The Mule

Leo Sharp was the Sinaloa Cartel’s most effective mule. He was a legend among drug dealers, the man they called “Tata”, or “grandfather” — after all, Leo Sharp was 87 years old. Nobody would pull over an old man, a great-grandfather, and Vietnam war veteran, they assured him. Nobody would ask questions.

Sharp carted between 450 and 550 pounds of cocaine into his home state of Michigan each month. He was worth a fortune to El Chappo’s Mexican drug cartel; he sent more than $2 million back into their hands each month.

For a decade in the 2000s, Sharp trafficked drugs around the world, sometimes earning as much as $1 million in a single year. 

He was finally caught when officers pretended to pull over Sharp for a routine traffic stop. They found five duffel bags carrying a total of 104 kg of cocaine in the back. The judge refused Leo Sharp plea for Dementia and to stay out of prison. He was sentenced to three years in prison and for a 90-year-old man, it was a life sentence.