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    Drug Lord: A True Story: The Life and Death of a Mexican Kingpin
    Unavailable
    Drug Lord: A True Story: The Life and Death of a Mexican Kingpin
    Unavailable
    Drug Lord: A True Story: The Life and Death of a Mexican Kingpin
    Ebook451 pages7 hours

    Drug Lord: A True Story: The Life and Death of a Mexican Kingpin

    By Terrence E. Poppa and Charles Bowden

    5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    "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 powerand 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.



    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCinco Puntos Press
    Release dateNov 30, 2010
    ISBN9781935955009
    Unavailable
    Drug Lord: A True Story: The Life and Death of a Mexican Kingpin

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    Reviews for Drug Lord

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    • 5/5
      Accuracy. A very profound and professional investigative journalism.Clear and concise writing
    • 5/5
      I recently searched out this book after seeing Poppa and Charles Bowden interviewed in a late 90s PBS series about organized crime for the episode involving Mexico (Lords of the Mafia with Robert Stack).

      I've always been fascinated with organized crime and the underworld. I've read numerous books (and watched countless documentaries) about drug trafficking but I'd never heard much about Pablo Acosta. It seemed interesting enough. And the fact that Poppa had secured the only interview with Mr. Acosta (with Amado Carrillo Fuentes at times sitting in) down in ojinaga, I figured it'd be worth a quick glance. But I was definitely mistaken.

      I tend to have book ADD, especially when it comes to non fiction. I'll juggle countless books at a time because the dry subject matter loses my attention and I start to feel like I'm just reading off a list of names and places. For all her effort and doggedness which I respect, reading anabal hernandez left me feeling like I just got done browsing the phone book.

      Needless to say, I did not expect to finish this book before Spring, let alone within a week. Drug Lord is not only interesting but manages to be extremely engaging as well. Halfway through the book, I'm lamenting going to sleep because I don't want to wait 24 hours to find out what happens to a character I was introduced to 15 pages ago.

      Mr. Poppa has a knack for storytelling without over - doing it. He's able to tell the tale for what it is without some over arching agenda. Which is refreshing because way too many books dealing with similar subject matter end up using the story being told as an excuse to preach their unsolicited political agenda. Which the vast majority of the time ends up being blame America garbage. If I wanted to read Chomsky, I would have read Chomsky!

      Which makes this book that much more enjoyable. Poppa lets the story be the story and lets the reader decide how to think. And part of what made this read so enjoyable is that it forced me to really think. At times, I could identify with Acosta. It certainly made me wish drug trafficking could return to the "good old days." But at other times, I couldn't help but feel disappointed at the monster Acosta ended up becoming. The Pablo Acosta that left ojinaga certainly was not the same man that arrived there.

      If you're at all interested in the subject matter, definitely give this a read.

      1 person found this helpful