[.ca] El zar de la droga: La vida de un narcotraficante mexicano (ISBN 0966443012)

Right on the nose:
I had the privelege of living close to Ojinaga during the time Acosta was alive. I remember very vividly when he was shot on the other side of the border by Federal Agents. I had never met Acosta nor his direct enemies, but was acquainted with relatives of Arevelo's. I know his son and the book does not lie. This was every day life for the people of Ojinaga. It is run by druglords still to this day, but to the ignorant eye, you only see a run-down, dusty- almost surreal town of nothingness. Most border towns are gleaming with touristy shops and a bustling market. Not Ojinaga. Bulletholes are still in the side of the Bikini Bar in the Sqaure where a gunfight broke out between Acosta's men and his rival- Most roads are not even paved and Donkeys are a coomon site even in the downtown area. People still talk of him and how he helped the entire town- throwing parties- giving people money- helping out the needy. I read this book and it was almost like listening to Arevelo's son and other residents of O.J. tell me the stories before Poppa ever even wrote the book. Pablo Acosta was no glamour-big shot- He looked like the illegal alien you would see working illegally on a ranch in the hot sun of South Texas. Rough hands, sun-dried skin. I have seen pictures of him other than the book and the book depicts him perfectly. He was a genuine, deep rooted Mexican drug smuggler with nothing to prove other than the fact he knew how to get his drugs across the border and get paid for it. If you like mafia movies, books- if you are looking for genuine stories that depict real life- things you can almost relate to-- this is the book you need to get. It turns you on to the world of real life drug smuggling in Mexico-- The dirtiness of it. The everyday Mexican that turns from a nobody into a native hero and a foreign enemy.

GREAT READ:
This is an awesome read for true crime lovers. I could not put it down.

Excellent:
Great story that exposes the ugly corrupt symbiotic elationship between the mexican drug dealers and the corrupt police and army officials. It also carefullly documents the inevitable, reccurring results...Still, with all the access to Pablo Agosta you still feel you really don't know him -perhaps there really wasn't any 'there' there--it was all about power and getting high,and killing the opposition.. There are no heroes in this story, just a grim reality which leads you to the conclusion that the more things supposedly change, the more they remain the same---no solutions offered for that part of the mexican/ american economy living on fumes. . . Oddly enough,legalization (with appropriate controls/education/treament) might offer a long term solution-these stories will inevitably get worse, more violent, and corrupt the very institutions created to suppress the drug lords GOOD Story that should have been told long ago The end was foretold early in the book so there is little suspense at the end--not great writing, but great story

Excellent insight:
I first read Drug Lord, the Life and Death of a Mexican Kingpin, two years ago and was amazed by the amount of information the author was able to pack into the narrative without bogging it down. For me, it was like a journey through the looking glass, stepping into the distorted realities of a Mexico run by a perverse and frightening political system. I ended up sympathizing with Pablo Acosta, wishing he would save himself by giving up to the Americans. His misdeeds as a border drug trafficker were eclipsed by the ruthless system of government that exploited him. After reading Drug Lord, the stories I read about Mexico in the newspapers made so much more sense. I read the book again recently and was taken this time by the mature, vigorous and sometimes passionate prose. Some of the chapters are in fact brilliant short stories. It took a great deal of courage for an American journalist to explore this border underworld. Perhaps because of the dangers, no other American journalist that I know of has dared to repeat his noteworthy accomplishment. His work is a classic.

Druglord:
Druglord is the best biography that I have ever read. Poppa did a very good job describing the life of a Mexican drug dealer. This book was very sophisticated; it was hard for me to understand what he was trying to say. Poppa used very descriptive words and phrases such as Malice aforethought, and audacious. After reading this book, I realized that the audience is mainly adults. I never imagined drug trafficking being as big as it was or as big as Acosta was. When I read this book, I was surprised when the book revealed that Pablo moved over sixty tons of just cocaine alone every year that he was in business. Then it he said that he also dealt with Marijuana and Heroin. Another thing that just blew my mind was that he paid the Mexican Federal Police (The Judicials) for protection. Poppa was so well descriptive, I had pictures and scenes playing in my head about some of the drug deals and when the American Police were constantly chasing him when he was dealing here. Overall, this was a very good book. Nobody knows how often drug trafficking happened and how much money they used to make off of it. A month ago, there was a drug bust in Iowa and it sounded just like the way Pablo Acosta ran his faction. The man used planes just like Acosta, and was dealing the same amount that Acosta was but he was making more money because the price has gone up now. I would recommend this book to anyone that like challenging books.