Luis Chaparro - Inside Cartel Drug Operations | SRS #012

so you've seen thousands thousands of  dead bodies that have been murdered the fentanyl like the proper  powder like fentanyline powder   the precursors to cook it come  from china or from germany so you you just totally immerse yourself into the  narco culture to gain their trust to experience   it so you understand it better orbas brought  someone from china to to teach him how to compete i don't know if you um heard  about the killing of two   employees of the u.s  consulate in sioux earthquakes so these are all hitmen coming in yeah yeah because i know if i killed that guy  a couple of guys that got into me   there's going to be more coming so you're saying that the dea is  trading weapons for kingpins or phones and you grab a kingpin it was just part of that   horizontal structure it was not the boss  you didn't caught the head of the snake ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the  sean ryan show this is episode zero one two   and it's all about cartels the dea and fentanyl  thank you for everyone that showed up to the live   conference about the blackwater episode it was a  great chat we had on patreon and for you patrons   out there you are the ones that make it  possible to bring these stories to light   so thank you if you can't support us on patreon  please go to the link below click the itunes tab   and leave us a review all we're looking for  is one word let's get on to the cartel stuff   in episode zero one two we've brought to you an  investigative cartel journalist that was kidnapped   he also witnessed an arms deal go down between the  dea and the sonola cartel he's also embedded with   fentanyl chemists in mexico and discusses with  us how the chinese are sending chemists to mexico   to train the cartels to produce the most potent  fentanyl in the world and how it's smuggled into   the united states of america ladies and gentlemen  please welcome my next guest luis chaparro luis chaparro yeah did i say that  right yes that's perfect welcome to the   sean ryan show thank you for having me man i  mean um i told you i've been binge watching   your channel and now i'm here and it's  like wow this is this is where it happens   second interview in the new studio and this  is an amazing studio man you have here right   i really love it thank you it's amazing  so you're an investigative reporter   and you do a lot of stuff with drug trafficking  narcos and immigration yeah and uh we met on a zoom call uh you shot an email in  and and uh said you wanted to be on the   show and we get a lot of those emails and nine  times out of ten we nix them right off the bat   but uh you sent a couple of articles we picked  through them and i was like [ __ ] you know   let's see what this guy's all about  so and we had just wrapped up a   episode with my friend ed calderon yeah which  is what uh drew you and the channel exactly   and i think we were all a little skeptical on  you know what's going to make you different than   ed yeah because you know ed we had just done  that it's very knowledgeable on all these topics   and uh so we jumped on a zoom call first words out  of your mouth after i think my wife asked you that   is what's going to make you any different than ed  you said well we just did a deal between the dea   and the sonola cartel and uh i jumped in  immediately and said [ __ ] it you're on let's set   a date and uh so here we are and um we're going  to talk about a whole bunch of stuff we're going   to talk about arms trafficking your dea deal and  you did a tour of a fentanyl lab yeah and um then   we'll get into the documentary that you made and  produced uh and eventually wound up on show time   yes so which i watched this morning it was  it was a good uh good duck thank you so but   kind of getting a little backstory on here just  a little bit here how did you kind of get into   investigative journalism when it comes to  you know cartels well i grew up in juarez   i was born in inside juarez right at the border  of mexico right across el paso texas i have the   dual citizenship so growing up at the border you  are immediately immersed into that crazy world of   cartels and all that stuff it's been happening  in mexico forever so i remember reading some um   magazines my dad used to read but that is a  lawyer but he used to be a teacher back then   and he would like read a lot and i will read  about cartels i will read about organizations   about drug trafficking and it was like it blew  my mind that that world existed in the same world   i was living in at the same time that culture  is always around you when you're living a place   like ciudad juarez i was in um you know in  a private school in primary school uh it was   like a fancy school where most of a you know like  businessman and business owner put their kids and   the rumor that some of the narcos including  carrillo fuentes el senor de los cielos um   he had a couple of kids there on that same  school so i was like you know that the whole   my whole life has been around that stuff so i  wanted i knew when i was in um secondary school   i knew that i wanted to write i just i just wanted  like to learn you know i can't i couldn't wait to   go into college and say like okay i'm gonna  learn some skills to actually start writing   and i'm gonna i'm gonna end up writing for the  magazines my dad used to read you know and i   did one of those magazines is processor magazine  and i and i had two covers one of them actually   talking about the cia a cia operation in mexico  and and the other one talking about how the dea   was not really looking for narcos in  mexico but looking for you know like   gold medals to to hang under their neck and  so when i i went to college i didn't study   journalism instead of like mass media which  was like a broader thing i honestly thought   like i just need a paper you know because  i was already working at a local newspaper   i went and knocked on the door trying to get a job  as um to deliver the newspaper i was like that way   i'm gonna be the first one reading the news of my  city and i can maybe find around how journalism   works in a newsroom so i went there they told  me like all right wait wait on that chair and   then all of a sudden the editor of the newspaper  came down upstairs so like you're here for the   editor right like and i'm like yes i'm exactly  that guy and that was completely [ __ ] yeah and   he set me up on a computer gave me a couple  of articles like a list of news headlines and   a thing we call domi which was like the like like  a like a like a small version of a newspaper page   um and told me that's that's you today and i'm  like all right what the [ __ ] am i gonna do   with all of this you know i had no clue but i  started asking and the friends around started   helping me out like on how to decide on which  um article was gonna be on on the front which   picture i was super i was like 19 years old back  then and and i was like [ __ ] it i learned quick   i stay there then they noticed that okay so you  weren't here for that job right i'm like no but i   i have uh six months now working here and  delivering so what the what the hell you know   and he's like all right um do you have a permit  to work in the u.s and i'm like yeah i'm a u.s   citizen also that's perfect let's move you  to the u.s newsroom so they brought me into a   paso newsroom and it was like a small newsroom so  every time a journalist reporter didn't show up i   was covering for that i was like me i'll write  it even if it's you know like a crash around   the corner whatever i'll write it um so i started  like working my way up there but always having an   ear out and uh and uh my eyes open to see what's  going on in the cartel world and all that stuff   and i remember my first if you could call it  investigation which was kind of like shitty you   know but uh my first story about that was how some  of the cartels since you at juarez were what were   trying to recruit kids on a metroflog social  network social media which metro vlog was huge   back then in mexico there was no facebook or  twitter it was just like metroflog what year was   that i think it was 2007 2007 something like that  2007. how old are you i'm 34. i'm about to turn   35. okay so i started i started like somewhat  young you know like writing about this stuff   my editor saw my pitch and it was like this seems  like you know like a conspiracy theory unless you   bring me some proof so i brought him a lot of  proof a lot of links between this metroflux   user his this and that and he killed this and  that and he's like holy [ __ ] you have a story   there man yeah let's uh let's let's run it and  it was the front page of the of the newspaper   so it was it was like i liked that feeling but  at the same time it made me because i was too   young until naive until you know like too into  it i made some mistakes i started writing about   how corrupt the mexican police were and how were  they dealing information between the military   federals local police narcos even the d.a was  involved in that [ __ ] so i started writing about   this woman who was a police officer and she was  like trafficking information because she was like   good looking so she was like literally [ __ ]  everybody and trafficking information around um   and that was uh my editor said like okay  we're gonna run that on the front page   but we're not gonna put your name into it and i'm  like why not man it's my story i mean you sure   and it's like you're sure i obviously didn't  understand what that meant yeah sorry protection   exactly and so we did and i got kidnapped by the  local police into the juarez you got kidnapped by   a local yeah by local officers and uh it was like  it was when i knew that i was into deep [ __ ] and   it was not a game you know i was i left my  girlfriend at her house was driving back to   i still live with my parents driving back to my  parents house in the middle of the night and i   got stopped by uh first like a traffic police and  i'm like wow i'm not even you know doing anything   but i guess he's mistaking so he told me like hey  you just run that red line on a huge street and   i'm like i i did not man i mean i'm watching the  red light and he's like no you did can i see your   your license yeah grab my license kind of laughed  um said something on the radio like codes and then   gave me back my last and said like ah you're good  to go and i'm like all right that was where kept   driving and right in front of that like two police  pickup trucks just like crossed my my my way   they started knocking with their guns in  my windows like get the [ __ ] down get   the [ __ ] down and i'm like all right and  i thought again i think they're mistaking   everybody's nervous because it's like the water  the wire and juarez between cartels was just   starting and i'm like i think they're mistaking  they're nervous because of everything that's going   on in the city so i grabbed my badge like from  the news paper and put it like behind my shirt   um and it's like uh we got this is like we got the  journalist yeah it's him all right bye and then it   like started like sending codes and now like oh  [ __ ] and i'm like dude you can take everything   like take my car if you want money i have some  money i can go to the atm get some money and   just leave me alone and they're like no no you're  just [ __ ] up you you know what you did and you   [ __ ] up real good this time and i'm like i have  no clue man i'm i'm cool and so they tie my hands   and feet put me in the back of the truck or the  pickup truck they put their feet like on top of me   you know in my chest and they started driving off  and someone else took my car um and it was like 11   00 pm like in the middle of the night we went to  a deserted parking lot and then they stopped there   and then they asked me to run and i'm like  i'm not gonna run cause i know what's gonna   happen i'm gonna run you're gonna shoot me  and then you're gonna say it was a confusion   or i had a gun or you thought i watched this  and that or some [ __ ] like that so i was like   i'm not running man and i knew for that source  that the local police and the federal police   were fighting between each other because one  was supporting one cartel and the other one was   had a deal with another one so i saw a convoy of  federales driving by and i started jumping to see   i i told him like i was cold because he was in  the middle of the winter so i started jumping and   saying like um and they're like what the [ __ ]  are you doing i'm like i'm trying to get some heat   max i'm i'm i'm freezing and they're like that  they just like kick me and they're like hey get   in the [ __ ] floor i know what you're doing and  then the other guy was like watch out the fox they   that was the code for the federal like fox watch  it with the fox and then the federalist convoy   just left just passed by and i was like [ __ ]  um and i remember they i got my knees inside like   if you if you're gonna do this then just [ __ ] do  it and i was thinking like if my colleagues at the   newspaper investigate this they're gonna find  out i was executed and i wasn't you know doing   something else because i was on my knees and i was  like that's how my god am i gonna get on my knees   um at the end i i don't remember like being  screaming or yelling but they say that i was i was   like stop [ __ ] yelling stuff and i'm like i'm  not yelling and i'm just asking you for a favor   like you you're in no position to ask for  anything and and i'm like i can bring you   money i can bring some money um and just give  me two hours and then we'll play um you know cat   and mouse again she said no but one of them was  like what if we and then start like talking codes   but i could understand that what if we actually  get some money from out of him and then we end up   catching him again and just killing him and uh and  i said yes yes yes yes yes do that let's do that   let's do that and then the