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Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller Season 5 Episode 1
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00:00Crossroads
00:30They got rented the place from me. It looked like they carried a body inside the house.
00:39It's an unconscious person. I have that on security camera.
00:42Okay.
00:43And they have been there all night.
00:53I got a call from the local investigator.
00:57There's something weird at this cabin.
01:00We looked around, but there's really nothing out of place.
01:05We walk into the bathroom. The bathtub looks clean, but she shines a flashlight into the drain.
01:12And right then I knew that we had a murder.
01:17Oh, no. Is that blood?
01:20Blood and flesh and bone.
01:23Oh, my God. That's crazy.
01:25We began looking outside the cabin.
01:28We soon discovered a burn barrel and human remains.
01:34This is not our typical mountain murder.
01:37This was a professional job.
01:39But I didn't know it was going to be the cartel in small-town America, the backyard of where I grew up.
01:50I've been doing this for 30 years now, and all murders are not the same.
01:59You know, we don't see a lot of dismemberments and burnings.
02:04That's very unique when you try to disappear someone in that fashion.
02:07Ken Howard and Jamie Abercrombie are special agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
02:13They were able to identify the dismembered body found outside the cabin as Rosana Delgado, a 37-year-old Venezuelan immigrant.
02:24What can you tell me about her?
02:36She had been in the country for about five years, and she had come here to work to support her family, and she was a legitimate taxi driver, but she also was a taxi driver for what we learned to be the cartel.
02:56She was transporting drugs for the cartel.
02:58Yes, she was a courier for them.
03:01The investigation revealed that Rosana's murder was ordered by her boss, Edwin Murillo, a drug trafficker with ties to a Mexican cartel known for employing ruthless gangland-style tactics.
03:17Was she living the perfect lifestyle? No.
03:20But she had a family.
03:22She was a mother.
03:23She was a daughter. She was a wife and killed for no reason.
03:28Mistakenly under the impression Rosana was stealing from him, Murillo hired a Mexican sicario, or professional hitman.
03:37At the cabin, she is interrogated and tortured.
03:42Murillo is the one interrogating her, but Murillo's in prison, so he's interrogating her on a phone call.
03:49And during her interrogation, the fingers from her right hand are cut off with pliers.
03:58Oh, my God.
04:00The sicario that was brought here gets a chainsaw, and Rosana is in a bathtub, and he grabs her by the hair of her head.
04:10Oh, my God.
04:10And while she is alive and conscious, puts the chainsaw to her neck and ends her life.
04:19I mean, this is the stuff that you think only exists in movies.
04:21I mean, you definitely don't ever imagine that this is happening in small-town America.
04:25No, you don't.
04:26I think most people think of drug trafficking organizations and distribution, and they think of big cities, right?
04:31Why do you think the cartel is operating in small-town America?
04:35I think a lot of times they often assume that maybe law enforcement doesn't have the resources.
04:39So let's start operating where there is less law enforcement presence.
04:42That's right.
04:47The United States has long been the world's largest, most lucrative market for illicit drugs.
04:53A market estimated to be worth at least $150 billion a year.
05:00The cash flowing south has corrupted governments across Latin America, and, according to some sources,
05:08has given rise to at least 200 drug cartels in Mexico alone, resulting in a staggering amount of human carnage.
05:17But the murder of Rosanna Delgado is a wake-up call that cartel-related violence is much closer to home.
05:27Do you have any idea how many cartel members there are across the country, or at least here in Georgia?
05:33No way.
05:34No way to know.
05:39Cartel trafficking organizations, they're very good at blending in.
05:44I want to uncover the true extent of the cartel's reach north of the border by gaining access to one of their U.S. cells.
06:14But to do it, I first need to head south, to the seat of the crown.
06:33This looks very quiet.
06:34And then you realize every single person in this city has a link to narcos, in a way.
06:42Culiacan, headquarters of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the largest and most brutal drug trafficking organizations in the world.
06:52Okay, so this is El Mercadito.
06:54Do you see how all these parasols here, all these umbrellas, they're people, basically it's cash exchange huts.
07:01So all of these people here are here to exchange dollars to pesos?
07:05All of them.
