On Bolivian soil, the DEA was already waiting for David Del Valle, with a lot of effort from the Latin Americans, they were able to collaborate with the United States justice, and at the same time they were collaborating with the investigation process. It was a difficult situation to accomplish, but little by little they would mobilize.Juan Carlos Velázquez, was more than focused to do his job, everything had to be perfectly organized. He already had all the information he needed to begin the interrogation. They entered a special room, where a table, two chairs, a microphone, white walls and hidden cameras would be the preliminary witnesses of the biggest catastrophe in Mexico.David Del Valle entered handcuffed, handcuffed, to what would be his first questionnaire in that country, that place located in La Paz. Everyone was tense. The interrogation had to take place in absolute secrecy, no one should know about it, that is why not all DEA employees knew about the meeting, they had to
With David Del Valle's story, the deal they had with Maria De La Cruz was getting weaker and weaker, her freedom was far away, besides it was a verbal treaty, that is to say nothing written, there was no more evidence than the word of a simple suspect of homicides, illicit association and sale of illegal drugs, the chances of freedom were slim for the Mexican woman. Meanwhile in that room very painful truths came to light for David Del Valle, where he stayed he could not continue and then resumed his long and arduous interrogation.- You say that María De La Cruz, in cold blood, killed Victoria Ocampo in front of you?- Yes, and she freed me, she forced me to come here.- Don't be a saint, David Del Valle, we know your whole story. What happened to your hand?- A hitman cut it off when your son died (...)- For now that part of the story does not interest me, I want you to help us find your father, and about Maria De La Cruz, we are going to find out, for now she is innocent until pro
After the strange movements, both corporal and verbal, the story of the twins is not closed.- María De La Cruz, we need to close some of your ideas, for example; how did you meet the Del Valle family?- When we were kids, I think I was five years old, or probably younger, we lived in a humble house on Guanajuato Street, we were five siblings, and mom was pregnant with another child. In spite of being very poor we lived happily, and we did not see delinquency, although it was always with us.- And your father? -asks Diego Olmos.- I don't remember him, but my neighbors told me that back then he worked with the gang that opposed Del Valle's. Because of that, there was a confrontation. Because of that, there was a gang confrontation, followed by a settling of scores, where all my family died, or at least I thought so, until after many years, I found out that David Del Valle, took Jeremias De La Cruz, and changed his last name, then he kept him with him, all these years, his intention w
Maria De La Cruz, sitting in a dark corner of the prison, was waiting for a possible solution to the chaos she was living, not so much in the physical world, but in her mental world. Although it seems that this story did not have a victorious salvation, it is totally wrong, she studied each of the steps of the DEA chiefs, she knew what could happen and what could not, she was sure of the mistakes that could be made in this operation, she doubted Jeremias Lopez, the young man did commit clumsiness.The day after the interrogation of Jeremías López, the boy did not say much, he told in a final university way, exactly what he had talked about so much, he studied the whole monologue that his sister had prepared for him, he felt a little extroverted, maybe he had not handled the body language, as they had practiced so many times, but in general terms, there was not enough evidence to hold them for long, at least not to the twin male.Meanwhile Pablo Olmos, received in a corner of the garag
Juan Carlos Velázquez was a meticulous man, dedicated to his work, he had never married, he was very young and since he was a child he always dreamed and worked to become a great policeman, he was the best of his class, he graduated with honors. He came from an aristocratic family, but despite this, he never mentioned it to anyone, the only ones who knew were his bosses, but they always knew how to respect his secrets, and admired the humility he knew how to build for himself and for others. As every human being had his childhood and pre-adolescent traumas, and this was that he could not become a famous executive as his father always dreamed, he became what they call a simple slave of the state, that disappointed his parents so much, that they cut all family ties, and that blood feud was so strong, that he decided to leave his European lands, his beautiful city of Riga, and emigrate to where he could be valued and recognized for his merits and not for his economic acquisition as he ha
Plan B, both Juan Carlos Velázquez's and María De La Cruz's, had worked out perfectly. Even though it meant putting his life at risk. She woke up, opened her eyes carefully, afraid of what she might find around her. She was surrounded by dark walls, full of spider webs, bats, and all the rodents that usually harbor such a place. When she woke up she realized that she was chained by one arm to a wall, she felt like an animal in captivity. With her she had a wire bed, without any mattress of course, through a high window she could see some trees, by the size of them she could guess that she was in a tropical place, besides the birds could be heard singing happily, all the senses of Maria De La Cruz, were alert.The hours passed in captivity, there was a disturbing silence, where she felt more and more restless, she did not know anything about her brother, hunger and thirst were already noticeable, the night came, the stormy noise of the insects disturbed her and insomnia became part of
