RedHanded - Episode 185 - The Cartels Killing Women

Episode Date: February 18, 2021

On 9 February 2020, 25 year old Ingrid Escamilla was found murdered in her home. She had been stabbed to death by her partner, and then horrifically mutilated. It was just the beginning of one of Mexico's bloodiest years ever. Femicide in Mexico is at epidemic levels - and the link between the rampant murder of women, corruption and cartels is undeinable. In this episode we explore the horror, the violence and the impunity of what is happening across the nation - and particularly in Ciudad Juarez. Sources: www.redhandedpodcast.com   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Red Handed early and ad-free. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made. A seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Saruti.

And I'm Hannah, apparently. It's been a long week over here at Red Handed and welcome. Yeah, you know those weeks where you're like who who have I ever been? I have no clue. It's one of those. My sense of self is pretty what's the word? Existentially challenged? Yes exactly yeah. A friend of mine texts me like I've cut my hair and it's way too short. I did it myself it was a terrible lockdown decision. I was like why are you cutting your hair at two o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon? Just have an existential crisis like everybody else. I mean, that is a manifestation of an existential crisis, isn't it?

That's also true. That's it. I mean, I have thought several times during lockdown one, two and now three about maybe cutting a fringe into my hair. We've spoken about the fringe. I haven't. I won't do it. Don't. I won't.

No, you can't do it. I veto the't no you can't do it i veto the fringe i haven't got sharp enough scissors for a start just cut with a butter knife back into your hair anyway that's not what you're here to listen to us talk about we're doing fine guys don't worry this is all because of that top secret project that we're still working on. It's hard, but it's getting there and we can't wait to tell you about it very, very soon. And then literally never do it again. Precisely that. But some other things that we will continue to keep doing is delivering fantastic content for all of our lovely patrons, because that's what we do now on a regular basis. That is basically another full-time job that we have and we love it.

So if you are a patron, you will know that we release a hell of a lot of content over there. Namely, Under the Duvet, which we release every single week after the main episode. It's kind of like the after party where Hannah and I go and talk about all the various things that are happening in the world. So, for example, last week we talked about the Marilyn Manson case at great length. This week we'll probably talk about Elisa Lam. I'm so pumped. Yeah. I'm actually saving it as a treat.

Can't wait. I watched two episodes of it last night. Oh my God, are there more than one episode? It's a multi-part time. Fuck. Shit, I probably don't have time. I know. This is the thing.

I was going to text you and I was like, don't text her that. Not now. But anyway, yes, we'll talk about the Elisa Lam documentary as much as Hannah and I have watched by the time that we record it. We'll see. I will give you a stunning rundown of the title series. It'll be fine. I'll just watch the introduction.

Can't wait. We'll make it a multi-part series on Under the Duvet as well then. We have also this month released a fantastic interview that we did with director Ryan White, who is the guy who did The Keepers documentary on Netflix that most of you have probably watched, and also his brand new one called Assassins, which is on the assassination of Kim Jong-nam. And if you don't know anything about it, we talk all about it in that interview. It is so, so, so interesting. Come and watch that. And we got brand new video tech, so we look, well, we don't look great.

I look fucking like some pasty-faced ghost. I don't know why. But we do look very clear and sharp thanks to our brand new cameras and our brand new platform. So come check that out. And if you are a $10 and up patron this month, oh my God, are you in for a horrible treat because this month's full length bonus episode that we will be releasing is on Antony Moscovin. I think that's how you say it.

