“Javier’s arrest would be hailed by officials in the States as a decisive victory in what may have been the longest active case in the DEA’s history — a rare triumph in the War on Drugs. ‘We feel like we’ve taken the head off the snake.'” But as history has shown, this is a snake with a lot of heads. A special report from ProPublica and The Atlantic: Why Chapo Guzman was the biggest winner in the DEA’s longest running drug cartel case: Devils, Deals and the DEA.

+ “This is a story from the other side, the tale of a man who kidnaps, tortures and kills for a drug cartel. His story is the mirror image of those recounted by survivors and victims’ families, and seems to confirm their worst fears: Many, if not most, of the disappeared likely are never coming home.” AP with a killer’s story.

+ For an excellent read on the topic of the broken drug war and its impact on Mexico and other countries, check out Don Winslow’s excellent novel: The Cartel.