Gateway to the community of Badiraguato in the state of Sinaloa, birthplace of some of the most famous Mexican drug traffickers SAÚL RUIZ
Badiraguato Mayor José Paz López has proposed creating a drug trafficking museum to attract tourism to his city. The municipality is known, among other things, as the birthplace of drug dealers such as Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán or Rafael Caro Quintero. The mayor has defended that the idea of putting together a collection “shouldn’t scare” and asked to see “the positive part”.
In a video published this Thursday in Milenio, the mayor has stressed the need to acknowledge the municipality’s history. “No one should be denied. There are many and we will not deny anyone,” he assured in front of the cameras, in a context in which he defended that the birth of the well-known capo in the city of Badiraguato must be accepted.
Local government sources assured EL PAÍS this Thursday that López’s statements were “taken out of context” and have reported that a museum is indeed being built, although they have denied that it will contain any collections or stories related to drug trafficking becomes .
In the video, the Mayor of Badiraguato said that this initiative “would give people a perspective that it is not good to be in this activity” and how “harmful it is to use drugs”. In addition, he has indicated that building a museum on the subject is possible and defended that he would be advised by experts in cultural centers. “It is not clear to me what numbers are included there, we will listen to the specialists so that they can guide us. If they tell us it will be for the good of the community, then we encourage it from the government as well,” López said.
Establishing a museum dedicated to drug trafficking would not be new in Mexico. The chapel of Jesús Malverde was built 113 years ago in Culiacán, Sinaloa state, a place in honor of the bandit of the same name, who is revered in some places as the saint of drug dealers. The figure of Malverde entered popular religiosity along with other figures such as Santa Muerte, of which there are also depictions in addition to the images of the bandit.
Badiraguato, 80 kilometers from Culiacán, was the birthplace of other well-known drug traffickers such as Ismael El Mayo Zambada, Ernesto Fonseca, Arturo Beltrán Leyva, Alfredo Beltrán Leyva or Juan José Esparragoza, El Azul.
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