I will learn how to say it when we record it. And yes, that is the case of the Russian man who was arrested in 2011 when police found the mummified bodies of 26 women and girls in his flat. It's a lot. It's going to be heavy. But come listen to that and come become a patron. If you want to do it, you can head on over to patreon.com slash red handed. Sign up for whatever tier you think is most appropriate and then you shall be rewarded justly with the appropriate amount of content. And you'll be in a secret club, which is the best feeling. If you're a $20 pageant, you'll even get a little badge. You will. It's so cute. I love it. It's a pin, an enamel pin, which we should actually post a picture of on social media. I'm going to do that when I wash

my hair one of these days. So stay tuned for that. Which actually reminds me, you should come follow us on all the social medias at RedHandedThePod because we are going to be dropping some brand new fucking merch, guys. Like imminently. Oh yeah, ring the merch alarm, sound the merch bugle, because there is going to be some good shit on your channels. I'm the most pumped for this merch drop out of any of the merch drops we've done. I'm hype over here, ladies and gentlemen, and you should be too. It's fantastic. So if you want to see some pictures of that, you want to get like a heads up because we'll

definitely post it on social media first. Come follow us on Instagram, Twitter and on Facebook. So that's it. That's everything I've got to say because we've got a big story. I feel like I'm procrastinating because this story is just so fucking much this week. I can't remember the last time I've been so fucking livid researching a case. Fuming, lots of fuming has been happening in front of my laptop over the last several days. And you're about to all get really fucking angry too. Can confirm. Saruti has actually just turned into a volcano. I have. It's happened, guys. She doesn't look like a person anymore.

No, just an angry volcano. She looks like the angry Mother Earth from Moana. Good. I haven't seen it, but I'll take your word for it. Oh, for God's sake. You're all about to get really fucking angry too. So, everybody ready? Let's go. On the 9th of February 2020, 25-year-old Ingrid Escamilla was found murdered in her home in Gustavo Madero, a municipality of Mexico City. When police discovered Ingrid, she had been stabbed, skinned, disemboweled, dismembered, and some of her organs were also missing. At the scene was Ingrid's 46-year-old boyfriend,

Eric Francisco Robledo Rosas. He was covered in blood and readily admitted to having murdered Ingrid. Rosas claimed that the two had argued about his drinking and his drug-taking when he had grabbed a knife and stabbed Ingrid. According to his confession, Rosas said that after he had killed Ingrid, he had then peeled off the skin from her face all the way down to her knees with the knife, removed her intestines, eyes and other organs, and then flushed some of her remains down the toilet because he said he felt ashamed of committing the crime, but also because he wanted to cover it up.

Ingrid, who is originally from the city of Puebla, she had recently moved to Mexico City to be with Rosas. She had studied a master's degree in tourism business administration and had been a teenage beauty queen back in Puebla. Her new neighbours described Ingrid having been beautiful, calm and very mature for her age. Ingrid's murder sparked rage across Mexico, a country sadly all too used to the

violence and brutal murders of women. But things only got worse when the forensics team who worked the scene leaked photographs of Ingrid's remains to local tabloids. And these pictures of Ingrid's flayed and mutilated body were featured on the cover of the newspaper Pasala with the headline, It Was Cupid's Fault. Now, I know that you guys always just ignore us when we say this, but I am begging you, do not go looking for that image. I knew I didn't want to see it. I wasn't interested in looking for it. I accidentally saw it when I was trying to figure out what the headline, it was Cupid's fault, was like specifically referring to. And I can tell you this, I did not feel okay for a long time after seeing what I saw. It's just there, out graphic, the picture of what he did to Ingrid.

You just don't need to see it, guys. Please don't go looking for it. And it turns out that it was Cupid's fault is a line from a song. It really does highlight one of the issues that we see all the time, that kind of like romanticising of domestic abuse murders. Because I felt like what they were implying was this idea that fights and even violence is just like a natural part of a passionate relationship. Like this piece of shit, Rosas, murdered Ingrid and mutilated her because he just loved her so intensely, you know? And we'll see this, like, you can throw the culture word at it if you want. We're going to

see this a lot throughout the whole episode today. This idea of violence against women just being a constant. It's inevitable. There's nothing we can do about it. It's women's prerogative to protect themselves. Like, oh, it was Cupid's fault. Well, she should have known. It's bullshit. I mean, this man was 21 years older than Ingrid for a start. Let's not forget that. I know that's a separate issue, but like this idea that we see again and again and again, that somehow passionate love and violence are inextricably linked is one of the most dangerous things that society tells women in particular. And I just think, let's stop fucking saying that, shall we?

