Drug baron gets unwanted buildup from US and actress

The reputed leader of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel got some unusual publicity Tuesday - from the United States government, who branded him "the world's most powerful drug trafficker," and by a popular Mexican actress, who publicly asked him to invest his money in charitable needs and become a "hero of heroes."

The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the Sinaloa drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera, who is also known as Chapo Guzmán, and his affiliates for the fourth time in a year under the so-called US Drug Kingpin Act, which makes it illegal for any US citizens to engage in business with him.

Guzmán, who escaped in 2001 from a prison hiding in a laundry cart, is said to be building his powerful cartel by expanding into Central and South America, according to Mexican authorities, who have put a $7-million bounty on his head.

But Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, who portrays a powerful female trafficker in the television series La Reina del Sur (or, Queen of the South), based on Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte's book, challenged Chapo Guzmán via her Twitter account to do some good for his fellow Mexicans.

"Mr Chapo, wouldn't it be great if you started trafficking for good causes - with cures for diseases, with food for street children, with alcohol for old people's homes, so they spend their final days doing whatever they like?"