El Chapo's sons had a revealingly flamboyant luxury-watch collection

In the old days, secrecy and discretion were the rule for Mexican drug lords.

Take Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, for example. Known as “the world’s most powerful trafficker,” the 60-year-old only appears in a handful of pictures.

He does not need to cultivate his fame, especially since his latest MacGyver-style escape from a Mexican prison attracted a worldwide media coverage.

Things have started to change with the rise of social media and the rise of a new generation of narco-traffickers. This new breed of young drug barons loves to brag on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, showing off their flashy lifestyles like soccer stars.

Drug dealing in Mexico has become public and ostentatious for two reasons.

First, drug cartels have become so powerful that they show absolutely no fear when confronting or being dismantled by the Mexican security forces.

Their organizations have infiltrated most, if not all levels of government. El Chapo’s recent flee, for instance, which is rumored to have been staged and used by the Mexican government as a way to let him go, shows the omnipotence of the Sinaloa drug cartel.

Second, in times of economic hardship, the flamboyant lives of drug barons are appealing to millions of young and poor Mexicans abandoned by the state, who failed to restore peace and security under the presidencies of Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto.

On their social media profiles, the modern narcotraffickers post pictures of their planes, drugs, luxurious cars, ladies, gold-plated guns, posh houses and Swiss watches.

Twenty-five years after Pablo Escobar and his gold Rolex, Swiss watches remain the most popular sign of wealth among the narcos in 2015. They appear to wear rare limited editions worth hundreds of thousand dollars as well as much more affordable models.

To better understand the reach of Swiss luxury brands among the Mexican drug lords, we analyzed the social-network profiles of three high ranking members of the Sinaloa cartel: Ivan and Alfredo Guzmán, two of the most influential sons of El Chapo Guzmán, and José Rodrigo Aréchiga-Gamboa, alias “El Chino Ántrax,” who was a rising star of the organisation — leader of the cartel’s violent gang named “Los Ántrax” – before his arrest in Netherlands at the request of the US authorities in late 2013.

Here is a top six of the favorite Swiss watches luxury brands appearing on their profiles — ranked by the number of models per brand and overall value.

Sources and background information are discussed below. Not all models were included because of issues with identification (bad quality of pictures, etc.) and for clarity.

1. Richard Mille

The small brand from Les Breuleux, in the Swiss Jura mountains, was founded in 1999 by French businessman Richard Mille. It wins the first place in our ranking with 5 appearances for a total of $1.2 million. (It is worth noting that Richard Mille made the headlines recently when Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov was photographed wearing a $620,000 model, raising questions about his wealth.)

The watches and their values in this image are, from left to right: Richard Mille RM 59-01 Tourbillon Yohan Blake limited edition (50 pieces), $710,000; Richard Mille RM 011 Rose Gold Felipe Massa Flyback Chronograph, $109,600; Richard Mille RM 055 Bubba Watson, $115,000; Richard Mille RM 011 Flyback Chronograph Black Phantom, $153,000:

Below, left: Richard Mille RM 055 Bubba Watson, $115,000. Right: Audemars Piguet (see section on this brand):

2. Hublot

Although it was created in the 1980s, Hublot only found its real success after Jean-Claude Biver took over the management section in 2003. Hublot is in second position with a total of five models valued at $607,200.

Below: Hublot King Power Miami 305 Limited Edition (10 pieces), $476,800:

Below: Hublot Big Bang Steel Pavé 41 mm, 114 Diamonds, $23,600:

Hublot King Power Unico King Gold Pavé, $58,200:

Hublot Big Bang Gold Ceramic 44mm, $30,360 euros:

Hublot Big Bang Steel Diamonds 44mm, $18,700:

3. Rolex 

Rolex is among the most powerful brands in the world. It is the only Swiss label to have made it to the wrists of two generations of the world’s most notorious drug lords, from Pablo Escobar to the Guzmáns. 

With six watches, Rolex ranks before Hublot in terms of appearances, but their total value is well below, at only $130,200.

