The Power of the Dog
Encyclopedia
The Power of the Dog is a 2005 crime/thriller novel by Don Winslow
, based on the DEA
's involvement with the War on Drugs
. The book was published after six years of writing and research by the author.
Art Keller, through tenacity, skilled experience, and what he once thought of as luck, positions himself as a strategic piece in the DEA's war on drugs. His career really begins in a boxing ring, where he is pummeled a great deal, forced to use every skill he has, engage his tactical mind in order to survive, and still loses the three-round bout. But from the blood, pain and street-wise cunning, it appears that he has won the real match, but he's still one step behind in the greater game.
The next 29 years his life is a repeat of that sparring match. In a high powered story of political forces, and brutal mentalities, Art Keller attempts to do his job, while not becoming a victim of his obsessions. Following Keller and the other characters of this novel, Don Winslow positions us as witnesses to tremendous crimes, and horrific destruction, while listening to members of both sides of this 'war' declare victory and prosperity from the engagements that leave towns destroyed and families murdered.
While The Power of the Dog is a novel, the tremendous effort in historic and cultural research by the author is very evident.
poppy
fields of the Mexican state of Sinaloa
burn. The burning is done in preference to the use of Agent Orange
. Keller has just begun his career as a DEA
agent, coming over from operative work with the CIA, and a veteran of Viet Nam's Phoenix Program
.
Keller tells us that though there are similarities, this isn't Operation Phoenix
but Operation Condor
.
Keller's career looks like it might end before it begins, until he works his way into the friendship of the Barrera brothers and Miguel Angel Barrera, referred to us as Tío (meaning Uncle/Valued Elder Patron). Tío sets it up so that Don Pedro Aviles, the main drug lord of Sinaloa
, is assassinated, while giving Art Keller the credit for the drug lord's death during an arrest. Tío then leads the Sinaloa heroin traffickers into the modern age as the cartel's new leader.
's War on Drugs
and various aspects of Operation Condor
.
Adan Barrera appears to be a composite character. He is referred to as the "Lord of the Skies" a title given to Amado Carrillo Fuentes
, while his character is also portrayed as part of the brother team which was responsible for the shooting death of Father Parada, which the Arellano brothers were part of with the death of Cardinal Posadas.
Other characters appear to be composites of the main drug cartel leaders of the Sinaloa
area. These include: Ernesto "Don Neto" Fonseca
, Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
, Rafael Caro Quintero
, El Güero Palma, Amado Carrillo Fuentes
, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, Joaquín "Chapo" Guzmán, Luis Gerardo Vazquez , Manuel Salcido Auzeta (a.k.a. Cochi Loco) and the Arellano Félix brothersy Bruno Alvarado.
Father Parada is probably a composite character. His death is based on the death of Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo, but the allusions to Chiapas
and Liberation Theology
remind strongly of bishop Samuel Ruiz
.
Mickey Featherstone
and other prominent members of the Westies of Hell's Kitchen also lend several composite aspects to fictional characters of the book, such as Callan, Mickey, and O-Bop.
Colonel Scott Craig, a Vietnam-era acquaintance of Keller's who is seen off-loading cocaine at Ilopongo airport and later becomes an "American folk hero, a media darling" during the Senate Iran-Contra hearings, is apparently intended to suggest Oliver North
.
Portrayal of the Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio
's murder in Tijuana on March 23, 1994.
Aspects and some of the resolutions of the Cristero War
are mentioned.
Big Paulie Calabrese and his murder is to suggest that assassination of Paul Castellano, outside of the Sparks Steak House in New York City
, Medellín
and Norte del Valle
cartels in Colombia
, and the Juarez
, Tijuana
, Sonora
and Tamaulipas cartels in Mexico
.
The Mexican cartels are primarily drug trafficking organizations that transport cocaine for the larger, more powerful Colombian and Peruvian Cartels. The United States invaded Panama
in 1989 to remove from power strongman General Manuel Noriega
who was allegedly involved with Colombian and Mexican drug cartels, most actively involved with the Medellín Cartel
, the most infamous and notorious drug cartel in history. The Medellín Cartel
was headed by the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar
.
The main organized drug cartels deal primarily with the most compact (thus easy to smuggle) and profitable substances cocaine
, heroin, MDMA (ecstasy), and methamphetamine
, and it is these that are the primary focus of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration
. Large-scale manufactured illegal drugs also induce the foundation of satellite organizations that supply some of the most important needed chemical precursors.
, a style which Chalino Sánchez
is famous for.
