Former Drug Kingpin Releases Memoirs
May 21st, 2009 by Russ
As Morgan Freeman noted in The Shawshank Redemption, “Prison time is slow time.”
For one former drug trafficker, time has afforded him the opportunity to share his story with his fellow countrymen. Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, once the most powerful drug boss of his day, has released a 36-page retelling of his reign to the Mexican magazine, Gatorpardo.
Entitled Diaries of the Boss of Bosses, the manifesto covers the 18-years that Gallardo spent in the drug trade, ultimately finding himself at the top of the heap.
From his high vantage, he had a clear view of the corrupting influence of narco-dollars on his own men, and on the police and military officials that he courted.
One close associate of his, Gonzalez Calderoni, was publicly known as a Tango & Cash-like supercop. In reality, Calderoni was nothing more than a corrupt official, living off of tips and intelligence provided by friendly traffickers. When the price was right, Calderoni turned on Gallardo, and ambushed him at a local Guadalajara restaurant.
Gallardo’s story offers up some important reminders for modern drug warriors. One, is that these vast sums of drugs targeted and seized are a hugely corrupting influence on all who come across them. Another, is that regardless of who is removed from the drug trade (even the kingpin himself) it will always perpetuate itself.
Kingpin: Paradise Peach
March 6th, 2007 by Alex
The ZenSmoke blunt I’m reviewing today is Kingpin: Paradise Peach. Right off the bat, you’ll notice the presentation sets this blunt apart from the rest and I’m not saying that’s a good thing.
| theFreshScent Product Recap | |
|---|---|
| Category | Blunts |
| Company | ZenSmoke |
| Made In | Philippines |
| Pros | Good taste |
| Cons | Too dry |
| Price | $1.50 |
| tFS Rating | 6.5/10 |
The hard-shell plastic tube can be used later for safe blunt or joint transportation (and who knows, that might be a strong selling point to some.) The leaf itself is wrapped around a straw with plastic sheet between the folds.
This Kingpin did smoke nicely though. The taste of the smoke was extremely smooth and leaves a sweetness on the mouth. It even burns at a slower than average speed, perfect for a group session.
Overall, the initial unwrapping of the packaging left me slightly dumbfounded on how I was going to roll with this dry-as-hell leaf. Yet, despite having some bad luck with this selection, I wouldn’t mind trying another Kingpin.
Kingpin: Chocolate Mint
January 30th, 2007 by Tim
Many blunt manufacturers use straws, plastic wrap, sealed packaging or any combination of the three to keep fresh and safe guard their wraps. Still, there’s no protection in your pocket or if you accidentally sit on them.
The blunt wrap that’s taken packaging to another level is the Kingpin Premium Blunt. Today I’m reviewing the Chocolate Mint flavor.
| theFreshScent Product Recap | |
|---|---|
| Category | Papers |
| Company | ZenSmoke |
| Made In | Philippines |
| Pros | Burn very smooth |
| Cons | No taste added |
| Price | $1.50 |
| tFS Rating | 8.0/10 |
The leaf itself is wrapped around a straw with plastic wrap between the folds. Packaging just doesn’t get more solid than this.
Kingpins smoke much better than I expected. At first, I thought this was an unwrapped Cyclone, but I was 100% wrong. The chocolate mint smell is definitely present on the wrap. There is also a strong tobacco odor from the leaf itself, which makes the mint more subdued than it normally would be.
The rolling process was extremely easy as Zensmoke built in a tapered (thinner) edge to the wraps. Once lit, these things go down smooth. Very smooth. There isn’t any flavor added to the smoke or much of an aroma given off, but that’s Ok. The best part about Kingpins is their slow, even burn.
I was impressed by this wrap and look forward to reviewing more.
