--- product_id: 14728144 title: "Dirty Dealing: Drug Smuggling on the Mexican Border and the Assassination of a Federal Judge" price: "122.22 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/14728144-dirty-dealing-drug-smuggling-on-the-mexican-border-and-assassination store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # Border smuggling saga True crime deep dive Historic federal judge assassination Dirty Dealing: Drug Smuggling on the Mexican Border and the Assassination of a Federal Judge **Price:** 122.22 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > ⚡️ The crime story that defined a generation—don’t miss the real deal! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Dirty Dealing: Drug Smuggling on the Mexican Border and the Assassination of a Federal Judge - **How much does it cost?** 122.22 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/14728144-dirty-dealing-drug-smuggling-on-the-mexican-border-and-assassination) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Authentic Local Insight:** Written by a Texas Monthly senior editor with deep regional knowledge. - • **Cultural and Legal Impact:** Explore the landmark assassination that shook the U.S. justice system. - • **Collector’s Edition Appeal:** Used book in good condition—own a piece of true crime history with a fresh afterword. - • **Unrivaled True Crime Narrative:** Dive into the gripping saga of the Chagra drug empire and its explosive downfall. - • **Meticulously Researched History:** Experience a story backed by exhaustive research and insider perspectives. ## Overview Dirty Dealing chronicles the rise and fall of the Chagra brothers, pioneering drug smugglers on the U.S.-Mexico border, culminating in the 1979 assassination of Federal Judge John Wood—the first in over a century. Authored by Gary Cartwright, a seasoned Texas Monthly editor, this true crime masterpiece offers a deeply researched, compelling narrative that reveals the dark intersections of crime, corruption, and justice in American history. ## Description "A hell of a story about drugs, corruption and violence, told by a virtuoso." -- Playboy magazine Dirty Dealing , a true story, chronicles the rise and fall of the house of Chagra. The Chagra brothers of El Paso were pioneers in smuggling drugs across the Mexican border, and were infamous for their fabulous wealth. But in the end Lee Chagra was gunned down, a federal judge was assassinated, Jimmy and Joe Chagra were imprisoned, and Charles Harrelson (actor Woody Harrelson's father) was convicted for the judge's murder. When Federal Judge John "Maximum" Wood was shot outside his home in San Antonio, Texas in 1979 -- the first assassination of a federal judge in more than a hundred years -- his death sent waves of shock across the country. The FBI labeled it "the crime of the century." Former President Nixon expressed "outrage," calling for quick arrest and punishment. But the crime's solution would be anything but fast. Dragging on for years and costing $11.4 million, the investigation turned out to be the largest in recent FBI history, surpassing even that of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. Gary Cartwright, senior editor of Texas Monthly and author of several nonfiction bestsellers, details the full history of the events leading up to this crime and the trials that followed in Dirty Dealing . This reprint from Cinco Puntos Press includes a new afterword by the author. Complete with shady maneuverings on the part of the federal government and an outcome that Kirkus Reviews has called "straight from Oz ," Dirty Dealing is one of the richest and most fascinating of all true crime stories. From the Author, Gary Cartwright: I don't claim much of a literary background. The town where I grew up (Arlington, Texas) had a tiny library above the fire station. The first writer who truly impressed me and caused me to wonder if there was something out there for me was Hemingway. For a long time I tried to emulate his clean, crisp style and feeling for life and death. I was going pretty well with Hemingway when I got sidetracked by Durrell's Alexandria Quartet , at which time I lapsed into my Purple Period. Nelson Algren's Walk on the Wildside -- I think I read some Conrad about the same time -- got me out of the stench of lyrical, overripe nonsense and back in the dust where I belonged. Somewhere in there I read Robert Stone's A Hall of Mirrors , and later Dog Soldiers , and began to understand that a writer's true function was storytelling. Like a lot of writers my age, my head was turned by reading J.D. Salinger, though I didn't understand him. I came to prefer William Goldman, who wrote more to my level and with a skill I could appreciate and borrow from. I know it's popular in literary circles to dismiss Goldman as a hack-gone-Hollywood, but I wish I had his gift as a storyteller. In recent years I have fallen in love with such mystery writers as Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and John LeCarré. There is something cynical and laconic in the way these writers weave a story, as though to say life really has no resolution, it's just one damn thing after another, but worthwhile if it's done right.Two books that influenced my own works were David Storey's This Sporting Life , which I read shortly before beginning my football novel The Hundred Yard War, and Truman Capote's In Cold Blood , which was the inspiration for my two latest books, Blood Will Tell and Dirty Dealing . I am fascinated by this genre and have come to recognize that life imitating art is every bit as literate as art imitating life. In a way I can't quite explain, Dirty Dealing was influenced, too, by John Reed's Insurgent Mexico . Reed got across a feeling for how the isolation of desert wastelands gives both a meaning and a meaninglessness to life, and how codes within cultures are more permanent than laws within nations. Review: The best book on the Chagras and Judge Wood murder. - Gary Cartwright has produced the best work on these two subjects. Exhaustively researched and extremely well written. The Chagras family is chronicled, warts and all. A very powerful work of El Paso/Juarez, Mexico history. It did seem that Judge Wood's murder was inevitable. If the cartels ever took hold in the USA, this book outlined that. The FBI prevented that from happening. That is the difference between the USA and Mexico.We are lucky. As bad as Judge Wood was, this book shows the cartels would be worse. Review: True story of a drug king pin - Liked the book because it was a well known attorney that everyone knew here in El Paso, Texas...it's how it all came down from start to finish. It was in our local newspaper every day. ## Features - Used Book in Good Condition ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #866,195 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #826 in Organized Crime True Accounts #2,179 in Murder & Mayhem True Accounts #8,000 in U.S. State & Local History | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 194 Reviews | ## Images ![Dirty Dealing: Drug Smuggling on the Mexican Border and the Assassination of a Federal Judge - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81LBEuGeNYL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The best book on the Chagras and Judge Wood murder. *by D***. on May 20, 2014* Gary Cartwright has produced the best work on these two subjects. Exhaustively researched and extremely well written. The Chagras family is chronicled, warts and all. A very powerful work of El Paso/Juarez, Mexico history. It did seem that Judge Wood's murder was inevitable. If the cartels ever took hold in the USA, this book outlined that. The FBI prevented that from happening. That is the difference between the USA and Mexico.We are lucky. As bad as Judge Wood was, this book shows the cartels would be worse. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ True story of a drug king pin *by P***N on January 18, 2020* Liked the book because it was a well known attorney that everyone knew here in El Paso, Texas...it's how it all came down from start to finish. It was in our local newspaper every day. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good book *by S***O on January 12, 2025* Great book about the brothers attorneys in El Paso, TX. I’m from El Paso. I read this when I was 15. Now I read it again and it seemed better. 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