From hunting drug cartel bosses in Mexico to leading investigations on human smuggling networks, Eric Balliet’s 25-year, storied career has spanned multiple sectors of federal law enforcement. Since his retirement in 2024, Eric has authored a book on his experiences and today, is living the quiet life with his family in the Timberline neighborhood.

“I had accomplished everything I could have ever wanted,” Eric said on his professional achievements.

Eric hails from upstate New York and went on ride alongs with a neighbor who was a deputy in the sheriff’s office. And the seed was planted. During Eric’s senior year in college at St. John Fisher University, he interned with the New York State Police and then attended the U.S. Border Patrol Academy.

Eric’s career began on the frontline as a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Nogales, Arizona, in 1999. Two years later, just hours after the terrorist attacks of September 11, he was sworn in as a Special Agent with U.S. Customs. He then worked for both Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), until his retirement.

The capture of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, was a defining moment. Eric was instrumental in apprehending El Chapo twice—once in 2014 and again in 2016.

For Eric, the human factor, the ability to change someone’s life, was at the heart of his profession. He has reconnected with individuals who he arrested more than 20 years ago.

“Someone reached out and said I saved his life by arresting him. He moved away from that life,” Eric recounted.

In 2019, Eric and his family made the move from Washington, D.C. to Colorado when he assumed the role of deputy special agent in charge of the Denver field office for HSI. His wife, Felice Vasquez, is a mechanical engineer. His daughter Gabriela (12) attends Rocky Heights Middle School, while daughters Liliana (8) and Emilia (7) are students at Buffalo Ridge Elementary.

After relocating nine times in 25 years, Castle Pines was the ideal town to plant roots. “For the first time, we made the conscious decision to be here, not having the decision made by the government,” Eric said. “We like the small-town feel.”

Eric added that he is enjoying this stage of life so he can pick up his children from school and go to their sporting events. “Your priorities shift at some point,” Eric said. “That just became more important to me.”

The desire to put his knowledge and experiences into writing inspired Eric to research and author a book, Kingpins & Coyotes. Published this year, the investigative narrative nonfiction dives deep into his years of dismantling established drug cartels and human smuggling organizations.

“I had the stories in my head and I wanted to tell it in a way that would be relevant and interesting to someone not in law enforcement,” Eric added. “Maybe people will see some of these issues through a slightly different lens.”

Eric shares his love of the mountains with his family, often finding time to go fly fishing, kayaking, hiking and whitewater rafting.

If he has a positive and meaningful impact on his daughters, Eric said he will have accomplished his most important life’s work. “We try to instill in our kids that doing the right thing isn’t always the easy thing,” Eric concluded. “You can do hard things, have mental strength and be principled in your beliefs.”

 

 

By Rachel Morris; photos courtesy of Eric Balliet