by Ioan Grillo
3. Forbes put Escobar on its billionaire list from 1987, when the list was launched, until his death in 1993.
4. The casualties of Avianca Airlines Flight 203 included 101 passengers, six crew members, and three people on the ground.
5. Felbab-Brown, Vanda, Shooting Up: Counterinsurgency and the War on Drugs, (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2010) 19. The FARC Seventh Guerrilla Conference took place in 1982.
6. Peruvian President Fernando Belaúnde Terry discussed the idea of narco-terrorism in an interview with El Tiempo newspaper, published on Sept. 18, 1983.
7. Cited in indictment March 3, 2003, United States v. Luis Fernando Da Costa, Criminal No. 02-122 (RCL).
Chapter 12
1. Elite Squad: The Enemy Within grossed more than $63 million, almost all of it in Brazil, according to the Internet Movie Database.
Chapter 13
1. Luke Dowdney, Children of the Drug Trade: A Case Study of Children in Organized Armed Violence in Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro: 7 Letras, 2003).
Chapter 14
1. Marco Antonio Coelho, “From pickpocket to bank robber,” Estudos Avancados, 21 (67), 2007, translated by Rodrigo Sardenberg.
2. Amorim, 390.
Chapter 15
1. “Obama: Lula Is ‘Most Popular Politician On Earth,’” Associated Press, May 3, 2009.
Part III: The President
Chapter 16
1. Daraine Luton, “Dogs ate my sister,” Jamaica Gleaner, May 28, 2010.
2. HG Helps, “Dudus ran like a ‘puss,’” Jamaica Observer, June 14, 2010.
3. Gary Spaulding, “Sacrifice: Souls Lost For the Cause,” Jamaica Gleaner, May 30, 2010.
4. Robert Mackey, “Jamaicans Ponder Cross-Dressing Gangsters,” June 25, 2010, cites Miller. Miller’s full post was also on facebook.com/notes/kei-miller/bad-man-nuh-dress-like-girl.
5. Interview with author, Oct. 27, 2014.
Chapter 17
1. Report of the National Committee on Political Tribalism, also known as the Kerr Report, July 23, 1997, 5.
2. Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment (Kingston: The Bible Society of the West Indies, 2012), Luuk 11.2–4.
Chapter 18
1. Andrea Downer, “Valerie Jackson-Daley: An Unsung Hero,” Jamaica Gleaner, Oct. 17, 2005.
Chapter 19
1. For Jamaica murder stats, I refer to reports by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which themselves take them from the Jamaica Constabulary Force. This comparison of homicide stats is also made in Horace Levy, Killing Streets and Community Revival (Kingston: Arawak publications, 2009).
2. Desmond Allen, “The continuing rise and rise of Desmond McKenzie,” Jamaica Observer, Jan. 15, 2012.
3. Office of the Public Defender, Interim Report to Parliament, 6, Apr. 29, 2013.
4. Ian Thomson, The Dead Yard: A Story of Modern Jamaica (London: Faber and Faber, 2009), 153.
5. Phrase coined by Jamaican army head Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin in 2005, see “Army chief says … Tivoli mother of all garrisons,” Jamaica Observer, Oct. 8, 2005.
6. The “blood for blood” comment is widely quoted including in Laurie Gunst, Born Fi’ Dead: A Journey Through the Jamaican Posse Underworld (New York: Holt, 1995), 84.
7. Manley interview with Gil Noble, originally aired WABC-TV, Nov. 6, 1977.
8. Rally quote reproduced in BBC documentary Blood and Fire: Jamaica’s Political History, originally aired on BBC, Aug. 4, 2002.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Interview on Alternative Views, hosted by Douglas Kellner, aired 1982 on PBS.
13. Thomson, 201.
14. Gunst recounted interview with Green Bay survivor in Gunst, 100–103.
15. One colorful account of One Love Peace Concert is Robin Denselow, “Bob Marley Presides Over the Peace Concert,” Guardian, June 16, 2011.
