Smugglers' Nest by Patti W Hillenius

Javier and Lucas, best friends, live in a little village in the mountains of Mexico. Javier learned to capture and tame birds from his father now deceased. Javier is now “the man of the house” and helps his mother and little brothers by selling birds at the market. This leads to his unwitting involvement with a ring of bird smugglers. The leader, Diego Vargas, is also exploiting the townspeople of Santa Elena over their water rights.
Javier refuses to listen to warnings about Diego, wanting to believe him a bird fancier and friend. But, when Javier’s own beloved parrot, Clown, is taken by the smugglers and almost lost forever, Javier sees clearly his mistake and what he must do to rectify it.
Events lead Javier and Lucas to a wild ride in a pickup truck and assisting the police in a raid at the smuggler’s nest. The boys play a major role in smashing the smuggling ring. With Diego’s imprisonment, the town gets back its rights to the water source that Diego has controlled.
Thousands of exotic birds like macaws and parrots are brought into the United States yearly and fetch large sums at specialty pet stores. Many of these birds are brought across the border illegally. Who catches the birds? How are they smuggled? This story
is based on some of the answers the author discovered in her research.

Patti Warner Hillenius is a resident of Colorado.