Age of Blood

12

As it turned out, Ramon was a gold mine of information. He’d been a one-man killing machine for the Zetas, responsible for more deaths than a Salvadoran hit squad. Working against the other cartels, the Zetas had tried to poise themselves on top of the power pyramid. Instead of fighting for territory, they fought for smuggling routes and constantly worked against other cartels.

Ramon explained the structure. There were eight major cartels. The Gulf Cartel, the Beltrán Leyva Cartel, La Familia, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Juárez Cartel, the Tijuana Cartel, the Knights Templar, and Los Zetas.

The Gulf Cartel, which controlled the Baja Peninsula, was one of the strongest in men, arms, and influence, until they began to fight among themselves. It was now broken into two factions, Los Metros and Los Rojos, each struggling to claim the territory it once had. In 1999, the Gulf Cartel was responsible for the formation of Los Zetas, hiring thirty-one GAFE soldiers as assassins; these soldiers turned several border towns into ghost towns, their violence and cruelty unmatched and unchecked. When the leader of the Gulf Cartel was captured in 2008, Los Zetas seized the opportunity to swell their ranks to more than three hundred former special operations soldiers, and thus became the dominant force in human and narcotics trafficking.

La Familia was formed by members of the Gulf Cartel who splintered off to create an organization similar to the Zetas, in order to attack the Zetas and keep them away from the Gulf Cartel. What had initially appeared to be a parting of ways turned into a savvy reorganization. But in mid-2011 the Gulf Cartel was overcome by its own infighting, resulting in the Knights Templar, which had since flourished in the absence of La Familia. Knights Templar aligned itself with the Sinaloa Federation in an attempt to root out any surviving members of La Familia and prevent Los Zetas from expanding into the territory.

The Sinaloan cartel was perhaps the largest of the big cartels. Because they had infiltrated the Mexican military and judiciary, many of their operations had been unopposed, especially in the valuable Texas money corridor. Additionally, instead of fighting the Zetas they formed alliances with them and jointly destroyed the Sonoran, Colima, and Milenio cartels.

Both the Tijuana and Juárez cartels held only a fraction of the power they had enjoyed a decade earlier. While both still controlled the flow of drugs and humans through their cities, they were ignored by the other cartels, much as a person from the city would ignore someone from the country.

The Beltrán Leyva Cartel was believed to have disbanded. But as late as 2005, the cartel had its tentacles into Mexico’s police, political, and judicial offices. They were even able to place operatives in Interpol offices, in a program to redirect the country’s counternarcotics efforts away from their cartel, and place the crosshairs firmly on the Gulf Cartel. The last of the four brothers who once ran the cartel, Héctor Beltrán Leyva, went into hiding. Both the U.S. and Mexico had a multimillion-dollar bounty for the man’s capture and arrest. But no one would ever be able to claim it, Ramon told them, since the disappearance was actually the result of him infiltrating Leyva’s Badiraguato compound and disposing of the drug lord in a method that was untraceable. Over the period of a week, Ramon ate him, leaving the bones, hair, and nails to bleach beneath the hard, unforgiving sun on the slopes of Cerro Algodones.

After the information dump, Holmes ordered Laws, who’d reported that the hotel office had a serviceable computer with an average wireless connection, to contact SPG and have them form link analysis chains. They’d search for links in financial transactions, vehicle movements, personnel movements, as well as telephone and IP addresses. These methods had been used for decades, and resulted in uncovering culprits of seemingly unsolvable crimes, such as the Khobar Towers bombing.

Holmes wanted SPG to follow whatever linkage they could from the hotel security camera back to the nearest cartel. Once they determined the linkage, they could, with information from the Mexican federal judiciary, determine which members of that cartel were in the area. Holmes also wanted more information on Ramon, and asked that SPG do a deep dive to provide a comprehensive report. Finally, Holmes asked that Laws get a list of all current issues before the Sissy, including those brought forward from previous sessions.

Holmes approached the newest SEAL and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Yank, I want you to patrol. Keep the integrity of this building together. I don’t want a bunch of beegees sneaking up on us.”

Just then J.J. returned. When he saw Ramon, he asked, “This the guy?”

“Yeah, this is the guy.” Holmes turned to Ramon. “Who controls this area?”

“If you mean southern Baja, then the answer is no one. The answer is also everyone. The area has been in dispute. Just when someone establishes a foothold, the other cartels and the judicial system gang up on them.”

“Are there any Zetas around?”

“I’m sure there are.”

“What about Gulf Cartel or Knights Templar?”

“Probably some of them, too.”

“I assume they’d all be tied into the local politics and businesses.”

Ramon nodded. “I’d assume the same.”

“Okay, here’s what I want: Ramon, I’d like you to find the local Zeta facilitator and bring him in. Yank and I will go after the Gulf Cartel operative, and J.J. and Walker will go after the Knights Templar.”

“Uh, boss,” Walker said, “one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“We don’t know where they are.”

Holmes smiled broadly. “We don’t have to.” He pointed at J.J. and Ramon with both hands. “They can tell us.”

J.J. smiled awkwardly. “Wait a minute. What are you saying, Sam?”

“Don’t try and tell me you’ve been operating a charter without having paid, promised, or worked for one or all of the cartels.”

“But that would be cooperating with a criminal organization. I’d lose my clearance if I’d done such a thing.”

“Stow it,” Holmes said. “Save it for the polygraphers. I know what you have to do to survive. It’s one of the reasons we’re using you. Do you think we need an overweight, out-of-shape former SEAL to back us up, or do you maybe think we need your boat and your knowledge of the area?”

J.J. looked hurt. “I’m not overweight.”

Holmes gave him a disbelieving eye. “So?”

“I know the Zetas here,” Ramon said. “Juan Carlos is the man you’re looking for.”

Holmes turned to Ramon. “Does he know you?”

“By reputation.”

“Good, then when you go to bring him in he won’t say much.”

Ramon smiled. “He won’t say nothing at all. I assure you.”

“Not so fast. We want him to talk when he gets here, so let’s not do anything irreversible.”

Ramon nodded.

Holmes turned to J.J. “So? Memory any better?”

“I know a guy who belongs to the Gulf Cartel. He claims to be connected to everyone.”

“Excellent. Then you and Walker go bring him in. And if he knows the location of a Templar, bring the Templar along as well.”

“Alive?”

“Please.” Holmes turned to Walker. “And Jack,” he said, with a rare use of his first name.

“Sir?”

“You’re in charge. Make sure you guys don’t get into any situation you shouldn’t. Know what I mean?”

Jack knew exactly what his boss meant. He’d almost gotten the team killed several times because of his inability to restrain his curiosity and remain in position. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it could never be the death of a SEAL.