Because it's not true. It's not even applied to domestic abuse situations. It's applied to children. He's being mean to you because he likes you. What the fuck? Stop doing that immediately, parents. So when the horrific images of Ingrid were published, the women of Mexico were enraged and they flooded social media with pictures of Ingrid when she had been alive and happy to drown out the grisly photographs of her dead body. And this entire abomination only threw fuel on the

flames of the rage felt by activists in Mexico, who had been demanding for years that the way cases of violence against women are handled and reported has to be changed. But, true to form, the Mexican politicians did not want to get involved. And when President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was asked at a news conference about what had happened. He said that he did not want femicides to create a distraction. From what? From men dying? What's distracting about a woman's death to you, my friend? Well, he's just such a fucking dickhead. So basically what he's saying, when you read the full quote and the full sort of context of it is that Ingrid is murdered in February 2020 which was obviously when we were all starting to maybe get

to the point that we were realizing that COVID-19 wasn't just going to hang around in China and so he's saying oh no we're really meant to be focusing on raffling off this presidential airplane which is something that he did do to raise money and stuff like this. And just talking about all these femicides when we've got a pandemic coming is just such a fucking distraction. Mate, this has been going on for years and no one did anything about it. And as a lot of newspapers correctly pointed out, Mexico has two pandemics, COVID and femicide. And femicide, by the way, is defined as the intentional killing of women or girls because they are female. So just one week after Ingrid was so savagely murdered and the president was just like, oh, it's just a distraction.

On the 11th of February 2020, a seven-year-old girl named Fatima disappeared in nearby Sochi Milko. She had been waiting to be picked up from school when someone had abducted her. Interestingly, the person who abducted her was a woman. A couple of days later, Fatima was found dead, her body wrapped in a plastic bag. She had been beaten and raped. She was seven years old. Let's not forget that. But still, President Obrador refused to take any responsibility, blaming, get this, you're going to love this, Hannah, blaming femicides on the, quote, decadence of neoliberalism and free market capitalism.

My face is going to fall off. I can't cope. My face is burning. I am quite ill at the moment, but my face is also on fire. What the fucking fuck is he talking about? So President Obrador is a leftist. That's what he's always called in the media. You know, he's like, he's a leftist, he's a leftist. And he is.

But like just blaming femicides on capitalism and doing absolutely fucking nothing about it. Get in the fucking bin. Like, what is he talking about? I'm baffled. I'm not even going to waste time trying to understand the, like, logic of how neoliberalism could have led to... Maybe he's talking about individualism, possibly. But even then, I don't understand it.

He's just throwing political movement words at a problem he doesn't want to solve. It's just buzzwords. Buzzwords as a distraction, but no femicides as a distraction. That's what his whole plan is. And so he goes on to claim that he and his administration, while absolutely, of course, not to blame in any way at all for these femicides, are, quote, attending to the root causes of the problem by encouraging Mexicans to, quote, love thy neighbor. And also, he and his administration released a handy little list of rules called Ten Commandments to Stop

Violence Against Women. Included in these rules were pointless platitudes like, quote, it's cowardice to hit a woman and say no to hate crimes against women. Nothing like, don't be a rapist. Number one on the list should be that, probably. Fuck me. Fucking fuck me. Like, just this idea of being like, oh, it's so morally repugnant to kill a woman. That's not going to do fuck all.

