In her new book, “Narcas: The Secret Rise of Women in Latin America’s Cartels,” journalist Deborah Bonello introduces readers to the powerful women who run some of the region’s most violent and profitable drug gangs.
Few of these women are household names like those of male cartel leaders Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and the late Pablo Escobar. And even fewer resemble the glamorous femmes fatales that populate TV and film melodramas about the narco world.
Bonello, a veteran journalist and editorial director for Latin America at Vice World News, has covered organized crime and criminal syndicates, particularly the drug trade, for nearly two decades. She has freelanced for the Times, where she was a special correspondent based in Mexico City, as well as for the BBC, the Guardian and the Telegraph.
Bonello recently discussed the motivation and reporting behind her book with The Los and the Los Angeles Times en Español. The following conversation has been edited for clarity and length.