Jacob Diaz

was nothing but trouble, confesses Diaz.

This guy epitomized the cowboy mentality of a reckless drug trafficker.

I wanted nothing to do with him.

Although Diaz never particularly liked JJ, he valued his relationship with Aviles.

Unfortunately, dealing with Aviles meant having to deal with the JJs of the underworld also.

I think of myself as a nice guy, but JJ was the type of guy that'd have you shot for looking at him wrong.

Diaz continues.

The guy was insane.

He was all about status and power.

Fortunately, Arturo Beltran Leyva himself lived in Cuernavaca, and he forbid any nonsense in his own backyard.

That typically kept guys like JJ in line.

By the spring 2007, Mexico was embroiled in a full-on narco war, as the Sinaloa Federation fought to take over the Gulf and Juarez cartels' distribution routes.

The fighting along the border for control of the key plazas had turned the country into the murder capital of the world.

While the Zetas alone were able to hold their plazas in northeastern Mexico, the rest of the country fell under the Federation's control as Chapo Guzman and Arturo Beltranleva eliminated their competition.

Diaz had been befriended by several young guys while partying in Cuernavaca.

Juan Pablo, a chubby, outgoing Mexican kid, and Dane Zipursky.

He was the son of a wealthy American from Wisconsin who was attending the Technology of Monterey.

It's a university for privileged Euro-Mexican kids.

Dane was a chick magnet, but a babe in the woods.

The guy was always getting himself into trouble.