Are you actually sick? We'll go on to talk about the level of impunity with which people who kill women, in particular in Mexico, get to enjoy. This list doesn't do anything, and it certainly wasn't met favourably. Let's just say that. After this list was published, rage erupted and protesters burst onto the streets in the pouring rain for a Valentine's Day march through Mexico City. They spray-painted the words Femicide State onto Mexico's presidential palace. Then they marched to offices of the newspapers that had published

the images of Ingrid. The mainly female protesters tried to get into the buildings themselves, but when security forces stopped them, they set fire to several of the vehicles belonging to the paper that were parked outside. Violent clashes with police followed, but the women weren't going to back down, and they continued their march with their hands and faces smeared with red paint, carrying pink crosses, all the while chanting, not one more murder, and Ingrid, we are all you. And the tragedy is that they truly are.

Femicide is exploding in Mexico. Official statistics show that during the first six months of 2020, as COVID-19 hit, femicides in Mexico rose by 9.2% from the previous year. That is unbelievable, an almost 10% increase in the number of women being murdered in just the first six months of 2020. But what is super important to remember, because we saw the rise of domestic violence all across the world when COVID hit and lockdowns came in, but the important thing here to note is that this was not a one-off caused by the pandemic. Femicide in Mexico has been trending upwards dramatically for years.

Alejandro Gertz Monero, the current Attorney General of Mexico, said himself last year, the femicides have increased 137% in the last five years in Mexico. This is an increase of four times more than normal homicides, which themselves have increased by 35%. So you can see how disproportionately femicides are growing in Mexico. On average, 10 women a day are killed in Mexico. And data from last year, so 2020, marked a new overall record in the country for femicides. 2020, in fact, looked like it would be Mexico's bloodiest year ever for overall murders. But it fell just short, with 34,523 recorded murders versus 2019, which now holds the record with 34,608 murders.

But in 2020, records were hit for the highest number of murders in a single day. So you know that is something. Everyone thought COVID-19 would curtail gang violence with lockdowns and a drop in the demand for drugs. But as we can see from the statistics, violence just got worse. And I wouldn't be surprised if drug use went up like everyone's drinking more. I would not be surprised at all. I was reading an article about like alcoholism in the UK in general and just how bad it's got. Something like one in five people are now concerned about their drinking. Whereas I think it was lower than that before.

And also Frankie Boyle famously doesn't drink. And he said that he used to have people reach out to him on Instagram all the time about tips of how to stop drinking. And he said since lockdown happened, not one single message. No one's trying to stop anymore. Wow. That's really just so sad. I think here they sort of predicted that drug use would fall. And I don't know whether it has or it hasn't.

But I think the challenge was that the cartels were sort of being bottlenecked. And it was just like this pressure that was building and building and building because they couldn't cross over into the US as easily anymore because of lockdowns. So it was just like creating this super hypertension, especially at the border. And so the cartel violence was just going through the fucking roof all of last year. And it's been getting progressively worse, violence-wise, since the start of the Mexican drug war in December 2006. It was then that the government brought in the army to try and control the cartels, but all it led to was intense militarisation and the escalation of ultra-violence.

And today, the disappearances and the brutal murders are very much concentrated around areas notorious for drugs and gang activity. And the thing that's really important to note is that it's not just cartel members killing each other and fighting with the state. Ordinary Mexicans are constant victims, especially women. Because cartels don't just traffic drugs. They kidnap people for sex slavery, organ harvesting, forced labor and ransoms. They also go after women and girls connected to a man that they are looking to punish. So increasingly you're seeing this idea that if a cartel has a problem with somebody or they need something from a man, they don't kill him because then he's not

going to be around to give you what you want, like your money or your drugs back or whatever. They'll go kill his mum or his wife or his daughters or his sister. That's the strategy. So there is no doubt that the rise of the cartels is closely linked to the rise of femicides. Consider, for example, that the five cities with the highest number of femicides in Mexico are those in which the most dangerous and powerful cartels, Juarez, Sonora, and Los Etas, have the strongest presence. So while, yes, gender inequality has been an issue forever,

