As a biography, Drug Lord traces the life of Pablo Acosta Villarreal in the Rio Grande region of the United States and Mexico, south of the Texas Big Bend and Big Bend National Park, covering his early migrant life in the United State, his brushes with the law, and his arrest for heroin smuggling. The book documents the rise of violent drug trafficking organizations in Ojinaga, Mexico, across the Rio Grande from Presidio, Texas, and Pablo Acosta's eventual takeover as the drug baron of that city and the surrounding region. One of the major revelations of the book is the structured, franchise nature of organized crime in Mexico, and how it is shaped by the protection of federal and state police agencies and the Mexican military. According to the book, all these Mexican agencies received substantial revenues from protected crime groups, such as that of Pablo Acosta. Based on extensive interviews with Mexican drug insiders and American law enforcement, the book describes Acosta's smuggling methods and the investigations that led the United States to target him as a top narcotics kingpin. Drug Lord ends with a thrilling account of the attack on him at his hideout in a Rio Grande village, resulting in his violent death.
Pablo Acosta began his contraband career smuggling marijuana and heroin, but he became involved with the smuggling of cocaine shipped by air from Colombia to Ojinaga. His involvement represented a shift of Colombian cocaine smuggling from Florida to northern Mexico. Of additional importance is the revelation of the concept of "la plaza," the official zones of police authority in Mexico that become zones of protected activity for crime groups, such as that of Pablo Acosta.
"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 life by 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
