Langton - Dead biker: inside the violent world of the Mexican drug cartels

Dead Biker

Inside the Violent World of the Mexican Drug Cartels

Jerry Langton

Dead Biker : Inside the Violent World of the Mexican Drug Cartels
Copyright 2012 by Jerry Langton

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Originally published by John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. in both print and EPub editions: 2012

First published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd in this EPub edition: 2013

First HarperCollins Publishers Ltd EPub Edition JULY 2013 ISBN: 9781443427227

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DISCLAIMER: What follows is an attempt to describe outlaw motorcycle gang and organized crime life by using composite characters and fictional events that do not represent real people.

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Also by Jerry Langton

Biker: Inside the Notorious World of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang
Fallen Angel: The Unlikely Rise of Walter Stadnick and the Canadian Hells Angels
Fighter: The Unauthorized Biography of Georges St-Pierre, UFC Champion
Gangland: The Rise of the Mexican Drug Cartels from El Paso to Vancouver
Outlaw Biker: The Russian Connection
Rage: The True Story of a Sibling Murder
Showdown: How the Outlaws, Hells Angels and Cops Fought for Control of the Streets

Acknowledgments

After three books, several years, a number of countries, dozens of adventures, and countless close scrapes, Ned Crash Aiken has finally finished his long journey. Of course, he could not have made it had he not been assisted by an incredible team.

The obvious person to thank is Don Loney, everyone's favorite editor and bluesman. Without Don, I couldn't put two words together with any level of confidence. After him, the guy to thank would be Brian Will, who keeps everything running.

It would be inconceivable not to thank Robert Harris, who somehow took a proposal to record a biker cop's memoirs and made it into a fictional account of what it's like to be a biker. And, of course, I have to thank my agent and best pal, BG Dilworth, who (in his distinctive Southern drawl) told me: Y'all ought to make this a seriesy'know, write a sequel or two.

Others who deserve thanks after working on the book include slick marketers Erin Kelly and the formidable Robin Dutta-Roy, managing editor Alison Maclean (who said the nicest thing I have ever heard about my writing), production editor Jeremy Hanson-Finger, and cover designer Adrian So for his usual awesome job.

Of course, Ned's adventures would not have been possible if it were not for the brave efforts of the journalists, police officers, lawyers, and others I have spoken with. They allowed me to get a much better understanding of how organized crime works in Mexico and Eastern Europe and how it affects us in North America.

I also must thank Leta Potter because it would be dangerous not to.

Finally, I have to thank my familyTonia, Damian and Hewittfor all their patience and suggestions.

Chapter One

Ned's heart sank when he saw the cops at the corner. The police had set up a random checkpoint just a few feet from where he was stuck in traffic, and he hadn't seen it until it was too late. As they had all over Mexico, including his dusty and slow-moving new hometown of Nogales, just south of the Arizona border, police regularly stopped cars, checked IDs, and searched for contraband. Ned was trapped. Traffic behind him wouldn't let him back up, and he couldn't make a U-turn on the narrow street. Facing up to the police was inevitable. And cops in Mexico are not like cops in the United States.

The roadblocks were officially part of a massive government crackdown on drug trafficking, but everyone in Nogalesmaybe all of Mexicoknew that most of the time the cops were just looking for opportunities to shake you down for cash or iPods or cell phones or anything else they might want to keep or sell.

At least these guys were Federales, the national cops, Ned thought to himself. The state police were a lot worse. Unkempt and uneducated, those guys very rarely made any pretense about not being crooks, stealing everything that wasn't nailed down, and demanding bribes at the same time. Ned had heard the Sonora state cops were paid about $95 a week, and since expenses were about the same as they were across the border, he wasn't at all surprised they weren't exactly professionaland had their hands out at every opportunity. At least the Federales made an attempt to look like they were something more than just a gang. They almost always took bribes, but at least they usually didn't threaten you or rummage through your car for valuables.

Ned slowed and watched as the cops searched the car in front of him. He saw a few hundred pesos change hands and the pissed-off driver speed away. As the cops waved him over, Ned noticed a couple of things out of the ordinary. One of them had a goatee, which he knew was against Federale policy, and two of them were carrying AK-47 assault rifles, which he knew the Federales did not issue.

Ned had heard that members of the big drug cartels would sometimes wear police uniforms to make it easier to get away with major crimes like kidnapping and murder. He had also heard that it was them, and not the government, who really ran things in Mexico, but that they rarely bothered anyone who was not involved in the drug trade. And for the first time in his adult life, Ned was not.

He had started in high school. Fed up with authority and looking at a bleak future, Ned decided to take the easy way out. He started selling drugs, eventually becoming a full-patch member of the Sons of Satan motorcycle gang. After a huge police raid brought many of them down, Ned saved himself from a long prison sentence by ratting on his former brothers.

The FBI put him in the witness-protection program, but he just couldn't stay away from the easy money and the adrenaline rush of crime. Some friends from work hooked him up with a branch of the Russian mafia. Ned enjoyed the work and the people, but when the stakes got too high, and he knew that some very important people wanted to see him dead, he escaped again, this time to Mexico.