and Mexico, like most Latin American countries, has got a culture of machismo, rates of gender violence in Mexico have only been on the rise since 2006. That, of course, like we just said, coincides with the start of the Mexican drug war. And quote-unquote everyday femicides, committed by partners like that in the case of Ingrid, as well as the systemic gangland killings of women and girls,

are now at epidemic levels. Now before anybody gets their stat hats on and well actually is asked that more men are being killed in actual terms we know but like we said official statistics show that femicide is up 137% in five years, a much higher rate of growth than other homicides. And also, even though most of the murder victims are men, the sexual violence, the exploitation, the torture, the degradation and humiliation seem mainly to be reserved for women and girls. And this rise of the era of femicides in Mexico seems to have started in 1993 in Ciudad Juarez with the murder of Angelica Luna Villalobos and Alma Chavira Farrell, who were just 16 and 13 when their dead bodies were found dumped in the Alta Vista neighborhood of Juarez in January 1993.

These killings coincided with the arrival of Amado Carrillo, a new leader at the top of the Juárez cartel, and it would be the beginning of a phenomenon known as Las Muertas de Juárez, or The Dead of Juárez. In 1995, a mass grave was found in Lotebrava, Juárez, and it contained the mutilated bodies of nine women. Their hands were tied, their left breast severed, and one had a triangle carved into her back. So don't tell me that's not deliberate. The following year, another mass grave was discovered, and then another, and another, and another.

These days, unless a mass grave has at least 10 bodies, it barely even makes headlines. Over the past 25 years, the women and girls murdered in Juarez have piled up. We tried to find out how many have actually been killed, but it's a mess. Official reports range from 76 to 260. Some activists say that it's more likely to be around 400, while others say it's closer to 1,500. Given that 1,000 Mexican women were killed in 2020 alone, I think we can safely say that the death toll is a lot.

And also what we have to remember is these figures don't even take into account the hundreds and hundreds of women and girls who have simply vanished. Almost all of those who have been killed were poor, aged between 15 and 25, and most were tortured and raped before being killed and dumped. These killings have earned Ciudad Juarez the chilling name

the City of the Dead Girls. So why is Ciudad Juarez the epicentre of femicide in Mexico? Well, like we said, wherever cartels operate, women end up becoming the victims of war. And Ciudad Juarez is almost the perfect storm for war and for femicide. It's a border city just south of El Paso, Texas. And because of this geographical advantage to the drugs trade, being so close to the US border, it is hotly fought over land. When we say close, we mean you can see it from El Paso. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Apparently, like if you're standing in like downtown El Paso and just look

out, you are looking at Juarez. Like it is so close. Ciudad Juarez is also Mexico's fourth largest city now, thanks to all the money laundering and the cartels using their drug money to set up legit businesses there. So Juarez is full of factories that make it like a beacon, attracting young women and girls desperate for work from all over the country. These women end up becoming easy prey for traffickers, rapists and murderers in Juarez. In fact, if you read the book, The Killing Fields, Harvest of Women by journalist and author Diana Washington, who is, in my opinion, an absolute fucking legend in this space. I think there are a few people who know as much about

what has been happening in Ciudad Juarez as Diana Washington does. She is fantastic. And I do know that people who have read The Killing Fields have said that it's not very well written. It's not as polished as they'd like it to be. The only thing I can say to that is I listened to a couple of interviews with Diana and she did say that while she was writing it, she was in genuine fear for her life. Like she really thought they're going to kill me. And based on everything else we're about to show you this episode, that is not an overreaction to have thought that because she was there naming names and outing what she thought was really going on on the ground. So I think we can forgive her for it

not being as super polished as maybe we'd like, but go check it out anyway. I do think it is very much worth a read. And in this book, Diana puts forward a theory because the thing to understand about all of the women who are murdered and who go missing in Juarez is that the government and the officials basically say that they're not connected. They just say none of these murders are connected to each other. They're just random killings that are all happening completely independently of each other. Those silly women getting into trouble, doing things they shouldn't be doing and falling into the inevitable pit of death that is existence, the usual. Precisely. This is just so unbelievable that they would even say that. But of course, that is the official story. I think there isn't really a clear motive for exactly who is killing all of these women. I don't think it's just one person

