Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Tijuana junkie and dealer interviews

Heroin and pot from U.S. sells like “hot bread” down south

“Lo que venga del gringo es lo mejor, es la mas pura,” a junkie in the Tijuana River channel area told me when I recently asked him about his drugs of choice. He was a heroin user and an occasional meth user because many times his heroin was mixed with it.

According to the guy, a heroin dose in Mexico costs two dollars, but that's for the drug that never crosses the border. For drugs that come from the United States, the price is at least four times that. The deported junkie told me his drug habit started when he lived in California and that it is very difficult to find the same quality in Mexico.

Sponsored
Sponsored


I easily found a drug dealer in the back room of a coffee shop who deals mostly marijuana and cocaine, his own drugs of choice. He comes from Oaxaca and does not have papers to cross to the United States

“La mota del gringo la vendo como pan caliente,” he said, disclosing that pot grown in the U.S. sells in Tijuana like hot bread. “Medical marijuana," he said, is way easier to sell. “I can get rid of an ounce in a matter of hours and people pay the right price.” He then implored me to get in contact with medical marijuana patients that are willing to sell.

Mexican marijuana sells for a quarter of the price but for triple the amount of U.S.-grown weed, so its riskier to carry and not worth it to sell. 

Marijuana in Mexico is highly illegal and punishment for possession is virtually the same as it is for hard drugs. The “Vive Sin Drogas” ("live without drugs") anti-drug ad campaigns of the ’90s convinced most families in Mexico that by smoking a joint people become violent drug addicts willing to do anything for more.

The drug dealer told me his mom sent him to a rehab center for smoking too much pot. Once in the rehab center, he heard the stories of people who were alcoholics and hard-drug users; when it was his turn to speak, out of shame, the dealer made up a story that he was addicted to drugs harder than pot.



After a few phone calls, the dealer got the news he was waiting for. An ounce of “OG Kush” from a medical dispensary was going to be delivered to him for $250 in Tijuana. I rode in the car with him. When we arrived at the location, I waited in the car while he went inside apartments that are located a couple miles away from Zona Norte (where most drug deals occur). It took him more than 30 minutes. I became nervous as I saw people walk in and out of the apartment complex. 

He finally came out and we headed to a bar in downtown. He greeted the bouncer and we headed to the back office, where he showed his prize and the extra gift he got.

“His cousins from L.A. came over and brought him the purest cocaine I have seen,” the dealer told me before offering some to me and the people in the back office. I do not partake. The dealer said, “this is just to get started.” Then he revealed the ounce of OG Kush and took out an apple to use as a pipe. He packed it and passed it around. He said he sells a gram for $15, a higher price than most dispensaries in California and more than eight times the price of Mexican marijuana.


Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Next Article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?

“Lo que venga del gringo es lo mejor, es la mas pura,” a junkie in the Tijuana River channel area told me when I recently asked him about his drugs of choice. He was a heroin user and an occasional meth user because many times his heroin was mixed with it.

According to the guy, a heroin dose in Mexico costs two dollars, but that's for the drug that never crosses the border. For drugs that come from the United States, the price is at least four times that. The deported junkie told me his drug habit started when he lived in California and that it is very difficult to find the same quality in Mexico.

Sponsored
Sponsored


I easily found a drug dealer in the back room of a coffee shop who deals mostly marijuana and cocaine, his own drugs of choice. He comes from Oaxaca and does not have papers to cross to the United States

“La mota del gringo la vendo como pan caliente,” he said, disclosing that pot grown in the U.S. sells in Tijuana like hot bread. “Medical marijuana," he said, is way easier to sell. “I can get rid of an ounce in a matter of hours and people pay the right price.” He then implored me to get in contact with medical marijuana patients that are willing to sell.

Mexican marijuana sells for a quarter of the price but for triple the amount of U.S.-grown weed, so its riskier to carry and not worth it to sell. 

Marijuana in Mexico is highly illegal and punishment for possession is virtually the same as it is for hard drugs. The “Vive Sin Drogas” ("live without drugs") anti-drug ad campaigns of the ’90s convinced most families in Mexico that by smoking a joint people become violent drug addicts willing to do anything for more.

The drug dealer told me his mom sent him to a rehab center for smoking too much pot. Once in the rehab center, he heard the stories of people who were alcoholics and hard-drug users; when it was his turn to speak, out of shame, the dealer made up a story that he was addicted to drugs harder than pot.



After a few phone calls, the dealer got the news he was waiting for. An ounce of “OG Kush” from a medical dispensary was going to be delivered to him for $250 in Tijuana. I rode in the car with him. When we arrived at the location, I waited in the car while he went inside apartments that are located a couple miles away from Zona Norte (where most drug deals occur). It took him more than 30 minutes. I became nervous as I saw people walk in and out of the apartment complex. 

He finally came out and we headed to a bar in downtown. He greeted the bouncer and we headed to the back office, where he showed his prize and the extra gift he got.

“His cousins from L.A. came over and brought him the purest cocaine I have seen,” the dealer told me before offering some to me and the people in the back office. I do not partake. The dealer said, “this is just to get started.” Then he revealed the ounce of OG Kush and took out an apple to use as a pipe. He packed it and passed it around. He said he sells a gram for $15, a higher price than most dispensaries in California and more than eight times the price of Mexican marijuana.


Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.