The Reaper's Line: Life And Death on the Mexican Border

A former law enforcement agent with the federal government describes the dangerous world along the U.S.-Mexico border, offering a revealing insider's account of the battle against smugglers of drugs and desperate human refugees in a world of official corruption, mass murders, treason, violence, betrayal, and government wrongdoing.

The U.S.-Mexican border is one of the most violent places on earth, writes retired drug enforcement agent Morgan. He makes his case over 500 pages of gunplay, fisticuffs and bloodshed interspersed with profanity-laced denunciations of rival agencies and clueless Washington officials who believe they understand illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Having enjoyed serving inVietnam, Morgan sought similar adventure in the Border Patrol and the Custom Service's drug enforcement service. Working mostly in Arizona, he found corrupt officials and Border Patrolmen cooperating with corrupt Mexican officials, police and soldiers to transport drugs and people into the U.S. Still, he and fellow officers intercepted countless shipments, which the author recounts in excessive but lively rounds of shootouts, car chases and murder. Reforms that created the Department of Homeland Security and shifted antidrug enforcement to the Border Patrol are disastrous, he asserts, because the patrol is hopelessly corrupt. Sneering at the current immigration debate, he insists no barrier or law can keep out Mexicans in search of work and that the money would be better spent on making Mexico prosperous enough to provide jobs for its people. Despite the incessant fireworks and macho prose style, the book provides a thoughtful view of these issues. (Sept.)

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