or just one cartel or anything like that. I think, like we said, Ciudad Juarez is just such a dangerous, violent place that attracts all manner of violence. And these women come there because they're desperate for work and money. But Diana Washington, in her book, puts forward a really interesting theory that she believes that a lot of the work, maybe up to 75 murders, have been committed by a serial killer or a team of serial killers who are operating in Juarez. Possibly even a serial killer who is crossing the border from El Paso into the lawless city of Juarez to use it as a hunting ground, which is fucking terrifying. That just, when I saw that and read more about it, it honestly just sent shivers up my spine, as if these poor women aren't having to contend with the fucking drug cartels. There's also possibly a team of serial killers coming in from El Paso to murder them.

And it makes perfect sense as well, because like, if you think like how much state lines fuck up an investigation like a physical international border is going to be much more difficult to deal with. Absolutely. I would also massively recommend this podcast that is out there called Forgotten Women of Juarez. It's so good. I haven't had a chance to finish it yet but I'm about three episodes in and I'm totally hooked. I actually feel annoyed when I have to do other work and I can't just sit and listen to this podcast. So go check it out. It's really well done. And they interview Diana in this podcast and they also talk about the possibility of it being a serial killer.

They interview the FBI agent who was working in El Paso at the time that Diana was writing her book and asked him about this. And he was like, I 100% think that it is a serial killer crossing over and killing. And I didn't know this. Why would I? Apparently also El Paso is a really popular city for sex offenders to be released in after they come out of prison. It's just more and more of a perfect storm. Wow. I know. Oh my God.

I'm sweating. I don't know if I've just got a fever. I'm so angry. I'm sweating. So get this. The Ontario Liberals elected Bonnie Crombie as their new leader. Bonnie who? I just sent you a profile. Her first act as leader asking donors for a million bucks for her salary. That's excessive. She's a big carbon tax supporter. Oh, yeah. Check out her record as mayor. Oh, get out of here. She even increased taxes in this economy. Yeah, higher taxes, carbon taxes. She sounds expensive. Bonnie Crombie and the Ontario Liberals.

They just don't get it. That'll cost you. A message from the Ontario PC Party. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made. A seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. When TV producer Roy Radin was found dead in a canyon near L.A. in 1983, there were many questions surrounding his death.

The last person seen with him was Lainey Jacobs, a seductive cocaine dealer who desperately wanted to be part of the Hollywood elite. Together, they were trying to break into the movie industry. But things took a dark turn when a million dollars worth of cocaine and cash went missing. From Wondery comes a new season of the hit show Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of The Cotton Club Murder early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. He was hip-hop's biggest mogul, the man who redefined

fame, fortune, and the music industry. The first male rapper to be honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Sean Diddy Cone. Diddy built an empire and lived a life most people only dream about. Everybody know ain't no party like a Diddy party, so. Yeah, that's what's up. But just as quickly as his empire rose, it came crashing down. Today, I'm announcing the unsealing of a three count indictment, charging Sean Combs with racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking, interstate

transportation for prostitution. I was up. I hit rock bottom, but I made no excuses. I'm disgusted. I'm so sorry. Until you're wearing an orange jumpsuit, it's not real. Now it's real. From his meteoric rise to his shocking fall from grace, from law and crime, this is the rise and fall of Diddy. Listen to the rise and fall of Diddy exclusively with Wondery Plus. Another major problem as to why femicide is running wild in Mexico is the impunity enjoyed by those who kill women. This is pretty rage-inducing. I'm going to use my calmest voice. Due to massive failings in policing and the judicial system in Mexico, 98% of all gender-related killings, mostly femicides, go completely unprosecuted. 98%? That's basically 100%. mostly femicides, go completely unprosecuted. 98%.