The book mentions Sinaloa's Saint as well. According to legend Jesús Malverde
was a thief who robbed the rich to give to the poor. He was hung in 1909 by Sinaloa's governor. But the legend of this bandit's defiance and style of justice was passed along through corridos which helped turn him into a people's saint.
Don Winslow
Don Winslow is an American author most recognized for his crime and mystery novels. Many of his books are set in California. He has published a series of five novels that have a private investigator named Neal Carey as their main character...
, based on the DEA
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
's involvement with the War on Drugs
War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
. The book was published after six years of writing and research by the author.
Art Keller, through tenacity, skilled experience, and what he once thought of as luck, positions himself as a strategic piece in the DEA's war on drugs. His career really begins in a boxing ring, where he is pummeled a great deal, forced to use every skill he has, engage his tactical mind in order to survive, and still loses the three-round bout. But from the blood, pain and street-wise cunning, it appears that he has won the real match, but he's still one step behind in the greater game.
The next 29 years his life is a repeat of that sparring match. In a high powered story of political forces, and brutal mentalities, Art Keller attempts to do his job, while not becoming a victim of his obsessions. Following Keller and the other characters of this novel, Don Winslow positions us as witnesses to tremendous crimes, and horrific destruction, while listening to members of both sides of this 'war' declare victory and prosperity from the engagements that leave towns destroyed and families murdered.
While The Power of the Dog is a novel, the tremendous effort in historic and cultural research by the author is very evident.
Plot summary
The novel begins in 1975 with the main character Art Keller watching the opiumOpium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
poppy
Poppy
A poppy is one of a group of a flowering plants in the poppy family, many of which are grown in gardens for their colorful flowers. Poppies are sometimes used for symbolic reasons, such as in remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime....
fields of the Mexican state of Sinaloa
Sinaloa
Sinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales....
burn. The burning is done in preference to the use of Agent Orange
Agent Orange
Agent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth...
. Keller has just begun his career as a DEA
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
agent, coming over from operative work with the CIA, and a veteran of Viet Nam's Phoenix Program
Phoenix Program
The Phoenix Program |phoenix]]) was a controversial counterinsurgency program designed, coordinated, and executed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency , United States special operations forces, and the Republic of Vietnam's security apparatus during the Vietnam War that operated...
.
Keller tells us that though there are similarities, this isn't Operation Phoenix
Phoenix Program
The Phoenix Program |phoenix]]) was a controversial counterinsurgency program designed, coordinated, and executed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency , United States special operations forces, and the Republic of Vietnam's security apparatus during the Vietnam War that operated...
but Operation Condor
Operation Condor
Operation Condor , was a campaign of political repression involving assassination and intelligence operations officially implemented in 1975 by the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America...
.
Keller's career looks like it might end before it begins, until he works his way into the friendship of the Barrera brothers and Miguel Angel Barrera, referred to us as Tío (meaning Uncle/Valued Elder Patron). Tío sets it up so that Don Pedro Aviles, the main drug lord of Sinaloa
Sinaloa
Sinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales....
, is assassinated, while giving Art Keller the credit for the drug lord's death during an arrest. Tío then leads the Sinaloa heroin traffickers into the modern age as the cartel's new leader.
Characters in "The Power of the Dog"
- Art Keller
- Father Parada
- Nora Hayden
- Sean Callan
- Sal Scachi
- Adán Barrera
- Raul Barrera
- Miguel Angel Barrera
- Güero Mendéz
- O-Bop
- Peaches
- Little Peaches
- Paulie Calabrese
Locations
- ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
: CaliSantiago de CaliSantiago de Cali , simply referred to as Cali, is a city in western Colombia and the capital of the Valle del Cauca Department. With a population of 2.5 million, Cali is the third largest city in the country. It has one of the fastest growing economies and infrastructure in the country because...
and MedellínMedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
. - El SalvadorEl SalvadorEl Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
; HondurasHondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
. - MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
: Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
; CuliacánCuliacánCuliacán is a city in northwestern Mexico, the largest city in the state of Sinaloa as well as its capital and capital of the municipality of Culiacán. With 675,773 inhabitants in the city , and 858,638 in the municipality, it is the largest city in the state of Sinaloa...
, SinaloaSinaloaSinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales....
; GuadalajaraGuadalajara, JaliscoGuadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
; SonoraSonoraSonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
; TijuanaTijuanaTijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, Baja CaliforniaBaja CaliforniaBaja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
; US Mexico BorderUnited States–Mexico borderThe United States–Mexico border is the international border between the United States and Mexico. It runs from Imperial Beach, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, in the west to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas, in the east, and traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from major...
