Loyal Soldiers in the Cocaine Kingdom: Tales of Drugs, Mules, and Gunmen
An outspoken Colombian sociologist and journalist, Molano presents a series of seven profiles in this absorbing look at the foot soldiers of Colombia’s drug smuggling trade. Based on interviews that Molano conducted in prisons in Spain and Latin America, the profiles are written like a series of gritty short stories. All of them are told in the first person, using the slang and verbal mannerisms of real people, so that the book often feels like a collection of poignant and mind-boggling confessions. The subjects themselves vary widely—from the "mules," or couriers, who swallow packets of cocaine and carry them on airplanes (at great risk to their own lives) to the underground adventurers and small-time wheeler dealers who sell the packets on the streets. In "The Mule Driver," a man recounts how he was turned into the police by his wife’s mother. In "The Nun," an innocent young woman who was duped into drug running petitions her Mother Superior for forgiveness. In "Scuzzball," an honest murderer explains how he and other inmates improved the conditions of the Cochabamba prison and declares, "I never killed in anger, because it was always my job to do it in someone else’s name." Arrogance, selfishness, betrayal, poverty and ignorance are the themes that run through this collection. As translator Graham opines, "Reading this book is like looking at a Colombian Brueghel." Fans of true crime will find few books more interesting than this.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.