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Gangster Warlords
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
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Summary
In a ranch south of Texas, the man known as The Executioner dumps 500 body parts in metal barrels.
In Brazil's biggest city, a mysterious prisoner orders hit men to gun down 41 police officers and prison guards in two days.
In Southern Mexico a meth maker is venerated as a saint while enforcing 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. What they do affects you now - from the gas in your car to the gold in your jewelry to the tens of thousands of Latin Americans calling for refugee status in the US.
Gangster Warlords is the first definitive account of the crime wars now wracking Central and South America and the Caribbean, regions largely abandoned by the US after the Cold War.
Author of the critically acclaimed El Narco, 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 disturbing new understanding of a war that has spiraled out of control - one that people across the political spectrum need to confront now.
Critic reviews
"Grillo is a breathtakingly intrepid reporter, diving in where police fear to tread, seeking out men who wouldn't hesitate to kill him.... A grim, gripping book." (Francis Wheen, Mail on Sunday)
What listeners say about Gangster Warlords
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- davidfallon
- 24-11-20
Very in-depth
Excellent insight to another world, some accents were a break from the seriousness of the research but over all a fascinating world put together by the author
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- Umar Mirza
- 05-04-21
What an eye opener.
Haven't heard anything faster. Great intro for people not aware of this longstanding rot across Latam. Funny how it's not better known the world over. Would be amazing if author took a shot at analysing similar outcrops in other parts of the world.
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- Richard S
- 05-03-23
Sincere and Thoughtful Exploration of the Horror
This book picks up and expands upon the theme explored in the chapter "Insurgency" from Ioan Grillo's previous book, El Narco. It sits nicely in between this first book, about the rise of Mexican cartels specifically, and his most recent one about the not-so-well-hidden role of American guns in perpetuating the chaos.
Grillo is an authentic and sincere journalist, the real deal. His thesis is that modern drug gangs are a new type of organisation that defy existing categories we typically use to understand them. He draws commonalities from the stories of the Red Commando in Brazil, the Shower Posse in Jamaica, MS-13 in the Northern Triangle and the Knights Templar in Michoacán, Mexico. I found this thesis to be well argued and persuasive.
They are criminal gangs, but on such an unprecedented scale that they have thoroughly corrupted the nation state. Once convicted and imprisoned, their influence grows rather than shrinks. The leaders are warlords, seeking to control the local territory and replacing the functions of government, but only to clear space for their operations. They use terrorist violence, but without any real political ambitions. They are not armies, but they are better armed than most, and it's not a war although the body count and normalisation of extreme violence is the same.
The drug wars have become so normalised now, reduced to a type of ghoulish entertainment to binge on Netflix. I was about halfway through watching Narcos Mexico when I realised it was little more than glamourised narco violence porn and another type of profiteering from the misery of real people who live in the middle of all this depravity.
In looking for more information on the drug wars, I've discovered the reality is far, far more disturbing than we generally see on screen. There has been a vicious circle of desensitisation to violence, leading to ever increasing levels of it to control, terrorise and act as a perverse currency of status. For some of these gangsters, they have fallen back to a medieval indifference to suffering, and the violence they perpetrate is by civilised standards - whatever that might mean - simply batsh*t insane.
What's happening in Latin America is a humanitarian disaster, and a source of global destabilisation. This book explores the pervasive rot across the region, the necessity of a new approach, and what that might be. I believe it to be an important contribution to the debate.
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-05-21
Great read
Very interesting full of lots of information over 3 different place in South America brilliant
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- Fiona S
- 29-09-22
Good Book but Same Old Same Old
Very comprehensive book but depressing in that there seems to be a lot of books all saying the same thing, but the problem has been going on for decades and nothing changes. I feel like I've read enough about the drug trade in South America. I greatly admire the author for getting so involved & living in Mexico - I wonder why a journalist would risk his life to report on it. Time for legalisation or at least de-criminalisation of drugs otherwise tens of thousands will continue to be killed.
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- Clive
- 06-02-22
A worrying picture
A real insight into drugs, gangs, killings, criminals etc
A shame that it is a few years old.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Andre Anthony
- 28-06-21
Mixed feelings
The content was great, highly informative and detailed.
The narrator themselves and very good too. However, occasionally the juxtaposition between the two is insurmountable. I think a better narrator could have been picked for this topic.
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- Nick Anderson
- 26-01-17
the greatest insight you could have!
phenomenal delivery and more depth into a secret world that would be impenetrable to the normal person
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10 people found this helpful
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- "supersapper"
- 30-03-21
Brilliant!!
I absolutely loved this book! The narration is awesome too! This book is exceptional in subject matter! Some of the descriptions of the violence and gun fights are fantastic. Superb book!!
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1 person found this helpful
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- ASHISH SINHA
- 17-05-22
Shocking facts about the drug wars in LATAM
I have been on several trips to Latin America and crossed the border from Texas to Mexico multiple times to work with my customers there. I had seen things on the street that were unbelievable and safety was always on my mind. I thought I knew the stories. However this book really shook me on the scale and hopelessness of the violence. Its a well researched book and well narrated. Unfortunately there are no heroes in this story
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