. - United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
: San DiegoSan Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
; El PasoEl Paso, TexasEl Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
; Hell's KitchenHell's Kitchen, ManhattanHell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton and Midtown West, is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City between 34th Street and 59th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River....
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
; Anza-Borrego DesertAnza-Borrego Desert State ParkAnza-Borrego Desert State Park is a state park located within the Colorado Desert of Southern California. The park takes its name from 18th century, Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and borrego, the Spanish word for bighorn sheep...
and Borrego SpringsBorrego Springs, CaliforniaBorrego Springs is a census-designated place in San Diego County, California. The population was 3,429 at the 2010 census, up from 2,535 at the 2000 census. Many residents are seasonal while others remain year round...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
; Barrio LoganLogan Heights, San Diego, CaliforniaLogan Heights is a neighborhood in central San Diego, California. It is bordered by Interstate 5 on the south and west, Interstate 15 on the east, and Imperial Avenue on the north.-History:...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
The Power of the Dog starts in 1975 and follows the DEADrug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
's War on Drugs
War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
and various aspects of Operation Condor
Operation Condor
Operation Condor , was a campaign of political repression involving assassination and intelligence operations officially implemented in 1975 by the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America...
.
Adan Barrera appears to be a composite character. He is referred to as the "Lord of the Skies" a title given to Amado Carrillo Fuentes
Amado Carrillo Fuentes
Amado Carrillo Fuentes , was a Mexican drug lord who seized control of the Juárez Cartel after assassinating his boss Rafael Aguilar Guajardo. Amado Carrillo became known as "El Señor de Los Cielos" because of the large fleet of jets he used to transport drugs...
, while his character is also portrayed as part of the brother team which was responsible for the shooting death of Father Parada, which the Arellano brothers were part of with the death of Cardinal Posadas.
Other characters appear to be composites of the main drug cartel leaders of the Sinaloa
Sinaloa
Sinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales....
area. These include: Ernesto "Don Neto" Fonseca
Ernesto Fonseca
Ernesto Fonseca, also known as "El Lobito" and "The Fonz", was a professional Motocross and Supercross racer from Costa Rica.-Background:Born on September 3, 1981 in San José, Costa Rica, Fonseca began riding dirt bikes at the age of 5. At 12 years old, his natural talent had led him to the United...
, Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo is a convicted Mexican drug lord known as "El Padrino" who in the 1980s formed the Guadalajara Cartel and became the first drug czar in Mexico to control all illegal drug traffic in Mexico and the corridors along the Mexico-U.S.A...
, Rafael Caro Quintero
Rafael Caro Quintero
Rafael Caro Quintero is an incarcerated Mexican drug lord born in La Noria, Badiraguato, Sinaloa. Quintero was a co-founder, with Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, of the Guadalajara Cartel and Sonora Cartel. Upon of the cartels' disintegration, its leaders were incorporated mostly into the Tijuana...
, El Güero Palma, Amado Carrillo Fuentes
Amado Carrillo Fuentes
Amado Carrillo Fuentes , was a Mexican drug lord who seized control of the Juárez Cartel after assassinating his boss Rafael Aguilar Guajardo. Amado Carrillo became known as "El Señor de Los Cielos" because of the large fleet of jets he used to transport drugs...
, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, Joaquín "Chapo" Guzmán, Luis Gerardo Vazquez , Manuel Salcido Auzeta (a.k.a. Cochi Loco) and the Arellano Félix brothersy Bruno Alvarado.
Father Parada is probably a composite character. His death is based on the death of Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo, but the allusions to Chiapas
Chiapas
Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...
and Liberation Theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
remind strongly of bishop Samuel Ruiz
Samuel Ruiz
Samuel Ruiz García was a Mexican Roman Catholic prelate who served as bishop of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, from 1959 until 2000. This zone in Mexico is characterized by its poverty and its indigenous population...
.
Mickey Featherstone
Mickey Featherstone
Francis T. "Mickey" Featherstone is a former Irish American mobster and member of the Westies, an organized crime syndicate from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan in New York City, led by Jimmy Coonan. Featherstone committed several mob killings before he was convicted in 1986 of a murder he had not...
and other prominent members of the Westies of Hell's Kitchen also lend several composite aspects to fictional characters of the book, such as Callan, Mickey, and O-Bop.
