- 5/29/2025
Trafficking drugs earns the Sinaloa cartel an estimated three to twelve billion dollars per year. It’s a huge business, with more than 200,000 people in the region of Sinaloa alone, working directly or indirectly for organized crime. We gained exceptional access to several factions of the Sinaloa cartel. In the heart of a clandestine laboratory, the “cooks” showed us how drugs are manufactured and then concealed in vehicles to enter the United States illegally. An important leader of the cartel, protected by his heavily armed men, also agreed to meet with us and explain how the organization works for us.
-Hired killers, like El Guero, show us their daily life as a sicario. Before each new mission, he prays to the goddess of death. As an offering, he offers him bullets, with the names of the people he is to kill on them. In the poor neighborhoods of Culiacan, money from drug traffickers turns heads, like Jamilet’s. The young woman does everything possible to seduce a drug lord as a means out of poverty.
-Many boys like Luis, 17, are ready to drop out of school to become hitmen. But tragedies are numerous. In the last 15 years, the drug war has claimed the lives of more than 230,000 people in Mexico. 2019 broke all records with 35,000 murders. These tragedies make funeral directors happy: Santos runs from crime scene to crime scene trying to get funeral contracts.
-With more than 50,000 people ‘disappeared’, Isabel is a “researcher of corpses”. This morning, an informant slipped her the plan of a mass grave under her door, a new difficult mission begins…
-Hired killers, like El Guero, show us their daily life as a sicario. Before each new mission, he prays to the goddess of death. As an offering, he offers him bullets, with the names of the people he is to kill on them. In the poor neighborhoods of Culiacan, money from drug traffickers turns heads, like Jamilet’s. The young woman does everything possible to seduce a drug lord as a means out of poverty.
-Many boys like Luis, 17, are ready to drop out of school to become hitmen. But tragedies are numerous. In the last 15 years, the drug war has claimed the lives of more than 230,000 people in Mexico. 2019 broke all records with 35,000 murders. These tragedies make funeral directors happy: Santos runs from crime scene to crime scene trying to get funeral contracts.
-With more than 50,000 people ‘disappeared’, Isabel is a “researcher of corpses”. This morning, an informant slipped her the plan of a mass grave under her door, a new difficult mission begins…
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Culiacán, Mexico, the stronghold of one of the most powerful criminal organizations
00:07in the world, the Sinaloa Cartel. Its forte, international drug trafficking.
00:30Elguero and his colleague have been working for the cartel for several years.
00:39They are sicarios, hitmen.
00:42When was the last time you broke one?
00:46When was the last time? Very good question.
00:50It was a few days ago, three by one.
00:54His boss had asked him to kill one person, but when it came to it, he had to kill three.
01:03We don't ask anything. We only send them.
01:08Go for one, go for two, go for someone.
01:13Bring them alive or dead.
01:18We have what we want.
01:21The two men always have their weapons on hand.
01:24At any moment, they could be called for a job.
01:36For good luck, they often stop by and pray to Santa Muerte, the goddess of death,
01:41in this little chapel by the side of the road.
01:44With all faith, Mother.
01:51The two sicarios prepare an offering for her.
01:56We have one with names that are already destined.
02:01This is for another man who is destined, and this is for another.
02:06And this is for another man who has a special name.
02:13We want to protect us, and take care of wherever we want.
02:19We want to protect us, and take care of wherever we want.
02:31We want to provide that to us healed.
02:32Like we want to go back.
02:34For sure.
02:35We want his soul to be here, we want her to have her.
02:40She is the queen of kings, patrones of patrones.
02:43Elguero and his accomplice must leave. They have a meeting with their boss. In Mexico,
02:55many corpses show signs of torture.
02:58In Mexico, this drug war between rival
03:12cartels kills almost 25,000 people every year.
03:24Beautiful beaches popular amongst tourists, almost uninhabited mountains, peaceful countryside
03:30as far as the eye can see. Sinaloa hides its dark side well. 9,000 kilometres from Paris
03:39on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Its capital, Culiacan, is considered a hub of global drug trafficking,
03:47primarily to the United States. Opium, cocaine, cannabis and fentanyl, the Sinaloa cartel
03:58can pocket anywhere from 3 to 12 billion dollars each year.
04:08In an effort to launder the money, the traffickers invest heavily into the local economy, buying
04:14villas and even shopping malls. More than 200,000 people are said to work directly or indirectly
04:22for the narcos, even pharmacists, who import the products needed to manufacture synthetic
04:29drugs.
