Meeting some Cartel members

Like those never-ending vines that entrap everything in their way, its branches were like veins within the U.S. and were believed to lead back to Mexico’s drug-trafficking heartland, to Victor Emilio Cazares, said to be a top lieutenant of Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman, the most wanted trafficker in the world. From his mansion outside Culiacan, Cazares allegedly oversaw the network of smugglers, distributors, truckers, pilots and stash house operators.

Other DEA investigations had targeted Mexican cartels, but this one, dubbed “Operation Imperial Emperor,” was providing the most complete picture of how drugs moved from Sinaloa to U.S. streets.

DEA officials were in no hurry to wrap it up. In fact, they were holding off on arrests so they could continue to study the supply chain and identify new suspects. Imperial Emperor would eventually result in hundreds of arrests, the seizure of tens of millions of dollars in drugs and money, and the indictment of Cazares which is of course the ending to every Hollywood made drug film.

 It would also reveal a disheartening truth: The cartel’s U.S. distribution system was bigger and more resilient than anyone had imagined, a spider web connecting dozens of cities, constantly regenerating and expanding. Indeed more infrastructure ready than even Mexico.

As a U.S. Marine in Fallujah, Iraq, Lopez had dodged mortar fire; navigated roads mined with explosives and received a commendation for leadership. Back home in El Centro, he couldn’t even get work reading meters for the local irrigation district. Unfortunately that’s how it is for the returning veterans of hard-fought wars, yet Lopez, who had two children to support, knew another industry was always hiring.

One of the Sinaloa cartel’s main pipelines runs through the antiquated U.S. port of entry at Calexico, a favorite of smugglers. The inspection station sits almost directly on the border, without the usual buffer zone of several hundred feet, so inspectors have difficulty examining cars in the approach lanes. Drug-sniffing dogs wilt in summer heat that can reach 115 degrees.

California’s southeastern corner, a region of desert dunes and agricultural fields with the highest unemployment rate in the state, offered fertile ground for cartel recruiting which also supported human trafficking. These were erstwhile arteries that eventually fed the veins.

Smugglers were your next-door neighbor, the guy ringing you up at Wal-Mart, the big tipper at Applebee’s, the old friend at your high school reunion.

Lopez was friends with a man named Sergio Kaiser, who had married into his family. Kaiser said he owned a body shop, but his tastes seemed too flamboyant for that. He was building a house with a grand staircase modeled on the mansion in the film “Scarface.”

In reality, Kaiser was Cuevas’ top lieutenant, and he told Lopez he could help him with his money troubles. There were several possibilities. For a night’s work driving a load car from Mexicali to Los Angeles, a driver shared $5,000 with his recruiter and got to keep the car.

Another entry-level position was as a lookout. One kind of lookout followed the load car from the stash house in Mexicali to the border. Another stood watch at the port of entry and reported when the car had cleared customs. Yet another tailed the load car up the freeway to Los Angeles.

Being a veteran, father of two Lopez, who had children to support, was not going to fail. Lopez accepted Kaiser’s offer. Being a lookout was harmless, he figured: Just stand there and watch a car cross the border. “[He] didn’t say it involved drugs, but I knew,” Lopez said. “I thought, ‘What’s the big deal?’“

Wrap-up tomorrow; again, thanks to STRATFOR for their invaluable information.