Life as a Mexican Federale

By Michael Douglas Carlin

There is a party over at the club. The who’s who of the power structure in Juarez is hanging out tonight. The bouncer at the door is dressed in civilian clothes but he is here protecting the interests of the Mexican Government and he has been assigned to his task by his chain of command in the Military. His job tonight is to make sure that none of the competing interests can get their guns inside. A survey of the room would be misleading because there are plenty of guns inside. Loaded revolvers, assault rifles, and machine guns lying around amidst the cocaine, marijuana, and booze that keeps the party roaring.

Lobo is a Federales who is frequently trusted with tremendous responsibility. Today he and the new guy, Gaspar, transported a shipment of millions of dollars that they deposited on a plane bound for Mexico City. Gaspar was full of questions. Lobo explained that the cold hard cash had been collected from the various merchants involved in illegal activities that can only exist under the protection of the Mexican Government. That protection comes with a price and every single official, including Lobo has received their taste of this money before they packed the suitcases that are now on their way to Mexico City. Gaspar was wide eyed when he got an envelope with ten one-hundred dollar bills.

Lobo asks Gaspar to wait in the car. He walks into the club and the bouncer acknowledges that Lobo is recognized and not subject to search. He has earned respect from his time as a Federales as well as his previous assignment in the Mexican State Police. Lobo comes with a reputation as a man who can be trusted to carry out orders and get things done. Juan “La Tortuga” has been here for a while, hanging out with Angel Robels Gonzales who is known as a crazy, stone cold, killer. 

“Ready for a road trip? Calderoni wants us to execute some warrants.”
“Andale Pues”

The four men are all in the car. The ride south is slightly tense because executing warrants can be tricky. The process is a gamble at best. It might be smooth sailing or it might be an outright gun battle.

Gaspar breaks the silence, “La Tortuga, what should we know about these warrants?”

“You should be ready for anything.”

“Who are we going after?”

Angel looks over, “Gaspar, you ask too many questions. Lobo is down for whatever. La Tortuga has his shell. He pulls his head in. He doesn’t hear anything. He moves slowly but deliberately.”

Juan chimes in, “what kind of a name is Gaspar anyway? We have to come up with a name for you on this trip.”

“Carnal, turn up here past that house, to the left.”

“Down that dirt road?” Gaspar can’t help himself, “who are we gunna find out here in the middle of nowhere?”

“Again with the questions," as Angel shoots a glance.

Juan breaks the tension, “naugh, the warrants are for another time, we are gunna meet some people out here.”

They pull up to a group standing out in the middle of nowhere. Two vans, a fuel truck, a pick-up truck with a generator in tow all have stickers on their windshields that have an Bengal tiger insignia. The generator is on idle when the four climb out of the vehicle armed to the teeth with AK-47’s and back up pistols holstered. The generator is cranked up and lights are switched on. The dirt becomes a landing strip. The lights are on for only a few minutes before a plane touches down. Hundreds of kilos of cocaine are unloaded into the vans, the fuel truck refuels the plane and within a few minutes the lights are once again lit and the plane is back up in the air. This is a well-oiled machine because all of this happened in fifteen minutes, tops.

Gaspar asks, “where are we taking this?”

While Angel shakes his head he turns with a single fluid movement and shoots a few rounds from his AK that hit Gaspar, “I figured out your name… Metiche!” Everyone there hears this and watches Gaspar as he struggles to breathe but no one says a word and no one offers to help him.

The lights have been collected and everybody is loaded into their vehicles. The fuel truck and the pickup turn south but the vans turn north toward Juarez with their Federales escort. There will be no one stopping this shipment at any of the checkpoints. Gaspar is left behind in the field. The bullets didn’t kill him, curiosity did. His death will not be investigated. What would be the point? Everyone there who was an eyewitness to this murder will never speak directly about it. They were not really there, they didn't see a thing, and they don't remember anything. If they ever mention this it will only be to confirm what everybody in Mexico already knows; this is what happens to people who ask too many questions - especially the wrong questions.

Michael Douglas Carlin is a filmmaker, author, and journalist. American Federale is available on iTunes, Amazon, and GooglePlay. Rise a Knight is available on Amazon. Peaceful Protests and A Prescription For Peace is available on iTunes.

© 2000 – 2014 Michael Douglas Carlin. All rights reserved.