The Dope

Probably the best book I've ever read on the topic of the Mexican drug trade. It really brings some fundamental points to life, that often get lost in the narratives pushed out by gov't / media: (1) its origins go back to both domestic cultivation of certain plants, as well as the Chinese opium trade (which famously was very much incentivized by Western powers back in China); (2) there has always been a certain level of drug trading but violence has increased substantially in the last decades; (3) the local (and even central) gov't has always been involved to some extent in the trafficking rackets; (4) violence escalation was started by gov't agents (not sure how much truth there is to this — but it lines up with other reporting, e.g., Ioan Grillo, Oswaldo Zavala); (5) at the end of the day, it's a business like any other.