"Poppa, a news reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist for his work on this story, has turned out a detailed and exciting book, covering in depth Acosta's life; the other drug factions that battled with him; the village of Ojinaga; and the logistics of the drug operation. The result is a nonfiction account with enough greed, treachery, shoot-outs, and government corruption to fascinate true crime and crime fiction readers alike. Highly recommended."— Library Journal
"[Drug Lord] is impressive for its thorough investigatory research…and for its lively style."— Kirkus Reviews
"Drug Lord is one of the few stories about double-dealing, murder, and endemic Mexican government corruption ever told from inside a drug ring, and is a must for anyone who wants to understand how drug rings really operate."— Penthouse
"[Poppa] describes, with uncomplicated ease, the franchise structure of the Acosta operation—involving a kind of interlocking, horizontal integration typical of organized crime…He has shocked us with the conventions of the drug smuggling industry. He has penetrated its secrets and shows it to be something more ordinary than mystical." — Dallas Morning News
"Poppa is a gifted storyteller who has a clear eye for detail." — Albuquerque Journal
"At times reading more like a Wild West novel than a true-to-life piece of non-fiction, Drug Lord exposes revealing snapshots of the seamy world of a drug smuggler at work." — Austin American Statesman
"Pablo Acosta, born in abject poverty in Mexico, became drug czar of Ojinaga across the border from the Big Bend country of Texas…The author shows that Acosta consolidated his power by murdering rivals, corrupting local police and soldiers, distributing money to the poor and contributing generously to civic projects…Poppa interviewed the drug lord in 1986 for the El Paso Herald-Post and bases this enlightening book in part on those talks." — Publishers Weekly
" Drug Lord is the real thing. Raw, immediate, indispensable."— Don Winslow, author of The Power of Dog and California Fire and Life