Guard Alligator Named “El Chompo” Found Protecting A Fentanyl And Heroin Stash
District Attorney Thomas HoganThe alligator named “El Chompo” was found guarding a stash of narcotics during a drug raid in Pennsylvania.
Some of the best funny news stories often involve animals — like that time earlier this year when Pennsylvania police came across an alligator guarding a stash of fentanyl and heroin during a drug raid. Thus, the alligator was dubbed El Chompo.
The alligator’s moniker is an obvious nod to Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who was recently convicted after a series of arrests and escapes. When authorities discovered the three-foot juvenile alligator during a recent raid, the reptile was making rounds in the smugglers’ kitchen.
In addition to the narcotics, police discovered $5,000 cash, packaging material, and marijuana in the home. But, of course, El Chompo — a nickname given by the police after the bizarre discovery — was the raid’s most surprising find. The three drug dealers involved were all consequently charged with drug trafficking offenses.
“Quite frankly, as we can tell from these drug dealers, the alligator may have been the brains of the operation,” said Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan. “Some drug dealers use pit bulls or snakes. These drug traffickers kept an alligator in the house.”
As for El Chompo, the gator was transferred to the Brandywine Zoo in Delaware for quarantine where he spent the summer before ultimately being shipped off to his final destination — a Florida zoo named St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoological Park. Who said a life of crime never pays off?
