From ‘El Chapo’ to ‘El Estúpido’: The Use of Aliases in Mexican Organized Crime

For his probable involvement in kidnapping, the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office (FGJ CdMx) announced the arrest of Luis Alberto “N,” alias El Estúpido, last Friday, August 22nd. While the leader of Los Estúpidos was linked to crimes such as robbery with violence, extortion, homicide, and drug dealing, his nickname was widely regarded as one of the most controversial in recent years within the Mexican underworld.

For decades, some pseudonyms assigned to leaders or members of criminal organizations have achieved international fame, as was the case with Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

However, beyond the witty nature of these nicknames, the truth is that aliases serve functions within criminal organizations that have made them transcend as part of the same “narcoculture” that emanates from the drug trafficking phenomenon in Mexico.

Some have arisen from the physical characteristics or personality of their bearer, others stem from their rise within the same criminal organizations or from the power they accumulate. Whatever the case, aliases have become entrenched in everyday language and, eventually, in multiple investigation files.