16. Quotes taken from audio of Peter Tosh speech at One Love Peace Concert, 1978.
Chapter 20
1. Dominic Streatfeild, Cocaine: An Unauthorized Biography (London: Virgin, 2001), 271–272.
2. Report of the National Committee on Political Tribalism, also known as the Kerr Report, July 23, 1997, 8.
3. Among references, the story of this gun seizure is told by author Laurie Gunst in documentary episode on Lester Lloyd Coke of Lords of the Mafia, Associated Television International, 2000.
4. The 1,400 figure for the posse murders is widely cited, including in Liz Robbins, “Vivian Blake, 54, Founder of Jamaica Drug Gang, Dies,” New York Times, Mar. 25, 2010.
5. “Jim Brown Is Still Dead, Isn’t He?” Newsweek, Apr. 5, 1992.
Chapter 21
1. K. C. Samuels, Jamaica’s First President: Dudus 1992–2010 (Kingston: Page Turner, 2011), 90.
2. All court quotes from Dudus trial come from documents from The United States of America v. Christopher Michael Coke, in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, CR0971.
3. Sinkinson made the comments on BBC Radio 4. Also cited in “Jamaica Battles UK Drug Mules,” on BBC website, Jan. 4, 2002.
4. The Independent newspaper cites the report in a letter published on its website as part of documents related to the Mark Duggan inquest. It is dated Sept. 26, 2012.
Chapter 22
1. Bunny Wailer, “Don’t Touch the President,” 2009.
Chapter 23
1. The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson (New York: Modern Library, 2000), 551.
2. Aidan Hartley, The Zanzibar Chest: A Memoir of Love and War (London: HarperCollins, 2003), 175.
3. Records of Jamaican government contracts are released by the Office of the Contractor General. An example of a contract listed for Incomparable Enterprises is on June 24, 2009, when the Minister of Water and Housing gave 10 million Jamaican dollars for repairs to Bustamente Highway.
4. Samuels, 142.
5. Gary Spaulding, “‘Dudus Typically A Don,’ Says PM,” Jamaica Gleaner, Mar. 18, 2011.
Chapter 24
1. Quote from video of campaign rally used in Golding campaign commercial, aired July 2007.
2. Taken from video of Jamaican parliamentary session, Dec. 8, 2009.
3. Dan Murphy, “Jamaica’s Bruce Golding denies link to drug lord Dudus Coke,” Christian Science Monitor, May 26, 2010.
Chapter 25
1. Mattathias Schwartz released the results of the Freedom of Information Act request on his website www.mattathiasschwartz.com.
2. Office of the Public Defender, Interim Report to Parliament, 34, Apr. 29, 2013.
3. Ibid., 243.
4. Paul Henry, “To Mom with love, your son Dudus,” Jamaica Observer, Sept. 25, 2011.
Part IV: He Who Holds the Word
Chapter 26
1. The Customs and Border Patrol provides statistics on its website, www.cbp.gov, under the headline “Southwest Border Unaccompanied Alien Children.”
2. Paul Vale, “Protests in Arizona Over Immigrant Children Show the Ugly Side of American Populism,” Huffington Post, July 16, 2014.
3. Elisha Fieldstadt and Phil Helsel, “Murrieta Protesters and Supporters Clash, With No Buses in Sight,” NBCNews, July 4, 2014.
4. “Children on the Run,” United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mar. 2014.
5. Ibid.
6. In January and February 2015, Mexico deported 25,069 Central Americans, double the number compared to the same months in 2014, according to figures published by Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Migración.
7. O. Henry, Cabbages and Kings, 147–148. New York: McClure, Phillips & Co, 1904.
Chapter 27
1. “Honduras: Internal Displacement in Brief,” Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, Dec. 31, 2013.
2. Homicide figures from the Honduran Violence Observatory at the Instituto Universitario en Democracia, Paz y Seguridad. New Orleans figure from FBI Uniform Crime Report.
3. Ibid.
Chapter 28
1. Stephen Braun and Paul Feldman, “Killings Related to Street Gangs Hit Record in ’87,” Los Angeles Times, Jan. 8, 1988.
2. Carlos Martinez and Jose Luis Sanz, “El Origen del Odio,” El Faro, Aug. 6, 2012.
3. These origins of the Mara are also covered in Samuel Logan, This is for the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS13, America’s Most Violent Gang (New York: HarperCollins, 2009).
