The '' Mother Jones '' magazine mentioned that the book 's " graphic and fast-paced history covers south-of-the-border trafficking from '60s - era shipments of Acapulco Gold to the decapitation-filled headlines wrought by the likes of kingpin ( and alleged billionaire ) Joaquín ' El Chapo ' Guzmán and his rivals , the Zetas — special ops soldiers turned criminals " . The progressive online magazine known as the '' Salon '' reported that the drug war violence in Mexico " seldom makes the front page in the U.S " newspapers . Nonetheless , they stated that many American officials are " worried that the cartels are taking on aspects of an ' insurgency , ' which could make them a threat to the Mexican government " . The '' Salon '' noted that Grillo 's book " lays out the history of drug smuggling in the region over the past 100 years or so , and then homes in on the rise of the Northern Mexican cartels during the 2000s " . Sylvia Longmire , a drug war analyst and author of the book '' Cartel : The Coming Invasion of Mexico 's Drug Wars '' , said that one rarely comes across a writer like Grillo " who really '' gets '' it " . She said that Grillo also did an incredible job navigating Mexican politics and explaining the role of how the Institutional Revolutionary Party ( PRI ) " negotiated and played along with the cartels , and how the transition to real democracy in 2000 dramatically altered that delicate balance " . She also mentioned that Grillo proposes that the start of the Mexican Drug War did not start in 2006 — a convenient historical marker because that 's when Calderón took office , but rather in 2004 in Nuevo Laredo , where the Sinaloa cartel made incursions to fight off Los Zetas . Malcolm Beith , author of '' The Last Narco : Inside the Hunt for El Chapo , the World 's Most Wanted Drug Lord '' , said that Grillo is the " most intrepid and knowledgeable foreign journalist covering the drug war in Mexico today " , and in '' El Narco '' , the author provides us with more than just a glimpse of Mexico 's criminal underworld and its history . According to Beith , Grillo grants the readers " access to the soul and mind of El Narco , as well as deftly explaining and providing new insight into this hemispheric war on drugs " . Howard Campbell , professor in Anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso and author of the book '' Drug War Zone : Frontline Dispatches from the Streets of El Paso and Juarez '' , said that Grillo " puts a human face on the violent tragedy caused by U.S. drug demand and Mexican cartel criminality " , and strongly recommends '' El Narco '' , a " timely and troubling book "
incursions
2012 Nuevo Laredo massacres
El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency