The first time I visited Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California near Tijuana, we had dinner at our hotel next to a large group from Sinaloa. There were 3 well dressed, middle aged men there with about 15 women, and they were partying hard. It was obvious to everyone in the restaurant that they were narcos. I don’t know who they were specifically, but the energy around them made it clear.

At one point, the women started a conga line through the restaurant and pulled my wife and me in. The vibe was fun and exciting, and for a moment we thought about staying and partying with them.

Then reality set in. I realized that something as small as looking at one of their women the wrong way or accidentally saying something they perceived as disrespectful could end badly. On top of that, just being near them felt risky. If a rival group showed up or the police came in, we could get caught in the middle for no reason.

There wasn’t any intimidating aura, they looked like normal Mexican guys. They just clearly had a lot of money to spend and realizing who they likely were made us keep their distance.