Pablo Acosta Villarreal, commonly referred to as El Zorro de Ojinaga ("The Ojinaga Fox") was a Mexican narcotics smuggler who controlled crime along a 200-mile stretch of U.S.-Mexico border. At the height of his power, he was smuggling 60 tons of cocaine per year for Colombian cartels in addition to the large quantities of marijuana and heroin that were the mainstay of his business. He was the mentor and business partner of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the "Lord of the Skies", who took over after Acosta's death.[2][3]
Pablo Acosta Villarreal | |
|---|---|
 Mugshot of Pablo Acosta Mugshot in Texas (1974) | |
| Born | January 26, 1937 |
| Died | April 24, 1987 (aged 50)[1] Santa Elena, Chihuahua, Mexico |
| Cause of death | Shootout with Mexican Federal Police |
| Other names | El Zorro de Ojinaga |
| Occupation | Drug lord |
| Employer | Juárez Cartel |
| Known for | Drug trafficker |
| Title | Leader |
| Successor | Rafael Aguilar Guajardo |
| Spouse | Olivia Baeza Carrasco |
| Partner | Amado Carrillo Fuentes |
He made his operation base in the border town of Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico, and had his greatest power in the period around 1984–1986. Through a protection scheme with Mexican federal and state police agencies and with the Mexican army, Acosta was able to ensure the security for five tons of cocaine being flown by turboprop aircraft every month from Colombia to Ojinaga — sometimes landing at the municipal airport, sometimes at dirt airstrips on ranches upriver from Ojinaga.[4]
Chains of luxurious restaurants and hotels laundered his drug money. While at first he managed only marijuana and heroin, Acosta became increasingly involved in the cocaine trade near the end of his life. He established contacts with Colombians who wanted to smuggle cocaine into the United States using the same routes to Texas Acosta was using to ship marijuana and heroin from across the border in Chihuahua.[3]
Acosta was killed in April 1987, during a cross-border raid into the Rio Grande village of Santa Elena, Chihuahua, by Mexican Federal Police helicopters, with assistance from the FBI.[5] Rafael Aguilar Guajardo took Acosta's place but he was killed soon after by Amado Carrillo Fuentes, who took control of the organization. The book Drug Lord by investigative journalist Terrence Poppa, chronicles the rise and fall of Acosta through direct interviews he did with the drug lord.
Personal life and links in the US
edit
In the 1980s Pablo Acosta met a wealthy Texan woman, Mimi Webb Miller, niece of former United States senator John G. Tower. Mimi ran horseback tours in the area, she bought a ranch in Mexico and later started a romantic relation with Acosta that lasted until he died. She describes Acosta's level of influence saying that he helped her to obtain permissions to cross the border with her horseback trips. And describing him as a "strong guy, with a lot of charisma” that was also "kind and conscientious". After Acosta's death she was warned by Sheriff Rick Thompson of Presidio County that there was a price on her head, because she knew too much; 4 years later Sheriff Thompson was charged and sentenced to life for smuggling a ton of cocaine.[6][7][8][9] Thompson was associated with a local outlaw named Glyn Robert Chambers, a violent man long suspected of drug trafficking with contacts in Mexico, who had been a trafficker for at least 10 years. Chambers had a ranch in south Presidio County, just across the border from Ojinaga, the turf of Pablo Acosta. According to the DEA sheriff Thompson helped Chambers to smuggle more than 20 tons of cocaine and marijuana. After a DEA busted Chambers, he made a deal to testify against sheriff Thompson.[10][11][12]
In popular culture
editThere is a popular rumor in Mexico that states that he was an informant for the US government on communism and guerrilla movements near the Mexico-US border.[13][14] As narrated by the famous Mexican-folk (norteño) group Los Tigres del Norte, in the drug-ballad (narco-corrido) called "El Zorro de Ojinaga", written by Paulino Vargas,[15] that narrates some of the exploits of Acosta.
Acosta is alluded to in Cormac McCarthy's novel No Country for Old Men.
Acosta is portrayed in Narcos: Mexico by Gerardo Taracena.
References
edit- ^ "Pablo Acosta". www.laits.utexas.edu. Archived from the original on 2020-01-30. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
- ^ Poppa, Terrance (2009). "Pablo Acosta". Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
- ^ a b Book review: El Cartel de Juarez, by Francisco Cruz Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Poppa, Terrance (2009). "Amado Carrillo Fuentes". Archived from the original on 2009-10-11. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
- ^ Poppa, Terrence (2009). "Comandante Guillermo Gonzalez Calderoni". Archived from the original on 2009-10-12. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
- ^ Monroe, Rachel (2014-12-03). "The One-Time Girlfriend of One of Mexico's Most Notorious Drug Lords Returns to the Border to Offer Tours". Texas Monthly. Archived from the original on 2024-01-14. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
- ^ "La historia de la estadounidense que se enamoró de un narco mexicano y aún paga las consecuencias". Archived from the original on 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
- ^ Monroe, Rachel (2014-11-16). "Tours Take Border Guide Back to an Earlier Life". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2024-07-30. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
- ^ "Mimi, la "gringa" que enamoró al "Zorro de Ojinaga": huyó tras su muerte porque sabía mucho del Cártel de Guadalajara". El Heraldo de México (in Spanish). 2021-11-24. Archived from the original on 2024-07-30. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2024-07-30. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Suro, Roberto (1992-02-07). "Drug Traffickers Are Reopening Old Routes in Texas Badlands". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2024-07-30. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
- ^ Rist, Matt (2016-01-14). "Cocaine Smuggling Former Presidio Sheriff To Be Released". Archived from the original on 2024-07-30. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
- ^ Guimarães, Elisa (2021-11-15). "A Guide to 'Narcos: Mexico's Characters and Their Real-Life Counterparts". Collider. Archived from the original on 2023-02-07. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
- ^ "'Narcos: Mexico' Season 2: Did Pablo Acosta Villarreal aka 'The Ojinaga Fox' die the same way in real life?". 18 February 2020. Archived from the original on 9 August 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ "El Zorro de Ojinaga - Los Tigres del Norte - Song Info - AllMusic". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2013-06-12. Retrieved 2014-03-08.