Maria De La Cruz, was still a prisoner in what she had called the island, the colonel came to see her every two or three days, she did not limit herself to answer anything she asked, and she was to the point of wanting to be raped. If the colonel knew her sexual condition, she would be dead, because no one in society understands that there are people like her who have both genitals, and practice both sexes, it would be a total abomination and she would die without hesitation.Those days locked up, Maria De la Cruz, had studied all the movements of the evildoers who had her locked up, that was good because she considered escaping, she did not want to be a prisoner anymore, and if she had to die, at least it would be trying to obtain everything she had wanted one day, freedom.That night, in the twilight of the night, a shining moon let the night light shine through. He had been digging the bars of the window, but on the outside, every night with a sharp stone and a nail, he had taken t
It was important for Maria De La Cruz, to be able to locate Emiliano Romero, because with him they would begin a reorganization of the drug, but not just any drug, but the Pink Hormone, the one they had tasted that day, the passion and the wild love of the moment had materialized in it. One of the gang members managed to know where he was; he was lodged in the first police station of San Martin, the task was easy, to talk to the commissioner, for a green commission, and then that he would leave through the small door, although he would be a fugitive from justice, they would not encourage violence, nor any other savage, besides the fact that the veterinarian hated those situations where the adrenaline made him sweat drops. It is also important to clarify that he was not accused of murder, or any charge that could not be settled with bail, and finally note that he was a detainee, he had not even been sentenced. That is why the gang members suggested to Maria De La Cruz, that they would
When she picked up the phone, however, she heard the stern rebuke in her father's voice, who shouted, "Arlyne!" She withdrew her hand. With one brief command, Irving had just firmly excluded her from his most intimate affairs. That was the way things worked in the Weiss family. Doors that slammed shut. Mirrors that stared back. And telephone rings that hid secrets. Maria De La Cruz would have been slow to reflect on her mother's writings, at least she discovered that her real name was "Arlyne", and that she had made a kind of auto-bibliography written in the third person, but how could I find out? Well, those sheets hid an admirable truth and bandit, they coincided perfectly with her father's chest. She was confused for a few days, she wasn't sure what her real surname was, her real name, and she certainly had become quite messed up in her mind. However, in the shadows of her questions, she was filled with relief and emotion for the blood that ran in her veins; even though they carrie
Irving and Billie, who were used to frequenting classier joints, had to pop in from time to time, basically because one of the other co-owners was one of Lucky Luciano's friends: Giuseppe Antonio Doto, also known as Joe Adonis. Adonis was an aloof guy and, to Arlyne, a complete mystery. She managed to catch a glimpse of him one night while he sat waiting for her father in front of the apartment. Although Arlyne was not yet a teenager, the sight of Adonis' hazy profile through the tinted glass of the Cadillac aroused some sexual interest in her. His marked, sensual features seemed both exotic and forbidding. Although the question had not been explicitly discussed, it was clear that any daughter of Irving Weiss would stay far away from the Italians, who were widely known for preying on mirror maze 51 Jewish girls and recounting the details of their conquests on street corners and in taverns all over the Lower East Side. On the one hand, Adonis was attractive because he was so strange,
Although pleasant at first, these formalities began to wear on Miss Blum's patience. Constrained by convention, she could not initiate contact without a suitable pretext. Fortunately, one did present itself. One of the funeral homes was going to hold a raffle and all the East Side undertakers were given a handful of ballots to sell. Ida Blum, who usually handled these matters, called her daughter and asked if she was interested in trying her luck with the Weiss brothers. At her mother's timely suggestion, Billie went to Houston Street on the pretext of selling them ten raffle tickets. Irving was willing to buy all ten, but Henry stopped him, telling him that five would be enough. That confirmed what Billie thought: that Irving was the most generous, and the best catch. In fact, Billie had left nothing to chance. Before approaching them and without anyone seeing her, she had lifted the red Mafia Girl 46 stamps from the ballots in order to guarantee that she was selling a winning one t