04:35In poor neighbourhoods, the business of drug traffickers attracts much attention.
04:40Many young women strive to seduce a rich criminal.
04:51However, in 15 years, this drug war has already led to the death of more than 230,000 people
04:58in Mexico.
04:59Since 2006, the Mexican state, with the help of the United States, has been trying to eradicate
05:09the cartels, but without success, despite a couple of famed arrests, like the capture
05:16of the renowned El Chapo in 2016, a legendary boss of the Sinaloa cartel and ranking as the
05:23701st richest person in the world, according to Forbes.
05:29The current leaders of the Sinaloa cartel are still extremely powerful. They have an army
05:34of 100,000 men, the famous sicarios.
05:43But within the cartel, rivalries are common. Three clans are fighting for control over the
05:49territory.
05:56Several groups in the cartel have exceptionally opened their doors to us. We gained access to
06:01secret drug laboratories, and an important cartel boss agreed to meet with us.
06:16Exclusive access into this violent world where money is power, corruption is rampant, and murder
06:22is daily.
06:38Our investigation into the Sinaloa cartel begins here, a five-hour drive from Culiacan.
06:47Cannabis trafficking began in these mountains in the 60s, and then the following opium boom
06:52in the early 2000s.
07:05A man who worked several years for the El Chapo clan agreed to meet us. He is still a drug
07:10trafficker. El Chapo helped him get into business.
07:19Manuel reflects on good memories from this time.
07:36He is a good family and he is a good person. He was always with you. He was a president.
07:51When we take a favor, someone is sick, someone is sick, they bring a plane, they don't get
07:58it for anything.
08:09Manuel owns a poppy field, a plant with which heroin is made.
08:21Well, plant it, my friend.
08:23This is for fixing it.
08:25We have to fix it.
08:31With his men every morning, he harvests opium gum, a brown, viscous material obtained by
08:38making an incision in the capsule.
08:42A kilo of this substance is worth 600 euros in Sinaloa, and much more once it reaches
08:49American soil.
08:51His field earns him about 6,000 euros net per year, double the average salary in Mexico,
09:08but a third less than in El Chapo's time.
09:11He threw up another one, which was more strong, or more, and then he dumped it.
09:16What he did was this, and this, you can say, is natural.
09:20What they do right now, it's pure synthetic, and it's pure bad drug.
09:25This is a plant that comes out of the earth, and it's natural, you can say, compared to
09:30another drug.
09:31The first thing we have to do is to get to the first place.
09:32To understand the rising fentanyl market, we go back to Culiacan, to the hotel room of El Guero,
09:46the hitman who worships Santa Muerte.
09:49All right?
09:50Yes.
09:51What happened?
09:52No.
09:53I was eating meat.
09:54Do you feel that you don't ever rest?
09:55You have to be in the suburbs?
09:56No.
09:57What happened?
09:58What happened?
09:59No.
10:00I was eating meat.
10:01Do you feel that you don't ever rest?
10:02You have to be in the suburbs?
10:03No.
10:04I don't have to be any envidious that you're looking at.
10:09Over the years, El Guero has risen in rank.
10:14In addition to being a sicario, he is a so-called chef.
10:18That is to say, he makes drugs for the cartel.
10:21This is the best thing there is.
10:24We can produce up to 100,000 or more.
10:31In Mexico, one pill costs less than a dollar.
10:34In the United States, it costs between 15 to 30 times more.
10:39The fentanyl market has a lot of demand.
10:42They love the gringos.
10:44They love them.
10:46They are like sweet for them.
10:49People are angry and they eat up until 2 or 3.
10:52That's when they give the overdose and they die.
10:56This extremely dangerous drug kills more than 30,000 people in the United States every year.
11:03I don't feel guilty because no one is obligated to buy them.
11:07What you want is money.
11:10After getting permission from his cartel, El Guero agreed to show us how he makes fentanyl.
11:25Hundreds of hidden laboratories are scattered all over the Mexican countryside.
11:29El Guero's laboratory is only two hours from the centre of Culicán.
11:36Here, this is 50% fentanyl and 50% opio.
11:43In the cooking, if you don't take the mask, you get crazy.
11:48We've been able to earn up to $20,000 a month.
11:54Another team is in charge of making the pills.
