How US Agents First Infiltrated Mexico's Drug Underworld
Long before the DEA, US anti-drug agents operated in secret across Mexico's border. Starting in the 1920s, they worked with (and sometimes against) Mexican authorities to fight opium and marijuana production. Their covert actions became a key chapter in the long history of US-Mexico drug war.
Mexico and narcotics: a story older than the mambo and hotter than a habanero. But the fight against the illicit poppy and potent pot wasn't born with the sleek suits and mirrored shades of Miami Vice. It stretches back to the roaring 1920s, a time of flappers, speakeasies, and a fledgling American global anti-drug network.
Imagine a world before the DEA, when a shadowy cast of diplomats, bureaucrats, and yes, even the occasional rogue agent, formed the vanguard of the war on drugs. These weren't your typical nine-to-five feds. They were a fascinating mix — part James Bond, part Eliot Ness, and a hefty dose of Wild West gunslinger. They cultivated networks of informants like tending prize roses, while sometimes resorting to good old-fashioned illegality to get the job done.
