Terry Kirkpatrick - Sixty Miles of Border: An American Lawman Battles Drugs on the Mexican Border

SIXTY MILES
OF BORDER

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SIXTY MILES
OF BORDER

An American Lawman Battles
Drugs on the Mexican Border

TERRY KIRKPATRICK

BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

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This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

Copyright 2012 by Terry Kirkpatrick.

Cover photos: Shutterstock. Cover design by Gerry Todd.

Interior text design by Laura K. Corless.

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PUBLISHING HISTORY

Berkley trade paperback edition / July 2012

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kirkpatrick, Terry.

Sixty miles of border : an American lawman battles drugs on the Mexican border / Terry Kirkpatrick.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1-101-58112-4

1. Kirkpatrick, Terry. 2. U.S. Customs Service. Office of Investigations.
3. Drug controlMexican-American Border Region. 4. Drug trafficMexican-American
Border Region. 5. MarijuanaMexican-American Border Region. I. Title.

HV5831.M46K57 2012

363.45092dc23

[B]

2012001301

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Penguin is committed to publishing works of quality and integrity.

In that spirit, we are proud to offer this book to our readers;

however, the story, the experiences, and the words are the authors alone.

ALWAYS LEARNING

PEARSON

These are the true stories of federal narcotics investigations and operations in Arizona, Texas, and Mexico. The border of Arizona and Mexico is open and offers an opportunity for anyone to cross for any reason. This account is meant to shed some light on the life of narcotics agents, their dealings on the border, and the effect on their daily lives. It isnt intended to glorify the agents or make them out to be anything more than the crazy, dedicated characters who make up much of law enforcement.

Hundreds of special agents have passed through the border offices; some dont last six months before they beg for a transfer. The few who stay on the border proudly call themselves Border Rats. As a die-hard member of the Border Rat pack, I hope to put you in our boots and allow you to see the border through our eyes.

There is a thin line between sanity and insanity; on this job we learn to laugh at ourselves and others, just to stay on the right side of that line. No matter how awful the event, we always try to find an enlightening moment as a psychological means to keep from losing our minds. Being a true Irishman and loving a good story, Id often teach new agents with my own version of our deeds. Thats my goal here.

Every day, along the southwest border, agents face danger and unimaginable frustration. The events, characters, and antics are factual. These accounts are of the devoted U.S. Customs special agents who work the southwest border in Arizona and Texas, as well as of the notorious narcotics traffickers who have controlled and still control the Zone Norte of Mexico. The names of some of the special agents and the confidential informants have been changed to protect them. The names of the traffickers are real; some are still terrorizing Mexico.

SMUGGLING has occurred in Arizona since the 1800s. In one way or another, horses, cattle, people, liquor, birds, snakes, and narcotics have crossed the border going back to the time when the first railroad was built. In the days of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, cowboys were smoking opium. When opium was outlawed, the Chinese began smuggling it into the United States.

During the 1940s and 1950s, the Chicago mob hid out in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Pictures of Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger, and others were displayed on the wall of the Cavern restaurant.

Mexicans write songs of the traffickers exploits, making them sound like a kind of modern-day Robin Hood. Today, the government of Mexico is engulfed in a losing battle with the traffickers as the government seeks to retake control of the Narco Nation. The cartel groups are ruthless, violent beyond measure, and have left a trail of death in the border cities of Mexico. Its only a matter of time until the violence spreads into the United States. Some argue that with the deaths of local ranchers and the killing of a border patrol agent, it is already here.

Most quaint border towns in Mexico have a center square called the plaza; this was the traditional meeting place for residents on the weekend to gather, socialize, and listen to bands. The plaza is the heart of the town. The jefe de plaza, or boss of the plaza, is a trafficker who controls the border city. The cartels distribute drugs to the plaza boss, who distributes them to the local smugglers. The jefe de plaza bribes the mayor, federal and local police, and business leaders for political favors and immunity from arrest. Money is no object to the cartel bosses, who are listed in the Forbes 500 as some of the richest men in the world. They buy the best equipment available: guns, armored vehicles, encrypted communications, and aircraft.

The special agents of the U.S. Customs Service, Office of Investigations, are charged with the daunting task of deterring smuggling and arresting anyone who smuggles contraband across the border. The investigations, seizures, and arrests are seldom publicized. Publicity is the last thing the office and the agents want; being discreet enables us to do our job more effectively.

IT was a sticky, moonless summer night, darker than normal, perfect for drug smuggling. An old Vietnam veteran once told me there is a thin cloak between being the hunter and being the hunted. That thought kept going through my head as my partner, Tom, and I hugged the dirt on a border hillside. We had been creeping along when a sudden sound caused me to drag us both down to the ground.