12:17El Guero is under orders of a prominent drug baron in the area.
12:24Yes, he has several laboratories.
12:27He has heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamines.
12:30He has a lot of power.
12:36How do bosses run the cartels?
12:38What rules must be respected?
12:51After long negotiations, El Guero's boss agreed to speak with us.
12:55He gave us a meeting point close to the laboratory.
12:58He is accompanied by his men.
13:00They protect their boss and survey the surrounding area.
13:04The boss is delighted with the worldwide interest in fentanyl.
13:11This is the actuality right now.
13:12It's the one that's most used.
13:14It's the one that's most used.
13:15It's the one that's most used.
13:16It's the drug that leaves money right now.
13:18If you send 2 or 3 kilos,
13:21you spend $10,000 to trify it.
13:24There's more danger.
13:27You're running more danger,
13:29but the danger is gaining money.
13:30All the danger becomes money.
13:32The cartel has banned the sale and use of this drug in Sinaloa,
13:38as it has devastating effects on the body.
13:41They look out for those who don't listen.
13:44They don't sell one gram here.
13:46Everything is on the border and the border.
13:49It's because they're afraid of dying,
13:51if they don't believe it.
13:53They say twice,
13:55and if you don't get home,
13:56the third one,
13:57two or three times,
13:58if you don't get home,
13:59the third one is down.
14:00To have a chance of joining the cartel,
14:03all candidates must pass an entrance exam.
14:06This afternoon, the last production of fentanyl must be loaded into a cartel vehicle.
14:18The sicarios make sure that the surrounding area is safe.
14:30The sicarios make sure that the surrounding area is safe.
14:42The group fears a military raid,
14:54the only ones they can't corrupt,
14:57unlike the police.
14:58It's dangerous.
14:59But right now,
15:00it's all safe.
15:01The green light is given to begin loading.
15:04Elguero and his assistants finish packaging the fentanyl.
15:19Elguero and his assistants finish packaging the fentanyl.
15:34The sicarios make sure that the actual facility is supposed to be a cold.
15:37It takes place to do a incertive time.
15:38To put the food there on the inside?
15:39It takes place to do a lot.
15:40It takes place to do a lot of money,
15:41and there are a lot of money in theámarine.
15:42It takes place to do a lot of money.
15:43We don't have a lot of money in the city.
15:44I can't give you a exact number of money,
15:45because it is a lot of money.
15:47It takes place to do a lot.
15:48We lose the amount.
15:49For the journey, the group is equipped with military-grade weapons.
16:10Weapons and drugs should not be visible from outside the vehicle.
16:40If it doesn't go well, it's like in its place.
16:45They send it to the trailer, the plane, the car.
16:52Their biggest danger is the rival cartels. Elguero has already been shot once.
16:58Only on rare occasions do the cartels join forces, as on October the 17th last year,
17:13for the coordinated rescue of Ovidio, El Chapo's son.
17:19A dramatic event that shocked the entire country.
17:49Ovidio Guzman is hiding in this grand villa in the centre of Culiacán, when around 3pm
18:03he is captured by the police.
18:07It's a major arrest. El Chapo's son is very much like his father, a powerful drug lord.
18:14The news of his capture spreads like wildfire.
18:21According to sources, between 200 and 800 sicarios from different cartels are attacking the city.
18:29They are equipped with heavy machine guns mounted on pick-up trucks.
18:34The fighting is extremely violent. The cartels quickly take over.
18:47Even army vehicles are captured.
18:53They also attacked the guards of maximum security prisons, allowing dozens of prisoners to escape.
19:05At 5.30pm, the president of Mexico ordered the release of Ovidio to bring an end to the bloodbath.
19:12The government will not publish any official record of the event, and the story doesn't end there.
19:28A few days later, in this parking lot, CCTV camera footage shows the assassination of one of the police officers involved in the arrest of El Chapo's son.
19:42From this red car, four sicarios shoot the man with nearly 150 bullets in six seconds.
19:49An execution to deter the authorities from attacking the big drug bosses.
19:55The important figures of the cartel who died in action are, for the most part, buried in the Pantheon of Narcos,
20:14a private VIP cemetery where some tombstones look like dream villas.
20:19Armoured windows, surveillance cameras, balconies with panoramic views and trendy decorations.
20:30The families of the victims spend up to $500,000 for a tombstone.
20:40One of the most impressive under construction is that of Carina's brother, murdered when he was only 25 years old.
