Martin Corona

Tony Rafael

"These are the true confessions of an assassin. Martin Corona started out life seemingly as American as a midcentury American kid could be. He was the son of a US marine, bouncing from one warm beach base to another. But the combination of an abusive father, ill-advised medication, and some bad choices before he was even a teenager led him into a brutal, murderous outlaw life. In and out of prison, Corona, aka 'Nite Owl, ' soon came into contact with Sureños and the so-called Mexican Mafia. After having proved himself to be fearless and loyal, he joined an elite crew run by the Arellano Félix brothers, founders of the Tijuana drug cartel that dominated the cross-border drug trade and the associated bloody gang warfare for decades. Corona and his crew would leave their luxurious hideout in Mexico, cross the border whenever they wished, kill whoever needed to be killed, and often return to their "office" the same day. Special Agent of the California Department of Justice Steve Duncan pursued the arrest of Martin Corona for years and wrote the foreword to this powerful memoir. He says Corona is the only former cartel hit man he knows who is truly remorseful. Corona's turning state's evidence led to the arrest of Javier Arellano Felix and the ultimate downfall of the Tijuana Cartel in 2006. But Corona wasn't free from his past. This story gives insight into how one human being became able to kill without hesitation--and how, no longer a killer, and asking for forgiveness, he now lives with himself."--Jacket.

Confessions of a Cartel Hit Man

It has been called the most dangerous gang in American history. In Los Angeles alone it is responsible for over 100 homicides per year. Although it has fewer than 300 members, it controls a 40,000-strong street army that is eager to advance its agenda. It waves the flag of the Black Hand and its business is murder. Although known on the streets for over fifty years, the Mexican Mafia has flown under the radar of public awareness and has flourished beneath a deep cover of secrecy. Members are forbidden even to acknowledge its existence. For the first time in its history, the Mexican Mafia is now getting the attention it has been striving to avoid. In this briskly written and thoroughly researched book, Tony Rafael looks at the birth and the blood-soaked growth of this criminal enterprise through the eyes of the victims, the dropouts, the cops and DAs on the front lines of the war against the Mexican Mafia. The first book ever published on the subject, Southern Soldiers is a pioneering work that unveils the operations of this California prison gang and describes how it grew from a small clique of inmates into a transnational criminal organization. As the first prison gang ever to project its power beyond prison walls, the Mexican Mafia controls virtually every Hispanic neighborhood in Southern California and is rapidly expanding its influence into the entire Southwest, across the East Coast, and even into Canada. Riding a wave of unchecked immigration and seemingly beyond the reach of law enforcement, the Mexican Mafia is poised to become the Cosa Nostra of twenty-first-century America.

The Mexican Mafia

The true confession of an assassin, a sicario, who rose through the ranks of the Southern California gang world to become a respected leader in an elite, cruelly efficient crew of hit men for Mexico's "most vicious drug cartel," and eventually found a way out and an (almost) normal life. Martin Corona, a US citizen, fell into the outlaw life at twelve and worked for a crew run by the Arellano brothers, founders of the the Tijuana drug cartel that dominated the Southern California drug trade and much bloody gang warfare for decades. Corona's crew would cross into the United States from their luxurious hideout in Mexico, kill whoever needed to be killed north of the border, and return home in the afternoon. That work continued until the arrest of Javier Arellano-Félix in 2006 in a huge coordinated DEA operation. Martin Corona played a key role in the downfall of the cartel when he turned state's evidence. He confessed to multiple murders. Special Agent of the California Department of Justice Steve Duncan, who wrote the foreword, says Martin Corona is the only former cartel hit man he knows who is truly remorseful. Martin's father was a US Marine. The family had many solid middle-class advantages, including the good fortune to be posted in Hawaii for a time during which a teenage Martin thought he might be able to turn away from the outlaw life of theft, drug dealing, gun play, and prostitution. He briefly quit drugs and held down a job, but a die had been cast. He soon returned to a gangbanging life he now deeply regrets. How does someone become evil, a murderer who can kill without hesitation? This story is an insight into how it happened to one human being and how he now lives with himself. He is no longer a killer; he has asked for forgiveness; he has made a kind of peace for himself. He wrote letters to family members of his victims. Some of them not only wrote back but came to support him at his parole hearings. It is a cautionary tale, but also one that shows that evil doesn't have to be forever.

Tony Rafael

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