07:06My friend, journalist Miguel Angel Vega, knows firsthand how in this city, narco trafficking is simply a fact of life.
07:14Just think about it, if there is this big-time drug law receiving U.S. dollars all the time, what do you do with all this money?
07:23You exchange all the money into these shops?
07:26Mostly because they don't want to declare that money, because the money was made through narco trafficking most likely.
07:33Right.
07:33The money exchangers, do they declare that money? Is that any of that money?
07:38Of course not.
07:40It's confusing.
07:42Confusing? What do you mean? It's not confusing.
07:43Just that it's out in the open, and nobody comes and stops this from happening.
07:47The police knows that they're doing this. They can't come here and shut down the business.
07:51Because the police, the police is owned by the cartels. What are they going to do? They can't do nothing.
07:56Because, you know, the power of the cartel. Why do they have a lot of power? Because corruption.
08:02They have so much power.
08:05I'm here to find someone high up in the cartel who can grant us permission to film their U.S. operations.
08:13And Miguel is a man with connections to the key players.
08:16Uliacan is, like, the biggest hub by far. And to go anywhere else and open doors, I have to start here.
08:31So who's this guy that we're going to talk to, Miguel?
08:34He's a big time troc lord.
08:37He knows that we need the access in these states.
08:40Tony is in charge of logistics for several drug sales in the U.S.,
09:01making him the perfect person to give me an insider's view of how the organization works.
09:07He knows that we're going to be able to check the mercantile, guard the mercantile.
09:12The material says the drug.
09:14The material is, I mean, I'm confused with the drug.
09:16It's cocaína, metanfetamina, fentanyl.
09:19And you also have Americans that work for you?
09:23So, yes.
09:24Our operators are outside the city.
09:28We have a house in the city of Seattle, in any part.
09:35In recent years, advances in surveillance technology have allowed the cartels to extend their reach thousands of miles from Mexico.
09:44Those that we sent to the U.S. to the U.S. to the U.S.
09:48I controlled them, I watched them, I watched them, I watched them.
09:52Really?
09:53Yes.
09:53I can give you a phone call and everything you're writing, it's coming to me.
09:59They're using that technology?
10:01Yes.
10:01And everything I write, I'm on WhatsApp, I'm on whatever else, it's coming to me.
10:06And you can be in Mexico, watching all the communication that's happening in the U.S.?
10:13Yes.
10:13Wow.
10:14So, it's an absolute control?
10:16Yes, it's an absolute control.
10:17Yes.
10:18And you found people who were investigating you?
10:22Yes.
10:23And as they said, they all have a collar that they did, more than anything.
10:29What's that?
10:30What's that?
10:31No, we're not, we're also having trouble.
10:33And you killed them too?
10:36We have to remove people's baches that are being destroyed to be able to get rid of them.
10:44Tell me something, do you think we could film someone from your team in the United States?
10:55It's very hard and it's really complicated.
11:0090 people have been arrested, including seven in Seattle.
11:14In connection to a drug trafficking wing that's been linked to a Mexican cartel.
11:1841 people just indicted in a massive Mexican drug smuggling and money laundering operation.
11:25Tony's fear of ending up in headlines like these means he's hesitant to give us access.
11:32The United States are asking questions, they freak out and these people, they trust no one.
11:38They always, there is this paranoia, they think that every single person is a DEA.
11:43So Miguel and I hit the road again to chase a lead from within a different faction of the Sinaloa cartel.
11:50A shadowy figure with ties to the U.S.
11:54And this is a lieutenant?
11:56He's a lieutenant. I know he's big and I know he has this direct line in several states in the U.S.
12:05But he hasn't said we have that access, but he wants to meet us first.
12:08I think it's like a test.
12:11Men, they had these gunmen, they had these lookouts all over the place.
12:15They had these offices, oficinas.
12:17And we'll be watched as soon as we enter.
12:19Absolutely.
12:22It's okay.
12:24So Sammy, right?
12:25Yes.
12:26Can I see a weapon?
12:27I always like to see the weapon, to know if the person is armed.
12:30Yes.
12:31We're 257.
12:32We're 257.
12:33We're 257.
12:34We're 257.
12:35We're 257.
12:37We're 257.
12:38We're 257.
