As you grow up you learn not to touch a hot stove because there are serious burning consequences. As a teenager you learn about bullies and it isn’t wise to cross them. This book is about Robert Dunton, an entrepreneur in San Pedro, an area south of Los Angeles. He was highly successful and was held in high esteem in this tightknit community. He possessed a keen business mind and looked for ways to improve the profitability of his business.
The lucrative trade that Mr. Dunton was involved in could best be described as the illicit narcotics business. He dealt in heroin, coke, meth and marijuana whatever the druggies in the beach area wanted. To be successful he took pride in supplying high quality drugs at a very competitive price. However, overtime he started to resent the fact that he had to pay taxes on everything he sold. Every narcotic dealer knows the rules. You are required to pay a 10% tax to the Mexican Mafia (EME) on all narcotics sales.
It is essential for the Mexican Mafia to collect this tax in order to survive. Since most of the top officials in the Mexican Mafia hierarchy are in prison, they need people on the outside to supply the money for the organization. One might wonder how can they require all narcotic dealers to pay this tax if the leaders are in prison. The answer is that if a dealer doesn’t cooperate, an EME enforcer will visit them and demand the money. If they don’t pay up, they are violently disposed of. Amazingly dealers quickly learn that it is beneficial to their health to pay the EME taxes.
Mr. Dunton understood there was a risk in not paying the taxes but he thought he could cut some corners and no one would notice. For months it was smooth sailing and his business was more profitable without the tax burden. However, the EME enforcers started zeroing in on his business to determine if he had been shorting them. In order to survive, Mr. Dunton protected himself by fortifying his house and hiring an armed security guard.
This book explains how on one evening in July everything unraveled for Mr. Dunton and one of his security guards. The Mexican Mafia set out to send a message to any narcotics dealer who even thought of not paying their taxes. Further this book reveals fascinating details as to how the Mexican Mafia operates and how law enforcement was able to build a case against the enforcers. With the assistance of a tenacious prosecutor a valiant attempt was made to find witnesses. Since everyone was scared to death to testify, the DA had to figure out how to use forensics against the killers.
If you like True Crime books which are strewn with a trail of dead bodies, this book is for you. It’s not a pretty picture but it is REAL TRUE CRIME.