other lady started  fighting each other and then the commanders are   like all right get up go to an atm and i'm like  there's your wallet and i'm like all right and   i'm like just give me your word that you're gonna  shoot me in the back while i'm walking and it's   like you don't you're in no position to ask me for  any so if you want to go go if you're not don't go   and i'm like okay i'll go and i started walking  and i felt like [ __ ] this is it that they're   gonna [ __ ] shoot me off the back um i hit a  main street went to an atm i had two cards on me   um because i they're following you no  no one was following me i could just   run or and leave but they had my address my car  plates all of my documentation and i was like   of course they're gonna try and look for me at my  house you know or my family or something like that   yeah so i went tried to play it cool got 12  000 pesos which is nothing 600 bucks that's   that was the limit of both of my cards that that i  called withdraw um got back and said like counter   is 12 000 pesos and it's like i'm gonna trust you  um get in your car make sure you're not missing   anything and i'm like i don't even care he's like  no please make sure you're not missing anything   because this is not a robbery this is not why  we want to you know say that we're braving you   please look into your car look into  your wallet you have everything   yes all right you have two hours we're going  to be looking for you again so that same night   i crossed the border and stayed in el paso for  a good while for like nine nine months i think   without being able to actually get back into  juarez that was like traumatic you know i was   like oh [ __ ] i can't i can't see my city  from here but i can't cross i can't get back   and i have a sword and i had a source back then  a guy who was with me in um secondary school and   we were like good friends and then he went off to  the other side of the coin you know he wouldn't   look on the bad side and he would like tell me  how the whole cartel works and like a lot of   stuff we will talk about a lot of stuff and uh he  called me on my we used to have like these nextil   radios i don't know if you remember those like  they were like very popular in mexico back then   so he rang my radio and i was like hey what's  up man it's like hey what are you doing i'm like   nothing working and it's like where are you when  i'm in el paso and it's like i learned that you   can't get back to juarez what happened and i'm  like i didn't tell anyone anyone i i talked to   the owner of the newsroom of the of the paper  and i told him like i don't want anything like   the police and he was like no i need to call  the mayor obviously that juarez to give you   protection and this and that i'm like please  don't just don't tell anyone anyone please   and then he's like all right i won't i  won't do anything i won't say anything   what you're going to do is you're going to file  a complaint with human rights just so you have   uh preceding you know like a background in  character a record yeah in case something   happens and i'm like all right i'll do that and  i did that but didn't tell anyone just my family   and um and so i was like hmm how did the guy this  this guy found out and he was like anyways i don't   know why you don't want to tell me we're friends  and everything but um be uh be looking out in the   news like you're gonna be surprised and i'm like  all right so i can watch the news for the next   days and one of those days in the same spot they  closed my road uh that those police officers were   shot killed right there really and uh so i  stopped communication with that guy i was like   dude that's not i mean we're not friends because  of that you know like that i'm completely   different than that i'm older than that i'm not  in the business of having people killed yeah i'm   actually in the other side of the coin you know  trying to make people um skip their lives and um   so yeah it was pretty damn hardcore and so i  had a chance there to get out we keep writing   and i was like okay i need to  step up i need to be more careful   that's why you study some of this [  __ ] that's when you go to college   and that's why you learn but but right  there was just starting the ugliest   part of the history of juarez  where the killings were it was the   most violent city in the world you know yeah they  killed five friends of mine like it was like hell   and i was just in the bridge of that so so i  had to cover all that war writing for most uh   international organizations about what was going  on in ciudad juarez at the same time figuring out   how to protect myself like how to have a protocol  uh security protocols and other stuff other stuff   we know now in mexico it's just like basic stuff  in journalism you know like safety protocols and   all that stuff but back then we weren't used to  that so i learned how to work in that in that   you know in that time where was your family at  uh at the time you were kidnapped in mexico or in   mexico yeah my family was in mexico but they live  in a in a gated community with uh security guards   and you know like it's like it's like a it's  like a bubble in in juarez where most of the the   business owners like the biggest insurance  in the city or in the state they leave their   politicians all kind of people yeah so they're  very well protected so they still have to leave   though right they have to leave their their bubble  yeah they go to work exactly it's gonna work   i told them i told them like um this might  be dangerous to you you might be in danger   too because on my id is that address you know  they were like should you be safe we'll be good   and i'm like all right that's i mean they're  like that they're just weird and um so yeah i   left to el paso my sister left to opacity too and  both of my parents uh stayed in juarez they did wow i wasn't expecting that yeah it was not  expecting that yeah man that so they basically   that's how i started i mean i started learning  the bad way you know and um but uh it helped a lot   um i've been doing this for 12 years  now and um so so yeah i learned a lot   well how long was it bef uh after you  got kidnapped before you started going   back like nine months that's it just nine  months yeah because when when that guy   asked me to watch the news and i saw those guys  were dead yeah it was like a mixed feeling you   know because it was like i don't want to be a part  of that i don't want to feel the responsibility   for those lives but at the same time it's like i  i feel like i can't go back now you know like i   they got rid of those guys so i can't  i can actually go back to my city   and i started like i didn't like went all the way  back i started like going for a couple of hours   getting back and then going a couple of more  hours then getting back yeah and then i was like   all right um i feel good to get back to leaving  southwest you didn't uh you didn't feel like   that was coming from higher to kidnap you and  and eventually kill you you didn't think that   was coming from higher you think that may have  been just those two cops or no it definitely   def i definitely could tell that it was coming  from higher um but uh but not that high i think   it was coming from specifically that girl so  she was like a commander okay uh and because i   i had her phone number so and i had access to  some of her text messages so i um i think i   i stepped up too deep you know i i think that's  not what investigative journalism is i just went   too deep because i thought that was journalism  but it wasn't but that didn't stop you because   now you're yeah exciting all kinds of stuff but so  how long was it after you got kidnapped before you   started kind of doing these stories again where  you were embedded and and things started getting   a little dicey so the whole hell broke loose into  that juarez we had like 13 murders a day reported   plus those unreported um and i started working  for like two jobs and college so i was i bought   a motorcycle so i can actually made it on time to  college and then to the newsroom in el paso and at   the same time i had to cover for um fa which has  it's like an international news based out of spain   and they will ask me to go to every  single murder scene to report on that   so i will be driving all over town you know like  um sometimes i will report for el diario in el   paso remotely i will like write a big like like  a feature story but be reporting like certain   10 words a day into that and that was very  basic but i learned a lot because i wasn't   really investigating i was just like covering  like a red what we call the retinol the no taroka   um they kill five cops here they kill 15  kids here they kill when it was like that   but you get your brain thinking and connecting  the dots and it's like oh this murder might be   connected to that stuff and to this and to  that investigation and you start thinking   and i started like coming out with some  proper features you know on investigation and   um and again i think that that was like too  raw of journalism it wasn't like proper stuff   but it was like the beginning of trying to put  together stuff and trying to explain what's   going on but it was hard for me to at the time  because i was into the leaving that city to see   the bigger picture like this is something else  then curtails killing each other you know um but   that was my main question all through that's been  my main question all through these years man like   like still so today what the hell is going  on in mexico what is really happening   yeah how does this world really works because i  don't believe in the thing that it's a turf water   between cartels you know so they were asking you  to go and basically cover every single murder that   happened in juarez and they were doing did you  just say they were doing 13 13 murders a day how   long were you doing that for uh three years three  years yeah so you've seen thousands thousands of   dead bodies that have been murdered yeah so my  question is what is it all cartel and cartel   crime or what is what is the motive uh to kill  somebody down there when it's if if it's just a a regular person who's not involved in the cartel  why are they getting murdered by the cartel   there's a there's a lot of uh you know like the  drug uh business involves a lot of people not only   you know dealers or cartel members it involves  lawyers it involves business owners it involves   journalists it involves a set of people so  sometimes when you see like oh [ __ ] the girl to   kill this woman and she used to be a teacher i'm  not saying she was into the business directly but   sometimes they will try to extort her because  they needed more money to get more weapons   so it was like okay she's driving a nice car let's  try to extort her and they they will show up ask   for money she will call the police she will get  killed because of the police was working with the   cartel so sometimes it's like that there's  been confusions like i don't know if you   heard about the killing of two employees  of the u.s consulate in ciudad juarez   a man and his wife with a young girl  in the back and i i had access to   recording that the d.a was doing on those guys  the d.a was doing surveillance on that group of   the cartel the juarez cartel they were listening  to recordings they were like taping the phones   and radios uh and i got access to that and i and  i learned how they work and it's shitty you know   they don't have a system they'll just say like  okay so the hit is dark-haired male in white suv   that's it and they have people all over the city  so that guy started receiving a bunch of rings   from his people it's like okay so  i got black-haired male with woman   white suv right here it's like all right um okay  go for it five minutes later it's like hey i have   one suv dark haired man with a child uh oh [  __ ] we have another one ah scope for the two   of them so they just kill anybody that fits the  description yeah they're not you know they're just   yeah just a blanket yeah after like everybody four  or five rings on different people so it's like   okay i have some other info he has it's called  the el paso they called it in in codeword parque   so they don't say el paso so it has plates from el  parque so it's like oh okay so it's not my target   this has like mexican plates all right bye and  so they narrow it down to el paso plates which is   half of the city of juarez you know and um so well  texas plates and um so yeah i learned that they   don't there's a lot of people innocent that are  just killed just to because they put a description   exactly what about uh what about just regular  crime you know that's non-cartel related   how much of that is just regular crime  it's um usually regular crime is not using   firearms like they're not using they're using  like if they use a firearm it will be like a   small firearm you know like it's not even  gonna be like a nine millimeter um nine is   definitely cartel related um 223 cartel related  all that stuff it's car slope related um okay   the other guys they sometimes they don't  even they don't even kill you because they   want to mug you you know because they know  they're gonna get some hit and they know   that if they got arrested they're gonna put some  other charges on them like a lot you know gonna   be like organized crime and this guy had like two  kills of heroin and this and that and that and he   was just like a regular [ __ ] mugger that was  trying to get your phone so okay so yeah that's   um now the the local um drug business like the  street selling that's that's huge that's a huge   business in juarez since the 90s um and and that's  why you have a bunch of sellers getting killed   getting murdered getting threats i'm getting  getting crazy just last night i saw a video of   two women uh being tortured and and killed and in  a place called quote milk a few hours from juarez   and everyone is like