"They are quite formidable," Morins said. "After all, they are the largest anti-government armed forces. They've been dabbling in the drug business much longer than we have, and I estimate they can control about 30% of it."
"Half…"
Song Heping weighed this in his mind.
ELN and FARC together could control half of Colombia's drug market—it still seemed manageable.
"And the other half? Who's in control?"
"It used to be Pablo. After Pablo's downfall, his Medellin Group declined. The territory and drug business he used to control are now mostly in the hands of the Gulf Gang, and the rest has been divided among smaller gangs." Morins spread his hands, "In Colombia, we are the kings. Those drug lords are like leeks, cropping up one after another—if they offend the Americans, they get taken out, just like that."
"Do you know the boss of the Gulf Gang?" Song Heping asked.
"Of course, I know him. He's not in our territory, but we're all familiar with each other," replied Morins candidly. "The boss of the Gulf Gang is named Autoneil."
"Can you ask him to join us when we meet with Marulan tomorrow?"
"Invite him?"
Morins said in surprise, "Song, your visit to Colombia this time... somehow I get the impression you're here for the drug business?"
"That's right," Song Heping admitted bluntly. "I am indeed here for the Colombian drug market."
Morins was stunned, "I thought you never touch this kind of business?"
"Same as you, I don't have a choice."
The two men looked at each other for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.
Song Heping spoke earnestly, "You also know that I've been doing some things in Mexico recently, so I won't keep you in the dark..."
He briefly described his collaboration with the CIA's Secret Action Department in Mexico, and then revealed his ultimate goal.
"I aim to control all five major families in Mexico, to have them all listen to me."
Hearing Song Heping's deep collaboration with the CIA to control the Mexican drug market, Morins was astounded, his jaw almost dropped to the floor.
Even though he had been mentally prepared for Song Heping's cooperation with the CIA before coming, the scale of this collaboration still shocked him.
"Song, you're really playing a big game."
"If you're going to play, you might as well play big," Song Heping said.
Morins pondered and voiced his concern, "So, you're meeting with me and Marulan to control the supplies headed to North America?"
"To control the five families, you either fight a tough battle—where countless people will inevitably die, and it would take at least a year or two and tens of thousands of lives to determine the winner," Song Heping nodded. "But I've checked that 70% of the coca and marijuana consumed in the United States each year comes from here, from Colombia. The local products in Mexico aren't as plentiful as yours. If the supply controls here are tightened, then the drug volumes for those Mexican trafficking groups will drop sharply. Relying on what they grow locally won't be enough to supply nor earn as much money as they do now."
"I'm going to wage an economic war against them—diminish their income by attacking their finances, block their procurement channels, and through the CIA and DEA, intensify the crackdown on their North American sales channels, while also sealing their export paths. By attacking from multiple fronts simultaneously, we'll press the disobedient four families into a corner within Mexico. You can imagine, once their income drops sharply, what will they use to support their numerous subordinates? For money's sake, I'd wager that the four families will contest for territories and channels for survival. By then, I'll just need to use a few tactics to provoke disputes between them..."
At this point, Song Heping revealed a confident smile.
Morins listened, breaking out into a cold sweat.
He realized that this old friend of his was truly a master of strategy.
When gangs and drug trafficking groups fight over territories, it's usually a brutal clash.
Whoever subdues the other, calls the shots.
Song Heping's methods were completely different.
No bloodshed, no life-or-death battles.
Cutting off your water supply directly, squeezing the economic sources of the other party, thereby forcing them to bow their heads.
As for the means that Song Heping talked about to provoke infighting among the four big families, he couldn't guess what it was, but he believed that if Song Heping wanted to do it, he could definitely achieve it.
"Your idea is brilliant, the problem is..." Morins said: "How are you going to convince Marulan from FARC and Autoneil from the Gulf Gang? If they don't supply the Mexican drug dealers, they themselves will suffer losses. Even I, who am willing to bear losses and cooperate with you by stopping supplies despite opposition from the higher-ups in the organization, don't have a reason to convince the drug dealers on my turf who need to eat. To cut off their money and play such a big game of chess with you, I have no reason to convince them."
"Leave that problem to me, as long as you arrange a meeting, I'll be able to persuade everyone. As for the revenue, I guarantee you'll not earn less than before. Currently, more than half of Mexico's drug smuggling and sales networks are under my control, do you think I'd let you lose out?"
Song Heping gave Morins a reassurance.
"Alright, I trust you." Morins said, "I'll arrange a meeting tomorrow, the location to be determined."
"Okay, I'll wait for your good news. I'll stay over with you tonight."
"No problem, the business is done, let's have some drinks!" Morins was very hospitable, immediately ordering food and drinks to be served.
While Song Heping was enjoying drinks and conversation with Morins in Colombia, far away at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Kelly was sitting behind the desk in her office, listening to her subordinates report on Song Heping's whereabouts.
After listening, she was silent for a long time, her brows never unfurrowed.
"He's going to Venezuela at this time?! What do you think he's planning to do?"
"Our people followed him for a while, it seems he's going to that school he built."
Subordinate A handed a photo to Kelly.
"According to satellite reconnaissance images, the Falcon Special Soldier School he built is almost finished. Maybe he's going back for an inspection?"
"Impossible." Kelly dropped the pen in her hand: "Didn't our people follow him to the vicinity of the school to check it out?"
"Well..."
The subordinate responsible for the tracking task, B, said: "Last time, because we had a lesson, our people didn't dare to go to the school. Within a twenty-kilometer radius of that school, there's nobody, only a nearby small town with a population of less than 500. Any unfamiliar 'fly' that flies in would be swatted dead, our agents are too easily exposed."
Kelly's face turned ugly.
Being the director of CIA operations, with so many elite agents under her command, yet they couldn't track one person's movements closely.
This was truly embarrassing.
What exactly is Song Heping doing back in Venezuela now?
Barrett has already returned to the United States.
Because everyone else followed Song Heping to Venezuela, only Barrett was not called. According to Song Heping, it was to leave Barrett in Mexico because he was preparing to hand over Balrot's smuggling network to him, letting him be the boss.
However, once Song Heping and the others left, it would be very dangerous for Barrett to remain alone in Mexico.
According to intelligence, the four big families have already united to deal with Song and Shorty, and Barrett, named by Song to serve as the smuggling network boss, naturally is on the assassination list, perhaps there's even a bounty out.
To this day, Kelly still has no idea what Song Heping is really thinking, unable to guess how he plans to settle the other four big families.
She had also tried probing, but Song was very cautious. When encountering key questions, he would joke and beat around the bush, without telling the truth—pressing him would only get one reply—"You'll know in the future."
Damn Easterners!
Always so insidious!
Kelly now even clearly understands that Song Heping doesn't trust her, and he is possibly using the CIA's name for other purposes.
Yet even so, she still has to pretend as if nothing's wrong and cooperate with him.
This is really infuriating!
If it weren't for the bigger picture, she would have torn him a new one already!