Han colaborado con los cárteles y con el gobierno, han derrumbado y encumbrado capos, han alimentado y dinamitado la «guerra contra el narco»; son infiltrados, protegidos, impunes y han jugado el juego más peligroso de todos... Son los «espías antinarcóticos» de Estados Unidos y este libro narra su historia.

Con rigor académico, el investigador Carlos A. Pérez Ricart relata el largo siglo en el que los enviados de Washington han atestiguado, protagonizado o, incluso, desatado algunos de los momentos más oscuros en la historia reciente de México. Producto de la consulta de miles de documentos, archivos y registros, Cien años de espías y drogas presenta la historia más exhaustiva que se haya hecho sobre el fenómeno.

Aparecen aquí la génesis del narcotráfico en México, los primeros cónsules-detectives, la lógica estadounidense frente a las drogas, el perfil de las agencias que las combaten, los momentos y episodios más trascendentes, y la vida y obra de algunos de los espías más inauditos que hayan pisado el país.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

How did we get here? Since when does drug-enforcement agents from the United States operate in Mexico? What’s the scope and the limit of their operation? What do we know of the way they operate and interact with security agencies in our country? How many [foreign agents] have played cop in Mexico? Can they use guns and wear Mexican Navy uniforms free of consequences? In which way are they responsible, and to whom? Who pays for their mistakes? Then again, how did we get here? —From the Introduction
 
They have collaborated with both the cartels and the government, they have encumbered and toppled kingpins, they have nurtured and wrecked “the war on drugs”. They are infiltrators, protégés; they go unpunished, and they have played the most dangerous game of all… They are anti-narcotic spies from the United States, and this is their story.
 
With Oxford academic rigor, researcher Carlos A. Pérez Ricart comments on the long century in which Washington’s envoys have witnessed, starred, and even ignited some of Mexico’s darkest times in recent history. As a result of hundreds of hours of interviews with those involved, and consulting thousands of documents, archives, and records, A Hundred Years of Espionage and Drugs gives us the most comprehensive history about this phenomenon ever made.
 
Here is the genesis of Mexico’s drug trade, the first consul-detectives, the American logic in the face of drug trafficking, the listing of those agencies fighting it, the most significant moments and episodes, and the profiles of some of the most unbelievable spies that have set foot in this country.