20:48Carina has big plans for the interior.
21:09Here inside is a stone.
21:11This is iron.
21:12It's made with gold glass.
21:13And on the front there is a crystal that has a light lamp and everything is in the crystal.
21:16It has a barundar around here.
21:17It has an air conditioning.
21:18It has three air conditioning.
21:19It has a music door that has lights above and a colored man.
21:20It has a light, and it is illuminated and it is illuminated all the Christ.
21:24It has a barandad around, it has a kitchen up,
21:27it has three airs, the air conditioning,
21:30it has a music booth and it has a light above a color canvas.
21:35It has a candlelight and it is a middle of the chapel.
21:39We praise all the gifts that he has had,
21:41for example, he has a lot of horses.
21:43He is going to make a statue of a horse like if he was repairing it.
21:50Few families who bury their loved ones in this cemetery
21:53admit that the death is linked to drug trafficking.
22:01Yet there are signs that say otherwise.
22:03Yes, it is. You are in the chapel.
22:06Almost all of them are pure men.
22:09And here up there are pure boys from 20 to 25 years old.
22:16At the grave next door, we pass the mother of another young man who was murdered.
22:21He was only 24 years old.
22:23He came and took him and we did not know why.
22:26We did not know why.
22:29We still do not know what happened to him.
22:33He did not have enemies.
22:35He wanted to have all the people in the colony.
22:37From the youngest to the oldest.
22:39From the oldest to the oldest.
22:40From the oldest to the oldest.
22:41To the oldest women, like me,
22:42he put them on the rails.
22:43He took them on the cars and took them on the trip.
22:45And that's why everyone said he was the only one who had him.
22:49In one photo, the young man is posing in the purest narco fashion,
22:55with a gold-plated gun on his belt.
23:02The woman seemed troubled by the question.
23:19Opposite Uriel Antonio's chapel, another religious man has been buried.
23:25And in the chapel next door, yet another innocent man,
23:29despite the statue of El Chapo.
23:34Photos of the dead with a gun on their belt are posted everywhere.
23:38To pay tribute to the victims, their families regularly organise small parties
23:51where people sing and drink a lot too.
23:58Magda accompanies the mother and the relatives of this young man.
24:01Magda is afraid of retaliation.
24:22Magda is afraid of retaliation.
24:24Off camera, she will later confess that in addition to her friend,
24:27her brother was also killed by a bullet to the head.
24:30Sinaloa is one of the most homeless people in the country.
24:34All the days.
24:36But there is nothing to do with it.
24:39There is still being homeless and no one does.
24:43It's like if there was no government.
24:47They kill people and they don't do anything.
24:50In Culiacán, criminality is funding some companies.
25:05In particular, funeral homes.
25:08There are five big contenders in this market,
25:11in a race against each other to organise the funerals.
25:14Santos has been working for one of them for three years.
25:29On the other end of the line is a colleague who is in charge of sourcing tip-offs.
25:34Yeah, I got a phone call where they're telling me that somebody got killed.
25:41This is something that happens a lot.
25:45The crime scene is in a poor neighbourhood.
25:48Santos is paid on commission.
25:50He tries to sell a funeral contract to the victim's family.
25:53But this morning, no luck.
26:04His competition is already there.
26:08Do you know what funeral is going to give them?
26:10Yes.
26:15Do you know what funeral is going to give them?
26:17Yes.
26:18I thank you very much.
26:23Santos never gets discouraged.
26:27If something you don't like with them,
26:30it's when we offer them again a service.
26:33It's an insistence many times.
26:35It's an insistence to be able to get the service as well.
26:42But before attempting a new business approach,
26:44Santos wants to know what happened.
26:46He tracks down an investigator.
26:48What happened?
26:50What happened?
26:51A group of sicarians knew where to work.
26:55When the officer told me,
26:56I think he entered a vehicle and ran away,
26:57because they made two shots.
26:59But at the moment of falling,
27:00they loaded them with fire.
27:01It seems like they were stolen.
27:03Santos is trying to gather information
27:05about the family of the dead man.
27:08He had children?
27:09He had children.
27:10But I hope they don't grow with that courage.
27:13And that's a chain that always follows.
27:15My father or my father,
27:16and I'm going to kill him.
27:22When the victim's family leaves,
27:24Santos will try his luck again,
27:26right under his competitor's nose.
