Gangster Warlords: Drug Dollars, Killing Fields, and the New Politics of Latin America

By Ioan Grillo

In a ranch south of Texas, the man known as The Executioner dumps five hundred body parts in metal barrels. In Brazil's biggest city, a mysterious prisoner orders hit-men to gun down forty-one police officers and prison guards in two days. In southern Mexico, a crystal meth maker is venerated as a saint while imposing Old Testament justice on his enemies.

A new kind of criminal kingpin has arisen: part CEO, part terrorist, and part rock star, unleashing guerrilla attacks, strong-arming governments and taking over much of the world's trade in narcotics, guns and humans. Who are these new masters of death? What personal qualities and life experiences have made them into such bloodthirsty leaders of men? What do they represent and stand for? What has happened in the Americas to allow them to grow and flourish?

Author of the critically acclaimed El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency, Ioan Grillo has covered Latin America since 2001, and gained access to every level of the cartel chain-of-command in what he calls the new battlefields of the Americas. Moving between militia-controlled ghettos and the halls of top policy-makers, Grillo provides a new and disturbing understanding of a war that has spiralled out of control – one that people across the political spectrum need to confront now.

Gangster Warlords is the first definitive account of the crime wars now wracking Central and South America and the Caribbean.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Feb 11, 2016
• ISBN: 9781408846032

Ioan Grillo

Ioan Grillo is a journalist specializing in crime and drugs for media including the New York Times, Time magazine and the BBC World Service. Based in Mexico City, he has also worked the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, CNN, Reuters, the Associated Press, and Esquire. He is the author of El Narco, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and Gangster Warlords, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and a Guardian Book of the Year.

Reviews for Gangster Warlords

[zmagic69 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another excellent book exposing the drug world south of the United States border. This time the author focuses not just on Mexico but also Jamaica, Brazil, as well as Honduras, and El Salvador. And while he dispels the likelihood of a wall ever being built he makes a great case regarding those the United States doesn't need in our country.The only art I didn't agree with was how legalizing drugs such as marijuana in some U.S. States will make the drug cartels, power and money reduced. Especially since the cartel in Mexico he focuses on saw a need for more Meth, in this country and raced to fill it. What makes the author think they won't do the same with the reduction of marijuana needed. Why won't they just flood the market with other drugs? But outside of this, the book profiles some of the scariest people, often teenagers, who are stone cold serial killers.This was a timely and very scary book.

[amkitty-511462 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well researched and interesting information, even though I don’t agree with some of the author’s conclusions.

[sj1335 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mr. Ioan Grillo has broke new ground in regards to investigative reporting in his latest book “Gangster Warlords”. This book is full of information regarding these kingpins and how they affect us all economically. We are spending millions of dollars to fight these cartels to stop the flow of drugs into the United States, not the mention the millions of dollars spent on the Humanitarian effort which is a direct result of the what these warlords are doing to their own countries.Mr. Grillo makes an excellent point when he quotes Mao-Tse-tung,"The guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea.” They have integrated themselves so deep into the communities that the counter- insurgents who try to fight these cartels end up killing innocent civilians and children thus making the cartels even stronger and gain more followers.Mr. Grillo also points out some very interesting facts regarding the Jamaican and Brazilian warlords. He also provides some insight on some prominent Mexican officials. This book is truly an eye-opener for anyone who lives in a state that borders Mexico. Mr. Grillo covers the warlords of South, Central America as well as the Caribbean, but my main interest was the Mexican Cartels. What I read was just astounding, do they really think a wall is going to keep these people out of North America? Mr. Grillo is an excellent investigative reporter, it goes without saying that this man has accomplished something that so few have been able to do. The way he works himself in to get the story on these warlords is a story unto itself. He has definitely won my respect. I’m looking forward to reading his first book. “El Narco: Inside Mexico’s Criminal Insurgency”. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has questions regarding why we can't win the war on drugs.I would like to thank Bloomsbury Publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-galley of this book for my honest review.