the teachers why were  the murderer but in the video i saw they were   interrogating them i was like who do you work for  and they're like this guy and what are you doing   we're selling and who are you selling to  i was selling in this spot so it's like   damn man sometimes like people you don't even  think about are into some [ __ ] you know somehow well then you started getting so you started  reporting all these murders and then and then   it sounds like that wasn't really enough  for you so you wanted to get more into   the investigation investigative  uh type stories and that can be hard to bust into so i'm kind of curious you know  how it is that you started developing sources   and assets and informants or whatever you call  them in the journalism world you know and from   what i've found is once it can be real hard to get  in but once you find one that opens the door for   everybody yeah and so i'm just curious to see you  know how you kind of developed your first asset   or what do you call them do you call them sources  sources how did you develop your first source   well my first source was actually this friend  i was talking about it was we were in secondary   school and we grew up together we lived nearby we  just hang out together and then he started going   into that world and started writing i remember one  time we were drinking at my place and we were like   super smashed and i told him like you know that  there's gonna be a time where or worlds are gonna   meet not in the best way right and he's like  yeah and he i remember he gave him gave me a   hug and it's like you're still gonna be my friend  no matter what man like you're gonna be my friend   sometimes i guess i'm gonna have to stop talking  to you and sometimes i guess you're gonna step on   my toes but um i'll keep doing my job and you keep  you doing yours so we started like splitting but   see but even then um he will introduce me to other  guy you know like you were like hey man come over   and i'm all right i would show up in a house  with armed people and you know i was like okay   so this is this is a place he wants to show  me um and then he introduces me to one of the   bosses you know like hey this is that and this  is my cousin um his journalist and he's like   making like um making like jokes about me  reporting is like just don't report this   [ __ ] okay and i'm like no man like honestly i'm  here just like a you know like a regular person um   most of those guys you get them either by  drinking doing drugs or partying the party   is where you make months in that world if you  don't party you're never gonna get access to   any of that [ __ ] you um and you're gonna look  like something else you know i'm gonna like so   why is he doing what is he doing here what  does he want he see a d a because everybody   in mexico thinks like everybody's [ __ ] d.a and  that's like that's why you did so yeah the party   it was what make the bun so i have my tall  party sometimes my wife she knows what i do   she doesn't really know any details of what  i'm doing until my story is published and even   then she doesn't really know the details or the  backstories um but at the beginning she was like   it's [ __ ] 3 a.m man and you're not  answering yeah well i'm like you're   gonna have to trust me in this one because  i'm not you know doing something else than   working and having a blast with these guys  yeah and sometimes i will get home like   super wasted high on code you know like stuff like  that and but that's why we'll open doors you know   that's not what will open the doors do you enjoy  it i mean it's a good time no yeah i mean don't   get me wrong it's like party sweaty you know  sometimes it's just too much sometimes it's it   becomes a place where you start having like a bad  trip sort of you know like when you are drunk and   all fussy and confused and and you're like what  the [ __ ] am i doing here like these people   they i don't relate to these people at all yeah  what they're talking what they're saying um   i don't know i just can't find uh commonplace  between us where are you guys partying are you   part what are you most most most of the time is  houses yeah most of the time is particular houses   like houses they have um sometimes bars but not  really because very private yeah very private yeah   sometimes it's just like a small party sometimes  it's just like a you know like not even like   an overnight or whatever a couple of beers  having fun shots or whatever and then they'll   be like okay that's it i'm good and because  they see that you are um into that they feel   comfortable with you and it's it's harder for a  mexican journalist to get access into a mexican   you know like criminal organization because when  they see if you are from somewhere else they will   say like okay i like this guy because if i can  confirm it's not d.a or whatever it's cool that   he's here that he's interesting and interested  in this and he's gonna go report whatever   but um they feel they can trust it him more  because he's not we're going to be working   with a local police or with another cartel or  that kind of [ __ ] what is the what is the uh   what's the motivation to have an investigative  journalist at the party with the cartels that   you're saying that you know they trust you  i mean why the [ __ ] would a cartel trust   an investigative journalist i guess  i guess because it's not i have never   done something or written about something they  don't know i'm gonna write you know i'm i'm   full disclaimer if i'm there partying with them  i'm they're partying with them um learning i'm   i'm finding my way through to get access and trust  of them but um but i'm not going to report on that   i'm not going to say anything i hear in that  party i'm not going to report on that i'm not   going to write on that i'm not going to say any  anything because i know that's going to cost me   you know and um and they know that i think they  can feel that i'm transparent and that i'm like   i'm not here to snitch on you man i'm i'm here  to actually party with you to get to know you   to ask some questions for me for myself to  to know what's going to be my next steps   and then when i want to write a story when i need  something then i will reach out full transparency   however like i'm writing a story about this do  you feel comfortable sharing something with me   and i will say like not at all man i cannot give  you an interview and i'm like i mean wonder what   circumstances will you feel comfortable giving me  an interview and it's like no face no name no this   no that and then i'll i'll work that you know  it's a negotiation it's like amen um okay i'm   not gonna put your name your face i really need  to write that you are part of that organization   in this place is that doable and it's like i don't  know man so we started like talking about that   and then sometimes i they say yes sometimes they  say no not at all and when they say no it's a no   rather it loses story i guess my question is what  is the motivation for them of what do they get out   of it why would they even want anything in the  news at all uh it's still information to you   at all it's different in the italian organizations  and that's that's an interesting side of it um the   juarez cartel super hermetic like they they don't  share anything it's super hard to break inside the   juarez cartel because they don't feel motivated  at all to talk to say anything they just don't   give a [ __ ] they they actually go the other way  they're like no man you have to have solid sources   inside they have to trust you a lot and even then  i found that most of them will just like talk   broadly on stuff you know uh but they almost  have like this pr office they really want to   be out there they want to be out yeah yeah yeah  what is it for recruiting or i think it's just to   to make a point to make a point with like  we're still on top we're still on top of the   game so it's it's to flex spread fear to the other  cartels into the to the public in general general   mexican population yeah it's just like  a flexing move you know like we're still   we're still the bad guys here um and whenever  i ask uh for access there i have a great source   in sinaloa that i really trust and he  really trusts me and we're friends and   and he helps me a lot like a lot every time i ask  him for crazy [ __ ] man like i've asked him for   crazy stuff and it's like hey man can you help me  out with this he knows that when his phone rings   i think it rolls his eyes  like oh my god he comes again   because i push and i push hard cause that's my job  you know i'm not gonna take just like no we can do   that all right bye man sorry it's like how can we  do this how can i tell this story man how can you   help me out i need this profile specifically  i need to find a person that talks to me   and that knows about this why how can we do that  and when it's like no no no no no i was like okay   what if i show up there we just have a drink and  talk talk it over but in person not over the phone   not over a signal or telegram or whatever just  right there and then we go from there and ninety   percent of the time it works ninety percent of  time is like all right let's go let's talk to him   say what it says um to be honest like also some  some of them ask for money some some of them uh   they try to get some money out of that out of that  how much money well not that much but it depends   it depends on the access depends on the days  it depends on the person thousands yeah no 100   now thousands of dollars thousands of dollars  they they would ask for for money sometimes   it's not even for them but it's like to pay the  employees you know okay um of course this is like   i'm telling you this is full disclaimer i'm very  transparent what i do most of the times i try not   to i try not to because it's not ethical and it  can not be real what they're telling you if their   motivation is money but sometimes i've worked  like that i've worked like that when i see when   i see that what i need basically is b-roll you  know yeah i don't need info i need v-ro i need a   bunch of imagery of guns or training of these and  that and you want video assets for your stories   yeah and i need like to be real you know yeah  not like fake guns or whatever like to be real   so you you just totally immerse yourself into the  narco culture to gain their trust to experience it   so you understand it better how long are you when  you do immerse yourself what's what would you say   what's the longest you've immersed yourself  down there within uh some of these cartels   before coming up and going back home  and checking in with the wife and kid not too long i try to i try to have like a tight  a safety protocol you know so i don't tell my wife   when i'm going or what i'm doing like specifics  but she knows that i constantly ring and she's   my like it's crazy because i do that protocol  with some friends with some journalists and with   associations of general super tech journals in  mexico you know when i'm when i know i'm going to   be into deep i ring on them and say like emman can  we start like a protocol uh they're like yeah so   the protocol is like bring me every two hours or  half an hour um or if you're gonna be out all day   just in one part of the day before midnight you're  gonna have to bring me back and say like okay i'm   back at the hotel i'm safe and i'm like okay but  my safety net is my wife because she can feel   the threat or the danger before hand you know  she um she knows that when i'm not feeling   comfortable i tend to call her a lot not not  text her not what's up i tend to call her a lot   like a lot color in the night in the morning when  i have breakfast and she feels that she feels like   okay this guy is not feeling good about what he's  doing right now he's might be in danger yeah um   so she knows that i could be in danger so she  tries to ring more often so you're checking in   at least at least once a day yes yeah yeah  i am i've never i've never been more than   more than one day like i've had uh i have the case  like the scenario where it's like okay we're gonna   go into that place no cell phones this and that  but i try also to negotiate my side you know like   not to go full on it's like yeah whatever you say  it's like no man no no phones it's a no go for me   are they are they frisking you are they  searching you before i just had one time   just not wanting to trust you that much yeah  i just had one time with a guy in sonora   that um that he uh searched me uh he grabbed my  phone he blight funded me well the beginning his   his employee uh put like a thing on my eyes but he  thought it was too disrespectful it was like no no   no dude that's disrespectful for the journalist  here just let's do this um grab your hands put   your hand your head down all the road just look  down that's it um even then i could know where   where i was because i sort of like you know i knew  that we crossed like a train track i've heard um   a checkpoint a police checkpoint i  could count the street lights passing   then i dirt road so i sort of know where  i was at the time um i didn't like that   uh i didn't really like that at all like i was  like no man i'm not gonna do this [ __ ] again   because we were there and then he had it was  incredible man he was and the the story is in   uh netflix it's a show called dope and if you see  the mexico side of that series i they didn't do   any of the using the all the mexican side you  will see a scene where we arrive at a house   uh there's this narco and it says like so this  is my stash house and i was like all right um   that small house right there this is like an  old man with a tecate you know like drinking   and he's like yeah and i'm like but there's  nothing man what the [ __ ] is this and he's   like nah i'm not that stupid man hey guys can you  open up the stash so it was like they started like   putting dirt out with a shovel and then we'll  have a