Path of the Devil: Camino del Diablo

This story was based on true events of three men determined

to bring down a notorious drug cartel operating along the

southwestern border of the United States. For five years the men

spearheaded separate but simultaneous investigations in different

locations around the country. According to a March 1997 report by

Mike Gallegher, investigative reporter for the Albuquerque Journal,

along the border between United States and Mexico, from Tijuana,

Mexico/San Diego, California to Matamoros, Mexico/Brownsville,

Florida, there are twelve Gatekeepers who form “a syndicate of the

major drug cartels operating in Mexico.”1 The syndicate controls

individual regions for smuggling narcotics and drugs into the U.S.

and transportation of weapons to Central and South America. The

cartels “coordinate bribes at the national level, oversee money

laundering operations and negotiate the shipment of drugs at the

international level.”2

One case, conducted by DEA Agent Larry Ray Hardin, took

place in Yuma and San Luis, both cities in Arizona. Another case

occurred simultaneously in Los Angeles, California, and was

conducted by private investigators Jeff Pearce and Randy

Torgerson of the Pearce Corporation. About one year into the cases,

they found themselves making connections with the Meraz

organization, a drug cartel in San Luis, Rio Colorado, Mexico, and

their connections and businesses conducted in Los Angeles.

Experiences from their investigation, surveillance, and

collection of intelligence to build the cases present a compelling

story leading to what became of the Meraz family, their

organization, and the three young men. The intensity of this work –

and in some instances, the fun times – relate how events such as

these shaped each of their lives.

1130673199
Path of the Devil: Camino del Diablo

This story was based on true events of three men determined

to bring down a notorious drug cartel operating along the

southwestern border of the United States. For five years the men

spearheaded separate but simultaneous investigations in different

locations around the country. According to a March 1997 report by

Mike Gallegher, investigative reporter for the Albuquerque Journal,

along the border between United States and Mexico, from Tijuana,

Mexico/San Diego, California to Matamoros, Mexico/Brownsville,

Florida, there are twelve Gatekeepers who form “a syndicate of the

major drug cartels operating in Mexico.”1 The syndicate controls

individual regions for smuggling narcotics and drugs into the U.S.

and transportation of weapons to Central and South America. The

cartels “coordinate bribes at the national level, oversee money

laundering operations and negotiate the shipment of drugs at the

international level.”2

One case, conducted by DEA Agent Larry Ray Hardin, took

place in Yuma and San Luis, both cities in Arizona. Another case

occurred simultaneously in Los Angeles, California, and was

conducted by private investigators Jeff Pearce and Randy

Torgerson of the Pearce Corporation. About one year into the cases,

they found themselves making connections with the Meraz

organization, a drug cartel in San Luis, Rio Colorado, Mexico, and

their connections and businesses conducted in Los Angeles.

Experiences from their investigation, surveillance, and

collection of intelligence to build the cases present a compelling

story leading to what became of the Meraz family, their

organization, and the three young men. The intensity of this work –

and in some instances, the fun times – relate how events such as

these shaped each of their lives.

16.45 In Stock
Path of the Devil: Camino del Diablo

Path of the Devil: Camino del Diablo

Path of the Devil: Camino del Diablo

Path of the Devil: Camino del Diablo

Overview

This story was based on true events of three men determined

to bring down a notorious drug cartel operating along the

southwestern border of the United States. For five years the men

spearheaded separate but simultaneous investigations in different

locations around the country. According to a March 1997 report by

Mike Gallegher, investigative reporter for the Albuquerque Journal,

along the border between United States and Mexico, from Tijuana,

Mexico/San Diego, California to Matamoros, Mexico/Brownsville,

Florida, there are twelve Gatekeepers who form “a syndicate of the

major drug cartels operating in Mexico.”1 The syndicate controls

individual regions for smuggling narcotics and drugs into the U.S.

and transportation of weapons to Central and South America. The

cartels “coordinate bribes at the national level, oversee money

laundering operations and negotiate the shipment of drugs at the

international level.”2

One case, conducted by DEA Agent Larry Ray Hardin, took

place in Yuma and San Luis, both cities in Arizona. Another case

occurred simultaneously in Los Angeles, California, and was

conducted by private investigators Jeff Pearce and Randy

Torgerson of the Pearce Corporation. About one year into the cases,

they found themselves making connections with the Meraz

organization, a drug cartel in San Luis, Rio Colorado, Mexico, and

their connections and businesses conducted in Los Angeles.

Experiences from their investigation, surveillance, and

collection of intelligence to build the cases present a compelling

story leading to what became of the Meraz family, their

organization, and the three young men. The intensity of this work –

and in some instances, the fun times – relate how events such as

these shaped each of their lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781733635035
Publisher: Randy G. Torgerson, P.I.
Publication date: 02/21/2019
Pages: 344
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.77(d)

About the Author

Randy Torgerson served in the United States
Army and worked in law enforcement before becoming a private investigator with Pearce
Corporation. He continues to work as a selfemployed private investigator.

Jeffrey Pearce served in the United States Army and worked as a private investigator for Pearce
Corporation. He continues to work as a selfemployed private investigator.

Larry Ray Hardin is a retired DEA agent after
30 years and currently teaches criminal law to law enforcement students, runs his own private investigating business, and volunteers to visit with military veterans, law enforcement agents and officers in hospice.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Growing up in the South Bronx, my father once told me:

"True hell is being the only guy playing straight in a dirty card

game." He was talking about Street fighting, but he might just as

well have been talking about my 25-year career as a DEA

undercover agent. The undercovers went after their targets like

hungry wolves, crossing borders with false identities into dark parts

of the world where our targets had the power of life and death that

only God or the devil should have. This reality only made us

hungrier to bring them down; to destroy them. It felt like God's

work. So, we threw ourselves into these missions with the total

abandon of our safety and our families, with the abiding belief that,

at the very least, our missions and goals were supported by the full

might of the United States government. Too many of us, like DEA

agent, Enrique Kiki Camarena, tortured to a grotesque death by

Mexican police and drug traffickers, would die, because of that

false belief. A few of us, like myself, defied those black odds and

lived to tell the story of the dirtiest card game in American history–

the war on drugs. And now comes, my colleagues Larry Ray Hardin

and his partners Jeffrey Pearce and Randy Torgerson with their

aptly titled, nonfiction expose "Path of the Devil," to remind

America, that this dirty and deadly game is still very much alive

and well.

—Michael Levine, NY Times bestselling author of “Deep

Cover” and “The Big White Lie.”

.38 Caliber Snub-nose

AUSA Assistant United States Attorney

CI Confidential Informant

CIA Central Intelligence Agency

Computer chips Slang for drugs

DEA Drug Enforcement Administration

DMV Department of Motor Vehicles

DPS Department of Public Service

FBI Federal Bureau of Investigations

INS Immigration & Naturalization Service

LAX Los Angeles Airport

NSA National Security Agency

OCDETF Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces

PD Police Department

POE Port of Entry

PIs Private Investigators

SOI Sources of Information

Spooks CIA

TSA Transportation Security Administration

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