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Needle and the damage done

Before the recent front page story in the New York Times about Mexican drug cartels in Central Ohio, Columbus Monthly thoroughly reported on the criminal network flooding Columbus with black tar heroin. Here's our story.

By most accounts, Tepic is one of the hidden gems of Mexico’s central Pacific region. It is a vibrant city of some 300,000 people, an interesting mix of historic and modern. Colorful two- and three-story block buildings of purple, red and green line its busy, narrow streets. A grand plaza filled with fountains and shade trees marks the center of town, sandwiched between a massive Catholic cathedral and the arched walls of the state’s government building. Though it’s the state capital of Nayarit, it remains largely undiscovered by the tourist trade that frequents Tepic’s neighbors—Mazatlán to the north and Guadalajara to the south.