Sixty Miles of Border: An American Lawman Battles Drugs on the Mexican Border

by Terry Kirkpatrick

Overview

The border between the United States and Mexico is a no-man’s land. Drugs, guns, and human beings are the cargo of choice in a multi-billion dollar illegal empire dominated by powerful cartels, murderous street gangs, and corrupt government officials. 
Against them stand the Special Agents of the United States Customs Service—men and women who fight to uphold the law and protect the U.S. on both sides of the border.

Terry Kirkpatrick worked one of the toughest jobs in America: a U.S. Customs agent on the border between Arizona and Mexico. He’s seen it all and done more for over twenty years in a job that many officers quit before they make it six months.

These are the gritty and graphic true stories of Terry and his fellow “Border Rats” as they patrol America’s modern badlands, where bullets are currency and blood is taken as payment. From the inhuman conditions people suffer under to get onto American soil, to working with blatantly crooked military leaders, to some of the most insane and unbelievable situations ever survived, readers will experience the chaos that has engulfed the U.S. border in the words of a man who has been there.

60 Miles of Border sheds an unsparing light into the life of customs agents, their dealings on the border, the effect on their daily lives—and an unsparing look at one of the most hotly debated and controversial topics in modern America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101581124
Publisher:	Temple Publications International, Inc.
Publication date:	07/03/2012
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	350,928
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Terry Kirkpatrick, started his career in law enforcement in 1978 as a city police officer and then became a Customs Inspector working the Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona. Terry worked in Mexico throughout most of his career beginning his first tour in 1985. Following death threats, he was reassigned back to the Arizona.

In August of 2001, Terry was assigned to the staff of the Commissioner of Customs in Washington D.C. After the tragic events of 9/11 he was made the National Program Manager of National Special Security Events. He returned to Nogales, Arizona in 2005 to finish his career in the same office where it began 28 years earlier.

Today, Terry is the owner of the “Grumpy Gringo Fine Cigars” in Tubac, Arizona where he can be found smoking cigars and writing his books.

Editorial Reviews

Kirkpatrick’s memoir about his 25-year career as a customs agent on the Mexican border (based at Nogales, Ariz.) is ripe with potential for revealing an insider’s frustration with the drug war. Unfortunately, Kirkpatrick’s multitude of anecdotes from life on the border—drug smuggling, corrupt officers, departmental feuds—are randomly strung together like a bunch of bad bar stories. Readers learn of the importance of confidential informants and the history of some of the dominant cartels, but these few merits are buried under the book’s juvenile writing style. Kirkpatrick pulls no punches with his prejudicial views and destructive behavior: he objectifies women; drinks while working (and driving); has sex while on a surveillance mission; throws rocks across the border at Mexican kids; and makes gay jokes about his colleagues, among other egregious offenses. Kirkpatrick is an unlikable narrator, a guy who thinks anyone who disagrees with him is an “asshole” or an “idiot.” According to his depiction, all the agents are drunk, sexist, homophobic, racist, lazy, and petty. Though the topic holds potential for a meaningful, introspective memoir on the challenges of pursuing America’s drug policy, this book is not it. (July)

Publishers Weekly

A behind-the-scenes look at the adventures of a U.S. Customs special agent on the front lines of the drug wars. Retired agent Kirkpatrick reflects on his nearly 30 years spent patrolling the 60-mile stretch of land between Arizona's Santa Cruz County and Sonora, Mexico. The author's straight-shooting narration leaves little to the imagination, as he provides a loose-tongued recounting of drug busts, fistfights and the occasional sexual escapade. Kirkpatrick's exploits paint him as a renegade Customs cowboy who discovered early in his career that "[n]ot every rule can be followed to the letter"--proof of which he demonstrates throughout the book. Yet his strong-armed approach to the law was more than a power trip; it was the result of a sincere desire to level a wildly uneven playing field. "You're not just battling the traffickers," he writes, "you're fighting the will of the American people, the entire justice system, the liberal Ninth Circuit Court, defense attorneys, and Washington D.C." His frustration grows even more palpable as he notes that drug smugglers have the added benefit of "better surveillance equipment, more personnel, [and] better vehicles." Unfortunately, these insights are rare, and rather than providing additional commentary on the struggles of drug-trafficking prevention, the book spirals down an episodic path veering toward indulgence. A heart-pounding read lacking a climax or overarching structure.

Kirkus Reviews