27:28Another strategic location for funeral contract sellers
27:47is the mortuary.
27:49Santos often goes there between crime scenes.
27:53This is the forensic place.
27:59Once again,
28:00the competition is there.
28:06This is where families come looking for missing loved ones.
28:10They hope to recognise them among the photos
28:12of the 26,000 unidentified dead in the country.
28:17Many times,
28:19we have to stay all day for this,
28:21to wait for a family to complain about their body.
28:24This would be the last resource to find them dead.
28:32After two hours of waiting,
28:34Santos is about to leave when he spots someone.
28:38Santos never runs out of arguments to convince a client.
28:56Santos hasn't completely lost his day.
29:17He managed to get the woman's contact details.
29:19Despite these tragic endings,
29:29many young women in Sinaloa dream of being in a relationship
29:32with a drug trafficker,
29:34a way to escape from misery.
29:36In Mexico,
29:37almost one out of two people live below the poverty line.
29:41Here,
29:42in the centre of Culiacán,
29:43lives Hamile,
29:4418 years old.
29:46I also thought of a red dress,
29:47but I thought of a dress that has a brighter type.
29:50And so,
29:51you can see that in the center,
29:52it's more visible.
29:53A dress that has a brighter type.
29:54These two young women,
29:55in their last year of high school,
29:56are getting ready to go out to a club
29:58that is popular with the Narcos.
29:59More or less.
30:00What do you drink, friend?
30:01I like the whisky.
30:02The same as me.
30:03Hamile comes from a modest background.
30:05She was once in a relationship with a Narco,
30:07but he was too poor for her taste.
30:09She would like to seduce a richer one.
30:12You have to see what type is,
30:13because if you are very low,
30:14you are very low.
30:16You have to be with the
30:19other forms
30:21or if you are small,
30:22you should put around the glass of it.
30:26You have to look into the type,
30:27because you are very low.
30:28You stand with him,
30:29but he has nothing.
30:30He is too close.
30:31If you look in the middle,
30:32and as you look in the upper to you,
30:35you have a space above the spirit.
30:37If you look in the middle,
30:38I see that in the middle of his politics,
30:40if you look in the middle,
30:41as牠 is OK.
30:42Because now you do the same harm.
30:44If you look around and look inside big ones,
30:45maybe you have one middle one.
30:46Y, pues, llegar a un límite de que te maten o te metan a la cárcel
30:50solamente por andar así, deseando el dinero máximo.
30:57Jamile has already thought of everything.
31:01Lo único que va a crear un arco es fijarte en ti por tu edad y por tu belleza.
31:06¿Y qué va a hacer? Lo primero que va a hacer es,
31:08no, pues quiero tener un hijo contigo.
31:11Y si eres lista le vas a decir, ok, antes de que yo tenga el hijo,
31:15pues me tiene que dar una casa o un carro.
31:22Jamile and her girlfriend will refine every detail of their appearance
31:25to perfectly match the Narcos' tastes.
31:33A algunos les gustan operadas, que tengan un buen cuerpo,
31:37buenas boobies, buenas pompis, cinturita.
31:40Critican mucho las que casi no tienen nada.
31:44¿Qué operación te quieres hacer o para qué?
31:47Busto, no, porque pues no tengo.
31:50Y nariz, me quiero parar la nariz también.
31:53Jamile is ready to accept anything to achieve her goals,
31:57even the worst.
31:58Si tú sabes que un chavo es narco y torturando o matando,
32:03pero a ti te trata bien,
32:05¿estás disponible para estar con una persona así?
32:08¿Sí?
32:10¿Sí?
32:13Creo que a la mujer le encanta la adrenalina,
32:17le encanta el riesgo.
32:20Ya terminé, ya estoy lista.
32:22¿Te vas a poner alguna de adema?
32:23¿Te quieres poner una de adema?
32:24After four hours of make-up,
32:27¿Así es?
32:27¿No te vas a gustar?
32:28Listo.
32:29The two young women are satisfied.
32:31But inside the nightclub,
32:55Jamile and her friend have competition.
32:56The young women chain whisky glasses.
33:11When a man spots them
33:13and finally invites them to dance.
33:19Their cold and impassive attitude
33:21is part of the game.
33:23Jamile wants to be different
33:30to the other women.
