Gold, guns and cartels: The battle for a billion-dollar Mexican mine

A Newport Beach businessman sought to repay the orphanage that once saved him. The dangerous drug network of El Chapo's sons stood in his way.

- By Steve Fisher

FÉLIX MÁRQUEZ For The Times STATE police officers examine an abandoned truck riddled with bullet holes in La Ciénega, Mexico, in June.

Barreling down the highway at 100 mph, a convoy of state police vehicles blew through speed bumps as it entered a small town in the Sonoran Desert.

Blasting over them was hell, but Alejandro Sánchez knew that slowing down was too risky: Here, locals call them “death bumps,” because reducing your speed gives cartel snipers a better chance of taking you out.

Sánchez and the officers protecting him had left Hermosillo, the capital of the state of Sonora, before sunrise on June 23 and by 7 a.m. had arrived in Altar. There’s not much pedestrian traffic because the town sits in the heart of a cartel war zone, and anyone who walks the streets risks being caught in crossfire.

Still, it was a place to gather reinforcements, so the convoy stopped under the town’s welcome arch and officers wielding AR-15 semiautomatic weapons found high ground to watch for threats. Within minutes, four more patrol trucks raced up to join the security detail.

Their destination: a gold mine.

Sánchez, the officers knew, was key to the mine’s future and keeping it out of the hands of a major cartel.

For three years, Sánchez had worked to revive the mine, encountering corrupt officials and cartel operatives. He once had to dive for cover during a firefight. But now he was close to resuming operations at the mine with deposits worth billions.

“Let’s go!” Sánchez said. And they were off.

Nearly four years ago, Sánchez was enjoying a Cuban cigar in an elegant cigar lounge in Newport Beach when the manager introduced him to a friend, Nicah Odood, who had a problem. The manager knew Sánchez had contacts in Mexico-top businessmen and politicians. Maybe he could help.