Inside Mexico's Sinaloa Drug Cartel

Drivers in Mexicali wait to enter the United States at the border crossing at Calexico, Calif. The entry point is a favorite of drug smugglers because the inspection station sits almost directly on the border, without the usual buffer zone of several hundred feet, making it harder for inspectors to examine cars in the approach lanes. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times / August 26, 2009)

Inside the Cartel: Unraveling Mexico's Sinaloa Drug Cartel -- L.A. Times

As drug smugglers from the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico sent a never-ending stream of cocaine across the border and into a vast U.S. distribution web in Los Angeles, DEA agents were watching and listening.

Reporting from Calexico, Calif. — Never lose track of the load.

It was drilled into everybody who worked for Carlos “Charlie” Cuevas. His drivers, lookouts, stash house operators, dispatchers -- they all knew. When a shipment was on the move, a pair of eyes had to move with it.

Cuevas had just sent a crew of seven men to the border crossing at Calexico, Calif. The load they were tracking was cocaine, concealed in a custom-made compartment inside a blue 2003 Honda Accord.

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My Comment: This is an excellent read. This is the first of a series in the Los Angeles Times, the next installment is Tuesday.