El Chapo’s story to be narrated in ‘Cartel’

TV show being penned by ‘Narcos’ co-creator Chris Brancato

LOS ANGELES: The life of Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman is to be turned into a drama series by the show-runner of Netflix hit drama Narcos, according to reports. Cartel, which is being developed by cable channel History, will chart the emergence of the drug gangs who use social media to promote their brand, Variety magazine said on Tuesday.

“The true story of El Chapo, fraught with murder, drugs, corruption and celebrity has been and continues to be one of the most disturbing and fascinating of the past decade,” said History chief Jana Bennett.

It is familiar ground for Chris Brancato, co-creator of the Narcos, a crime thriller series based on the life of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. Cartel will be a “metaphor for the lives we present on the Internet... and the risks of not-so-humble-bragging on social media,” he said.

Guzman was captured in January after months on the run in a colourful episode involving a Mexican soap opera actor and US film star Sean Penn, who met with the drug boss in hiding. Guzman had escaped through a hole in his jail cell’s shower in July last year, in a drama that embarrassed the government. He faces two extradition demands by courts in California and Texas, for homicide and drug trafficking, in a process expected to take at least a year. 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2016.

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