La Brecha (The Gap)

 
I have always wondered how drug shipments make it to this small, northern Mexican town.  The town is located about forty five minutes south from the U.S.-Mexico border.  Proceed just a few miles further from here on the main highway and your commute is interrupted by a Mexican Army checkpoint.  All traffic must go through this checkpoint before heading further south into the rest of Mexico and, conversely, all commuters needing to travel up north must pass through it, too.  For those of you who have traveled by car to Mexico or Canada, you might be able to visualize what I'm trying to describe.  For those of you who have not, it reminds me of the pass lane on a tollway, but this tollway has flashing lights that light up green or red, soldiers with high caliber weapons, and parked humvies with huge machine guns.  Being well equipped is imperative to execute one of the checkpoint's primary missions; minimizing the flow of illegal weapons and drugs.  

During my Christmas break I accompanied a person I know well on some work related deliveries.  We headed south towards the checkpoint.  We slowed down, proceeded over the road bump, and the light lit green.  I turned over to the soldiers and they seemed preoccupied with day to day activities.  We continued to our destination just ten minutes past the military checkpoint and made our delivery.  As we continued back toward our origin,    we were discussing how traffickers were able to funnel drugs from deep in southern Mexico and other parts of Latin America to towns like ours and further north into the U.S. without being caught by the many military and non-military checkpoints.  He said that most of the drugs were passed via gaps or small, dirt roads that curve around checkpoints and other highly visible areas, known in Spanish as "brechas."  "You want to see the gap? You can get back home without going through the checkpoint." I accepted.

It was interesting.  We drove on a white, rocky, dirt road.  To either side, I remember passing large ranches filled with cows, horses, goats, and other animals and lots of green and colorful vegetation.  Some of these ranches are believed to be owned by rich narcos.  As we proceeded on, we unintentionally blocked a large group of people, presumably a large family, on horseback heading toward us.  We adjusted our positions and squeezed through.  The road zig-zagged to another nearby town that connected to the rest of the towns north of the checkpoint and just like that, we were back to our origin.  Easy.  I couldn't help but wonder why soldiers or police never stood watch over the gap.  Shortly after that, I wondered why I was wondering.

La Tiendita (The Little Store)

It was not my first time. I had been to "las tienditas" before, but this time, being there made a more significant impact on me than before. Tienditas is slang for secret locations, or stores, typically located in dark, half-paved, dirt roads where addicts and leisure users go to purchase drugs. These secret stores are usually run out of old, abandoned homes, enough space for two to three drug dealers and their contraband merchandise.

One night as we approached la tiendita, I was a little surprised to find that the location was easily visible and set in the corner of what seemed like a normal residential area. The street light was on and I could easily distinguish what was happening in front of me. A person wearing a dark, hooded sweatshirt and jeans walked away calmly from the car in front of us. He had just presumably sold something. The driver we were with slowly accelerated forward, turned the headlights off, and put the vehicle in park. The hooded man came to me because I was sitting in the front passenger side nearest him. I had no idea what to order so I turned to the driver and he blurted out, "Una paloma, primo." A paloma is slang for a small, square-shaped zip lock bag enough for three to five lines of cocaine. So far, this was not what made an impact on me. As the hooded man searched for the "right" tiny sized baggy, he and the passenger seated behind and to the left of me started having a conversation as if they were long friends. They started to joke about girls and laughed out loud.

By the way, I do not take drugs, but I obviously know people who do. Continuing on...

I was amazed. I started to ask myself, "Did this really happen? Are these guys actually having a conversation that one might have with a real, normal friend? Do the people I'm with really frequent these places like a normal loyal customer might frequent their favorite ice cream shop?" I kept quiet, of course. In my previous experience, I remember going in, paying, and leaving. No conversations took place. No one laughed. We went for what we needed to and left without saying more than what we needed to say. We placed our order, paid, and left.

Another surprising thing is that as we left our hooded "friend," less than half a block away, the homes situated there seemed legit and normal, but no lights seemed to be visible from within. I wondered whether normal families actually lived there. I don't remember seeing any cars parked in front, but its normal not to own a car in many towns in northern Mexico. I thought about how I would feel if I had no choice but to let individuals sell illicit merchandise half a block where my kids play during the day. I thought about what might happen if the home owners alerted police. I got a feeling that law enforcement may be aware of these illicit activities since these drug gangs feel comfortable enough to set up shop near potentially, inhabited homes.

El Tigrillo

When the local police needs help they call El Tigrillo. Sources that I know well explained what happened when six individuals were arrested for fighting a month ago. The officers took the individuals to the police station and phoned El Tigrillo for orders. "We arrested six men for fighting. Should we let them go or keep them overnight? What should we do?," said one of the officers. His response, "Wait until I get there." My sources proceeded to tell me that three out of the six persons were released because one of El Tigrillo's girlfriends is related to them. The other three were forced to spend the night in jail and were beaten by narco henchmen as punishment.

El Tigrillo is a young, twenty-something year old womanizer who never leaves the proximity of his recent model truck. He is also the supposed narco in charge of five towns, including the one I stay in. Narcos in this area are reluctant to stray far away from their transportation because they need to be ready to evade the scene when necessary and must be ready to carry out orders when called in for duty.

I find this very fascinating. Entire towns are run by young adults and adolescents in their early teens, mostly from outside of the area and other states. At their age, I was in high school trying to determine what college to go to. They drive luxurious late model cars and trucks with pitch black tinted windows. Their car windows are so dark that even in broad daylight, the vehicle might as well be driven by a ghost because I can barely tell someone is inside. These youngsters drive with a vengeance: running red lights and weaving through traffic. Earlier this afternoon, I saw a black late model truck with tinted windows drive through a red light all the while a police truck stood just a few hundred feet away.

Narco Clandestino's Purpose

For some time now, I have contemplated creating a blog about what I see and hear related to drug trafficking activity in and around my parents home town in the northern part of Coahuila, Mexico. Corruption is commonplace. Bars, clubs, restaurants, casino's and other establishments have been built to facilitate money laundering. The local government and police force regularly assist drug trafficking leadership by alerting them when Mexican Soldiers are in the area or by turning a blind eye to suspicious, and sometimes blatantly illegal, activity.

I want to help combat drug trafficking and, for now, this blog will have to do, for whatever its worth. I want to provide frequent information about the things you might not read about in newspapers or see on television. I want to provide you with my own experiences.

Much of the information that I will write about may be difficult to prove and, at times, I may not have any evidence at all to support what I write about. Much of what I write about may be based on pure opinion and rumors. Either way, I hope you find my blog informational and, hopefully, inspirational so that you may share your own experiences, too.