In an interview with El Universal, Jorge, a purported chief in La Linea, the armed wing of the Juarez Cartel, claims that the relative peace in Juarez is coming to an end, as the home team escalates the simmering tension with the interloping Sinaloa Cartel.
It’s a lie that Juarez changed. Absolutely nothing has changed, we were just given the order to be more discrete, that we don’t leave bodies on the street. That’s why there are a lot of clandestine cemeteries. That’s why we have to burn [the bodies], bury them, or throw them in ditches,” said Jorge.
The issue, according to Jorge, is that the Sinaloa Cartel wants to sell crystal meth, and the Juarez Cartel wants to sell heroin. Meth heads only live three years, he says, and then they cease to be clients, whereas junkies live a lot longer.
Jorge says he crosses thirty loads a month, and he’s just one of hundreds of dealers that operate at his level.
He says that U.S. agents are bought, that customs and immigration agents are advised what color, make, and model automobiles are coming, that they receive fat envelopes of cash to let them cross.
If the story is true (and it sounds plausible), it’s an fascinating insight into the hidden workings of the drug industry.
Read it (in Spanish) at El Universal.
Update: Here’s the story from El Universal in English.