El Capitan: A Drug Trafficking Memoir

February 2012 I was running out of places that the United States Justice Department would not harass me in some way or the other. The Drug Enforcement Agency was unclear as to the degree of my knowledge of the marijuana trade between Mexico and the United States. Marijuana trafficking from Mexico to every corner of the United States is a massive business. Estimates range between $ 2 Billion to $ 20 Billion annually.
I have spent the last decade of my life exploring the Marijuana trade from the lowest level dealer to the kingpins of the cartels, who have taken me into the mountains of Mexico, a world of its own. I do not condone any violence committed on behalf of this trade, which I feel can be avoided through different U.S. policy. The majority of the severe violent crime is on the Mexican side of the border, fueled by demand in the U.S.A. for a relatively harmless drug.
Some of the people in this book will have their names changed in order to protect the personal wellbeing of themselves and their families. Some people mentioned will be the actual individuals as they have already been arrested by the Federal Government and are serving prison terms.
My journey began on the central west coast of Florida. I was working on a charter fishing boat for a friendly mild mannered man. One day out of the blue he asked the question "Do you know any one who can move any quantity of marijuana?" A few individuals came to mind. That question sparked a decade of meeting the most colorful as well as some of the darkest people on both sides of the law. "Do I know any one?" I do now whether I like it or not.