carpet and then behind a carpet you will   have a door like a like a um iron door  that will open that and there was like a   stairs and it was like an underground stash  house packed with it was weed and poppy and   but it was like floor to roof you know like full  of that stuff and they had their all of their   accounting and inventory everything everything  like and yeah so it was under the house under the   house but you can you couldn't tell because it  was like a small house in the middle of nowhere   and it was like dirt just like that we were like  actually stepping into like on top of that so we   went out we went down there we filmed everything  we filmed an interview and all that stuff   and then we went up again and then he received  a call on his radio um someone telling him   that one of the security rings  was breached by um convoy of   federalist and he's like okay so my fifth ring  got compromised let's wait here give me your id   i'll keep all of your ids if something  happens if they break into the second ring   it's on you guys and i'm like okay i mean it's not  going to be on us man we're not even we don't have   cell phones um it's i mean no there's no way and  it's like i don't care what you say man if they   breach second ring it's gonna be in you and i'm  like all right so it was like a tense because it's   like okay they breached into the fourth ring and  then they reached the third ring and i was like   [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] and they um  they stopped at burritos place to eat burritos and they're like all right that's good for  you all right there you go man let's go   give these guys an extra burrito exactly yes man it was it was intense so you're really  embedded with these guys yeah well let's take   a quick break and uh when we come back i want  to get into some of these uh arms trafficking   deals that uh you were a part of and and were  able to report on yeah sure cool for sure man so all right so we're gonna get into some arms  trafficking stuff and um before i do we had   a good conversation at breakfast today about you  know i cannot believe that you don't carry a gun   and i couldn't believe it when you told me um when  we were talking earlier today about some of the   stuff that you've been doing and that you've been  involved with and who you're embedding with then   we get in the studio here and we start recording  and tell me you've been kidnapped yeah and uh so   that blows my mind that that you're not carrying  um into each zone but before we kind of get into   the arms trafficking stuff i'm really curious  without the if i wanted to go down to mexico how   hard would it be for me to illegally acquire  some type of a firearm it will definitely be   easier than to acquire like a legal arm it's  not that hard man like mexico is flooded   with with guns like they're all over um it's  very easy just you need like to know someone   and you can get one many of the cartels now what  they're doing is they are renting like you know   like uh firearms you don't even have to buy it  that will take you into a warehouse and you're a   hitman and but you don't own a gun um so you go to  that warehouse and say like hey how much for this   gun two hours or two days and it's like it's gonna  be i don't know two thousand pesos four thousand   pesos twelve thousand pesos you rent it you  rent it you rent the weapon yes and then you go   do the job get back and deliver back the gun to  that same warehouse have you seen these warehouses   yes i've seen those warehouses uh what is the  selection like well like what do they have yeah   um all kinds of [ __ ] they have a bunch of  nine millimeters a bunch of shitty revolvers   you know like these old revolvers they have a  case uh they have uh what the mexican military   uses which is the 223 i don't know what kind of  rifle is but the bullet is at 223. it's time so   probably some type of an m4 or ar yeah exactly  something like that it's like something long   um they have like that kind of stuff those guys  who rent those kind of guns the it's like all   guns you know like they're like sort of uh sort of  like manipulated in some way they're not like new   pristine state guns yeah it's like ugly ugly  weaponry uh and that i guess it's like the   second life they give to guns they used uh  in like bigger scales of the cartel you know   yeah well when you go in these warehouses is  it all organized is everything on the wall   or is it hey look at the trunk of my  car and uh there's just a whole bunch of   no i mean um the warehouse i've i've been into  there are in juarez downtown juarez imagine   downtown juarez imagine this city border city of  1.4 million uh people living there not a beautiful   not a beautiful city kind of a shitty one imagine  a market in downtown crowded a lot of people   um you know like a regular market selling fruits  selling a lot of [ __ ] medicine and a lot of   stuff people screaming people yelling cars going  into you know like smart ups small ollies and in   between all that it's a store a regular store  selling sneakers um counterfeit you know like   fake nike sneakers fake whatever with  a man outside sound like hey come get   some sneakers 20 bucks for the pair whatever  but if you arrive there with the right guy   he'll be like hey man he's with me all right  and then you just go to the back of that   um store uh and there's a warehouse which is  around like about this big it's not like a huge   warehouse not small and you have guns all over  the gun is like laying there um you know like just   in the wall like right there on the floor an ugly  table uh he can't find sometimes the you know   like the gun he's looking for he's like i know i  have an ak like an uak around here so he's like   rummaging around and then he finds like the  ek is like oh yeah here it is can't find the   charger though i'm just looking for the charger  um all duct taped you know because it's not   properly working or fitting um yeah it's one of  those places and i'm like wow and uh you're like   so you sell these guns and it's like nah we  actually rent them and while i was there in   the middle of the day like 2 p.m a guy showed  in and he's like hey man hey you just need two   guns like hangouts whatever you have but for now  now i knitted now and it's like did you talk to   whatever yeah yeah yeah i talked to him and yeah  all right it's gonna be this and that i already   paid that guy let me give him a call hey man the  guy this guy here blah blah yeah it's a good he   paid all right see you there you go so these are  all hitmen coming in yeah yeah low-level hitmen   they're not like you know there's like also  some hit men that are like very well prepared   most of them working for um law enforcement in  mexico okay do these guys um do they have any   rituals or traditions they  do before they're going ahead   like when i was a i used to live in  columbia i used to live in medellin   and they have a church that they would go and  all the assassins would go pray at that specific   church before they would go on a hit and uh  is it like that in mexico too do they get it right yeah no i mean in mexico it depends like  sinaloa it's jesus malverde is huge um he's the   saint of drug traffickers he's a legend and  um and they go and sometimes they will have   to like on their houses they will have like  a small um altar for jesus where they drop   cigarettes booze um drugs offerings um  there is a there is a huge jesus malverde   altar in the middle of the of a road where  they go also and offer stuff for him uh many   of them that was kind of new in 2010 we started  watching new santa muerte churches in juarez   and i went to all of them you know i'm curious  like that so i was like what the hell this is a   [ __ ] santa muerte full on church um so i was  interested into what was going on in there um   and it's crazy man it's uh doesn't make sense  it's i mean not disrespectful but uh but it's   just like too mixed with catholicism they will  pray some of the parts of the holy father father   and in the middle of that they  will say something like santa wow that's that seems like [ __ ] you know but  um but many of them believe in the santa muerte   and it started developing in 2010 in juarez  because the northern the north of mexico that was   not a tradition in the north of mexico there was  a tradition in the center and south of mexico for   centuries uh but when the militaries and  the federalists started arriving in the city   they brought with them some of their culture so  they started like setting up you know churches   and all that stuff does that translate to  saying of the dead yes the santa muerte is the   holy death okay and it's this um is this um  skeleton dressed as the holy mary you know   like with a thing yeah but it's a skeleton and  it has the um hoes it's called yeah i don't know   what it's called i know what you're saying though  yeah the the sickle exactly yeah spanish is called   right um so so yeah it's uh it's interesting  like so so they some of them have those   rituals um i can tell that most of them when they  pray or have a santa muerte they are related to   law enforcement most of the time not all of them  because i watched some stash houses where they   are like not law enforcement related sicarios and  they will have a small santa muarte on the corner so so and i know that sinaloa is huge  for jesus malverde a us artist uh   i i took him to sinaloa to take some pictures  of of the narco culture and all that stuff   and he uh it's called charles kraft and he makes  ceramic art amazing and he gave me a bust of jesus   malverde on ceramic like this big and i have it  in my in my living room right there what is that   the the what are you saying it's like it's like  a figure of jesus malverde made out of uh ceramic   you know it's a painter like very beautifully  um he was uh that was like his thanks to me you   know like he was like thank you for taking me  to sinaloa to make some crazy ass pictures on   the aquaculture and i'm gonna give you this so i  have it in my on my living room on my tv room you   know it's like right there on top of everything  and um and i love it but sometimes where people   shows up on my place and it's like oh wow why  do you have a jesus malverde on your clinic and   i'm like it's a work of art it's just the first of  ten you know there's only ten in the world and it   has a value like it um it's worth something but it  has also like a value to me um inside that culture   that's cool it's interesting yeah well let's  get into some of these arms deals yeah so   i was um by the time we were we talked about  the um like a sum call remember right after that   i traveled to sinaloa to meet with some arms  traffickers well i traveled to sinaloa and then   to mexicali because the route is the u.s border  towns like um calexico el paso uh tijuana well   san diego and then south either tijuana mexicali  or juarez and then down to sinaloa durango sonora   and so i met with these guys i explained  them that i wanted to understand   how was the arms still flowing south still after  fast and furious still after a tight gun control   in mexico um still after all of that the border  closed um how how you managed to actually still   bring up bring in like huge guns i showed  you some pictures on what they look and i   was like what what the hell is this one it's like  that cigarette grenade launcher right that is a   m203 grenade launcher that fires a 40 millimeter  basically explosive it's like how does these guys   get a hold of some [ __ ] like that you know yeah  it's like heavy weaponry they have and they just   show me the the basic you know so so i went to  sinaloa they took me to this place a proper house   where they have some of um you know like gold  um nine millimeters gold ak-47 they used a lot   these call this stuff called draco which is like  a short um ak like i don't know if you know i   don't know i mean they call it draco down down in  mexico yeah i mean here they would just call it   an ak right it's like a short version of the big  ak they have a bunch of them some of them like   um all golden you know very flashy stuff uh and  i i follow the the road to the us so in the us   in places like california or like texas they will  just buy a gun with a permit someone like me or   like you and um that guy is clean he has his own  guns but he's selling um other guns to the cartels   cartel members what he needs is just like a report  of the guns he's sold so he can show atf like   sold these guns because i have a permit to sell  guns out of my own home out of my own place um   what they do with that i just don't give a [ __ ]  so i don't know if the atf actually tracks those   buyers or not but these guys are like and i know  for a fact that many of those guns are ending up   in mexico really so they how they traffic  stuff is they disassemble the guns and they   put small parts inside like old refrigerators  a stove you know an old living room or whatever   and then they were like oh just moving back  to juarez from el paso and i'm gonna pay my my   taxes for the for my stuff to get into mexico so  they will pay that go in and then they have like   these workshops where they're putting everything  together again i went to one of those in mexicali   i think one of the videos i shared is one of those  places you will see like a table with a bunch of   guns those are the guns that are ready to go there  are like a sample back again and then from there   they go to sinaloa like by plane by  truck sometimes even by sea when they   are in the in baja california they travel through  the mar de cortes all the way to the sinaloa   coast and um that's that's where the where for  they told me that's where the heavy weaponry is   going through like why does it go there so i think  it's easier to navigate the sea than to actually   uh you know like ride okay so they go there and  then it's dispersed exactly okay yeah yeah yeah   they go they most of them go to sinaloa