THE INFORMANTS

IN THE LIFE AND DEATH WORLD OF DRUG TRAFFICKING INFORMANTS ARE NECESSARY TO STAY ALIVE. THE PERFECT INFORMANT CAN ALWAYS BE DEVELOPED BY APPLYING THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF LEVERAGE. The wife of a Mexican Cartel leader is poisoned while having dinner with her eleven-year-old daughter, and the head of the most violent drug trafficking cartel in the world sets a $10 million reward for the murder of the waiter responsible for poisoning his wife, as well as the unknown individual responsible for ordering the hit. Julian Castro Rodriguez, aka: El Jefe, orders dozens of Cartel members to Sinaloa and offers the reward for information leading to the murderer. Meanwhile, DEA holds a conference in Southern California which has brought together agents investigating the same members of El Jefe's cartel.The worlds of both sides collide viciously when Toro, a Cartel assassin, kidnaps a DEA agent and threatens to kill the agent unless law enforcement reveals who was responsible for ordering the murder of El Jefe's wife. Both sides use a web of informants to obtain intelligence furthering their goals. While the Cartel operates ruthlessly, the agents on the streets balance the scales of justice with integrity and tireless effort. To tip the scales in their favor, the agents must work outside the government's drawn lines of right and wrong, producing results both legendary, and calamitous. "To all who will read this book, remember while reading, fiction isn't far from reality.In my 30 years working as a DEA Special Agent, Scott Nickerson was one of the best agents I have ever worked with."-Retired DEA Special Agent Scott Eichenberger, Los Angeles Field Division. "Great read with really interesting characters. Highly recommend." - Retired US Probation Officer James Chappell Toro had worked for El Jefe as a sicario, or cartel assassin, for the last 18 years. In his 18 years as a sicario, and the last 10 years as the leader of one of the sicario teams, Toro had never failed to accomplish the objective of an operation, which always ended the same, fear and pleading prior to death.Today was a special day though. He was waiting for transportation to be taken to an in-person meeting with El Jefe. Most others that received a request to meet in person would be fearful of coming before such a man as Julian, a man that had given the order to murder more people than any living person on the planet. Toro lacked this fear though. After all he had seen and done in his 33 years, he no longer feared anything, to include death. Where Toro differed from others, and what made him so valuable, was that he no longer cared about most things. Right or wrong were obvious, but it did not matter to him, nothing did, other than doing the job that he was requested to do. As the black SUV with tinted windows pulled up to the parking lot in front of the bar, Toro walked outside and ducked into the back seat of the bullet-proof vehicle, without a word to the driver or the passenger. Toro's reputation preceded him, and there was no need to confirm who had entered the SUV