After much thought she had decided that this was her life, outside or within the law, and it was the same because she had no other way or other means to do her job. She was much more attracted to this idea than to spend her life trafficking in Brazil, alone, scared and fucking with some unknown mulatto with weeping eyes and penetrating gaze. However, she wasn’t to blame for being in love with her land, her work and her people, including Nicholas, an agent of the enemy, or rather, the rival, with whom she had to fight with, whether for good or for evil. Amadeo put the cigarette in the silver ashtray.
They said goodbye with a strong handshake. She was already inside again. The fear and terror that had accompanied her the last days had suddenly vanished as if they had never existed. The jail had suddenly become her new provisional home. A little trip through the purgatory before returning to paradise again.
It didn’t take more than a week and less than five days to get Lucia what she needed: a laptop, a Nokia 8610 mobile phone, without a camera. She wasn’t there to take pictures of anyone. They were installed in a small room to the left of the library, intended for archiving the folders where they kept the records of the books of the library, it was a room for the exclusive use of the librarian so that neither prisoners nor officials had access to it. From now on that would be her throne, the base of operations where La Reina, like Al Capone in the twenties, would direct from the dark the entire logistic map of the north-western underworld of the peninsula. As an assistant she chose her cellmate Lorena. She accepted, delighted. Since she had been in prison she had continuously applied for a job in the library, she would distribute the books among the inmates and also in exchange for small amounts of money and all kinds of narcotics. There was no drug that couldn’t be brought into the prison with a handful of euros.
It was, therefore, curious the liking of some inmates practically illiterate, to the reading. They used to always opt for the classics such as "Don Quixote" or "Ulysses", to mention some of the most complex literary works in history, not to mention the content hidden between the pages of books, between pages of which could be found from meth , Marijuana, coke, and even hashish. It was nice to see these women being raised. Their good taste for Miguel de Cervantes, Unamuno, Kafka, Jorge Manrique, they even had a Russian named Natasha, who dared with the Holy Bible.
—Do you really not prefer" Dr. Zhivago "? —Lorena was joking.
—I don’t. Good grass tastes better if it is accompanied by the word of God.
One day she had asked for Kafka's "Metamorphosis." She used several of its pages to fiddle with some Chinese. The next day she was so settled that she lay still for several hours, on the bed, turned into a monstrous insect. When her roommate tried to revive her, she just said: I am a fly, a fly. From that day on she never asked for that work again. When she passed the hangman and found that her innumerable insect legs and shells were once again flesh and blood like the limbs of humans, she thanked God. From that day on in gratitude to the Lord she didn’t ask for a book other than the Holy Bible. Lorraine as an atheist was glad that from that day he used the Holy Scriptures to wrap some joints, instead of other literary works of greater celebrity and part more difficult to get in jail than a religious book. Natasha, like the rest of the inmates, had not committed any crime. The good thing about being in jail was that they were all innocent and eventually came to really believe it, Lorena thought. It looked exactly the same as the years of conviction, there among those bars no one wanted to carry the burden of guilt. Some nights she was watching them, while Lucia, her new cellmate, slept; Reading novels of adventure and intrigue. The last was the first book of Arturo Pérez Reverte's "The Adventures of Captain Alatriste". She was surprised by the participation in the plot of famous personages of the time, like Quevedo, Lope de Vega, Velázquez or his majesty Felipe IV. It seemed to her that the novel was very well set to be written by a former war reporter, which attributed to the participation in it of his daughter Carlota. According to the word they were responsible for the setting of the work, also helped by the good knowledge of the city of Madrid by his father. Lucia had told her that tomorrow she would receive the visit of a friend of her writer and journalist, who intended to write a novel about her life.