and  then from there they they end up living in la   in central america places like honduras guatemala  um they trade that for drugs or for you know like   when when they don't have a payment for a big load  of coke they will say like okay we'll give you   guns you give us the code and we'll take it north  and sell it so sometimes it's like a trade um   those guns are [ __ ] everywhere man it's uh it's  really it's really confusing to see that many guns   and that easy access in mexico a place where it's  impossible to get a proper firearm like myself i i   mean to me to get a hold of a firearm in mexico  it will be super hard i will have to be in a   hunting club or go through a lot of [ __ ]  bureaucracy to actually get approved for a permit   to carry and i wouldn't be able to carry  a nine millimeter or a rifle you know like   would be just like a shitty gun i guess yeah um so  yeah it's kind of it's kind of it's kind of weird   it's gonna i mean in the u.s i could have a gun i  don't even know how to use one so i need to learn how would people i mean do you think   do you think mexican citizens would want access  to be able to protect themselves it's been a   debate like a recent debate and it's always in in  people's opinion you know like it's very divided   so split um half of the people say like we don't  need guns what we need is for corruption to end   because without corruption you will have a state  of law and those people getting illegal weapons   will stop many of those guys believe that the  responsibility is in mexico half in the us the   other half it's like your um your freedom to get  guns is hurting us you know some of the other guys   are like we should be more like the us where you  can access guns where you can actually fight back   you know where where i can protect my family with  a gun of those guys because if they get to you   i'm still not sure where i stand to be honest  on that that matter because i'm very i'm very um   i'm very in the both worlds you know like i i can  get one in in el paso which is like texas is the   the gun culture is like very open but at  the same time i know what they do you know   i know what they mean for mexico and i've seen my  friends killed by those guns and all that stuff so   so i'm still i'm i still don't know where  i stand on the fence exactly because um   on one side i said like oh yeah yes i mean of  course on what i'm doing because of what i'm   doing especially i should have one you know to  protect my family because i never know when a   [ __ ] is going to come up and when i'm going to  have to fight back but at the same time it's like   do i want to engage in a shootout do i want to  engage into that because i know if i kill that   guy or a couple of guys that got into me there's  gonna be more coming you know there's gonna be   more coming they're gonna get mad they're gonna  get angrier they're gonna go like again so so i   i don't know you know when i think about my family  how to protect them i feel that the best way to   protect him is sometimes not talk a lot about what  i do a lot of details of what i see what i hear of   my cell phone my wife see she gets sketchy because  i'm always like you know protecting my cell phone   of course she believes that it's it's another  another girl i can see that that could become   an issue especially when you're partying with  the cartel but yeah yeah and sometimes she   believes like the worst for her yeah she believes  like these [ __ ] clacking to another girl yeah   but most of the time don't get me wrong  most of the time it's not like that most   of the time is um i don't want her to see  some pictures i don't want her to see some   messages um i wanted to see who is sending  me messages because i don't feel comfortable   with her knowing who i'm talking with when you  know the other is living in el paso um the other   is trying to get the heat out when i'm covering  like a interesting story like a hardcore story   not going straight home and take my kid out  in the same car and drive around you know like   just like i'm gonna be away for a couple  of days until i feel the heat is out   i try to reach back to my sources after the  story is out and so like hey we're good are   we cool is everything good do you think something  shady there's been two times where things haven't   been cool at all where i reach back and the wife  of my source will answer is like they kill him   i'm like oh [ __ ] and i feel like you know  like [ __ ] i feel like [ __ ] i feel like   it's my responsibility i feel like his life is in  my hands and and um yeah those times are like oh   my [ __ ] god because at the same time i'm i'm  feeling responsibility for that and at the same   time i'm feeling fear for my own life like if they  got to him are they mad at me too yeah are they   angry at me too so those kind of stuff are the  ones that gets you up at night you know like that   like you stay all night thinking like should i be  uh doing something or would that be overreacting   you know i don't want to have my family all  nervous all the time yeah but at the same time i   need to protect them so sometimes i fall yeah how  did these deals go down these arms deals that you   what was your role there they why did they  let you witness because the they all go down   because i i wanted that there is a lot  of stuff in the news that just repeats   keeps repeating you know like talking  points and people keeps repeating   the us this is the us fault and the narcos are  getting guns and the narcos are getting just   like big weapons and he's like okay yeah yeah  but what does that mean like how do they get the   guns and who and why and are cartels inside the  u.s are cartels properly buying guns in the u.s   or it's just like a regular one trying to make  some bugs and they don't see the harm in selling   those guns to a cartel i wanted to understand  that i wanted to really get close to that   and to understand what's what was on and what  i found out is like in general cartels are not   um a structure like you know like a vertical  structure they're more like a horizontal uh   structure now you don't have a big bus and then uh  you know like another sort of like chief and then   like a bunch of scarios and then like a bunch of  whatever it's all horizontal right now that's why   a lot of the law enforcement don't get you  know that's why some of their operations don't   get don't get the the results they  are expecting when you grab a kingpin   he was just part of that horizontal structure it  was not the boss you didn't cut the head of the   snake she just got up chunk yeah and the snake  can grow a tail again and so it works like that   and the arms deals are exactly like that there  was once where the big boss will call his people   in the us or whatever and so like i need guns all  right let's buy guns there you go boss your guns   all right you're still on a payroll  you're still getting the same money   but right now it's like i need guns we're getting  out of guns what do we do when it's like okay i   have a plug in the u.s i have a cousin that he's a  u.s citizen he can get a gun for us we're several   all right try it out and he's like yeah but  he wants to he's gonna he's gonna buy i don't   know an ak for 500 bucks but he's gonna sell  it to us um triple the the price for 15k 15   100. sorry and um i need someone will say yes all  right yeah just give that just bring it back and   that will you know like one guy is like okay and  what's my commission for crossing it over okay you   get 300 bucks and then the guy who takes it all  the way to sinaloa like how much for transporting   this to sinaloa 300 bucks all right there you  go and then you know so it's a it's a horizontal   chain it's not a big structure so everybody's  making money out of that everybody's making money   uh out of the gun deal you know and that's that's  that's interesting that's interesting because   because when you say something like the u.s has  responsibility well the u.s just made 500 bucks   on that someone else made another 500 and someone  else made 300 and someone else made another 300   for that gun to reach the hand of the guy who's  going to kill a bunch of people yeah so most of   my money is still saying in mexico you know yeah  and it's not entering like a legal uh economy so i correct me if i'm wrong but i think what  you're saying is it's not one major deal that's   happening it's onesies and twosies and just  thousands and thousands of people that are   making that are making 300 500 a small amount  of a nominal amount of money you know for one   one well exactly yeah i um i talked to a guy in  juarez also and he's like i found that if i if i   if i travel to the us to like dallas to a gun show   they would sell guns to me like that and i  would just take him back into mexico before um   fast and furious and all that stuff it was like  more you know easy to travel back into mexico yeah   without being searched uh so it's like i found  that i would just like travel back to chihuahua   it's like nine hours from juarez to  dallas nine hours back and then four   hours to chihuahua and i will make a thousand  bucks for one gun every weekend so he's like   i might bring three and he's three thousand bucks  on one weekend and the next week and again the   next week and again and he's wicked again and he  made a good living out of that you know like 3   000 bucks in mexico can be like every weekend can  be like something to to start something you know i guess that's another reason why maybe you know  securing the border a little bit more might be   beneficial for both countries exactly the thing  is uh the thing is when you secure the border   on the mexican side like right now they're  changing the mexican irs which is called sat   those were the guys in charge of customs they're  so corrupted man like they're one of the most   corrupted organizations like government  organizations in mexico so they were like   okay we're gonna change that to the military the  military is not it's not that corrupt but it's   known for stepping on human rights you know so so  i don't know if that's gonna work i don't know if   that's gonna work actually um i think corruption  in general needs to change because corruption is   what it's killing us in mexico you know it's not  it's not the us it's not this and that it's not   open or close borders i think what's killing us  is corruption that's what is keeping us safe on   this side of the border your corruption levels are  there but at higher levels like higher officials   it's going to be hard for you to get out of a  ticket giving 20 bucks to a traffic police officer   you know it's not there's no way you can give  them 20 bucks for that guy to leave you alone   but mexico you can you can get away with that  you know and that's that's exactly what is   killing us corruption is is inside the whole  city it's a system it's not corruption it's   not inside the system corruption is a system on  itself you know so and that's what is killing   us like you can put all of the military  out of the streets all the deas you want   close all the borders you want but as long as  the corruption is still a system operating in   mexico there's going to be a way for people to  benefit from legal or illegal activities yeah well let's move into the dea deal of course i'm  dying to hear about this well you know the sinaloa   cartel has been one of the biggest cartels in  mexico for a good while you know it started with   a sinaloa federation federacion de sinaloa where  the juarez cartel leader was the beltran levas   and all the stuff and even since then they've been  trying to cut deals or they've been cutting deals   with the d.a they i guess the dea is eager to  keep arresting kingpins and busting drug loads that they break deals with them but these mexican  articles at the same time they are so naive that   they think that they're going to actually  benefit from that now that they're going to   leave off of that of that deal um el vicentillo is   the son of el mayo zambada which allegedly  is the leader of the sinaloa cartel right now   after they arrested el chapo the only one who  there is only one picture of him and no one   knows where the [ __ ] he is is el mayo zambada  so supposedly he's the boss of the sinaloa cartel   although you and i know they don't work like that  anymore but he's somewhat like a figure you know   like a respected figure he's been hiding forever  there's only one picture of him taken by this   mexican magazine processo because of the director  of that magazine interviewed him a while ago um   elvis entities son and he tried in 2000 they don't  really say when but it's between 2010 and 2012.   