Drugs

September 9, 2017

Chasing Escobar

Javier Peña, as a character, was popularized through the Netflix series 'Narcos.' But the story of the real Peña—who lives in San Antonio—and his quest to end the reign of Pablo Escobar is bigger than a screen.

By Cat Cardenas

Politics & Policy |
May 9, 2014

War Without End

For many military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, their only relief comes from a drug that is illegal in Texas: marijuana. Can a growing band of cannabis advocates persuade our legislators to change that?

By William Martin

Sports |
November 13, 2013

Does It Matter How Much Marijuana NFL Players Smoke?

Former Cowboys receiver Sam Hurd was arrested after attempting to set himself up as a Chicago drug lord—while he was drawing a veteran's salary from the Bears—and this week he revealed to Sports Illustrated how many of his former teammates in Dallas he sold "the loudest weed in California" to. How

By Dan Solomon

Drugs |
July 15, 2013

The Best Little Checkpoint in Texas

A dramatic increase in border security over the past six years has made the Sierra Blanca inspection station one of the nation’s toughest. And I oughta know.

By Al Reinert

Politics & Policy |
January 21, 2013

Numerous Scandals Rock El Paso Area

A county commissioner was accused of distributing 110 pounds of marijuana, a tenured UTEP professor violated university policies, a suburban mayor dined at Hooters with city money, and mayoral candidate got a lap dance in his campaign office.

By Jason Cohen

Feature |
January 21, 2013

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.

By Helen Thorpe

Health |
January 20, 2013

Sniffing

A visit to San Antonio’­s underground city, looking for kids with a can of paint and a nose for thrills.

By Stephen Harrigan

Border & Immigration |
January 20, 2013

Soldiers of Misfortune

For as long as the U.S. military has patrolled the border in search of drug smugglers, there has been the possibility that an innocent civilian would be killed. The government insists the chance is worth taking. Tell that to the family of Ezequiel Hernandez, Jr.

By Robert Draper

Music |
December 1, 2001

A Long, Strange Trip

The life of Roky Erickson——one of the most influential Texas rock and rollers of all time——has been one calamity after another. His family and friends have taken care of him with the best of intentions, but you know what they say about the road to hell.

By Michael Hall

Criminal Justice |
July 31, 2000

Free Greg Ott!

Twenty-two years ago a Texas Ranger was shot and killed during a drug raid on the home of Greg Ott, a philosophy graduate student. Even today, no one really knows what happened on that tragic night.

By Gary Cartwright

Feature |
January 1, 1999

Teenage Wasteland

With its optimistically broad streets and oversized cantilevered homes, Plano is the suburban ideal taken to its extreme, and its exaggerated scale often gives rise to exaggerated problems. Heroin addiction is only the latest.

By Pamela Colloff

Books |
April 1, 1998

Arts and Wozencraft

Except for the time she spent as a police officer in Plano and Tyler—when she couldn’t get past the “emotional shutdown” required by the job—Kim Wozencraft has always been a writer. She kept a journal as a child, as a student at Richland College in Dallas, and later, during a

By Jordan Mackay

Business |
September 30, 1997

Clifford’s Blues

Up on federal drug charges for the second time in fifteen years, the impresario of Antone’s nightclub in Austin may finally have to face the music.

By Robert Draper

Reporter |
February 1, 1997

Good Fella

Now that Joe Chagra is dead, it’s time to clear his name in the 1979 assassination of San Antonio federal judge John Wood.

By Gary Cartwright