It has been said that the first individual to organize a substantial drug trade in La Junta de los Rios, namely Ojinaga, was Domingo Aranda, a former mule-train contrabandista. This took place in the late 1940's. Before fleeing the U.S. on murder charges in 1969, Aranda was successful in trafficking heroin and marijuana to Portales, New Mexico from Parral, Chihuahua on through Ojinaga. During this time, Manuel Carrasco had joined Aranda's ranks. In 1973, Carrasco murdered Aranda by surprise and took over as drug lord. It wasn't long before Carrasco killed a man who had come to Ojinaga to collect a debt. Soon after, Carrasco fled Ojinaga after learning that the man's powerful family had put a contract out on his life.

Martín "El Shorty" López soon took over as drug lord. He was born in Corpus Christi, Texas and raised in Odessa, Texas, not typical of the drug lord of Ojinaga, who were, for the most part, from that same region. López was considered by many to be the "Robin Hood" of the San Carlos region, giving gifts to all the families in the area such as tractors, irrigation pumps, fertilizer, as well as help with bills. Shorty was killed on May 1, 1977 while attempting to annihilate a road block force on his way from Santa Elena to Ojinaga.