he tried to break a deal with the dea in  mexico city he got in touch with the d.a   and he's like all right this is my proposal i'm  gonna give you guys intel on the other cartels   so you can arrest like all older but you let me  work uh freely and the dsl yeah let's do that man   all right sounds good all right deal deal  all right bye-bye they left and as soon   as he left he got arrested and exproved  into the u.s so he's he's recently free   he walked out recently because he snitched on his  own that on zambada he called him from prison he   uh he broke a deal with the d.a with the u.s  government to snitch on the whole scenario   that's what that's what god of chapel arrested  like that guy snitching on the whole organization   he's free obviously the us recommended him not  to go back to mexico no one know where he is   of course i don't think it's a good idea for him  to go back to mexico um but he might be operating   again he might be back at it again somehow  with his dad or not who knows the thing is   i learned that these deals have been going on  still with the sinaloa cartel with some other   members with some other people and now the jalisco  navajo which is the ruthless cartel growing up and   is huge his financial reach is three times more  than the sinaloa cartel is huge wow now they're   trying to break a deal with the d.a now they're  meeting the agents now they are saying like we   can get you el mayo we can get you this and that  from sinaloa cartel uh if you let us walk free   and i don't know i'm not sure i can't confirm  for a fact but for what they say the jalisco   it's working they said like the deal is working  man the deal is ongoing that's how we're getting   [ __ ] tons of firearms like we've never seen  before they just recently posted a video on social   and it's a full army they have tanks they have  this kind of like rhinos like armored vehicles   yeah they have like rocket launchers  they have rpgs they have like so you're saying that the dea is trading weapons  for kingpins for kingfield yeah and not only   that i also know that they're being well not  specifically d.a but it is in the middle of that   the u.s government has been giving out um green  cards to some of them some of the cartel members   some of the people who is on the record  killing more than 20 30 40 people in mexico   and they're giving out green cards in the middle  of of a moment where there are a lot of people   from latin america trying to desperately enter  the u.s and they're stuck in places like juarez   the u.s is giving out green cards to narcos in  exchange for something so shitty as a statement   in court where it's all fixed that they say like  the exact same thing do you know that guy yes can   you point where the narco whatever it is is that  guy was he the leader of the organization he was   he did he asked you to you know traffic drugs yeah  he did all right there you have crinkle for you   your wife your kids and some money wow  it's like dude that's unfair that's so   that's a policy that is not only unfair  but it's also unethical you know on mexico   have you uh personally witnessed any of that yes i  personally witnessed that yes uh on a court uh in   el paso on one of them allegedly um leaders of the  juarez cartel i personally saw that i personally   spoke with a lawyer who showed me the deals the  u.s government was breaking on that case and who   these people were on the organization of juarez i  even saw the record of statements they did and at   the beginning they said like this is not that guy  and then he's like i was like no this is yeah it   is that guy like they did the wrong statement and  someone told them like that's the wrong statement   you need to say that's the guy okay sorry yeah  this is the guy and they're getting green cards   wow it's it's crazy man it's crazy how  they operating or honestly it's not   it's not news why the us is having a  backlash you know on a bunch of people from   mexico central america south america arriving  at the border desperate asking for help it's   it's backlash of some of those  policies where you protect narcos   you know for your own good for your benefit um did  this protect a lot of people do you think there   may be some things that you might be missing as  far as what the government's doing to these guys   maybe they give them a green  card but maybe they're also   turning them into an informant you know  keeping them going still running them   when it's an asset could be continuing to get  information out even though they're in the us   cool b man could be because i mean there's  another story i i published in 2000 2013 i think   on the guy who delivered el chapo was a  doctor he didn't had any relationship with the   with uh cartels he just happened to live in  the u.s juarez and had a neighbor who was   the right arm in the state for el chapo  he got into some kind of fight with him   he threatened his wife and his kids so he decided  to snitch on him on an international bridge   he arrived at an international bridge it's  like hey i know a guy who works very high up   in the sinaloa organization so they were like  yeah whatever just get the [ __ ] out you know   and then he called 9-1-1 and  he like tried hard he went to   the mexican um government military no one will  believe him and then he said he arrived to the   u.s consulate in juarez saying that he  had a bomb on him so they grabbed him   took him in and it was like no i don't have a  bomb so they search them and like read like his   background and whatever she's like then what  the [ __ ] are you doing here it's like i have   some information that i want to tell you and so  he started like sharing like this guy dusties   and that and he's like the right armies he's in  charge quality stuff and all that [ __ ] so they   arrested that guy um they went for him in a hotel  in juarez when he arrived with his wife like he   just like stepped out of his car and someone right  behind him is like hey let's go get up and he's   like oh [ __ ] i don't know if this is cartel or  government so it just went up like the car and i   know that because of the a source in the interval  describing the whole operation to get that guy   and um and he's like he didn't put any resistance  just got up the van and then he asked like who is   this and it's like it's the u.s government it's  like oh my god yes thank god so they took him   they took this doctor into the u.s and gave him  protection another identity an s visa which it's   a piece of four stage basically uh but then they  told him like do you have any more information   no you're gonna share with us and he's like no man  i'm not inside the cartels and it's like okay if   you don't have more information we're gonna revoke  your s visa because that's only for these purposes   and you're going to go back to mexico so he was  like super desperate that's where he called me   that's where he's like dude i'm desperate um i  gave this all information to those guys and i   don't know what to do and i wanted to reach out to  the media so i started started following his story   and in the middle of that story he managed to  find or to get the phone number of a woman who was   without chapel at all times um and he's like  this is her phone number uh i'm handing it   to the va the d.a knows where she is where el  chapo is and that's how el chapo got arrested   the first time you got arrested um even then  they still threatened this guy to send him back   to mexico they're like okay what else and he's  like i just gave you a chapel man like this was   your operation it was not a mexican operation and  he was like all right but what else do you have   to keep your ass visa you know so if i felt like  he was disposable like he was totally disposable   like i'm an informant i'm giving out you know like  good information they should just leave me alone   but they didn't and i know he's hiding still  from the dea from the narcos inside the us interesting yeah i mean you can't blame him yeah if he's got information  it's gonna save lives yeah you know and uh we   just went through you know that some mexicans  are pissed off because arms are being tracked   traffic down there you know from the us well  now you have a guy who has a ton of information   and you know yeah yeah and that foundation  could save a lot of lives exactly and i   feel that my responsibility and all that is  to shed light into how stuff really works   not talking points not blaming governments yeah  not blaming whatever policy this is what it is   it's like this is how it works information exactly  this is how it works yeah it's not a structure   it's not an evil plan from the u.s like flew  mexico with [ __ ] guns and they kill each other   yeah this is how it's going on there's people  making money out of it especially during the   pandemic you know yeah i appreciate that everybody  has to put a spin on [ __ ] these days and yeah   you know you can't just present information  anymore but you're still doing it that's   that's awesome but yeah a lot of stuff going on  down there man that's um trying to i'm trying to   find the ties that ties us you know the u.s and  mexico i live at the border i'm a border kid um   so i live i i report in spanish write in english  i meet people like you i interview people like   you in english and report in spanish back and  forth all the time back and forth all the time   and i received the heat from both sides i received  the heat from mexico because i write in english   and they said like oh you'll [ __ ] sell  out and i receive the heat from the u.s   because i report and write spanish it's like  oh you're [ __ ] mexican you're just like   stalking [ __ ] about the us in mexico and  i received the heat from trump supporters   and from biden supporters i received the  heat from mexican president amlo supporters   and the opposition i received the heat from  everybody because i'm not in the business of   putting out my opinion you know in the business  of showing things as they are and some things   are good about trump some things are bad about  trump sometimes some things are good about biden   some teams are things are bought about biden um  it's just the way things are you know like because   because i'm not trying to put the nice light  on any president or in any government trying   to to tell it how it is and not put my  voice in it just say like i went there   talk to these people and this is how it works  yeah if that's it i appreciate that i really do   but um do you have anything else you want  to talk about when it comes to the arms deal   i think i think that's that's pretty  much pretty much it man perfect   let's take another break and then let's  get into some drugs let's do it all right let's get into some fentanyl yeah so all right so we kind of went through some of  the arms trafficking and some of the deals   that you were part of not a part of were able to  report on and uh big correction there it's like i have the atf stand outside the doorway just like  no no no it's like you're on the record but um   but you also uh recently went and you're  able to report on and actually go into   a lab that was making fentanyl so  where was that we got some great videos   uh that you gave us that we're gonna put in here  so uh while we're talking about this you'll be   seeing photographs and videos of the actual lab  but go ahead and and let's hear what you got so   so was fentanyl it started like ramping in the  u.s you know like being like a proper issue i   i also wanted to know where to where does this  start you know like where where is it being made   and how and who's making it uh i reached out  to one of my sources in sinaloa of course   like this guy who always like comes through and uh  and i asked him if i could be on on a fentony live   and he told me it was kind of hard because the  fentanyl labs now they're not set up as before   before they will they will like rent or  buy a warehouse and establish uh ongoing   lab but because of the busts the  mexican government has been busting   um labs they are making like these small laughs  on the go in the middle of nowhere and they work   quick overnight take everything destroy the rest  and leave and they're gone and they're done so   i told him like i know it sounds like um like a  letter to santa claus but i wanted to ask you if   we can actually follow the whole process like if  you find that someone's gonna be cooking i want to   know i want to be there for the preparation  like how they set up you know for for that   and it's like you're asking for too much  because it's not like obviously they don't   share they don't announce like okay we're  going to set up a [ __ ] fentanyl lab you know   so it's like so it's going to be hard and  i'm like okay i'm just going to go down to and wait there for your signal you know so i did  kulekhan is a beautiful city man you you really   have to go there it's a nice city um nice weather  nice people nice places to eat great seafood so i   spent a couple of days just eating seafood having  beers and walking and swimming at the hotel pool   until i got the signal from this guy that said  like all right i'm picking you up the hotel   and we're driving off to the outskirts of kuliakan  in the middle of nowhere and i'm like okay i'll   follow follow your lead he knows me and he knows  that i don't go without like a safety protocol   so i just jumped in um and we started like  driving taking off and i asked him like can   i start recording from now and um he said no no  no no because the um the road might be um you   know like someone kind of knows where we are or  where we had it so no road at all i'm like okay   i was with uh with a film crew for vice  world news so there was a cameraman a host   and i told the cameraman like just don't  because he's a white um almost reddish   british guy he doesn't look like he belongs to an  accident no super tall and i was like just undress   uh dangerously you know just don't  do anything stupid exactly like if   you dress uh i don't know like hipster e yeah  then you're good you know if you dress like a   skateboarder you're good whatever just  don't dress in a dangerous way i guess   he didn't understand what adventures  why it was because he was full on the khaki cargo pants like these black tactical  boots sort of like short boots not the long boobs   glasses you know like these kind of like  dark glasses um a green uh military cap   and a backpack no like dude really  you all did yourself today like   you don't even dress like that  on a regular basis you know yeah   and i'm like all right so let's go uh  let's hope that's not gonna be an issue   and he was like super rewarded about that he's  like do you really feel that i just can't jump   out and just don't go and i'm like no man you  have to go you're the camera operator so let's go   um we went there uh we arrived into like a very  small town like dirt roads and everything and   from there we met another guy another couple of  guys grabbed a pickup truck put us in the back and   started like driving off in the middle of nowhere  in the middle of nowhere so it was like really   in the middle of the woods and then from there  we met on other guys on motorcycles and they   started driving the motorcycles into the woods  and we started walking until they found a