These appear to be the Twitter feeds of some of the sons of Mexico’s most violent drug cartel leaders. Their accounts have thousands of followers — and are everything you might expect from a bunch of guys enjoying the fruits of ill-gotten gains.
Agustin plebes
Alfred Guzman and Ivan Guzman are the sons of Joaquín (El Chapo) Guzmán Loera — better known as the infamous kingpin of the Sinaloa cartel, which is North America's post powerful, and feared, organization trafficking drugs and laundering money worldwide. Mexican and U.S. authorities arrested Guzman in February; he had eluded authorities for decades.
Serafin Zambada and Mayito Zambada are the sons of Ismael Zambada Garcia, nicknamed El Mayo, another powerful Mexican drug lord and Sinaloa cartel leader. El Mayo is considered next in line to run Sinaloa now that Guzman is in jail.
Interacting with them on Twitter is El Chino Anthrax, one of the cruelest hit men for the New Generation Cartel, which is also involved in widespread drug trafficking and organized crime along Mexico's Pacific Coast.
Tens of thousands of Mexicans have died in drug-related violence. Millions more live in fear of it. On Twitter, these boys show off their collections of expensive cars.
And gold-plated guns.
ivan y vienen rumores
Also glitzy girls and booze.
En la fiesta del #chino #antrax "
And occasional big cats. (Cue the fancy car.)
Inchee gatitoooo
Then there are the references to the family business: Here Alfredo Guzman shared a blurry photo of his father, El Chapo — a man so dangerous that, until his capture in Feb. 2014, he had a $7 million dollar bounty on his head.
Mi apa como cualquier pelao quien lo diria @Elreysinaloa
"For those who step into my turf, my armed commando," Alfredo warned.
Para los que pisan terreno ajeno mi comando armado activo
For obvious reason, many in their crowds, like El Chino pictured on the left, prefer to the keep their faces blurred.
Con el lepe el pekenin antrax
"My bro, El Chino, knows that work should be the first priority."
"@CartelDe_Sinalo: El Chino ya sabe compa la chamba también es prioridad "
But other times they are far less subtle. "Smoking a lil' something to laugh a little bit."
echandome algo pa mi risa
"Weighing the money."
Pesando el dinero
"If you are wondering how I go driving around, tell me what's odd with this picture." [Hint: It's bulletproof glass.] Other tweets are far more explicitly violent.
Porsi andan con el pendiente de como es que me paseo agusto busquenle que hay de raro
And then there's Paris Hilton.
"@ThatsGooood: @comandante57_ #LasNenasDelChino "
These Twitter feeds provide a glimpse into the very violent culture of power and pleasure that infuses Mexico's deadly and destructive drug cartels.
Encillo a mi plebada
There is the occasional reference to the other Big G — that is, God. But on Twitter, these narco junior — sons of the big narcotic dealers — are all about trying to publicize and normalize their violently larger than life lives.
Aqui ando en el cine bien enmascarado y traigo el juguetito por si la hacen de emocion
CORRECTION: This story initially misspelled the Sinaloa cartel as Sinola cartel. (10/4/2014)