Drug Lord traces the rise and fall of Mexican kingpin Pablo Acosta, a scar-faced bandit who created a powerful, far-reaching drug trafficking organization in Ojinaga, a small Mexican border town on the Rio Grande just south of the Texas Big Bend. At his height, Acosta sent incalculable amounts of marijuana, heroin, and cocaine through secret smuggling operations into the United States, and was involved in the theft of countless automobiles and airplanes in Texas and New Mexico. A talented writer, author Terrence Poppa brings Acosta to life, giving accounts of ferocious gun battles with the vividness of an action movie. More importantly, using Acosta's organization as the paradigm, he exposes the hidden mechanisms of drug trafficking, particularly the lucrative involvement of the Mexican government in protecting the drug kingpin's activities.
"Drug Lord is the real thing. Raw, immediate, indispensable."Don Winslow, author of The Power of Dog and California Fire and Life
"The [drug smuggling] business goes on, the slaughtered dead pile up, the US agencies continue to ratchet up their budgets, the prisons grow larger and all the real rules of the game are in this book, some kind of masterpiece."Charles Bowden, from the introduction
"Pablo Acosta was a living legend in his Mexican border town of Ojinaga. He smuggled tremendous amounts of drugs into the United States; he survived numerous attempts on his power and his lifeby rivals; and he blessed the town with charity and civic improvements. He was finally slain in 1987 during a raid by Mexican officials with the cooperation of US law enforcement. Poppa has turned out a detailed and exciting book, covering in depth Acosta's life; the other drug factions that battled with him; the village of Ojinaga; and the logistics of the drug operation. The result is a nonfiction account with enough greed, treachery, shoot-outs, and government corruption to fascinate true crime and crime fiction readers alike. Highly recommended."Library Journal
Terrence E. Poppa, an award-winning journalist, was a finalist for a 1987 Pulitzer Prize for his investigations into the connection between crime and government in Mexico. He was featured in Standoff in Mexico, a PBS production about fraudulent elections in Mexico. Due to his unique insights into the world of Mexican drug trafficking, Poppa has been widely interviewed on radio and television, including Larry King Live and The O'Reilly Factor.
Review :
"Poppa, a news reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist for his work on this story, has turned out a detailed and exciting book, covering in depth Acosta's life; the other drug factions that battled with him; the village of Ojinaga; and the logistics of the drug operation. The result is a nonfiction account with enough greed, treachery, shoot-outs, and government corruption to fascinate true crime and crime fiction readers alike. Highly recommended."-Library Journal
"[Drug Lord] is impressive for its thorough investigatory research...and for its lively style."-Kirkus Reviews
"Drug Lord is one of the few stories about double-dealing, murder, and endemic Mexican government corruption ever told from inside a drug ring, and is a must for anyone who wants to understand how drug rings really operate."-Penthouse
"[Poppa] describes, with uncomplicated ease, the franchise structure of the Acosta operation-involving a kind of interlocking, horizontal integration typical of organized crime...He has shocked us with the conventions of the drug smuggling industry. He has penetrated its secrets and shows it to be something more ordinary than mystical." -Dallas Morning News
"Poppa is a gifted storyteller who has a clear eye for detail." -Albuquerque Journal
"At times reading more like a Wild West novel than a true-to-life piece of non-fiction, Drug Lord exposes revealing snapshots of the seamy world of a drug smuggler at work." -Austin American Statesman
"Pablo Acosta, born in abject poverty in Mexico, became drug czar of Ojinaga across the border from the Big Bend country of Texas...The author shows that Acosta consolidated his power by murdering rivals, corrupting local police and soldiers, distributing money to the poor and contributing generously to civic projects...Poppa interviewed the drug lord in 1986 for the El Paso Herald-Post and bases this enlightening book in part on those talks." -Publishers Weekly
"Drug Lord is the real thing. Raw, immediate, indispensable."-Don Winslow, author of The Power of Dog and California Fire and Life
