Excerpt
Toro Gonzalez stood at the end of the temporary dirt runway and watched the twin-engine Cessna 421 slowly circle like a large white eagle descending in pursuit of prey. At the last moment it straightened out and lightly touched down on rich Colombian soil. As it taxied down the dirt strip its spinning propellers began lifting huge amounts of dust and sent it twisting high into the distance reminiscent of a miniature sirocco.
Upon confirming the identity of the aircraft he holstered his Glock nine- millimeter and relaxed. His tired gaze followed the small plane as it taxied half way down the dusty strip, made a right turn and stopped next to a large canopy made from camouflage netting. Heat waves rose from the ground distorting the air around the plane. It had the effect of making the aircraft appear to bend and dance.
Under the protection of the net, sat stacked bricks of processed coca neatly wrapped in brown plastic. Next to them there were also bricks of heroin wrapped likewise in green plastic, a recent addition to the mix. The lot was rounded out by approximately five hundred pounds of tightly packed top grade marijuana buds. Each of the brown plastic covered bricks constituted four pounds of pure cocaine of which some would soon be further refined into crack upon its arrival in Miami.