12:39We're 257.
12:40We're 257.
12:41We're 257.
12:42We're 257.
12:43We're 257.
12:44We're 257.
12:45We're 257.
12:47No matter how many times I've done it, being in a room full of people with guns is always
12:56unnerving.
12:57Especially when everyone is noticeably on edge.
13:02We're 257.
13:03We'll beak on edge.
13:09Okay.
13:10Good.
13:15What's up?
13:20At the same time...
13:22What home are you examining?
13:25How old have youые?
13:29They fill up and I approach you three.
13:31So we're in basically a small building and he's saying that there's other security members, gunmen, some are hidden and we can't see them.
13:46Meet the lieutenant, who he'll call Sammy.
13:50Lieutenants are one of the highest ranking positions in a drug cartel.
13:54These are the guys who report directly to the big bosses.
13:58We're responsible for calling in hitmen and for granting the access I'm looking for.
14:28I know there's a lot of violence in the narcotráfico and the cartel, but there's the same violence in the United States too?
14:40Yes.
14:41Yes.
14:42Yes, of course.
14:43There are some military vehicles.
14:46We can only do what we need to do.
14:51But it has to be more...
14:55more prudente.
14:56But it's the same.
14:58Yes.
14:59Yes.
15:00Yes.
15:01Yes.
15:02Yes.
15:03Yes.
15:04Yes.
15:05Yes.
15:06How are you?
15:08Yes.
15:09It's all.
15:10They're standing to the police.
15:19The Marines are a tight-knit organization known to be the least corruptible of Mexico's Armed Forces.
15:24known to be the least corruptible of Mexico's armed forces.
15:28They're one of the few groups the cartels truly fear.
15:36It may not be the best time to push for access,
15:39but that's exactly what I'm here to do.
15:54I'm always avoiding the problems and everything, you understand?
15:59I don't want to have any problems.
16:01I don't know. I can collaborate.
16:04You're in a door.
16:06It's okay. Don't let it go.
16:09Do you have a radio?
16:10Yes.
16:11Right.
16:16We're going to go.
16:17Okay, so he's hearing all the chatter,
16:19and they're saying we have to go for our own security, guys.
16:24Despite our best efforts,
16:31we're forced to leave Mexico
16:33without knowing where the investigation is headed.
16:36The other road is crooked, could lead to sorrow and pain,
16:45but that lonely journey might bring me fortune and pain.
16:49Shortly after I arrive back in the U.S., Sammy, the lieutenant, comes through,
16:58sending us to Minnesota, deep in the American heartland.
17:04Oh, crossroads, crossroads.
17:05But I'm learning fast that filming with the cartel in the United States
17:07is far more complicated than on their home turf.
17:09Which way to go?
17:10Which way to go?
17:11Which way to go?
17:12It's been crazy.
17:17in the american heartland oh crossroads crossroads i'm standing i'm learning fast
17:26that filming with the cartel in the united states is far more complicated than on their home turf
17:39it's been crazy nobody trusts you here they change locations they change date
17:47it's a hustle you know it seems like you need a drink right now i do i meet miguel on the outskirts
17:55of town he's been working behind the scenes coordinating with a lieutenant back in mexico
18:01who's been giving him the runaround we were told they were going to show us their operation here
18:05in minnesota and then suddenly we get a call saying actually that was just a cover story it's not in
18:12minnesota it's in another state and you're going to have to drive for many hours to get to the other
18:16state because that's where we're going to give you access to complicate the situation even further
18:22the lieutenant's behavior has been growing increasingly paranoid he was sometimes yelling
18:28raising his boys and making all these threads what threats what exactly like if you guys are not real
18:37if you're on the cover then man you're going he would he said that directly to you he said that
18:42to you which means you know we can get killed it's clear that he was so nervous from the very
18:50beginning because you know this is not usual for them and the rules are different here than in mexico
18:57and the rules are different here and the rules are different here and the rules are different
19:09with access up in the air yet again there's no choice but to head to the next location
19:16which we've agreed not to disclose just one of many conditions we've been given
19:28hola miguel marita you won't believe this so what's happening i'm here with
19:39the lieutenant
19:44wait what