Lorena feared that wasn’t a good idea, because it was best for Lucia to go as unnoticed as possible. Susana Seoane had already made a good cut, writing about her, in prestigious national newspapers and magazines; Trying to bring out her darker side. Why she would not let her best friend try to wash her image through a narrative work? At the moment she had managed to make her reflect enough, as if to voluntarily surrender to the headquarters of the Civil Guard of Montederramo, not knowing that she had done her a great favour in that prison, except for the bars, all the women prisoners they treated with respect and admiration. She would not have been so terrified to know that she was already an idol among the inmates before her entry into prison and was exempt from the typical hazing or sexual harassment from the rest of the prisoners. Although that was rare in second-degree convictions, in case of flies, she had made herself a dagger of fine Toledo steel, in case she ever had to settle accounts. Generally she got along well with all the groups and different ethnic groups of the prison, although she sometimes distrusted the gypsies, too brave and open to talk, always putting on their part, cheerful and contented. But she wasn’t accustomed to treating them and preferred not to give them too much confidence, always marking them short, at least until they knew them better. Then in time she would see. They were good girls from the towns but their rules and customs were still too much based on tradition, still depending very much on their men. It was better to have them as friends, but not too close in case things crossed. She didn’t look prepared to get into trouble with people who had nothing or little to lose. That's why she always tried to keep them happy, even if she had to put something out of her pocket.
As for the Russians, they were the most suspicious of all the groups. Backed by the most powerful mafia in the entire Mediterranean, they had spread all over the Costa Brava on a first-come, first-served basis and were threatening to pay. No one argued, but the sovereignty of the Galician families on the Costa da Morte made them nervous. Their husbands were mostly ex-combatants of the wars of the Balkans, introduced recently in the country. They still used methods that were sometimes too aggressive, but effective. Everything they couldn’t buy through the law of supply and demand, they got it with a bayonet. Lucia knew it, so she always tried to carry out negotiations with them.
Then there were the Colombians, Puerto Ricans, Brazilians, and Argentines. Of all of them the former were the most numerous. She knew them well. She had travelled several times personally to their country, to negotiate the purchase of six thousand kilos of cocaine by order of the Sousa. The business had gone round, obtaining a benefit of two hundred percent for the family and a small percentage, about eighteen thousand euros for her for the inconvenience. The Colombians were proud and fierce, emigrants by force, they came from a complicated country, with too much poverty and a very unequal economic situation, most of them forced to sell their bodies, working in alternative night clubs. They were addicted to coke, others had simply chosen to dock floors robbing them, until the police caught them. They were simply waiting to be deported to their country, because they were in Spain in an illegal situation, so they took advantage of the waiting in hopes of getting some drug, to make life in prison lighter.
Let us not be deceived. Not all women prisoners took drugs, nor were most addicts. They just wanted to give themselves a little party from time to time, to make life more bearable in that hole. Lucia was certainly a great negotiator. She knew how to listen to everyone, whom she could trust, and whom she could not. She knew that the Romanians were the most dangerous of the prison, for most of them were still based on the methods of the former Soviet Union, when communism dominated the East. Capitalism came very large and didn’t always accept the distribution of goods, according to the size of the wallet. Some w
ere envious, so Lucia had to be filled with arguments and guts to keep them calm. Sometimes even squeezing the prices to the maximum and of course serving a somewhat inferior quality in each dose, but equal in size, making them see that they bought the same for much less money, when in fact when cutting the drug she was forced to reduce somewhat the Pure matter, not to lose money.
THIRD PART. SUMMER 2004.
1—The secret operation.
Mateo Yanez sailed over a calm sea like a flat plate, a desert of waters looking for a little wind that would impel it to transform it into raging waves. But today the coast of Bayonne was quiet, the "Deck Boat", as it corresponds to a gliding boat, sailed at a speed of forty-two knots, curling the sea with the softness of a comb. From the prow in the shape of a seagull wing, two floats hung: the only lifeguards apart from the vests hidden under the seat of the pilot who carried the luxurious glider. The engine had a power of 320 hp, the outer habitability of the boat was closer to a day cruiser than a glider. That's why despite its sporty appearance it was a very comfortable boat, the aft seats were transformed into sunbeds according to the needs of the occupants. Underneath those same seats also hid a portable refrigerator from which Mireia took two beers for her and Mateo, her traveling companion on that sunny day.
