MEMPHIS, Tenn. —  One of the world’s most notorious drug kingpins is linked to Memphis.

Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, better known as just El Chapo, is now behind bars in Mexico.

However, that’s not where his story or crimes end.

WREG uncovered how El Chapo helped Memphis’ most infamous gangster.

El Chapo is the most powerful drug lord in the world and his ties to the Mid-South are rooted in South Memphis.

WREG found a branch of his cartel was blamed for trafficking cocaine and drugs into the neighborhood through a Memphis drug connection headed by Craig Petties.

Petties gained acceptance from the Mexican drug cartel.

He started as a petty drug dealer in the Riverview neighborhood of South Memphis where he grew up.

“He was an entrepreneur. That’s preneuing really. You know whether it’s good or bad. He’s an entrepreneur. He knew what he wanted and he went after it,” one neighbor told WREG.

Petties worked his way up by expanding his business beyond Memphis to include the entire southeast.

He was known to buy and sell big quantities of drugs fast.

He impressed the Mexican bosses and when the feds started moving in on Petties, he headed across the border where the drug lords helped hide him.

Federal investigators said his supplier was a branch of the cartel headed by Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, the Mexican drug lord now famous for his two amazing prison escapes.

Guzman and his cohorts helped Petties continue his ruthless drug business in Memphis.

“In 2006 Olive Branch found his body in a ditch. Nude and in a ditch on Stateline Road,” said Lucy Turner, the victim’s mother.

Marcus Turner’s mother fought to have Petties held responsible for her son’s murder.

Federal agents said Petties ordered his death on a cellphone while hiding in Mexico after he thought the local rapper stole drugs from him.

“I think the western District should get involved. I think Stanton should bring him over here because Mexico can’t hold him, he keeps breaking out of jail,” Turner said.

U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton’s Office said it has no intentions of bringing a case against El Chapo but seven federal prosecutors from various parts of the country filed indictments to extradite El Chapo from Mexico to stand trial in the U.S.

Defense Lawyer Juni Ganguli represented one of Petties’ associates and explained how the Justice Department makes a case against a faraway defendant.

“So, if he ordered a crime to occur in the United States and he was outside the United States, he would be criminally responsible for what people in the United States actually did,” said Ganguli.

Turner’s mother said she knows what should happen to both men.

“Both of them need to be locked up and I suggest they lock them up in an underground jail, prison because they’re dangerous. They took so many lives. They hurt so many mommas and so many daddies.”

Petties is currently serving nine life sentences for charges related to Marcus Turner’s murder and other violent crimes.

Turner’s mother said she won’t have complete justice until all of those involved pay, too.

That includes Mexican bosses like El Chapo who directly or indirectly had a hand in her son’s death.