Don Margarito-Logan’s King of Gemco

Panfilo Bolanos Cacho was well known around his hometown of Santa Catarina, Nuevo Leon, as a serious hombre de negocios, always figuring the angles and possibilities. His wife Dona Chole operated the most popular tortilleria in town "Tortilleria Mi Abuela", where a customers could get a docena de maiz, a short loan, or rent a place to live. Whatever the need Dona Chole could take care of, unless it involved the Delegacion, then she would send them to see Licenciado De la Madrid, who is Secretario De Gobernacion for the Municipio, but secretly on the payroll of her husband.

All the hard work and constant hustle was so that their only son Margarito could have a better life. Perhaps in Mexico City, Tijuana or at best in California. He had barely finished Secundaria at the Colegio Militar Aleman and was allowed to graduate, only after Don Panfilo made a sizeable donation to General Garza y Garza, Quinto Brigada Federal De Nuevo Leon. He received strong words that his son was not suited for military service and would not be welcomed in Nuevo Leon or any other military district in the country.

This was not the first disappointment Margarito had given his parents, in fact, all his 18 years, had been one escandalo after another. His only talent seemed to be in the "falluca", which is buying things low and selling them fast and high, without regard to ownership or anything else. It was clear that something had to be done with Margarito. Dona Chloe and Don Panfilo couldn't control him or his impulses for trouble.

Her only option would be to send him to live with her only sister Apolonia. She had gone to California in the 20s with her husband Olayo and his brother Livorio, to work in the piscas but were deported back to Tijuana, in the depression years. They settled in the Colonia Libertad and like her family in Nuevo Leon, she opened a tortilleria called "Mi Abulelita" which became very successful both for the quality of the tortillas and other services. Dona Chole had sent her sister Apolonia, enough money to set up Margarito with his own place to live and to start a business. But she insisted he first be put to work for her, so that he would learn hard work and managing money. Margarito enjoyed life in Tijuana, quickly learned the ins and outs of gambling on the horses at Aqua Caliente, the fights at Arena Mexico, and floating high stakes poker games, all over the city.

Through his Tio Olayo, Margarito began to see a strong family and business connection between the Mexican community in San Diego, which was called "La Logan" and the Colonia Libertad, in Tijuana. Family was a big part of the connection, but investing together in houses and small commercial lots in "La Logan" was what the smart people from Tijuana were doing. They were setting up a "Presta Nombre" situation, where their relatives living in San Diego would hold title. Then, to make the immigrating process easier for their family members, a quick transfer of title is made to them, so they enter the country as property owners. This removed the chance of being designated potential public charges, which takes longer to complete.

By 1959, Margarito owned three lots, one on Main Street, one on Epsilon, and the largest one on 39th and Z Street directly across from Southcrest Park. They each had a small house and warehouses on the lot, plus space for parking trucks and equipment. He rents out two of them to his cousin Efrain, who stores recapped tires that are sold in Tijuana. The South-crest lot is rented to Shaw Beamon, who operates a scrap yard and used car parts business.

Shaw is a very popular, in the negro community because he was a blues singer of some note during the 40s. He has unfortunately not been much of a businessman, owing money to scrappers all over town, plus some heavy gambling debts. What made Shaw special was the network of friends he had in high and low places. If you wanted to find out about anyone or anything, Shaw would be your man. Margarito having been raised in Nuevo Leon and TJ didn't have a lot of experience dealing with the "Negrada", so it was a comfort of sorts, to have such a close business relationship with Shaw. Shaw would tease Margarito about his name, he would say kiddingly, "hey man you need slap yo moma for giving you a girls name" and he would reply "Ok thank you, Mr. Mayate".

Things were going good for Margarito. With the money from the rents he bought an old store building on the 2100 Logan Avenue, and with his cousin his Socorro Penalemus, they opened a tortilleria called "Mis Abuelitos". The tortilleria was located in the heart of "La Logan", next door to Corona Furniture, the Logan Inn, and close by the Bank of America, Dr Tanakas, Chiquita's Bakery, and the Frosty's. Socorro and her workers, Flaca and Coneja were very adept at making tortilla and cooking the food that everybody wanted. Every day they would put out a giant pot of jumbo sized Chicarones and sell them by the pound, they would be gone within an hour, the Chicarones from Mi Abulelitos, became a staple for the Logan Heights neighborhood.

Mis Abuelitos Tortilleria gave Margarito a chance to make a lot friends in the neighborhood, first by extending credit to the larger families, then by making small payday loans which were secured by their valuables, from rings and construction tools, to radios, and everything in between. He was generally known as some body, who you could count on to help out in a money pinch. Soon his outside interest expanded, he was running a small bookmaking service out of the storeroom of the Mis Abuelitos. The players were given a code to use at the counter, they would have to say I'am ordering "Diez de maiz y Cinco de Harina".

The bookmaking fit nicely with his other his interest, boxing. He and his partner from Tijuana; Nacho Goldman had a sweet deal to provide Mexican fighters, for the San Diego Coliseum promoter. They would have to be willing to fight up and coming prospects on short notice and short pay. The Mexican fighters would be given half of the contracted purse, the other part went to Nacho and Margarito. This was important to the promotion since the State Athletic Commission would not sanction a fight without contracts. This arrangement also allowed Margarito to take bets on the floor of the coliseum at fight time, without any interference. It was easy picking, since he knew exactly how many rounds the fight would last. The bets were never about victory, for the Mexican fighters, it was about what specific round they would fall or quit or be overcome by a low blow.

Not content with the size of his criminal enterprises, Don Margaro sought to expand. He knew from the loans and bookmaking and buying and selling that Logan Heights had, between the Negros and the Chicanada, a vast army of burglars, junkies and other hoodlums, who were on a daily basis boosting thousands of dollars in merchandise and turning it over for pennies. He realized with his warehouses, and contacts in Tijuana, plus his networks with Shaw Beamon, his cousin' Efrain trucks and his two lot guys Marano and Serucho that he could organize all of this and turn it into some big money.

He learned through the junkies that the main guy in charge of the warehouse and loading docks for the new giant department store in National City, Gemco, had a nasty $500.00 dollar habit and had been trading dope for a chance to boost new and expensive merchandise still in the crate. Don Margaro had Marano, Serucho, and a white junkie named Tough Tom approach the Gemco guy, with enough dope to fix for six months, in exchange for access to the merchandise. This meant Efrain trucks and vans driven by Shaw, Marano and Serucho could come to the warehouse and take whatever they wanted. The deal was sealed and soon the Gemco store was realizing a 25% loss and the streets of Logan and other communities were flooded with new merchandise from Gemco.

It didn't take long for the SDPD, to figure out what was going on. Detective Fonchie Villegas, who had grown up in Logan and had many contacts in low places, let a junkie who was busted on a possession charge, go in exchange for information on the Gemco boost. It didn't take long for word to spread that the D.A. was going to indict Margaro Bolanos Cacho, owner of Mis Abuelitos Tortilleria for Burgarly, Grand Theft, Receiving Stolen Property, Bookmaking and drug possession.

At the arrest, the SDPD, seized merchandise at the tortilleria, the warehouses and Margaro home in excess of $250,000.Gemco claimed an insurance loss of $100,000 and never claimed any of the merchandise seized by the SDPD. Don Margaro was convicted and sentenced to three years in state prison. Ironically, after he served time, he petitioned for the return of those things taken from him, in the arrest. Gemco, out of embarrassment, never made a claim and so much of the merchandise was returned to Don Margaro, who later sold a lot of the merchandise and returned to Mexico. Thankfully his parents never lived to experience his final Escandalo.