Quinones: The Xalisco Drug

The Xalisco were so desperate at times to make sure their product was known, they would sometimes give it away for free. On women that Quinones met outside of Columbus said that she didn't have any money to put more black tar. When a driver called her to see why she hadn't bought anything in three days, she explained how she didn't have any money. Shortly after their phone call, and drive showed up at the woman's home and gave her fifty dollars worth of heroin for free (167) She told Quinones “he wanted to keep me using, and buying from him” (168). Addicts like the idea of black tar because it was a lot easier to get their hands on then pills. Another plus was that it didn't just have to be injected. Addicts would smoke the black tar if they

One boy in particular was Enrique. Like many of the Xalisco boys, Enrique lived in the Mexican state of Nayarit and worked on his families sugarcane farm. He lived at the bottom of a rancho with his family, but didn't always have it easy at home. Enrique and his father didn't get a long very well, and his mother was always very nervous around her husband. Day after day Enrique worked on the family farm and went to school. He knew that if he fled and went to like in the United States he would have a better life. Enrique wanted to be able to provide for his family like his uncles living in the United States were able to for their families. They were always sending presents home such as new clothes

He told him he would give him a thousand dollars a clean suit to send him home. Enrique knew he didn't want to go home, so he tried to convince his uncles to let him stay and work for them. Enrique's uncles took him to another apartment and opened up a closet door. Right before his eyes were dozens of pairs of Levi's 501s. They told him to take what he wanted before they sent him home. As his uncle's sat down, they began to work on some mysterious product in front of Enrique. They slowly began to ball up small pieces of gunk and place them into balloons and tie a knot. The men weren't going to tell Enrique what line of work they were in, but when he continually asked, they finally told him it was black tar heroin. They explained how they sold it to be people for a profit and this is how they could afford so many nice things. Enrique asked his uncles if he could work for them, and after begging they finally said agreed. They thought he should continue to stay in school, but they knew Enrique wouldn't follow threw with that plan. Soon after, Enrique began working as a driver in the Valley