place   where they have um taken out like a lot of trees  and they started setting up a laugh right there   um some of the stuff it's in the pictures i i  send you like this huge um i don't know like   the rails or something like that yeah um a lot of  um precursors a lot of chemicals a lot of like a   stove like a man-made stove uh and a um like a  smart roof you know like um like a tent and um   and i obviously we obviously had masks on like not  like the regular face mask like proper gas masks   those guys didn't have anything like anything and  there was like an old guy and it's like okay he's   the kook or boss brought someone from china to  to teach him how to cook this [ __ ] and i'm like   wow that's interesting and it's like how many  people knows that and it's like just like a couple   just like two guys in the organization can't know  how to properly cook and i'm like okay and then i   started like talking to him he's like very quiet  he didn't really want to talk he was like too   shy with the camera was the man from china on in  the lab or he had come in and taught a group of   people how to do this apparently he just uh uh  teach that guy and that guy showed another guy   and then apparently what goes on is like they  had to show or to teach another two guys in case   they die there's another two guys but just like  pairs of two um keep learning about how to cook   but it was just once where these chinese came  and showed this guy how to properly cook fentanyl   and the the fentanyl like the proper powder like  fentanyline powder the precursors to cook it   come from china or from germany and they really  take care of that [ __ ] like if that was cold   they bring them in and box with one arm  guy and it's always looking at that bag   and it's always like okay that's too much  don't don't waste it put it back lock it in   and that guy's always like taking care of that  self like the the precursors fentanyl is possibly   the most addictive drug on the planet yes exactly  it's an opioid an opioid um and it's it's it's   it's a pandemic in the u.s now because it's uh  it's really hurting bad like not only their people   you know like drug addicts or people in straight  but also moms that's working people regular people   it's killing a lot of people because a lot of  drugs are being laced with fentanyl and those guys   it's that's what amazed me while they were  cooking what they were like setting up i was   asking like how do you move from one business  to another how do you move from cooking heroin   to lace it with fentanyl how do you move from  that to pure fentanyl how do you move from that   to math you were like dealing with marijuana  not long ago and one of those guys was like   telling me like if it was like a proper  established business you know it's like   our clients in the us they tell us they  started like they started telling us   that their heroine we were giving them wasn't  strong enough so we had some small drops of   fentanyl into that and they liked it but a year  went by and they're like it's not strong enough   so we added some more and now we're adding like  a lot so like this co kill a huge animal you know   and they they're liking it they're liking it  we're getting good feedback from our users   and like you have like a feedback system on how to  make drugs how like do you like someone calls you   or your boss or whatever is like no no like the  the street vendors um when they're selling they're   like ah you know what it's not selling good  because my client says that there's a stronger   heroine around the corner with the old guys so we  need to bring this one stronger so he says the guy   he buys from and that guy from the guy he buys  from and he goes all the way back to that cougar interesting to the cook and so yeah it's like i  just received the orders like put one fentanyl   into that heroin it's not strong enough now  and he does i always wondered i thought it was   a little counterproductive to make the drug  so strong because so many people are dying but   now i understand if it's a media feedback from  the users to the cookers exactly yeah because it   wouldn't make sense like that's what i understand  that like okay so these guys yeah because what   am i saying for these guys to be killing their  clients in the u.s you know um it wouldn't make   sense like for them to be actually like yeah just  have like super strong so they [ __ ] die or not   overdose they know that and they talk about that  and so like we don't use this [ __ ] that we don't   use any of this [ __ ] it's that's [ __ ] strong  those guys are crazy like you guys are cooking it   you guys are crazy yeah and it's like yeah but  we don't use that like those guys are asking   for stronger [ __ ] every time more and more and  i'm like but they're dying and it's like i know   but that's what they want if they want to kill  themselves that's on them i'm getting paid to cook   and i'm like wow that's that was revealing  you know that was like really something like   how they actually see the issue because we think  we tend to think that these guys are like the bad   guys you know like putting fentanyl and cooking  and they're like yeah they're gonna die in the u.s   they're actually like wow that's strong i don't  know if they should be using this [ __ ] you know   um and they so they lace a bunch of stuff um  chloride or i don't know like the bunch of stuff   they put into that mix and then they start you  know like just mixing it but you get the fumes and   they're like strong [ __ ] fumes i i was wearing  one of those masks and i mean it was it was   awful it was bad like you could feel it you could  still smell it you could still feel you know the   the trees around the area were all that like  around that specific area they were all like   from the from the fumes yeah like specific  specific circle all that like all [ __ ] brown   that nose [ __ ] i thought that was just  the environment when i was looking at them only around that you walk like a couple of feet  from there and it's green again like green leaves   healthy trees wow but it's that strong it's not  crazy and that's for a couple of patches only   how much how much fentanyl does a couple of  batches look like is it is it well what they   were cooking there they used the bag of the  precursor to make fentanyl was a bag like that   um fill up to the middle and they  used like a corner of that you know   the rest was a lot of other [ __ ]  with heroin and i don't know what   and then they make this this paste um when they  cook it like they cook the whole um like a broth   and then they leave it to dry and then  when it's dry it's like a it's like a paste   like a brownish paste they told  me that the quantity they used um   into that of the precursors were worth like  200 bucks 300 bucks something like that   and what it was in the back by for when it was  dry in mexico it was like 20 grand in the us   it was like 100 120 200 grand so he's like we have  a lot of money here i'm like [ __ ] and i was like   so what if the government comes like right now so  that would just like burn everything and just grab   the gold you know just this this is the worth the  precursor and this [ __ ] let's go everything else   just like burn it um they took me to another  place around all burned out and i was like   did they yeah like someone told us like hey the  military is on its way so i had to burn everything   grab the [ __ ] and go and we were gonna make  the double like twice the batch with either but   we only managed to do one before they came so  that's where we're cooking this second batch to   make for that and i'm like okay and  then from here what's what's next   it's like from here uh the bus shows up apparently  the bus is was the brother of the of the old cook   um and he's like yeah my brother is like  very intelligent man not like me i'm only   a cook and i love marijuana i love to harvest  marijuana i have a beautiful beautiful um crop   of beautiful weed man good quality all natural  i want to show he was like so proud of his   wheat crop but um he didn't like working  into that but i was paying the bills you know   and he felt like he was supporting his brother  he's like my brother came out with this idea   like okay we can cook this [ __ ] i can find the  proper um a proper supplier in china i'm gonna   bring it you gotta cook it i'm gonna export it  and we're gonna make [ __ ] tons of money and i   was like is he and he's like yeah he's making  [ __ ] tons of money like because he doesn't   take it all the way to the us what he does is  he sells it to someone he doesn't even know   but uh there's a trans uh transport in the  middle who just he just pays that like okay   um i'm gonna send this quantity of fentanyl to  the u.s all right it's gonna be two thousand grand   and he takes um requests from everybody so  he carries a um cessna or a car it depends   with a lot of drugs from different knuckles you  know just like have this math that's why they   were like putting a name on the on the back oh  [ __ ] so he's delivering to all the cartels   it's a delivery guy he's like okay yeah i'm  taking from sinaloa to the border that's   not the cook though that's no the transfer just  teaches cooks and then he gets everything ready   his brother arrives takes the batch already in  bricks to the cook coming to the delivery guy um   all it it's like okay it's like six bricks of this  [ __ ] under my name off you go there's your money   and he's like okay i have a trip to mexicali who  else is gonna send me [ __ ] uh and then another   guy jumps in i have like some math i have some  coke have some wheat there you go so these cooks   do they have direct ties to the cartels or is it  direct tie to the transporter who has direct ties   to the car that's exactly what i was telling you  before on the on the how the structure works now   this guy represents a cartel but it's like a  brand you know it's like if you open up a shop of   nike tennis sneaker shoes here you're not  necessarily part of the night corporation you know   you have a store selling that brand so these guys  are representing a brand but not a cartel it's a   franchise it's a franchise so these guys are like  okay i got the protection from the cartel they   are allowing me to cook here they are giving me  some assets um and i am delivering drugs for them   you know only my my job is to cook and to send so  that's an ex that's a that's an extremely small   operation yes so how are they making connections  with the chinese to come over and teach them how   to cook if it's such a small organizational  outfit that's where the big organization comes   in you know like the big bosses are like the big  people inside they facilitated exactly like this   guy the brother of the cook he knew a guy from  the citadel cartel higher up dealing with money   laundering like higher operations you know like  um arms trafficking it was uh trafficking chinese   into mexico with fake mexican ids and that  was the deal like okay you give me precursors   i'll bring your i'll smuggle your people into  my country you know so they're bringing chinese   with precursors into mexico and it's wow it's a  whole [ __ ] operation man so he knew that guy   and he's like hey man my brother can cook i can  like you know operate that part of the business   and um i'll just be selling you the batches  what do you think and he's like yeah that's   a good idea all right i'm gonna bring out a  cook from china who knows how to cool that   [ __ ] it's gonna show you uh and you and you  start and start telling me that those batches   and it's like yeah let's set it up so they set up  that coop that kitchen how many of these little   if you have an estimation that'd be great if  not that's fine too but yeah these little labs   do there are like like i guess like only in the  outskirts of kuliakan you can count them by the   hundreds every day every day like how many by  the hundreds by the hundreds like a hundred so   i have two hundred three hundred blacks working at  the same time wow and then disappearing and then   the next day popping up somewhere different  and then disappearing and then popping out   somewhere different they're cooking this every  day every single day how long does it take them um   we arrived there around 11 in the morning or  so and we left by six ish pm before sunset so   around like six seven hours to cook like a batch  that worth 200 k in the us so like that so every   six hours they're like again they're producing  a hundred thousand dollars worth of fentanyl   and um the cook was telling me that the another  set of cooks recently died is like they die like   if they don't if they don't because he  wasn't talking he wasn't like he was like   super quiet but then someone offered him  uh coke and then he started like talking   who actually was like cranking  when we were like editing the video   um the the vice crew and i was like just  laughing like all through the night because he   transformed you know he was like super quiet  super not you know shy and then he goes like   so then yeah you have to use this  [ __ ] because it's like oh my god   yeah it's like started like talking and um  a lot and so he started talking about his   brother about his crops but all this stuff  and about how most of the kooks don't last   more than two months they keep dying every two  months so that he has to teach someone else   and then you know why are they dying  because of the future the poison   yeah like the he's like that's why i use coke  to to to balance the effects of the fentanyl   that doesn't sound um you know right or wrong  i think you got it wrong man i don't think the   cocaine is going to help out that you're getting  more chemicals into your body and they end up all   like cold and you know affected by the fentanyl  they end up and they drink a lot drink it's like   you gotta you gotta keep hydrated man that's why  we get a bunch of beers and um bottles of tequila   they had don julia right there it's like