19:48i have no idea why a high ranking cartel lieutenants would travel thousands of miles from sinaloa mexico
19:55to small town usa but it doesn't sound good i'm not sure what's happening
20:14okay
20:19after numerous false starts and dead ends
20:22the latest twist is that the lieutenant will be personally overseeing our chute
20:27i'm going to pass up
20:28okay
20:28here's the
20:33hello how are you
20:33hello how are you
20:34lieutenant
20:34we met in sinaloa
20:39is that right
20:43okay
20:43what are some rules that you want to give us to us
20:46okay okay
20:54okay
20:55okay
20:55okay so it's actually the same guy that we met in sinaloa um which is surprising i wasn't expecting
21:03that but um they seem to be all a little bit on edge even miguel i could tell he was he's nervous
21:08but apparently this is one of the safe houses that the cartel has here in this town um so just
21:17waiting on an address okay you just sent me an address and it's about 20 minutes away
21:22finally hopefully this is happening right now
21:33okay you guys are filming everybody's filming
21:35okay
21:47okay um when i saw you in sinaloa you told me that you never traveled to the united states
21:54and yet here you are now yes yeah so you were you not telling me the truth or
22:05so you traveled to the united states
22:11clearly i can't always believe what the lieutenant says
22:15and despite him agreeing to let us film a drug buy that's about to go down
22:20i'm doubtful he trusts me either
22:23the it's it's the delivery
22:53so it was uh the delivery of drugs that he was waiting for
23:08i mean you can feel it it's definitely powder in here and so it's five kilos of cocaine
23:13it's a hundred thousand dollars worth of cocaine here in this
23:19house
23:28so this is a little bit like a hot potato here basically they don't want to have the drugs here in this
23:33So this is a little bit like a hot potato here, basically.
23:44They don't want to have the drugs here in this house for too long.
23:47It's a safe house for them, but it's not actually where they store their drugs.
23:51Okay.
23:56Okay, I know we can't say exactly where we are, but looking outside the window,
24:07it's a place with a lot of agriculture, and a place with small towns.
24:12There are a lot of Americans who work for the business, like Mexicans here.
24:17Yes, a lot, a lot.
24:19A lot?
24:20Yes.
24:21And we can also talk to them?
24:23Of course not.
24:25Why?
24:27I can't put them in there.
24:29There may be complications.
24:32I can cut them a little bit.
24:34Excuse me?
24:35Can you cut them?
24:36Yes.
24:37We're going to cut for a second.
24:38Okay, guys, can you stop?
24:42With cameras off, the lieutenant tells me he doesn't like my line of questioning.
24:47And to make matters worse, right before we resume filming, he gets a radio transmission
24:53that our presence is disrupting his sails.
24:56Uh-huh.
24:57What happened?
24:58Can you tell me?
24:59The helicopter was there.
25:00I didn't want to stop.
25:01I didn't want to stop.
25:02I didn't want to stop.
25:03I didn't want to stop.
25:04I didn't want to stop.
25:05I didn't want to stop.
25:06I didn't want to stop.
25:07Again, everybody's on edge, and it's very similar to what's happened to us since we
25:10started working on this story here on the US side, that things keep changing all the time.
25:15I didn't want to stop.
25:16I didn't want to stop.
25:17Right.
25:18Okay.
25:19Months after starting this investigation, and major pieces of the puzzle are still missing.
25:32I'm getting the sense there's a vast operation going on here.
25:36But we're only being allowed a tiny glimpse.
25:43But then I remember a series of messages I dismissed a few months ago, from someone claiming
25:50to be an American working for the cartel.
25:55At the time, I doubted he was legit.
26:01But now, desperate for answers, I've decided to take a chance.
26:22Why did you decide to reach out to me on social media?
26:28I've lived this life that nobody knows about.
26:34My family doesn't even know.
26:36When I walk away, I don't want to walk away without some sort of documentation.
26:41Born and raised in the United States, El Gringo, as he tells me to call him, isn't who I expected
26:47to be working for the Mexican cartels.
26:49One of the biggest surprises for me when we started talking was the fact that you're American.
26:54Do you even speak Spanish?
26:55No.
26:56As a wholesale buyer, he's the crucial link in the supply chain between the cartel and
27:01his own underworld distribution networks across the U.S.
