The eXiled’s Special Drug War Correspondent
MONTERREY, MEXICO–This is the longest time that I’ve been AWOL from The Exiled. Sure I’ve never been perfect about delivering regular on-time dispatches, but since 2008, I’d at least file a couple of articles every month or so. And the strange thing is that every time I stop writing, or every time I forget to answer emails, everyone asks me if I’m still alive, how am I doing, how many bullet holes I’m nursing… It’s strange because things have been pretty uneventful here. People write to me as if I’m living in 1999 Kosovo, but everything is the same. And when I say “same” I mean the exactly the SAME. As in, we’re no better today than a year ago, or two years ago, or three, four, five years ago. (more…)
The eXiled’s special Drug War Correspondent MONTERREY, NUEVO LEÓN–While meeting Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon at the White House today, Barack Obama is expected to discuss the idea of letting armed US agents operate on Mexican territory. You know, to help…
This brutal video, which just came out, pretty much speaks for itself…that is, if you can understand Spanish. If not, I’ll explain it to you so you understand what’s going on. It was filmed in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and it shows…
The eXiled’s special Drug War Correspondent MONTERREY, NUEVO LEÓN–Here we go again, a new year and a fresh new wave of narco-war porn to go along with it. If you’ve been paying close attention to the drug war in Monterrey…
This afternoon the bullets were once again flying over my city, as Mexican Army soldiers captured the JEFE DE PLAZA of the Zetas in Monterrey Héctor Luna “El Tori” (short for Hector), along with other collaborators in an operation in…
Here’s some (graphic) proof that the Zetas are using Maras (a gang better known in America as MS-13) as shock troops in their fight for the plazas of Tamaulipas—not because they are good, but because they are cheap and there’s…
Hey there drug war fans, I got some statistics to throw your way. While you gringos pay attention to the unemployment rate and foreclosure statistics, we here in Mexico track the national kill count—how many people died, who suffered the…
I told you I’d be updating the situation if it got hot, so here I am, because some heavy shit went down yesterday, when the army ran into the Zetas north of Monterrey. I don’t think that any of your…
“Raise your hand if you like weed,” the gang leader asked the raver crowd. But nobody raised a hand or so much as moved. They were too scared. So he repeated his question, this time while firing a quick burst from his…
Hello there! Hola to the few who still check out this column to learn about crazy antics of America’s favorite suppliers. Yeah, I know I haven’t been updating you for a while on account that I’m getting lazy (weed ain’t…
Ok, so it’s been a while since the last update to this column. It is not that I’ve been THAT busy, I’ve just been a victim of my own laziness (I suspect it’s related to my pill and smoke habit…
Here’s an entertaining/instructional cellphone video that shows one of the Zetas’ more preferred torture methods in action. It is called the tablazo. I wrote about it a few months back: It comes from the word “tabla,” or “board.” The kidnappers…
MONTERREY, MEXICO — I woke up the other day and started the morning off just like I do every normal day: by sitting on a bench in my front yard, reading the newspaper and toking. There’s a saying in Mexico…
This is a video of shootout that happened a few days ago (the same day the international bridge into America was blocked in Reynosa), that Yasha Levine sent along, asking me to decipher what the hell is going on. Well,…
MONTERREY, MEXICO — Kidnapping and Mexico, they go together like beans and rice. There has always been a kidnapping industry in Mexico. It’s not for nothing that we have become the kidnapping capital of the world. Yep, that’s a true,…
Pancho Montana is an eXiled Special Mexican War on Drugs Correspondent. As a native of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, located in northern Mexico, Mr. Montana lives in Gulf Cartel territory. That means the streets belong to the Zetas, a paramilitary organization…