After visiting her friend Lucia in jail, the writer decided to accompany Mateo in order to document better his operations abroad, with the aim of writing more truthfully about the life and methods used in the world of drug trafficking . Of course, both the names and places she would use in the novel would be mostly fictitious to leave no trace that would involve anyone in the organization, families agreed while they were allowed to read the final manuscript before it was published, In case any data had to be modified. Several publishers were interested in getting the rights to the future novel. Mireia had just signed one of them, her first contract as a professional. "The Queen of the Northwest," that is what she would call her project. This one had just begun to shoot, there was no one like her to tell the story of her friend, knowing all her steps from her childhood, through her youth, to becoming the best known narcos in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula.
Sitting at the wheel of the "Deck Boat", Mateo was reviewing with his mind every cove on the rocky shore that bordered the lighthouse of Monteferro. He knew the terrain with the precision of a trapper, for working for the Benemérita in a still too close past, he had patrolled the area in search of stealthy fishermen or smugglers. The lighthouse was only accessible through a forest track, whose firm was in very poor condition, only suitable for off-road vehicles or some daredevil daring with its utility, to defy all the laws of modern physics and mechanics. Monteferro was a suitable place for long walks under the shade of the trees, mostly wild pines and eucalyptus trees, although you could also find some birch in good condition, although their main attraction was their views, because from above you could contemplate Ducks , Panxón, Playa America, La Ramallosa and Bayona, with its imposing castle, converted into a national monument and its luxurious port loaded with ostentatious yachts, you could also contemplate with dazzling clarity, the outline of the Cíes Islands; Towards them was directed the "Nautic". —That was how he had baptized the boat, Mateo, on a drunken night in the streets of Bayonne—. Mateo wore a red Hawaiian t-shirt, in a dark blue shorts with side pockets and interiors. He was blond, blue-eyed, clueless looking in a black Raybat, which made him look like a smuggler. He was about six feet tall. He was a man of few words, lover of the silence that the ocean in its immensity provided.
A few meters to port, the ship in charge of covering the passage from Bayonne to the Islands Cíes passed loaded, to the top, with people. They were in the first week of July, the high season began. Despite the high price of the ticket and the "Prestige" accident, the Cíes remained the most desirable natural paradise of the Rías Baixas for the thousands of tourists who visited them each year. Mateo had stopped a couple of hundred meters inland parallel to the lighthouse, to explain to her how important that point could be for the entry of cargoes. At night the lighthouse would guide them, their information was essential to navigate and orient in the dark, avoiding run aground or crashing against the rocks.
—Diving at night has a great difficulty, we must accept that we are diurnal animals in a natural environment, which is not ours, with all the limitations that it represents. Especially sailing in pneumatic boats like the "Zodiac Mark I Classic", but lately we use more "Zodiac Cherokee" because they have a much more powerful engine. Although for the larger operations that require faster and better riding the "Zodiac Medline II" still exceeds the power of the "Cherokee" with a Suzuki 140 H.P. What happens is that they are very expensive boats to risk in a small operation. We only use them in case of significant amounts of powder. Never to carry hashish, marijuana or tobacco. That's what "Classic" and "Cherokee" are for.
— Have you ever used the "Deck Boat" in an operation? —Mireia asked.
—I didn’t. Actually I use it as a centre of operations, from here I control all landings, but I never get directly involved in them. I only organize and supervise everything so that the merchandise arrives safe and sound to the coast. Then it is something for the narcos.
— So, you just take care of the transport?
