by Frank Perry
murder capital of the world. It averages about a dozen killings per day, almost all by drug gangs.”
Stokes nodded, “I’ve been reading up on it. It looks pretty bad in the news.”
Berkowitz added, “It’s gotten a lot worse lately. You might have heard of the cartels that moved up north. They now live just below our borders in Tijuana, Nogales, Juarez and a few other towns, but the worst gang of all is the Alejandro Cardenas Cartel. Cardenas Senior was killed in a shootout with DEA and Federales (Policía Federal) about four months ago. He was called ‘Loco Lobo’ the ‘Crazy Wolf.’ He managed the territory by excessive violence which is now spreading into the U.S. He was noted for capturing his competitors alive, then slowly beheading them.”
Stokes responded solemnly, “Seems like a really nasty guy.”
Leo continued, “Yeah, a real sweetie. But now, we think it’s getting worse, at least as far as your officers are concerned, the Guard and the BP. Your guys on the border need to be really careful now. It seems that the cartel is still strong and has a new leader, reportedly Cardenas’ son at the helm, who is maybe even more sadistic and wants revenge. He blames us for killing his father. He also blames the Federales and is taking care of them in some creative ways. That’s another thing to remember, don’t ever trust the Mexican Government guys. They’re either corrupted or so scared that they effectively work for the cartel. Lots of the killings you read about in Juarez are done by them under contracts or threats from the Cardenas Cartel.
“It’s bad enough that even the other cartels are scared of Cardenas. In order for contraband to pass through Juarez to the U.S., they have to pay Cardenas twenty percent of load value. If they refuse, then they are either killed or we get tipped off about the shipments. Nothing gets through Cardenas.”
Stokes asked, “Is there anything we can do to differently to stop them? I know we can’t attack in Mexico, but can’t we at least get some intelligence established inside?”
Berkowitz looked at Moritz, but avoided discussing DEA operations. Matt spoke up, “Don’t think we haven’t tried, John. Most of these people are illiterate street thugs, but Cardenas is pretty smart. At least whoever is in charge is smart. We don’t know what has happened to people we’ve paid to get information, but they never seem to return, and it’s scared anyone else who might like some cash. We’ve offered some serious money, but even the peasants won’t work with us anymore.
“The details didn’t all make the media, but our guy, Randy Firth, who got killed a couple months ago, was chopped up. He was shot first, so probably didn’t suffer, but the body was all cut up. We think this is an attempt to terrorize our guys to keep them away from Cardenas’ shipments.”
Stokes responded, “So, what can be done to stop these guys? They seem to be winning.”
Berkowitz answered, “Short of legalizing drugs, all we can do is try to outsmart and outgun them.”
Stokes said, “You know, I’ve spent some time in the sand countries fighting terrorists, and I’m not sure we can ever really ‘win’ this kind of thing.”
“Yeah, I know. In our case, we’re really at war against the American people because someone, Nixon, I think, got the brilliant idea that we could win another unpopular war. It hasn’t always been recognized, but this is a war fueled by America’s demand for illegal drugs. Personally, I hate the thought of losing another agent trying to stand between the supplier and the buyer here at home. Let the fucking dope users get high as kites. Let them jump off buildings, I don’t give a shit. We’ve got good people down here getting whacked because some pencil neck wearing a suit on Wall Street needs a buzz. Those are the real scum. They’re killing our guys just like the Mexicans ... so much for my soapbox. This is what we get paid to do.”
Stokes responded, “Yeah, I think most people realize that we can’t win any more than we could stop booze in the 30’s. But, what the hey, it keeps all of us off the welfare rolls!”
Cardenas
Alejandro Felix Gaitan Cardenas was the most notorious Mexican drug trafficker, with the alias “Loco Lobo,” who commanded an army of killers known as the Cardenas Cartel. He controlled Mexican officials, killed uncooperative competitors and constantly found new ways to get drugs into the U.S. markets.