27:05Typically how it would work is, I'd get my halves, I would drop it off at my transportation
27:10person, and they'd fly it commercial to wherever we needed it to go.
27:13It was flown commercial?
27:14Correct, yeah.
27:15That's the largest transporter right now.
27:16Commercial airplanes?
27:17Correct.
27:18Like Delta, United?
27:19Delta was their favorite firm.
27:20Why?
27:21Delta Plus, you get 70 pounds per bag, you get two bags.
27:25You could fit 100 pounds of meth in two bags.
27:27You check it, and you're there in four hours.
27:29And who takes it on the plan?
27:30There's workers here.
27:31So on the West Coast, there are a lot of strippers, a lot of women.
27:36And I mean, it's the cheapest and quickest route to do it.
27:39Isn't it much higher chance that you'll get caught?
27:41You would think then, though.
27:42I mean, you could go on any flight out of the West Coast, and I guarantee you there's
27:45some sort of drug on there.
27:46And what products are you involved in?
27:49Everything.
27:50Fentanyl, methamphetamines, cocaine.
27:52Cocaine is my main thing.
27:53Wait, where?
27:54Everywhere.
27:55Philadelphia, Boston, Minneapolis, and the hoods in St. Louis to Wall Street.
28:01A lot of our story is about how the cartel is now operating in these smaller towns, and
28:06the places you least expect.
28:07Well, most of the time, what you're going to see in a small town, they have offices.
28:11You'll have one main guy, and then you're going to have, it's a family that literally
28:17lives in the house.
28:18It's usually a kid or somebody you would never expect.
28:22So these offices, I was doing a raid once with the police.
28:26They were looking for fentanyl.
28:281855.
28:29And they actually found it in one of these houses that now I'm thinking might have been
28:37what you call an officine, an office.
28:40There were three people living there, two sisters and a brother, I believe.
28:44They were very young.
28:47Cartels use the term office to refer to what's essentially a cell's regional distribution
28:53center.
28:55They are often located in normal-looking houses, allowing the operation to hide in plain sight.
29:02There were drugs stashed all over the house.
29:05They, it didn't seem like they were running any of it.
29:07They were being paid to stay at the house.
29:09Correct, yep.
29:10You just described it to a T.
29:12I mean, it's a smart play on their part, because they're putting people in a position
29:16that really don't have anything to do with it, especially if they're not addicts.
29:19So they don't worry about going missing.
29:22How much money do you think you've made from drugs?
29:24I have no clue.
29:25A lot.
29:26I mean, it's like there was times where, you know, we're clearing two, three, four hundred
29:30thousand dollars every four days.
29:32So you were attracted to it at the beginning because it was fast and easy money.
29:36I mean, at one point, I'm sure you realized there are people actually dying because of
29:40this.
29:41Well, there's a level to where I was like, okay, I'm okay with this.
29:45Um, the other stuff's not so much.
29:48And I'm trying to do my damn best to get out of it.
29:51But, but once you hit a certain spot, you don't have a choice.
29:55Like, you don't.
29:58Walking away isn't necessarily the easiest.
30:01I mean, I've gotten pictures of my house before.
30:03Like, hey, we know where you're at.
30:06Here's your house.
30:07We know.
30:08I mean, they've sent you photos of where you lived as a warning.
30:10They do that so that I can't be like, oh, stop.
30:13It just doesn't work that way.
30:16That is where they really keep your pin down.
30:19Do you think that the regular American has any idea of how much presence there is of
30:26the cartel in the U.S.?
30:27No.
30:28Zero.
30:29Americans have this perception of what the cartel is.
30:31It isn't even close to what they think.
30:33I mean, you're a clear example.
30:35You're right, yeah.
30:36Their, their footprint up here is crazy.
30:38And only growing.
30:40Why do you say only growing?
30:41I mean, they're gonna just go to where the demand is.
30:44And you gotta think, if there's a drug issue in any town, that means there's a cartel presence.
30:50There's another town I know of that doesn't have a fentanyl issue.
30:55So their presence is in every square mile of this country.
31:00If El Gringo's right, then the threat of cartel violence in America may be even more widespread than I thought.