Those who declined the offer received threats of sabotage and often death. Lansky and Los Chicos ran their criminal enterprises almost unchallenged until 1933, when they found themselves in troubled waters in the political arena. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who had emerged victorious at the 1932 Democratic National Convention with the support of the Lansky-controlled political bosses, soon turned against his old allies and launched an all-out war against organized crime. That move made him so popular that local politicians across the country took his lead. New York Governor Herbert Lehman appointed a politically ambitious young man named Thomas Dewey as special prosecutor to bring the mobsters to justice. Dewey set about his task with fervor, lashing out at the bouncers across the spectrum of suspect sectors. However, the onslaught of his prosecutorial fury fell especially hard on Lepke and Gurrah, whom he considered "the two biggest extortionists in the country." Realizing t
They were all avid gamblers, and they all came to Frankie. Sometimes, preferably on Saturday afternoons, because no funerals were officiated and she was allowed to gamble on the front steps, Arlyne would visit her grandmother. On those occasions, she would go down a back staircase leading to the neighboring basement and visit Uncle Frankie and his friends. She used to find them stretched out on a couple of old couches, going over the race sheet and listening to the standings on a big old wooden radio. They didn't seem to mind that little girl hanging around. Sometimes Frankie or one of the others would sneak her a quarter and a pat on the cheek. In fact, as Arlyne recalls, those men were "the Uncles." For example, there was Uncle Milty Tillinger, the loan shark. Once, when one of Milty's relatives was on the run from justice, Ida hid him in the coffin room until the danger passed, earning the loyalty of the Tillinger family forever. There was also Izzy Smith, owner of Zion Cemetery do
As Arlyne observed, Grandma was always surrounded by men, most of them much younger than she was. Among those blowflies flying over Ida's kitchen on Friday night were Jimmy and Jake, the chauffeurs in charge of driving the hearse during the funeral. It was obvious that both young men held their benefactress in high esteem. Jake, a ladies' man, flirted with Ida nicely and then went on his way. The other, however, had been hit harder. Jimmy the Pagan, as he was known, was a shy soul who seemed unable to find a girlfriend. Ida had taken pity on him and offered to teach him to dance. Later, when she had finished her duties as cook, she would take his hand and lead him into the living room, where she would put a record on the phonograph. Then, to the delight of those present, she would show Jimmy the first steps in the erotic pleasures of tango. Their bodies were not a perfect match; Ida was much more muscular than her skinny dancing partner. But Jimmy was eager to learn and Arlyne found i
As far back as Arlyne's memory goes, every Friday night the Weiss family went to Grandma's house. It was a sacred obligation, one they could not skip under any circumstances. As a child, Arlyne looked forward to those outings with innocent enthusiasm, taking them for granted and not understanding them. By 1944, when she was eleven years old, an age when the growing knowledge of the mysteries behind ordinary events pricked her curiosity, those visits took on a new importance. At three o'clock sharp, as soon as they came home from school, Arlyne and her little sister, Barbara, would bathe and change, putting on the dress the maid had left on the bed. They then presented themselves to their mother, who, as was customary at that hour, was seated on a stool before the dressing table. Billie Weiss assessed her daughters with a critical eye and then placed the little girl before her. As she braided her long honey-colored hair, the little girl's head bobbed docilely up and down. But that idyl
In 1957, at the age of twenty-three, she married a furrier named Brickman. However, that union exploded because of her husband's constant flirtations, in addition to his penchant for grand larceny. With a young daughter and an indefatigable spirit, Arlyne resumed her destructive pursuit of glamour and influence only to end up raped and beaten to a pulp at the hands of mobsters she considered her friends. The rape marked in Arlyne's career the advent of a new cruelty, born simultaneously of a desire to ven- The Mob Girl 18 ganza and the need to protect herself. She spent the next thirteen years of her life in a stormy and often violent relationship with a Genovese mobster named Tommy Luca. During that period, she also became an "entrepreneur", engaging first in illegal gambling and then in drug trafficking, and displaying a constant obsession with money. It was that cynical view of the world that allowed her to evolve quite naturally into a career as a confidante. The main reason for t
Before returning to Argentina to begin her plan of revenge against Emiliano Romero and his brother David Del Valle, she wanted to go back to her childhood neighborhood, and remembered the houses of some friends, one of them Lupita, she called her when she saw her walking quietly between the most dangerous streets of Mexico, but with the gun in her waist, she only gave the impression of being part of there, and in fact she was. When Maria saw Lupita, she crossed the street to meet her, there they entered a large house, one of the best, three stories, white, surrounded by fences and more precarious homes, the lack of the place was noticeable. That afternoon they spent the whole day together, but in the evening Maria wanted to return to Guanajuato, since she had rented an apartment there, just before leaving, her friend found a folder with a particular manuscript that she said was from her mother when she was a little girl. Their mothers had been friends in ancient times, and apparently