He was born in a small fishing community along Baja California’s interior coast and spent his early life assisting his father and uncles moving large shipments of marijuana and cocaine up the outer coast to the United States. He had no formal education. He was raised in the drug trafficking profession. He preferred killing minor competing drug smugglers personally. The culture of violence surrounded him his whole life.
As his family was killed off in the business, he gradually assumed leadership of a small group of smugglers that grew over time. He was a pioneer in air trafficking, operating from a large hangar with several airplanes at Mexico City's largest airport and constructing tunnels beneath the border in several cities. As the air and sea lanes from Central and South America were shut down by the U.S., land transport across Mexico became the most viable smuggling route during the early 21st century. Cardenas was ideally situated to control the Mexican corridors. Initial efforts by cartels from the producing countries to bypass Cardenas were bloody disasters, leading to his virtual monopoly of drug distribution in the States.
He was frequently confronted by infighting and bloodshed within his own group, but killed anyone who crossed him. If the minor criminals wanted to fight over ever petty dispute, he didn’t care, as long as it didn’t threaten him. He was known to kill entire families in retribution, scaring anyone that dared to threaten his welfare of control of drug flow.
He was briefly imprisoned in Mexico in 1999 when the U.S. put pressure on the Government to do something about the drugs flooding America through his networks in the major cities, but it was a sham covered by high-ranking officials on his payroll. He was released in 2001, which was reported as an escape, and was living his luxurious lifestyle in open defiance to everyone. He had mansions in Mexico City, Acapulco and Juarez.
His opulent lifestyle ended abruptly with his death in a gun battle with U.S. authorities in a carefully orchestrated deception that brought him to the border one night. Although he had never married, he had several illegitimate children, one of whom was a devoted son, who would carry on his legacy and seek revenge.
Hector Cardenas was educated in the U.S. He spent time north of the border learning to understand the American lifestyle, preparing to replace his father in the cartel when the time was right. That time came when his father was killed.
Although he was shielded from some of the violent aspects of the “family business” growing up, as an educated man, he asked to be involved in his high school years. He soon learned to kill and understood how to control men through fear. He understood the dynamics that held the cartel together. Violence and fear were essential to maintaining loyalty and respect of his people and competitors. He was every bit as ruthless as his father now that he was in charge.
One of the new initiatives he defined was the “reino de terror” against U.S. security personnel on the borders. In order to appease lower gang members, he encouraged the capture of American personnel. The gang members would share in ransom paid for the safe return of hostages. If no ransom was paid, the hostage was killed on YouTube using professional-grade video equipment supplied by Cardenas. The killings were done by several men using machetes to slowly mutilate the victim, and then they were beheaded. The vision and screams were more horrific than anything in the movies and the head was passed around the circle of killers for everyone to see.
Cardenas believed this served two purposes: first, the gangs could make some ransom money beyond his payments to them; second, it caused the border security personnel to be cautious and less aggressive against his shipments.
Sandcastle
Rachael got to her office early, as usual. The red message light was blinking on her phone. She dialed
her security code and retrieved the single message, which had been delivered during the middle of the night, “Ms. Aston, this is Jamie Montes. Sorry, I didn’t check out with you when I left. This was an unexpected trip to Mexico City. If you need to reach me, Cybil has the contact information at the Embassy, and they’ll know how to get me. Sorry for the confusion. Oh, yeah, I should be back in three or four days. I’ll fill you in when I get back. Montes out.”
She still didn’t know anything about Montes, and he obviously underestimated her, feeling he could just placate her. Later, she planned to visit the personnel department and look at his record.
People started filtering into the department an hour later. Before Cybil arrived, Martha Riggs asked if she could have a few minutes to talk about a budget request.
Rachael invited her in and gestured toward one of the chairs. Rachael sat beside her, which Martha seemed to appreciate. “So, what’s up?”
“Rachael, I wanted to review a project in Columbia that needs to get more funding right away. It’s called ‘Project Landlord’ and is a program where we are using airplanes with night vision cameras, land surveys and informants to locate and keep track of cocaine factories. These things