31:07My next stop, a meeting with a man who puts weapons on the streets.
31:19Hallelujah.
31:20This is how surreal it gets on these shoots sometimes.
31:24Is that I hadn't even noticed that there's a little playground right behind me.
31:28Definitely a family that lives here with kids.
31:31And they sell guns as well to the cartel.
31:34What's this car doing?
31:54I'm gonna let this guy go, cause I don't like being followed.
31:59Yeah, we're in the middle of nowhere.
32:05No, we are. We're driving more and more out of the civilization.
32:16Legitimate businesses grow market share through ad campaigns and acquisitions.
32:21In the drug business, growth happens in more ruthless ways.
32:26Do you trust these guys? Do you feel confident that this is a good idea?
32:30I don't feel comfortable, but you know, I'm really hoping everything will be okay.
32:34But just keep in mind that this is a business transaction, criminal business transaction.
32:39Miguel has arranged access to an illegal weapons sale.
32:43If he sees something unusual, he has, he's gonna have like snipers.
32:48They can, they can pull the trigger.
32:50What? They're gonna have snipers around the location we're meeting them at?
32:54And this person we're gonna meet.
32:56It's always one step ahead.
32:58No, I think, man.
33:00I've tried to take
33:25Um, can I ask what you do?
33:40I'm just a buyer.
33:42You work for the cartel?
33:47Yeah, that's a little bit private.
33:48Okay.
33:50I mean, your non-answer tells me that you do.
33:53Can you tell me which cartel?
33:54I'm not an answer to that.
33:55What's cool about this one is, I made a little modification so you got a little bit more
34:11buyer power.
34:13Mike is an American arms dealer who sells to the cartels.
34:17Perpetually shadowed by a bodyguard, he moves around the country demoing guns for potential
34:23buyers like this guy.
34:24Mike custom makes his merchandise to cartel specifications, reliable, adaptable, and extra lethal.
34:38But the main reason these weapons are in such high demand is that they're virtually intraceable.
34:52And so you're, you're a ghost gun manufacturer and with no serial number, so untraceable gun.
35:08I could create you something with no serial numbers, I could create you something with fake serial numbers.
35:12That way, when you look at it, um, at a first glance, it looks like, when you run it, it doesn't exist.
35:17And this is all made with parts that you got from different manufacturers?
35:21Right.
35:23Ghost guns are fully functioning firearms made from a combination of readily available over-the-counter components and 3D-printed parts.
35:31How much do you sell this one for?
35:33That one is $1,500. It's a special AR.
35:36And who's buying this from you?
35:38Everybody.
35:38And you sell to the cartel.
35:39Correct.
35:40And how many of the guns do you think that you're selling to the cartel are staying here versus going to Mexico?
35:46Probably 30% stay here, 70% get across over.
35:48With more and more orders coming in all the time, Mike can't keep up with demand.
35:56You want to buy everything?
36:01Everything.
36:02All of them.
36:03Do you know the price already?
36:04It doesn't matter.
36:06What a service is in the world.
36:08How much do you think the guns that you're selling are contributing to violence here in the United States?
36:16Only a lot.
36:18A lot.
36:18And how does that make you feel, Mike?
36:20Selling guns that are going to be used to kill people.
36:23It's business.
36:24There's a lot of producers.
36:25There's a lot of people that fabricate.
36:27If it's not me or somebody else, I'm just providing a tool.
36:30How many of you do you think there are?
36:32A lot.
36:34A lot.
36:35In every state.
36:36We hear a lot about cartel violence in Mexico.
36:39Do you think, are you seeing that violence spill over into the U.S.?
36:43Absolutely.
36:44Absolutely.
36:44When the violence starts in Mexico, it always spill over to the U.S.
36:48The violence, the guns, the drugs.
36:54It's all in the service of this.
36:58Cash.
36:59But what do the cartels do with billions of dollars of dirty money?
37:03I'm going to meet someone.
37:06Who knows?
37:07What would you think it would happen if you'd find you on the border with $400,000?
37:12Transporting here.
37:14Nothing good.
37:15The cartel machine famously includes bosses, lieutenantists,
37:33The cartel machine famously includes bosses, lieutenants, bodyguards and assassins.