drinking  the julian burst and the fumes and the coat is   like wow man you really end up with jordan like  super intoxicated from here damn two month like   life expectancy exactly yeah and um surrounded  by a couple of armed people that are just there   sitting bored talking drinking you know like uh  and when they're over they just like scored the   [ __ ] yeah where it has to go dude what kind of  drugs are the are they they're lacing what kind of   drugs with fentanyl and can you get just straight  fentanyl yes they're doing straight fentanyl like   peels and that kind of [ __ ] uh and they're  lacing uh heroin and meth with fentanyl that's   coke not coke not for what i saw there not what i  learned there they i don't know i mean they might   be doing but when i was there it was only a batch  of heroin a batch of meth to to take into the u.s   it was it was an interesting it was  very interesting to learn how to   how does that works you know how unstructured the  organizations are another guy in mexicali at the   border we met we followed the route so we met  with the guy in charge of the stash house where   that drug was gonna be stashed before jumping into  the u.s you followed the product we felt the stash   uh-huh and then i mean not not like that specific  product you just followed a product no we we knew   where where that was going to be stashed so we  arrived there two days later okay so we went there   to the stash house and talked to that guy so like  okay so what's the next process of this of this   drug and it's like right now what i'm doing is  putting everything into ziplocks uh vacuum sealed   and then i watch them with um uh detergent you  know to like this suave dell it's called in mexico   just for it so it smells like roses and the  dogs wouldn't smell it and when he's all washed   up i'm gonna put it in um in a  car that it's gonna arrive here   and all right so and then in the middle of the  interview and everything uh a couple like a man   and a woman like nicely dressed in a nice  car showed up to that [ __ ] stats house   and they were like very curious like who are these  guys with cameras here and it was like oh it's   a it's an interview they're reporters from the  us and they were like can we stay here a little   and they were like having fun watching us  taking us pictures and then they went into   our room and then they left and i was like  who's this people it's like oh they are the   launcher launderers they came here to deliver  some stacks of bugs we count them with a machine   stash them and they left and i'm like oh wow  that's interesting too and i'm like all right so   and then what you do so it's like okay we're gonna  wait wait for the car it's like okay is that like   uh part of the cartel car someone she's like no no  the borders are closed for most mexican residents   so we're exclusively using us citizens like the  people who is out of work we started recruiting   them recruiting them in the us like hey you want  to make like 500 bucks to a thousand you know an   afternoon and um some of they say yes all right  okay so just show up in mexicali and um we'll   um we'll you know like have a load on your car  you're not we're not going to tell you where it is   and then you're going to deliver that leave the  cars leave the keys of your car in the parking   lot we're going to take it we're going to get  back you're good to go so that afternoon a woman   arrived a woman speaking perfect english she was  from california in a mercedes all mercedes-benz   and she was like yeah i've been doing this for a  good while and i'm like why she's like i have five   kids um my mother's job because of the pandemic  and someone offered me this job so yeah i make two   or three trips a day wow and i'm like wow that's  interesting and how come they don't i don't know   they don't stop you at the border and she's like  cause i uh even even the days i don't carry loads   i still cross because my story is i work in  mexico and i live in the u.s so so she's made   a cover story sticks to it it's just created an  entire pattern of life yeah exactly um and so   we followed her they put the stuff in her  car we followed her and she got secondary   she got what secondary oh she was like a secondary  um inspection when they send you to these   booths and they put like x-rays and dogs and  the cbp officers the customs are like looking   all over your car they didn't find anything  nothing nothing that was like we thought like oh   [ __ ] they got her and no we met her at  a motel on the other side and we're like   what the [ __ ] you just got secondary she  was like yeah honestly i thought i was like   dawn but he didn't find anything and now wow wow  that's [ __ ] crazy it was like are you afraid   she's like yeah every time is the last time every  time i do this is the last time i'm gonna do it   and uh but i can't stop because it's good money  and i don't have any other source of income   so i don't know if that when the pandemic  restrictions are lifted i don't know if she   actually caught a proper job and got out of that  wow hopefully what would happen to you guys if   you were at that fentanyl lab and  i don't think anything because um   we're not we're not carrying anything with us  we're not being part of the operation the business   we're just filming there um i guess what will  happen is they might be interested in talking   to us to see if we can snitch say something  locations names but um other than that um   i don't think there's uh there's anything they  could actually do to us you know um when we   had to take a flight from rally well i had to take  a flight from from la i ditched all my clothes   into the trash bin because it smelled so strong  of i don't know ugly like super [ __ ] strong   so i put everything on the trash and uh i was like  yeah i'm ready to fly back again home you know   because this these things and i'm tired and it was  like intense you know it was like you have to be   on top of your mind all the time like on  top of everything on top of a production   and also on top of the safety of yourself and  everybody else and your on your crew you know   because one guy was from brazil the other guy  was from colombia the other guy was from the uk   when we crossed the border the officer was  like what is this like a [ __ ] u.n car   oh [ __ ] yeah yeah this was it  was like a mexican and brazilian   a guy from the uk and a colombian in the  same car is like what the [ __ ] is this   damn that's interesting yeah that's extremely  interesting it was it was very interesting   it was a it was a nice access it was an  interesting access um into how does that work   works you know yeah and and what it's doing  to killing some lives in the u.s many lives   and getting some people alive like that  girl like providing for her family for kids   it's what is all this going to be made into  it's a documentary which is already in vice   world news um i'll show you the link what's it  called it's called camera it's called something   like it's a short documentary called how the us  know how mexican cartels are using u.s citizens   to smuggle drugs or something like very new you  know it's like a it's like a report you know   not like a proper full-on documentary it's like  a 10 10 15 minutes piece okay for password news   yeah i'd love to watch it i love it yeah  i'll definitely send you the link and um   it's interesting we embed it with the mexican  police because we know that mexicali is huge for   um labs they denied everything they said like  no there is actually no labs here man like uh   this is one of the cleanest city in terms of lab  operations we obviously didn't say like we just   been into one yeah um it's like oh really no [ __  ] it's like yeah and this is like he kept talking   and talking and like so then what are we doing  because we discussed like you were gonna go into a   an operative and we kind of begged you it's  like yeah we have an alternative um permanent   apprentice going through the city to find you know  stuff and i was like okay so we spent four hours   finding people with a small wheat cigarette it's  like stop right there you look suspicious and they   were like and i was like okay so these guys are  just putting up a show for the cameras yeah we're   gonna cut all that out because this is [ __ ] you  know so yeah yeah wow it was it was interesting   too to be in that place very interesting  let's take another quick break let's do it thank you my louise i kind of want to wrap this interview up  but you've taken part in quite a few documentaries   and and um i kind of want to what what are  those documentaries i want to link them below   so people can kind of see your work and what  you've been involved in so definitely so um i've   been working for some documentaries in vice world  news i'll show you the links so you can put them   up there mostly like reportings on 10 15 minute  pieces like many docks yeah i like mini ducks   on on the beats i cover um for cnn i did  like some some interesting stuff with a   smuggler with a human smuggler he allowed us to  follow him all through from his safe house to   the border while until he put people together  and why is he doing it how much he's charging   also i've been doing some more like blowing  version documentaries like the one um on showtime   it's called ready for war on deported veterans  who end up working for cartels in mexico and um   and some serious like dope in netflix the  mexican part of that series i've helped   produce that um i'm the middle of uh production  for two short documentaries for vice as well   one on weaponized drones in mexico the cartels are  weaponizing drones and the other one about how the   mexican drug traffickers specifically the  sinaloa cartel is using mexican indigenous   people to run drugs across the border and um long  desert stretches wow that's a lot of stuff here   what would be one that you're probably most  do you have one that you are most proud of um   i mean it depends because every time i i jump into  a new project uh that's one that i'm most excited   about so right now the indigenous  issue i'm very very excited about   that one because it's been a story that i've  been hearing and covering for a while now   i just did a story on that a written story talking  to some of them talking reviewing court documents   under arrest talking to some of the bad guys and  some of the good guys and what's going on with   these indigenous people and why are they running  drugs and how climate change is a big part of it   um and so that becoming a shared documentary i'm  really excited about that one to me interesting how can people find you um i'm very active in  twitter and on instagram um in twitter you can   find me as luis l u i s koreaki k u r i k y i'll  show you my handle so you can like post it here   because might be difficult to remember louis  kuriaki in instagram i'm the same luis guriyaki   i go by that name on my on most of my social  just i thought at the beginning i thought it was   safety wise sir you know like i thought that  if you look for luis chaparro social media   it's going to be harder to to find me unless you  know my handle which is louis kuriaki you know   and yeah i'm very active on both of them most  of the time when i'm out i record short clips   of what i'm reporting of what i'm doing  when i'm not compromising a location   and then i upload stories on my instagram  afterwards when i'm back into a safe place home or   else and i started like so you can know what i'm  working um during dance and have some behind the   scenes on going to continuing labs arm trafficking  stuff and also on my instagram all my pictures i i   they're not like pictures of me or selfies or you  know food it's pictures of my work pictures of our   people um cartels um drucking kingpins um pictures  that i most of them might take them or i find them   through a source like the wedding of el chapo  you know so that kind of stuff you can find my   instagram and and on my twitter you can find all  of my stories uh every time i publish a news story   it's um it's on twitter perfect i'll be following  you and uh i just want to let you know you know   if you ever have anything new yeah you're always  welcome here we'd love to get you back on and and   uh see what you got going on and if you ever need  anybody down there even if it's just a sound guy   i can hold a boom pole like nobody's business so  i'd love to get down there and take part in that   that'll be amazing man that'll be that'll be great  that'll be an honor and i'm and i'm very happy to   be here because i watch your show i learn a lot  on your show and and so i really wanted to to be   here and share my small part of the world that  i know you know which is the Mexican cartels   well i really appreciate it thank you and it's  been it's been a real pleasure to host you so   thank you be safe down there and uh best of  luck to you thank you we will see you around   thanks a lot and um and yeah and hopefully  people your your people will um will learn   about this guy i'm gonna interview soon and it's  gonna be around there they will all right cheers you

Channel: Shawn Ryan Show

Views: 438,148

Keywords: vigilance elite, shawn ryan, shawn ryan show, the shawn ryan show, shawn ryan podcast, fentanyl, mexican drug cartel, cartel, narcos, mexico, dea arms deal, fentanyl lab, mexican fentanyl, opioid crisis, mexico drugs cartel, sinaloa cartel, war on drugs, border crisis, Shawn Ryan Show #012 Inside Cartel Drug Operations with Luis Chaparro, cartel documentary, narcos documentary, chinese-mexican drugs, luis chaparro, latin america, drugs documentary, drug trafficking, cocaine

Id: sBRqYXHIZh0

Length: 132min 56sec (7976 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 01 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/OceanOfRus]

Not exactly a mystery.

[u/marcelo_998X]

Last year they raided a big fentanyl factory in CDMX. It ptoduced industrial ammounts of that stuff.

[u/[deleted]]

Fake. Netflix story.