North America Gunman Detective

Chapter 1326 720: The Cause

Steven's partner Hank is also very busy right now. The collaboration with the FBI was initiated by him, so he's naturally fully involved in the current investigation, which means he's definitely not part of this dinner.

In Albuquerque, Steven certainly chose Mexican food, so at a small street shop, Jimmy and Steven drank beer, ate green chili chicken burritos and extra spicy fried chicken tacos, and talked about the previous operation.

Steven: "Jimmy, that guy, was it you?"

Jimmy asked confusedly: "What?"

Steven: "That scumbag john."

Jimmy: "Hey, hey, don't talk nonsense. It has nothing to do with me. It was an accident during the shootout. He was taken down by that security guard, and I only took down that security guard."

Steven: "OK, nice job."

Jimmy: "How's the investigation going on your end? That Carlos guy."

Steven: "Hank should have some leads. The stuff found in the club should be supplied by Carlos and his people. In fact, Hank suspects that the club isn't actually run by Carlos as the main leader, but rather plays the role of a supplier."

Jimmy: "Do we have any evidence?"

Steven shook his head: "No, it's just that Carlos has only been around for a short time, and his influence in Juárez isn't top-notch. To set up such a big club in Albuquerque, relying solely on them is definitely not enough. There must be support from local gangs and certain individuals in authority.

You've also seen the scale of that club. A club of this size requires funding and connections that can't be managed by small gangs. Plus, they need appropriate people to vouch for them."

Jimmy: "Yeah, I understand. There are quite a few such clubs in New York, but most of them are taken over from other gangs. Those who can really manage it alone are big gangs and the Mafia."

Steven: "Exactly, that's it. Even if Carlos's small influence extended to Albuquerque, it wouldn't be enough to reach such a level, so they should be the ones supplying the goods."

Jimmy: "Then I'll go to the FBI office and ask around. There should be some findings. By the way, how about you? In your department, is there any...?"

Jimmy made a circling motion with his fingers. Steven shrugged and raised his beer to clink with Jimmy's, "I haven't killed anyone. There's video evidence. I'm fine, but you need to be careful. The tech guys mentioned there's a section in your surveillance video with only audio, no visuals, which might cause some trouble."

Jimmy: "A little accident during a shootout is normal, no problem. How's your family? Are they worried?"

After chatting for a while, Jimmy's phone rang. He glanced at it and stood up to answer, walking outside as he said, "What happened?"

Ruiz on the other end of the line asked: "Where are you?"

Jimmy: "It's quite noisy on your end. I'm still in Albuquerque."

Ruiz: "Tell me your location, I'll be there soon."

Jimmy: "OK, I'm having a meal with the DEA people, I'll head back to the hotel soon."

Jimmy gave Ruiz the hotel address and then returned to continue. Steven didn't waste much of Jimmy's time and wrapped it up quickly.

Ruiz arrived quickly, much to Jimmy's surprise. As an assistant agent supervisor, Ruiz had a lot on his plate, so making a sudden trip to Albuquerque right after calling the previous night wasn't an easy feat.

Once Ruiz came in, Jimmy tossed him a room card directly, "The room next door. Don't worry, it's not under your name."

Ruiz raised an eyebrow, "Thanks." He said, putting the card in his pocket and sitting on the sofa in the corner of the room.

Jimmy: "Beer? That's all there is." He placed a six-pack on the small table and sat on the sofa next to Ruiz, "What's going on?"

Ruiz: "There's news from Seventeen's side. Remember how Seventeen busted a transportation route before and intercepted a batch of goods from the Sinaloa Group?"

Jimmy nodded, remembering escorting Ruiz to meet Seventeen, and the amount of goods discovered wasn't small.

Typically, within the United States, the shipment of goods is limited to prevent accidents, and only when transporting from abroad to the U.S. are there large quantities, often hundreds of kilos, even tons. Those who ship only a few kilos per trip are small gangs, as real drug lords wouldn't bother with petty trades.

Ruiz: "This time, Seventeen's incident is related to the previous one. After they had an incident, the original route was paused for a while, and they switched to different transportation routes, but the volume was restricted, affecting many people.

After Seventeen's submarine dock was set up, it quickly gained a reputation in the underworld. Someone made contact with him, but no collaboration followed. After being introduced by an intermediary in New York, Seventeen went to communicate with an important figure, but he vanished.

We checked all means of contact left by Seventeen and verified the gang members who used this smuggling route as provided by him. We've tracked down almost all of them, but still have no news of Seventeen.

The night before last, our surveillance equipment at the submarine dock captured several people forcibly entering the dock's storage area. Our people engaged them in a fight, two escaped, and three were captured. From interrogations, we learned they came to take over the dock on orders from a gang in Juárez City, the Steel Tyrannosaurus.

We don't have records from Juárez City here, but I got some files from a DEA acquaintance for you to look at."

Ruiz handed Jimmy a folded white paper, which, once opened, revealed a person's profile: Victoria Seranos, Juárez's notorious female tyrant, once an underground Boxer, with Steel Tyrannosaurus as her nickname. Later, she became the lover of Emilio, a Sinaloa Group leader.

With Emilio's support, Victoria took over a drug dealer assassination squad, becoming the spearhead for the Sinaloa Group's entry into Juárez, successfully establishing a foothold there.

In the drug wars of Juárez over the past two years, Victoria has continually expanded her territory. Just due to the existence of one to two hundred organizations large and small in Juárez, the Sinaloa Group didn't have significant advantages in their wars, so the expansion hasn't been much. But according to hearsay, Victoria controls parts of the Sinaloa Group's smuggling channels in Juárez, making her a significant figure there too.

Seeing that Jimmy had finished reading the profile, Ruiz spoke again: "They said they received concrete information, that the dock's location was provided by Seventeen, and they came to take over the dock. Additionally, Seventeen's whereabouts have been confirmed. The source of that batch of Sinaloa's goods he intercepted was from Victoria's Steel Tyrannosaurus gang; this time, they tracked him down through the previously leaked channel."

Jimmy: "How did they find Seventeen? This is crucial. He said his informant was reliable."

Ruiz shrugged, "That batch of goods - Seventeen needed a significant sum to renovate the dock and the submarine, so he sold the goods after reporting, and we suspect that they identified him that way, confirming it was Seventeen who intercepted them."

Jimmy squinted, thinking about officially sanctioned undercover agents selling drugs — such a practice of blatant audacity.

Ruiz noticed Jimmy's expression change and quickly added, "Don't get worked up; we didn't sell to local gangs."

Jimmy took a deep breath. No matter what, Seventeen was his colleague, and even if some matters conflicted with his values, work was work, and it had to be done.

Jimmy: "What do you plan to do?"

Ruiz: "We've contacted the DEA headquarters and also found an expert from the CIA. They'll assist in investigating the Steel Tyrannosaurus materials to see if there's any trace of Seventeen. Later, we might need to conduct a joint operation with the DEA, take down the Steel Tyrannosaurus, capture Victoria, and rescue Seventeen."

Jimmy: "You're overthinking it. Juárez is so chaotic now; achieving so many goals in that city is tough."

Ruiz: "Every group has its demands, and some matters can only be dealt with as best as possible. As for the outcome, whatever it is, we're open to it."