Colonel Scott Craig, a Vietnam-era acquaintance of Keller's who is seen off-loading cocaine at Ilopongo airport and later becomes an "American folk hero, a media darling" during the Senate Iran-Contra hearings, is apparently intended to suggest Oliver North
Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, political commentator, host of War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News Channel, a military historian, and a New York Times best-selling author....
.
Portrayal of the Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio
Luis Donaldo Colosio
Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta was a Mexican politician, and PRI presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tijuana during the Mexican Presidential campaign of 1994.-Political history:...
's murder in Tijuana on March 23, 1994.
Aspects and some of the resolutions of the Cristero War
Cristero War
The Cristero War of 1926 to 1929 was an uprising and counter-revolution against the Mexican government in power at that time. The rebellion was set off by the strict enforcement of the anti-clerical provisions of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 and the expansion of further anti-clerical laws...
are mentioned.
Big Paulie Calabrese and his murder is to suggest that assassination of Paul Castellano, outside of the Sparks Steak House in New York City
Drug cartels
The best known recent drug cartels have been the CaliCali Cartel
The Cali Cartel was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca Department. The Cali Cartel was founded by the Rodríguez Orejuela brothers, Gilberto and Miguel, as well as associate José Santacruz Londoño...
, Medellín
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel was an organized network of "drug suppliers and smugglers" originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The drug cartel operated in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Central America, the United States, as well as Canada and Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded and...
and Norte del Valle
Norte del Valle Cartel
The Norte del Valle Cartel, or North Valley Cartel, is a drug cartel that operates principally in the north of the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia...
cartels in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, and the Juarez
Juárez Cartel
The Juárez Cartel , also known as the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, is a Mexican drug cartel based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, across the border from El Paso, Texas...
, Tijuana
Tijuana Cartel
The Tijuana Cartel is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana. The cartel has been described as "one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico"...
, Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
and Tamaulipas cartels in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
The Mexican cartels are primarily drug trafficking organizations that transport cocaine for the larger, more powerful Colombian and Peruvian Cartels. The United States invaded Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
in 1989 to remove from power strongman General Manuel Noriega
Manuel Noriega
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno is a Panamanian politician and soldier. He was military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989.The 1989 invasion of Panama by the United States removed him from power; he was captured, detained as a prisoner of war, and flown to the United States. Noriega was tried on...
who was allegedly involved with Colombian and Mexican drug cartels, most actively involved with the Medellín Cartel
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel was an organized network of "drug suppliers and smugglers" originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The drug cartel operated in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Central America, the United States, as well as Canada and Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded and...
, the most infamous and notorious drug cartel in history. The Medellín Cartel
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel was an organized network of "drug suppliers and smugglers" originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The drug cartel operated in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Central America, the United States, as well as Canada and Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded and...
was headed by the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar
Pablo Escobar
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was a Colombian drug lord. He was an elusive cocaine trafficker and rich and successful criminal. He owned numerous luxury residences, automobiles, and even airplanes...
.
The main organized drug cartels deal primarily with the most compact (thus easy to smuggle) and profitable substances cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, heroin, MDMA (ecstasy), and methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
, and it is these that are the primary focus of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
. Large-scale manufactured illegal drugs also induce the foundation of satellite organizations that supply some of the most important needed chemical precursors.
Social References
Several times the novel mentions the type of music known as CorridoCorrido
The corrido is a popular narrative song and poetry form, a ballad, of Mexico. The songs are often about oppression, history, daily life for peasants, and other socially important information. It is still a popular form today, and was widely popular during the Mexican Revolution and Nicaraguan...
, a style which Chalino Sánchez
Chalino Sánchez
Rosalino "Chalino" Sánchez was a Mexican singer and songwriter.-Early life:Born and raised in a poor family on a ranch called "Las Flechas", Badiraguato, Sinaloa, Mexico. His father was Santos Sánchez and his mother Sannorina Felix. He had seven siblings: Armando, Lázaro, Régulo, Lucas,...
is famous for.
The book mentions Sinaloa's Saint as well. According to legend Jesús Malverde
Jesus Malverde
Jesús Malverde, sometimes known as the "generous bandit", "angel of the poor", or the "narco-saint", is a folklore hero in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. He is celebrated as a folk saint by some in Mexico and the United States, particularly among those involved in drug trafficking, but he is not...
was a thief who robbed the rich to give to the poor. He was hung in 1909 by Sinaloa's governor. But the legend of this bandit's defiance and style of justice was passed along through corridos which helped turn him into a people's saint.