Below is a Rolex Oyster Day-Date 36mm Yellow Gold, $21,200:

Rolex GMT-Master II Oyster 40mm Steel and Yellow Gold 18 Carat, $12,400:

Left: Rolex Yacht Master II 44mm, $24,000. Right: Rolex GMT-Master II Oyster 40mm Steel and Yellow Gold 18 Carat, $12,400:

Left: Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Steel and Yellow Gold, $16,000. Right: Rolex Sky-Dweller Oyster 42mm Yellow Gold 18 Carat, $44,000:

4. Audemars Piguet

Audemars Piguet was founded in 1875. Based in Le Brassus, in the Swiss Canton of Vaud, it is one of the oldest watch manufacturers still owned by its founding family. With only two appearances, Audemars Piguet is ranking in 4th position. The two watches' value is however pretty high, at $395,000.

These include:

– Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Carbone, $339,400 (refer to the image in Richard Mille’s section).

– Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 18 Carat Pink Gold, $554,600:

5. Urwerk 

This is a surprise appearance in our ranking: Urwerk is a “niche” watchmaker founded in 1995 in Geneva. It is producing between 100 and 150 pieces per year.

Marion Baudino, a spokesperson for Urwerk, was excited to learn that one of the brand's models was worn by one of El Chapo’s sons: “Ivan Guzmán is presenting a side of his personality. By showing his taste for nice cars and nice watches, he is trying to define himself in front of his thousands of followers on the social networks. By wearing an Urwerk, Ivan Guzman is raising his credibility. We have an online club for our clients, but he did not register.” 

Below: An Urwerk UR-210 RG, worth between $109,600 and $164,000:

6. Romain Jerome

Romain Jerome is a new name among Swiss luxury watchmakers, but the model on El Chino’s wrist dates from several years back.

Below is a Romain Jerome Titanic Chrono Red Gold Limited Edition (2012 pieces), worth $35,800.

Sources and background information

Our conclusions stem from the analysis of different social-media accounts belonging first to the ex-leader of the armed wing of the Sinaloa cartel named “Los Ántrax,” José Rodrigo Aréchiga Gamboa (35 years old), who is also known as “El Chino Ántrax.” He was arrested as part of the DEA Operation Narco Polo as he disembarked from KLM Flight 686 Mexico City- Amsterdam at the Schiphol Airport in December 2013. 

He was caught using the fake identity of Norberto Sicairos-Garcia. His capture notably brought the DEA, Interpol and other security agencies closer to their primary objective in the year 2014: arrest El Chapo. It also led to the death of his supposed girlfriend, Yuriana Castillo Torres, who was abducted and then found dead on the street in Culiacán, in Sinaloa, Mexico. Extradited to the US and indicted on charges of importing marijuana and cocaine into the US, “El Chino” pled guilty last May.

We also looked at the profiles of two sons of “El Chapo,” Iván Archivaldo Guzmán-Salazar (32 years old) also known as “El Chapito” and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán-Salazar (29 years old) also known as “El Gordo” (“the Fat One”). Both have been indicted in the US.

 These were not random choices. The two sons of El Chapo and El Chino have thousands of admirers. Here is a list of their accounts (we could not verify their authenticity) with the number of followers or likes in parentheses:

• José Rodrigo Aréchiga-Gamboa“El Chino Ántrax” (135 000 admirers in total):

https://instagram.com/miauuuu5_7/ (58 000)
https://twitter.com/comandante57 (39 000)
https://twitter.com/Miauuu5_7 (1 000)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/CHINO-Antrax/1580417675517056?fref=ts (13 000)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chino-antrax/1423206714617137?fref=ts (10 000)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chino-Antrax/1488585071414812?fref=ts (8 000)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chino-antrax/647502882031840?fref=ts (6 000)

• Iván Archivaldo Guzmán-Salazar, “El Chapito”(325 000 followers in total):

https://twitter.com/lvanArchivaIdo (192 000)
https://twitter.com/_IvanGuzman (88 000)
https://twitter.com/Ivan_Guzman (21 000)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ivan-Archivaldo-Guzman/1579988752275513?fref=ts (18 000)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ivan-Archivaldo-Guzman/503433706472751?fref=ts (5 000)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Iv%C3%A1n-Guzm%C3%A1n/119074448433670?fref=ts (1 000)

• Jesús Alfredo Guzmán-Salazar, “El Gordo” (330 000 fans in total):

https://twitter.com/_alfredoguzman (192 000)
https://twitter.com/AlfreditoGuzma/media (138 000)

SEE ALSO: How Mexican officials worked alongside the world's most powerful drug lord

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