That's basically 100%. That's all of them. That's just a rounding error, you know? That's not even statistically significant. Fucking hell. Obviously, if a fucking 100% of people killing women are getting away with it, people are just going to kill loads of women. I can't cope.

Time and time again, the government have proven their disinterest in tackling this particular issue. This is my personal favourite. In January 2019, a state legislator lit the spark for more protests around the country when she suggested, yes she, that the solution to violence against women was a 10pm curfew for all women. If the men are the problem, keep the men indoors. Yeah, how about a 10m curfew for all women if the men are the problem keep the men indoors yeah how about a 10 p.m curfew for all men the women are not raping murdering and like

throwing themselves into burial pits are they keep the men indoors get in the bin i can't stand it fuck oh my god i'm so angry and sweaty i can't move. I might slip over from all the sweat. And it tells you, you know, the fact that, I mean, a curfew, number one, has never solved anything, including COVID-19, as we have all witnessed. It would never even be considered to infringe the rights of men like that. Never, ever in a million years. But they've just been like, oh, they're only women. What have they got

to do a past 10 o'clock apart from be murdered? Yeah, just stay in the house, ladies. What are you doing out? But I do think it's just that, again, it's that machismo culture, though, isn't it? It's just this idea. And I can only speak from the point of view of like being from an Indian family. And like when I go home and see my grandma, they live in a very rural part of India, which I don't think is that different. Having traveled around South America and Latin America, I did get a similar vibe in terms of like a lot of the mentality. And when my grandma used to come and visit us in the UK, she was horrified that I used to go and play out with the kids on the street and not come home until dark. That is such an unsightly thing for a young woman to be doing because what are you doing going

out there getting pregnant like you slut you should just be in the house like a good respectable girl that's your place chained to the fucking hob you know obviously this person said this before a covid hit but like are you serious a curfew to keep women trapped in the house because oh yeah definitely women never get murdered in the house by their intimate partners. That never happens. That definitely hasn't happened with all the curfews we've had now, has it? It's this idea again, that violence against women is just inevitable. And there is no attempt to pull that apart in any way, because women bring it on themselves by existing. Absolutely. And you know, we talked about very similar themes when we talked about the

Delhi rape case, gosh, last year. And that idea isn't just something that percolates and sits separately in Asian and Latin American countries. And somehow we in the West are separate from that. We said in that case, and it still is true today, that that mentality is pervasive everywhere that if something happens to a woman if she's raped if she's murdered if something happens what was she doing to put herself in that situation it's just the typical le classique right cool but it is not just the gangs or the government legislation either in In August 2019, violent protests erupted after the authorities declined to suspend four Mexico City police officers accused of raping a 17-year-old girl. More protests followed, but no action was taken.

And that's not just disinterest. The escalation of the Mexican drug war, which, as we've seen, matches up perfectly with the increase in femicides, also tracks in line with the booming corruption, money and narco politics. And despite the work of activists and protesters, it seems that those who commit femicide in Mexico are still able to do absolutely what they want with total impunity. Increasingly, the families of the missing have to take on searches themselves, even if it's just to recover remains.

But one woman, Miriam Rodriguez, needed more. So what we're about to tell you next is an unbelievable story of one mother's determination to bring her daughter's killers to justice, no matter what. And even as I'm saying that, I know that it sounds like a fucking movie trailer. That's like the build up to this case. And it definitely will one day be a film. And it will be deemed to be completely fake and farfetched. But it's true. And until that movie comes out, the best article on this story is by Azam Ahmed, published in the New York Times on the 13th of

