Podcast goes deep on the ‘war for drugs’
Show delves into the new book ‘Dispatches from the House of Death’
New York Times best-selling author and Heroes Behind the Headlines podcast host Ralph Pezzullo recently devoted a show to my book, “Dispatches from the House of Death,” and what it tells us about the long-running “war for drugs.”
Journalist and author Charles Bowden (1945–2014) summed it up best with respect to the House of Death mass murder case at the heart of my book, pointing out that in a better world, my journalism would not have been ignored by the U.S. mainstream media. (Personally, I still hope ultimately that media sunlight will illuminate the case and the injustice it spawned.)
From a story published by the nonprofit news platform Narco News in 2011:
According to Charles Bowden, an award-winning investigative journalist and author who relied heavily on Conroy’s reporting for his latest book, Dreamland, the Way Out of Juarez, the gravity of his work is grossly underappreciated.
“His assets are clear: a toolbox of investigative skills, patience and passion,” writes Bowden. “He has single-handedly kept The House of Death story alive, and he has done this without any recognition from the mainstream press which has almost completely ignored the story. This is no small matter since the story clearly documents the involvement of the US government in murders in Mexico. In a better world, his reporting would be given awards. Of course, in a better world, the US government would not be conspiring to murder Mexican citizens.”
The alternative weekly newspaper, the Dallas Observer, in a story penned in 2007 (when online news was still getting its sea legs) had this to say about my coverage of the House of Death case for Narco News:
“Unlike other publications that have covered the House of Death story, Narco News has not ignored the story’s most interesting, and important, aspect — the well-documented way in which Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, as well as the Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in El Paso and San Antonio, have tried to cover up how an informant on their payroll participated in and witnessed murders at the House of Death. In fact, Narco News, and reporter Bill Conroy in particular, have driven the story….
You can check out the Heroes Behind the Headlines podcast now at the link below. It’s also available nationwide via most podcast channels, including Apple, Google, Audible and Spotify.
“Investigative journalist Bill Conroy shares his experiences covering the Mexican drug trade and the infamous Juarez Cartel,” the promo blurb for the podcast stats. “From his gripping book ‘Dispatches from the House of Death,’ Bill describes the site of numerous drug-related executions, and the flawed response of U.S. law enforcement agencies charged with combating organized crime from over the border.”
Link to the Heroes Behind the Headlines podcast can be found here
