusion that the music icon was oblivious to fentanyl’s presence in his counterfeit prescription medication. (45:09)
•Trafficking of carfentanil — the most powerful opioid and a fentanyl analogue created as an elephant tranquilizer — has diminished in the U.S. partly because of China’s cooperation in regulating it. (47:58)
•Marijuana legalization hasn’t reduced America’s demand for Mexico’s illegal supply — “not one bit.” (49:19)
•The main reason that El Mayo — the Sinaloa cartel’s co-founder — remains free is that when authorities targeted him in raids by the Mexican marines, he wisely “ran for the hills.” (58:54)
•Two of El Chapo’s older sons, Ivan Guzman and Jesus Guzman — “the Chapitos” — have obtained much of his power: “The boys have risen.” (01:01:05)
•Because of Sinaloa cartel dynamics, the “very damaging” testimony of Vicente Zambada, El Mayo’s son, doesn’t necessarily destroy the relationship between El Mayo and El Chapo’s family. (01:02:54)
•The Jalisco New Generation cartel, led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, has threatened the dominance of the Sinaloa cartel by expanding in Mexico — increasingly controlling seaports — while developing a “global footprint.” (01:06:38)
•Ray Donovan initially thought El Chapo’s 2016 escape was part of a dream — or nightmare — when his wife interrupted his deep sleep with the unbelievable breaking news. (01:14:58)
After declaring a war on drugs during the summer of 1971, President Richard Nixon created the Drug Enforcement Administration roughly two years later: July 1, 1973.
•El Chapo’s curious get-together in 2015 with American actor Sean Penn and Mexican actress Kate Del Castillo slightly delayed a planned raid on the drug lord’s ranch. (1:30:35)
•Parallels exist between El Chapo and Nicky Barnes, the Harlem kingpin known as “Mr. Untouchable” whose heroin operation flourished in the 1970s. (1:31:17)
•Two former DEA agents revealed that they secretly met with El Chapo in 1998 when he was incarcerated, lending credence to testimony about his DEA connections. (01:39:02)
•El Chapo ordered the assassination of his IT guy for cooperating with the FBI, but hitmen couldn’t figure out the computer whiz’s last name, futilely trying to find him via social media. (01:42:06)
•Rafael Caro-Quintero, who allegedly orchestrated the 1985 torture and murder of DEA agent Enrique Kiki Camarena, is considered “public enemy # 1 for us.” (1:45:37)
•The DEA’s groundbreaking decision in April 2019 to arrest two executives from a top pharmaceutical company, RDC, for drug trafficking came about because “we didn’t want to treat them any differently because you show up in a suit.” (1:49:03)
Ray Donovan believes that El Chapo thought he was bigger than Pablo Escobar, explaining the legendary trafficker’s decision to pursue a biopic through Mexican actress Kate del Castillo.
Two of Ray Donovan’s favorite comedians are Eddie Murphy and David Chappelle — great taste in comedy.
Ray Donovan welcomes Nunyo Demasio, host of NUNYO & COMPANY, to his Manhattan office during summer 2019. (In case you’re wondering, the DEA agent is half Irish and half Puerto Rican. Don’t pretend you weren’t trying to guess his ethnicity! Ray is not quite a “brother,” like Nunyo who actually has an Italian last name. 🙃.