As a teenager Teresa met an older a guy in his 20s and they became a couple, and she slowly got involved in his trade which was transporting South America cocaine into Mexico in route to the United States.
I original met the young women we will refer to as “Teresa” in 2015 in Xalisco, Nayarit. At first meeting we she was reserved but perceptive. As I went on to learn this was a characteristic which put her in many of the positions which we discussed years later.
Teresa had grown up in Xalisco, Nayarit which is a small town that serves as a passage between the states southern tourist rich Bahia Banderas district and the states northern rural farming communities. Tepic, the capital of the state Nayarit is many times referred to by locals as big 'rancho' rather than a capital of a state.
Tepic is the size and has about the same population as Anaheim, California, so although its fairly large to be described as a 'rancho', its is somehow integrated in such a way that everyone knows everyone.
As she explained, “well, what I did was gather a group of about 30 girls to go to these expos, like trade exhibits between countries. They were in Costa Rica, and as far Panama. We would have like a private bus take us to the exhibits. We would offer products of Nayarit but it wasnt what we sold that was important, it was what we came back with.”
A sophisticated operation that involved a transportation route that would bypass checkpoints with simple payoffs at different levels to government and underworld officials which would use the girls as eye candy and bait as millions of dollars of cocaine would be transported through Central America on its way to Nayarit and to its final destination point through the 'frontera' into Chicago, Illinois where it would be distributed through the US base channels developed through various Mexican, and Aryan gangs.
To my shock and surprise, millions on dollars of cocaine was transported through bus lines occupied by groups of happy che
ering girls, bypassed check point after check point. I asked about any fear she may have felt, which she responded comfortably,”Maybe because I was young and I didnt understand things as much, but I was sure that I would not have problems, I knew that the way it was setup, it had been operated through the right channels because there was a lot of money involved and I trusted my boyfriend, he had some influential friends..”
She had started when she was just 17, “it was fun, they paid us well and we werent required to do anything we didnt want to.”
I asked her if she knew she was sitting on top of millions of dollars of cocaine and how that made her feel, her responds was very matter affect, “well it wasnt mine and I didnt think it was to be touched, so it did not concern me at all, I wasnt worried nor did it make me feel anxious. It wasnt my business, the bottom of that bus was the luggage of passengers, it had the same effect.”
As far as witnessing violence Teresa said it was minimal, there was an occasion fight but nothing serious. “Everyone knows that this type of business can be dangerous and violent, I know that there is violence involved, but we were making official trips as agents of Mexico to professional expos like conventions and business conferences. I know some people imagine a warehouse with guys with machine guns but these were professional business places, its not whats in the movies.”
By 2010 Teresa was no longer involved in the trips south of border and in 2012 Teresa's boyfriend was assassinated as she assumes by the some of the people which he had worked for. It seemed though the drug transport business was flourishing and over the years he had made the connections and was working as free agent as a carrier. This did not sit well with some of the people that he had originally been in business with, and since he did not present them a share of his earnings from his side of the work, they saw that as a threat to their business.
As Teresa
explained, each guy or gal brings a special skill set, a list of known solid contacts in politics or on the street level in different regions that help the team make the long route home. From safe houses, to cops on the payroll, to extra security if the need arises.
As time passes, these contacts and specialties become known as general knowledge, common folks, and one group or one individual may feel that they dont have a need for the person or the group anymore. Everyone wants a larger share of the pie and eventually conflict arises and in this case, the individual was seen as too much of a threat, either in stealing potential clients on the buy and sales side.
One of the common occurrences in Mexico is that drug cartels and groups often use the other group as bait to public officials. A drug arrest is big business for any police chief, mayor, state or even at federal