37:49But this lucrative multi-billion dollar enterprise wouldn't exist without the people who manage
37:55the cash.
37:56One of Magnus's responsibilities is stashing the proceeds of drug sales before they get
38:21smuggled over the border.
38:48The logistical challenge of laundering so much money is almost hard to imagine.
38:55Out of necessity, the cartels take a scattershot approach.
38:59They invest in cash-intensive businesses like laundromats and car washes.
39:04They make big purchases in luxury real estate, jewelry, exotic cars or prize-winning racehorses.
39:11And lately, to avoid leaving a paper tree, they've started to rely on an ever-growing
39:18number of sophisticated financial maneuvers.
39:21These include investments in less regulated cryptocurrencies and funneling cash through Chinese banks.
39:28But perhaps the most insidious part of the business is one that few people think about.
39:35And yet, it's the key to the cartel's success.
39:42Brides.
39:43Anywhere the cartels are operating, palms are getting greased.
39:48Over the course of my reporting, the topic came up in nearly every conversation.
40:06The money is going to manage the world.
40:08The government is going to manage the money.
40:09The government is going to manage the money.
40:10There is a lot of corruption, as you know, in Mexico, with the authorities.
40:14There is also corruption in the United States.
40:17There are authorities that are corrupting.
40:19There is a lot of money.
40:42When the amount of money is right, there is no industry that they can't touch.
40:46From the police to the feds, they've got everybody working for them.
40:50So that's what the problem is.
40:51The money is the most important thing.
40:54Higher-end cartel, we're talking about what we call big more money.
40:59That's cartel within government agencies.
41:01You mean American line first?
41:02Yeah.
41:03Okay.
41:04That's why you have a drug bust and the drug bust mysteriously disappears.
41:09It doesn't disappear, it's moved.
41:12Whoever was in charge of the division had a deal with the cartel.
41:16And this is something that you've heard from your buyers as well?
41:19Yeah.
41:20Where they say, we're paying off people in the police and law enforcement agencies around the country.
41:25I know one.
41:26One individual in law enforcement.
41:28A police officer, or?
41:30A little bit higher, but yeah.
41:32That's involved with the cartel?
41:33Yep.
41:34Really good friend.
41:35Really good friend.
41:36He makes more money than he could ever make in his lifetime within the department.
41:40Money is money.
41:41Money does things to people.
41:44That is just the way it is.
41:47As a journalist, I have to be skeptical of my sources.
41:54Especially when they have a clear motivation to lie.
41:58So perhaps the most damning evidence about the corrupting influence of the cartels comes
42:04from the front lines in the fight against them.
42:09Apart from the violence that the cartel brings with them to, you know, small town America,
42:14there's also sort of the corruption of the system itself.
42:17Because it seems like it's growing, right?
42:19It's a problem that's not...
42:20Yeah.
42:21That's a big question.
42:22That's a big question.
42:24Because of the money involved with these cartel groups, they have been able to infiltrate
42:30some of the highest offices and law enforcement organizations, not just in Georgia, but nationwide.
42:36So unfortunately, it's more common than most people know.
42:40It's almost like they're corrupting the system from the inside.
42:42They're certainly trying their best.
42:45These cartels are going to continue corrupting government officials.
42:48They're going to corrupt law enforcement officers.
42:51They're going to corrupt citizens, civilians.
42:55They're a swarm of locusts that is going to continue to destroy crops until you come up
43:00with a solution.
43:05I was quite shocked when he was talking about corruption within the government.
43:12People who work in law enforcement, but who also work for the cartel.
43:17That's sort of another level.
43:19Right.
43:22The escalation to violence is much closer when you have a government that's corrupt.
43:26Because you don't have law enforcement that you trust.
43:29Mexico, the aim is within.
43:31Yeah.
43:32Then you don't have an adequate system to fight against the cartel to fight against that violence.
43:37Right.
43:38And that, to me, I think even more than the spillover of violence, the spillover of corruption,
43:44that is when I think things can get really, really scary.
43:48And then we might have a situation similar to what we're facing in Mexico.
43:52I'm hoping that I'm wrong, but history has told me otherwise things might get really scary.
43:57.
44:04.
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