—Exactly. I receive orders directly from your friend Lucia, she chooses the routes using nautical charts. Then I on the ground decide which are the most reliable. This way we prepare the operations, always at night so as not to be seen by the surveillance patrols of the Civil Guard. The problem is that sailing at night with hardly any lighting not to be discovered, is almost an odyssey, several times due to the difficulty of the weather conditions we had to abort an operation. That is why this work is so dangerous.
—I thought Lucia was only directing land operations.
—At first, yes, then because of the success of her methods and my marine knowledge, families have decided to give us the go on the coast.
—And I celebrate being here under this wonderful sun, —Mireia smiled. It was the first time he had seen her smile and he liked that Technicolor smile, using her teeth as perfectly aligned as pearls.
—The Russians want us to introduce a cargo of twenty-five tons. Do you know what that is? What would happen if they caught us? We would need a lot of money to buy the Coast Guard. But those bastards are now tightly controlled and the new ones are not easily bribed. I think everything is getting too complicated. Lucia, who always walks two steps ahead of the rest, has proposed to modernize the fleet with the acquisition of high speed boats. She has specifically thought of the "Baja 33 Outlaw" It isn’t ready or anything! These boats can reach up to eighty-five knots with 7,000 rpm engines, with an acceleration of glide time of five seconds. We have decided to acquire a whole fleet of them.
—No one will suspect anything? —Mireia asked.
—The one who buys a Ferrari is not asked why he wants it. The same could be said of this super sportsman of the seas. But I would acquire them with caution, using different buyers to avoid suspicion. Imagine that their sale is not very habitual. It would be awesome! to fly on the seas ... Not the coastal guard possesses boats, so fast with 575 horses of power. Imagine that with the personification of the drawings of the bands, we will be the envy of the ports. We can travel great distances without raising suspicions. They'll take us for crazy billionaires, —Mateo explained.
— How much is the maximum that you have transported in a trip? —Mireia asked.
—Never more than six tons. But now we have new suppliers. The Russians are pushing hard in addition to the Italians. Previously they used to stock up on the Mediterranean coast, passing merchandise through the Strait, but with illegal immigration now that area is more guarded than ever and many traffickers have gone to jail or earn a living on account of tourism. That is why they have been forced to look for other alternatives like Cantabria, Portugal and of course the Rías Baixas. There we entered, with one of the best fleets and organization of the North Atlantic and, le
t's not say, the world, bound for centuries, decades of misery, exploitation and dark famine to seek life outside society and government, a Swarm of caciques or the mother who gave birth to them all.
The fact is that the demand has increased and with it the risks, so that’s why we won’t use the Zodiac, if we want to supply all these people we must think big. We need bigger, more modern boats. We have the Phantom, able to sail at more than forty knots, but that is not enough. Now we speak of quantities capable of freezing the blood to the most daring of sailors. Mireia imagined herself aboard that boat of the devil sailing at the speed of sound on the burgundy blue sheet of a raging sea. With swell it couldn’t exceed sixty knots, but it didn’t matter. The "Lower 33 Outlaw" left behind a trail of foam like a sea of beer spreading behind the stern; She pressed the accelerator more, she wanted to take it to the maximum. She found herself stumbling across the ocean in a wild swell. She would take the boat to the end. You only live once! Without removing her hands from the rudder, a classic leather wheel with three lugs and almost fifty centimetres in diameter.
—The downside of the Baja 33 Outlaw is its high price. The advantage, you can do the same route as the other boats in a third of the time, so you could afford to make several round trips. With a fleet of five units would be enough to begin with, —said Mateo, taking Mireia out of her reverie.
—Let's see if I understand, —Mireia said—. What is involved is that the drug would be collected in Colombia. From there it is transported across the ocean in a vessel of dubious reputation, whose officers will be smeared. So that the ship doesn’t touch port for fear of an inspection, it is collected in the boats by you on the high seas and brought to the coast in the shortest possible time to avoid the intervention of the maritime patrols.
The Queen of the Northwest Page 9