33:32Sabiendo que tienen un lindo cuerpo,
33:34son las que más,
33:35voy a bailar más,
33:37voy a tomar más,
33:38voy a llamar más la atención,
33:39me voy a subir en una mesa,
33:40me voy a pedir,
33:41voy a darle cerveza a los músicos.
33:43Yo no necesito darle cerveza a los músicos
33:46para que se me queden bien.
33:47¿Viste a alguien interesante hoy
33:50entre los chicos?
33:53Miré mucho.
33:54Miré mucho.
34:03Finally,
34:03when the night is coming to an end,
34:05Jamile has a nice encounter
34:07in the parking lot of the club.
34:09We try to find out
34:10who her dance partner is.
34:12We are then asked
34:13to cut the camera
34:15and leave.
34:15The next morning,
34:25we find Jamile in the central market.
34:33And she has good news.
34:34The young woman decided
34:49to consult a witch
34:50for a purification session,
34:52a very popular practice in Mexico.
34:55In this waiting room,
34:57under the gaze of Santa Muerte,
34:59Jamile tells us
35:00what happened the day before.
35:04because to be able to meet me,
35:10to give me three hours
35:11or four of the band,
35:13it was not seen as if it was
35:16a fan-to-che,
35:17as we say here in Culiacá.
35:18It was a very handsome man.
35:20It has a life
35:21that it is not only to be
35:22to be a narc,
35:24narc, narc,
35:25or to go to the antro
35:27with a gun,
35:28or to go to drugs.
35:30No,
35:30it was a very decent man.
35:33I think there was a match,
35:34I don't know why.
35:40These rituals
35:41are a mixture
35:42of Catholic beliefs,
35:44indigenous customs,
35:46and black magic.
35:47family has a troubled past.
36:03Luz,
36:04the witch,
36:05notices several anomalies
36:06in her.
36:07It's a little inflamed.
36:09Yes.
36:10And the hands were colored.
36:13If you look, they're attached from here.
36:19Look.
36:21Look, it's red in the eyes.
36:27You have to remove it.
36:29I didn't think it would be so bad.
36:32I didn't think it would be so bad.
36:35God will be the Holy Spirit.
36:37God will be the Holy Spirit.
36:39I will remove all the evil.
36:41God will be the Holy Spirit.
36:43Jamile then talks to Luz about the evil that is eating away at her.
36:49My father doesn't want to be happy with anyone.
36:53Your father wants you.
36:55Your father wants you.
36:57He wants you as a woman.
36:59Yes.
37:01I don't want to be happy with anyone.
37:07Jamile's father is a drug trafficker.
37:10He abandoned her with her mother when she was a baby.
37:13But since she became a young woman, he has been harassing her.
37:17After confiding in Luz, Jamile decided to move on and change her life.
37:22I just want to clean myself and forgive my father.
37:28And I think I'm not going to be like this with everyone.
37:32I'm not going to use anyone.
37:34I'm going to look very well at anyone.
37:36I'm going to look very well at anyone.
37:38According to Luz, young women showing attraction for narcos is common in the region.
37:44Luz knows the world of narcos very well.
38:12They often ask her for help.
38:16Luz would have preferred to avoid dealing with narcos, but she doesn't have much of a choice.
38:36It's a obligation because if I don't do it, they threaten me.
38:42I'm going to kill my children.
38:44Then I do it for fear, not because I don't want.
38:46But if we're in there, we can't leave.
38:48Because we know more.
38:50No, no, no, no, no, no.
38:52No, no, no, no, no, no.
38:54No, no, no, no, no, no.
38:56No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
39:1623 years, my brother.
39:21It's my fault for having died.
39:27This world of narcos, where death sets the pace of daily life,
39:31also attracts many young boys in search of a better future.
39:38In Culiacán, many dream of becoming a narco instead of a doctor.
39:46This is the first one. This one you put here. This one you put here.
39:51Luis is a high school student.
39:55After school, he works at Rodolfo's,
39:59the owner of this fruit and vegetable store.
40:08Depending on the number of hours he works,
40:10Luis earns between 5 and 10 euros per day.
40:16Imagine if I'm working here 8 or 10 hours.
40:19I'm going to have a lot of money.
40:20I'm going to have a lot of food.
40:21How much?
40:22For 150?
40:23And that they're going to have a seat, a lot of food.
40:25How do you get to work?
40:27There's money in the bag.
40:29The clothes are going to have all the time.
40:31Are you ready for everything?
40:34Yes, everything.
40:35Whatever they send me.
