There is one large and logical counterpoint to all the hoopla being generated against President Donald Trump’s proposal that Mexico pay for the construction of a border wall.

The contrary argument is Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, better known as “el Chapo.”

The nickname means “Shorty” — fitting for the five-six Guzmán, who is identified by various authorities and reports as the most powerful and wealthiest drug kingpin of all time.

Over a period of nearly 30 years, Guzman’s Sinaloa Cartel is responsible for smuggling hundreds of tons of Colombian cocaine through Mexico into the United States. Sinaloa also produces and distributes methamphetamine, marijuana and heroin across North America and Europe.

Guzmán was arrested in Mexico a year ago and was extradited to the U.S. last month for prosecution. On Jan. 20 he pleaded not guilty to a 17 count indictment in the United States District Court in New York. There are six separate U.S. indictments charging Guzmán with money laundering, drug trafficking, kidnapping and murder.

There’s no knowing how much El Chapo is worth. Forbes magazine in 2011 estimated his wealth at $1 billion; in subsequent years, Forbes dropped him from the list of wealthiest and most powerful, noting he had fallen into near-invisibility and likely had limited access to most of his assets.

More recent reports put Guzmán’s wealth at $1.4 billion. Guzmán reportedly offered to buy a British professional soccer club for nearly $900 million cash in January 2016.

At his recent court appearance U.S. Attorney General Sally Q. Yates called El Chapo the “alleged leader of a multibillion dollar, multinational criminal enterprise that funneled drugs onto our streets and violence and misery into our communities.”

The Justice Department is seeking the “forfeiture of more than $14 billion in cash proceeds from Guzmán. A former Drug Enforcement Administration officials told Forbes that the $14 billion “is a cumulative figure and based on his drug trafficking enterprise” and that “many companies associated with it are implicated in the money laundering aspect and will be targeted.”

It may be sheer coincidence that the projected cost of the border wall is $12 billion to $15 billion — roughly the same amount of cash the United States is seeking from El Chapo.

Using confiscated drug cartel money to secure our southern border makes far more sense than slapping a tariff on poblano peppers and avocados.

Trump hasn’t said so, but that might have been his plan from the start.

One notable related observation: Yates was fired last week for questioning Trump’s immigration policies. It was largely a symbolic firing. The Senate is expected to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions as Trump’s attorney general this week.