Border & Immigration
July 10, 2023
How Cartel Violence Has Reshaped Tejano Identity in South Texas
Many border residents no longer visit their home country, which may help explain the region’s rightward political shift.
Drug Cartels
True Crime
November 7, 2022
The DWI Lawyer Who Represented Cocaine Traffickers—and Paid the Price
Austin attorney Jamie Balagia, a.k.a. “the Dude,” thought that he’d finally hit the big time. Then everything fell apart.
Tacos
September 20, 2022
This Dallas Tex-Mex Spot Ruins a Good Meal With Distasteful Decor
Even though Odelay has many stellar dishes, including the chili con carne enchilada, its artful homages to cartel culture prove unappetizing.
True Crime
May 29, 2019
Her Daughter Was Disappeared in Mexico. Despite Cartel Death Threats, She’s Determined to Find Her.
After Josefina De León’s daughter went missing in the Mexican State of Tamaulipas in 2012, she was determined to find her. Seven years later, she hasn’t given up.
Border & Immigration
October 19, 2018
Can an International Hotline Help Stop the Cartels?
The U.S. Border Patrol and the governor of Tamaulipas are looking for a few good anonymous tips—and hoping it doesn't all backfire.
True Crime
September 21, 2018
The Cartel Next Door
How prosecutors tied a brazen murder in an upscale Dallas suburb to one of Mexico’s most violent criminal organizations.
Border & Immigration
August 23, 2017
How Two Brothers Brought the Drug War to the Racetrack
Two books from Texas authors chronicle the investigation of a Zeta commander who laundered millions of dollars in drug profits through the intense world of American quarter-horse racing.
News & Politics
July 25, 2017
The Drug Runners
The Tarahumara, of Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountains, are the world’s greatest ultramarathoners. But in recent years, their legendary endurance has been put to a sinister use—in service of the narcos.
True Crime
September 9, 2016
Cops and Robbers
They were some of the toughest narcs on the border, known for busting smugglers, staging raids, seizing cartel cocaine—and being dirty.
True Crime
August 24, 2016
The Yes Man
He was just a regular kid in South Texas, until a brush with the law propelled Gabriel Cardona into petty crime—and the service of a drug lord rising to power across the Rio Grande. In this exclusive excerpt from Wolf Boys: Two American Teenagers and Mexico’s Most Dangerous Drug Cartel, Dan
Politics & Policy
April 20, 2015
Cartel Violence in Reynosa and the Border Security Bill
Drug cartel violence in Reynosa on Friday is not necessarily an argument for passing the Texas border security bill.
The Culture
January 9, 2015
Death and Twitter
In Reynosa, a brave and conflicted group of social media users goes where journalists fear to tread.
Border & Immigration
April 15, 2014
What You Should Know About Lupe Treviño
The top law enforcement official in Hidalgo County pled guilty to money laundering charges—here's what that means for the Valley.
Border & Immigration
January 21, 2013
Federal Drug Bust Nabs the Sons of Hidalgo County Sheriff and Police Chief
Four police officers in the Rio Grande Valley, including the son of Hidalgo County sheriff Lupe Treviño, are accused of taking payoffs to protect cocaine shipments along the Mexican border.
News & Politics
January 21, 2013
How Safe is Mexico?
For a third straight year, the Texas Department of Public Safety advised vacationers to stay away from the country, but a Mexican ambassador says the warning has a "clear-cut political agenda."
Border & Immigration
January 21, 2013
Cartel Beheads Another “Blogger” in Nuevo Laredo
This is the fourth victim since September to be targeted by the Zetas for using blogs and social media to spread news about cartel violence.
Politics & Policy
January 20, 2013
Near/Far
Despite rampant fears to the contrary, the bloody drug violence in Mexico hasn’t spilled over into Texas—but that doesn’t mean it’s not transforming life all along the border.
Web Exclusive
January 20, 2013
Long Division
Nate Blakeslee talks about immigration and the media coverage of border spillover violence.
Critters
November 6, 2012
Did You Say You Wanted to Buy a Zetas Racehorse?
The federal government made a cool $8.8 million over the weekend auctioning off racehorses that purportedly belong to the Zetas.
True Crime
January 1, 1998
Anatomy of a Drug Cartel
The cocaine goes north. The money goes south. And Mexican kingpins like Juan García Abrego laugh all the way to the bank—a Texas bank, that is.
True Crime
September 1, 1982
The Man Who Killed Judge Wood
The end of the Chagra family’s drug empire, a few words on murderer-for-hire Charles Harrelson, and the most incriminating tapes since Watergate.
Business
April 1, 1977
All Roads Lead From Roma
What’s good for marijuana is good for Starr County.
True Crime
July 31, 1973
The Laredo–San Antonio Heroin Wars
At least 90 are already dead as drug lords fight for routes into Texas.