House of the Scorpion

Opium is a dry and desolate town, not the kind of place you'd want to live. Much of that changed when opium growing and trade came into play.

The MacGregors ruled the land near San Diego, and the Alacráns had a vast empire stretching from central California all across Arizona and into New Mexico.

Gradually, Opium changed from a no-man's-land to a real country. And its supreme leader, dictator, and fuhrer was Matteo Alacrán.

(Chapter 17)