40:36You know, to kill me.
40:37You know, to give drugs.
40:39Whatever they send me.
40:41If you want, put it there.
40:43There you go.
40:44And put the lechuga for here.
40:45This boss knows that he won't be able to prevent these young men from one day working for the
40:50Narcos.
40:51And if they're aware of the risk, that's right.
40:53If they're aware of that they'll stop in prison.
40:57Yes, the money.
40:58That's right.
40:59Sometimes they bring them 40, 50,000, 100,000 pesos.
41:04And here they earn 1,500, 2,000 a week.
41:07Of the guys who have worked here with you, have you ever had to kill them?
41:12Yes, two.
41:13Luis lives a few streets away from the store.
41:24The 17-year-old teenager drives his boss's pickup truck.
41:28Luis lives with his father, brother and sister in this little three-room house.
41:57It's been a long time since they've had running water in the bathroom.
42:26As we don't use the refrigerator, we don't have it.
42:29We grab the water from outside the tub.
42:33His sister's room is not much more comfortable.
42:36And as for his father, a street vendor, he sleeps next to the kitchen.
42:41He sleeps next to the kitchen.
42:48What do you think you're going to think about when you have to say it?
42:52Maybe it's going to be bad or something, but it's just for the good of one.
42:56To see that each other has a good phone, to see that they're dressed,
43:01to see that they sleep comfortably, that we're in a house comfortably,
43:05that there's food in the refri, all that.
43:08Everything that includes a house.
43:11So, if the narcotics ask you, are you ready to leave school?
43:14If I want to leave school, or I have to leave school, then I leave school,
43:18because it's more the need for material things than going to school right now.
43:23In Culiacán, the minimum wage is only €120 per month,
43:28something that the narcos use to their advantage.
43:31They don't hesitate to corrupt the youth with a few banknotes.
43:35In ten years, the cartel war has also been responsible for more than 44,000 disappearances in the country,
43:50mostly of young people.
43:52Mass graves are regularly discovered.
43:56In Culiacán, a woman devotes her time to looking for them, often risking her life.
44:08I have 280 disappeared, plus those who are arriving.
44:12I have about three who have arrived this week.
44:15So, the numbers go up.
44:18This morning, Isabel is starting a new mission.
44:22A few days earlier, a person slipped a note under her door,
44:25giving the precise address of a mass grave.
44:28In three years, Isabel and her group have already found 70 bodies.
44:33Isabel also lost her son.
44:55Isabel also lost her son.
44:58To honour him, Isabel had his portrait tattooed.
45:24Her son was a municipal police officer.
45:27He was one of the unlucky witnesses of an attack against a group of soldiers
45:31who were transporting a drug trafficker.
45:34Isabel hosts the group of volunteers in her living room.
45:43They are all parents of missing children.
45:46And you?
45:47You're going to take photos with your phone, right?
45:49Yes.
45:50In addition to pickaxes and shovels, these body hunters, as they are called in Mexico,
45:55use a very special tool.
45:58If you look at this, this rod has a spiral.
46:00This rod is introduced in the earth as deep as possible.
46:04And then we take it out.
46:06And we see the earth it has here.
46:10And that's what we smell.
46:12And that's what we smell.
46:13To see if there's a body inside.
46:14If there's a body inside.
46:15It has to smell.
46:16Or the colour of the earth.
46:18I'm accompanied by 14 people.
46:21I'm accompanied by 14 people more.
46:25We go in public transports, we go four cars.
46:29Isabel always informs the authorities before taking to the road and sends them a group photo.
46:35In each search, we don't know what we're going to find.
46:41We're going to be uncomfortable here.
46:43So, yes.
46:44There's a lot of risk.
46:46Two.
46:47Four.
46:48Isabel got the tip off from someone close to the cartel.
46:53We're listening.
46:54It's coming to five because the one is busy.
46:58Luz is also participating.
47:00Her son is missing.
47:02She doesn't know what happened to him.
47:07In Mexico, only two crimes out of one hundred are solved.
47:13What you want is to excavate as deep as possible.
47:17To find them.
47:20Whatever you want.
47:21I can find mine.
47:23I can find the one of the Luz.
47:24I can find the one of my companions.
47:27The underground cemetery is a 20-minute walk away.
47:32No, no, we're crazy.
47:36As they say around there.
47:40We're looking for our children.
47:45What happened?