4. Tony Rafael, The Mexican Mafia, (New York: Encounter Books, 2007), 32.
5. The fight is recounted in Carlos Martinez and Jose Luis Sanz, “El Origen del Odio,” El Faro, Aug. 6, 2012.
6. Figures from the L.A. County Sheriff Department.
Chapter 29
1. Figures from the L.A. County Sheriff Department.
Chapter 30
1. There are also some smaller additional sections in the prison, such as for inmates who have left the gangs and inmates who have to be separated, such as sex offenders.
2. Stories on that prison riot include, “Motín en centro penal deja tres muertos y 41 heridos,” La Tribuna (Honduras), Mar. 12, 2015.
3. Among robberies of heavy weapons from the Honduras army was the theft of 22 RPG launchers cited in, “Reportan robo de 22 lanzacohetes de unidad militar en Honduras,” Notimex, Feb. 7, 2012.
4. I covered this mass killing working in Nuevo Laredo for the Houston Chronicle. It happened on Oct. 8, 2004.
Chapter 32
1. The Salvadoran homicide figures are taken from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which are themselves taken from Policía Nacional Civil of El Salvador.
2. This anecdote is told in detail in Carlos Martinez and José Luis Sanz, “La nueva verdad sobre la tregua entre pandillas,” El Faro, September 11, 2012.
3. Ibid.
4. This point is made succinctly in “Why El Salvador has a pact with its gangsters,” The Economist, Feb. 2, 2014.
5. Oscar Martinez, “Making a Deal With Murderers,” New York Times, Oct. 5, 2013.
Part V: The Saint
Chapter 34
1. Widely quoted, including in Rocio Hernandez, “Territorio Sonoro,” El Universal, Feb. 21, 2009.
Chapter 35
1. Douglas Massey, Jacob Rugh, Karen Pren, The Geography of Undocumented Mexican Migration (Oakland: The University of California Press, 2010).
2. These two guerrillas are profiled in Luis Ramirez Sevilla, “Voces y memorias desde abajo: comunistas y guerrilleros en la historia official y presente del PRD,” Relaciones, June 18, 2006.
3. John Eldredge, “Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul” (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001.)
4. Ibid.
5. Mark Barna, “Mexican drug cartel co-opts ‘Wild at Heart’ message of local Christian author,” Colorado Springs Gazette, June 25, 2010.
Chapter 36
1. This case is detailed in my first book, El Narco: Inside Mexico’s Criminal Insurgency (New York: Bloomsbury, 2011), 29–31.
2. See note [War, 1, note 2].
Chapter 37
1. Confession of Mendez was on a video released by Mexico’s Federal Police in June 2011.
2. Published in La Voz de Michoacán, Nov. 22, 2006.
3. Rafael Rivera, “La Familia castiga y exhibe ladrones,” El Universal, Jan. 30, 2010.
Chapter 38
1. Megan Garber, “‘Pilot’s Salt’: The Third Reich Kept Its Soldiers Alert With Meth,” The Atlantic, May 31, 2013.
2. Advertisement depicted from California Medicine, in February 1970, reproduced in Nicholas Rasmussen, 2008 book On Speed: The Many Lives of Amphetamine (New York: New York University Press).
3. Seizure figures provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
4. Sari Horowitz, “U.S. Cities Become Hubs of Mexican Drug Cartels,” Washington Post, Nov. 3, 2012.
5. “What America’s Users Spend on Illegal Drugs,” Executive Office of the President of the United States, Office of National Drug Control Policy, June 2012.
Chapter 39
1. The last president who was a member of the Mexican military was Lázaro Cárdenas, a revolutionary general who ruled from 1934 to 1940. I am using the Mexican Revolution in the broader term, lasting until the return to civilian presidents in 1940.
2. Mexican Army records show the biggest deployment of troops was in 2011, with the 96,000 across the country. Also cited in “Calderón devolvió a 50% de la tropa a los cuarteles,” Milenio, Dec. 16, 2012.
3. Between 2009 and 2014, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) traced 73,684 guns seized from Mexican criminals to U.S. gun sellers, according to data published by ATF.
