NARCOCORRIDAS AND GREENHOUSES IN MEXICO

Story & photos by Jorge Cervantes

MEXICO
The 737 penetrated the dense haze of smog ahead. Sometime later, I could see the sprawling urban area—some 3,700 square miles (9,500 kilometers) in all, containing more than 20 million people—nestled in Anáhuac, the Valley of Mexico. I have always known it as D.F. (Distrito Federal) or, simply, as Mexico.

Mexico City is located 7,350 feet (2,240 meters) above sea level at the 20th Parallel. On the globe, it is situated south of Honolulu, HI—and a whole lot higher!

As we touched down at Benito Juarez International Airport, many memories raced through my mind of my former life as a university student in the 1970’s. Ah, yes, the good old days—when we overthrew the University of the Américas, and a key of Popo Blue sensimilla cost $150 to $200. But this trip to Mexico would be much different than in those bygone days. Sure, I would see the usual suspects: growers, crooked cops, smugglers and Mexican mafia. But this time they would be growing big, fat Euro-American-style buds in greenhouses and turning part of it into ice hash.

Mexican geography starts at sea level with the desert up north, then transforms into tropics within a few hundred miles to the south. As soon as you go inland, you hit the mountains and valleys. Three quarters of Mexico is mountainous, with most valleys above 3,000 feet (900 meters).

Main roads run through the most important mountain passes. Small towns are linked to central market cities through a web of good national roads. Beyond the small pueblos lie hundreds of thousands of steep, mountainous miles with little or no transport to the outside world. This is where the well-armed growers thrive. Federal troops seldom attack marijuana growers in such remote locales. We even saw spotter aircraft fly over the greenhouses, only to buzz on by. The government has much bigger fish to fry: the super-violent cocaine and heroin mafia.

Gold and silver mining was a mainstay of Colonial Spain, and it’s no wonder that calcium, iron, sodium, alkali salts and other minerals dominate the mineral content of the soils. Today, the same soils yield green gold.

LA FINCA (THE FARM)
After another flight, we traveled in a four-wheel-drive truck for several hours into the interior. Good paved roads gave way to gravel and dirt roads. A few hours later, we were welcomed by a crew of growers happy to receive new provisions.

The rows of greenhouses were breathtaking: a series of 26,000-square-foot (2,500-meter) structures—spectacular by anybody’s measure. The boss, El Jefe, runs a tight operation and keeps everything in immaculate condition, even with the most basic of elements at his disposal. They call him El Jefe (“the Chief”) for good reason: There is no doubt that he’s in charge at the finca. “Keeping these guys in line is a full-time job,” he told me. “My secret is to have a strong foreman and a regular schedule and maintain it. Everybody has a specific job, and they all keep to it. I expel troublemakers immediately! And the main rule here: no firearms!”