47:46Along the way, Isabel comes across the first clue.
47:50An abandoned shoe.
47:51Let's see what it is.
47:52And a little further on, a skeleton fragment.
47:53It's a bone.
47:54It could be of animal.
47:55It could be of human.
47:56The bone will be analysed by a specialist.
47:57Here I am.
47:58Here I am.
47:59Here I am.
48:00Here I am.
48:01Here I am.
48:02I'm going to take the coordinates.
48:03For the cut of the roots of the trees.
48:04They are cut.
48:05They are cut.
48:06They are cut.
48:07They are cut.
48:08And a little further on, a skeleton fragment.
48:09It's a bone.
48:10It could be of animal.
48:11It could be of human.
48:12The bone will be analysed by a specialist.
48:14Here I am.
48:15Here I am.
48:16Here I am.
48:17I'm going to take the coordinates.
48:18For the cut of the roots of the trees, they are cut.
48:31Here I am.
48:32After many searches, Isabel has learned to think like a criminal.
48:38You have to think, where are you going to kill him?
48:41Where are you going to take him?
48:43You change your perspective as a mother of a mother of a house to a delincuente of the
48:49worst.
48:50Because that's what you have to think.
48:54Isabel's informant remains anonymous.
48:57He just drew her diagram of the site.
49:00This is supposed to be the tree that is there.
49:05It's supposed to be one, one body, and at 50 centimetres there's another.
49:10And that's how we go.
49:11It's supposed to be 10 bodies that are there and make a wheel.
49:15That's what we want to find.
49:17One.
49:18Because if we find one, we'll find the others.
49:21The killers seem to have covered the bodies with stone blocks rolled from a height.
49:28The trees are going to be left.
49:29I think there are 10 mothers crying outside with their children.
49:30Ten bodies here.
49:31Imagine.
49:32Lasagna, the road.
49:33It's ugly.
49:34It's ugly.
49:35After several hours of searching, it draws to an end.
49:51After several hours of searching, it draws to an end.
49:56These are the mornings that the King David sang.
50:05The boys, the boys, the boys, the boys, the boys, the boys.
50:08We sing here.
50:13Junior, Junior, wake up.
50:17Luna, ya se metió.
50:21Bravo.
50:22Let's go.
50:23Let's go.
50:24Let's go.
50:25Let's go.
50:26Let's go.
50:27Junior, Junior.
50:28Let's go.
50:31No descansaré, hijo, hasta encontrarte hasta el último aliento de mi vida.
50:35Y si en la batalla muero.
50:37Y si tú no estás en este mundo, allá te encontraré, hijo.
50:41Te amo, hijo.
50:42Donde quiera que estés, te mando un fuerte abrazo, hijo.
50:45Te extraño.
50:46Ya regresa a mi casa, hijo.
50:49Ánimo, Mirta.
50:51Ánimo.
50:53Tu honor, hijo, por ti y para ti.
50:57Mi hijo fue desaparecido el 12 de noviembre del 2017.
51:08¿Cómo fue?
51:10Solo me sé que se lo llevó un comando armado.
51:13Y hasta el momento no hay pista, nada.
51:22Motivated by the determination of these women, the men are joining forces.
51:27Un huesito.
51:28Un huesito.
51:29Un huesito.
51:30Un huesito.
51:31Un huesito.
51:32But three hours later, the group is tired.
51:46The boulders have been chipped away.
51:52Isabel faces the facts.
51:55Un huesito.
51:56Un huesito.
51:57Un huesito.
51:58Un huesito.
51:59Un huesito.
52:00Un huesito.
52:01Un huesito.
52:02Un huesito.
52:03Un huesito.
52:04Un huesito.
52:05She decides to stop the search.
52:17With 35,000 deaths, mostly at the hands of narcos,
52:212019 was the deadliest year in Mexico since the war on drugs began.
52:26While their deaths wreak havoc on society,
52:29the cartel's profits continue to amount to tens of billions of dollars.
52:35But now that we have a vibrant community,
52:38what we can see is the amount of people used to do this.
52:43For those who have not been a chance,
52:45we will have a decent time in terms of that team.
52:48We are living in a number of other people in the world.
52:51Some people who survived the country were losing their lives.
52:54We are living in a number of different people in the world.
52:58We are living in a number of people.
53:01We are living in a number of women that had been living in a number of people in the world.
Recommended
45:02
48:11
6:23
51:40