4. The 1 to 50, or 20 to 1000, ratio is stated in the US Army Field Manual, and widely cited, including in Steven M. Goode, “A Historical Basis for Force Requirements in Counterinsurgency,” Parameters, Winter 2009–10.
Chapter 41
1. Lyrics reproduced courtesy of Twins Music Group.
Chapter 42
1. Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia: The Business of Private Protection (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996), 3.
2. Rafael Rivera Millan, “Cae más del 50 por ciento exportación de mineral en LC,” Cambio de Michoacán, Jul. 4, 2014.
Chapter 43
1. International homicides in Michoacán are counted by the state police department and published by the Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública (SNSP).
2. Paul J. Vanderwood, Disorder and Progress: Bandits, Police, and Mexican Development (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1992), 32. There was also much vigilantism across the border in the U.S. during this period; see Richard Maxwell, Strain of Violence: Historical Studies of American Violence and Vigilantism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975).
3. “Executing Bandits in Mexico 854” and “Un Bandido colgado en el ed de Nay, Mex,” archive photos reproduced in “¡Vámonos a la Bola!”, Proceso, Edición Especial no. 31, Nov. 2010.
4. The Mexican 2010 census found 15.7 million indigenous people, based on the definition of one adult member of the household speaking an indigenous language or self-identifying as indigenous.
Chapter 44
1. Rosa Santana, “Cártel de Jaliscó armó a autodefensas: Murillo Karam,” Proceso, Jan. 30, 2014.
Chapter 45
1. Colleague Francisco Castellanos took a photo of the fallen man with the bazooka.
Chapter 47
1. Cartel Land was released at Sundance in 2015, directed by Matthew Heineman, with coproducer Myles Estey.
Chapter 48
1. From website www.anewyorkertravels.com in section “About Me.”
Part VI: Peace?
Chapter 49
1. There is still debate about the impact of Portugal’s reform, but the most convincing evidence suggests that the law has not had a major impact on the amount of drug use. A good overview of the debate and evidence is provided in Caitlin Hughes and Alex Stevens, “A resounding success or a disastrous failure: Re-examining the interpretation of evidence on the Portuguese decriminalization of illicit drugs,” Drug and Alcohol Review, vol. 31, Jan. 2012.
2. An annual Gallup poll shows a steady rise in support for marijuana legalization, with more than 50 percent in favor since 2014. Some other polls find more than 60 percent in favor.
3. I give a breakdown of these numbers and sources in my first book, El Narco: Inside Mexico’s Criminal Insurgency (New York: Bloomsbury, 2011), 282–283 and 137–146.
4. Kidnapping and homicide rates published by Mexico’s Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública.
Chapter 50
1. “Crime in Latin America: A Broken System,” The Economist, July 12, 2014.
2. “Impunity in Honduras Highest in Central America at 96,” Telesur, Dec. 2, 2014.
3. This point is made articulately by Joaquín Villalobos in “Bandidos, Estado y Ciudadanía,” Nexos, Jan. 1, 2015.
4. Among these projects is Transparent Candidate, by the Mexican chapter of Transparency Internationa
l.
The physical war on drugs. A soldier burns opium poppies in northwest Mexico.
(Fernando Brito)
Favela. Rocinha, climbing up the hills of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
(Ioan Grillo)
“The Teacher.” Red Commando founder William da Silva Lima in his apartment in Rio.
(Ioan Grillo)
“Every ghetto youth is a soldier.” A Shower Posse gunman poses in the apartments of the Tivoli Gardens garrison in Kingston, Jamaica.
(Ioan Grillo)
Community heroes? A mural in Tivoli Gardens, Kingston, remembers Shower Posse leader Jim Brown and a “fallen soldier.”
“Humanitarian crisis” on the border. Migrants, including many children, apprehended crossing the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.
(Kirsten Luce)
The war back home. Murder victim in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, the world’s most homicidal city for several years running.
(Ioan Grillo)
He Who Holds the Word. Marvin Gonzalez, leader of the Mara Salvatrucha in Ilopango, El Salvador, and advocate of the gang treaty.