December 2020. We will link it in the sources York Times on the 13th of December 2020. We will link it in the sources for this episode so you guys can check it out. Nice referencing. Are you working on something that requires a lot of that by any chance? Maybe. Don't know. Can't remember. I'm putting it out of my head right now. In 2014, San Fernando, a border city in Mexico, was in trouble. Cartel violence was surging once again. This was a city already deeply scarred by the barbarism of the drug lords. In 2010, 72 Central American migrants were murdered by Los Etas Cartel and at the time it was thought to be the most brutal killings to be carried out by a cartel ever, or at least until the next year in 2011, when another mass grave was found with 193 bodies. Again, the work of Los Zetas Cartel. 193 bodies. It just becomes

like a number. It becomes so casual. But think about what that means. Almost 200 people murdered and chucked in a fucking mass grave by the side of the road. It's unbelievable. And then the next year, in 2012, 49 human torsos were discovered in a mass grave in Nuevo Leon. The violence just didn't end. It was like pervasive in these people's lives who lived in San Fernando. And when it was later leaked that the police themselves had been involved in the massacres, it's not hard to see why public

trust was at an all-time low and fear was at an all-time high. Ordinary people were being abducted left, right and centre and mass graves turning up was almost a weekly occurrence. The people were tired and scared. Many left the city to get away from the violence, and one such person was Luis Rodriguez. But his mother, Miriam, and his 20-year-old sister, Karen, decided to stay. They knew the dangers of their town, but they ran a cowboy clothes store, Rodeo Boots, and they just couldn't afford to shut up shop.

On the 23rd of January 2018, Karen was driving home from work when all of a sudden two trucks pulled up on either side of her and a group of armed men hijacked her pickup. They bound and gagged Karen and fled. Karen's mother Miriam was able to get in touch with Los Zetas and begged them to return Karen to her. She even offered to pay. They said they didn't have Karen but that for $2,000 they would help Miriam find her. For weeks, the charade continued.

Do you say charade or charade? I say charade only because the American pronunciation is charade and it gets under my skin. Oh, I see. Okay, well, there you go. You've heard it all now, so pick your favourite. Other gangs would constantly contact Miriam and tell her that they had Karen and that if she just paid a ransom, they would release her. Again and again, Miriam paid, But there was no sign of Karen. At this point, with little left to lose, Miriam asked the cartel Los Zetas for a meeting. And much to everyone's surprise,

they agreed. And a man, clean-shaven, tall, young and slender, named El Junior, met her in a local restaurant. But even after this meeting, there was still no Karen. Finally, one day, Miriam told her eldest daughter, Azelia, Karen is gone. She's never coming back. She's most likely dead. Azelia was surprised to hear her mother sound so matter-of-fact about her sister's disappearance. But while Miriam had come to terms with the fact that Karen was never coming home, she hadn't given up on getting justice or revenge. That day, Miriam told Azalea that she wouldn't stop until she had hunted down each and every person who had taken Karen.

She would get them all, one by one, even if it killed her. According to Azalea, her mother was a different person after that. And Miriam began her work like a true super cop. The day that Karen had been taken, the cartel had also taken a local mechanic who often worked for Karen's father. This mechanic, unlike Karen, had been released soon after he was taken. And so Miriam got every single little detail out of him that she could. She confirmed that it was indeed Los Zetas cartel who had abducted Karen.

This was the cartel who Miriam had called first and that had taken $2,000 off her. And Miriam remembered that when she had spoken to the mystery Los Zetas Cartel man on the phone, in the background, someone had called him Samah. Over the next few weeks, Miriam stalked Facebook. Other victims of kidnapping had been lured using the social media site, so maybe she could find a clue on there. After a few days of endlessly searching through images, Miriam spotted a photo of L Jr., the clean-shaven, slender man from Los Zetas, that she had met in a restaurant. And guess what? He was tagged with the name Summer. In the photo with him was a young woman wearing a uniform for an ice cream shop. And guess what? He was tagged with the name Summer. can you imagine she's incredible she's my hero it's unbelievable what she does but I was reading this and I was like she's just using Facebook finding these people figuring this shit out I honestly I just I couldn't like yesterday I was trying to figure out how to share a funny video I

saw on Facebook and I couldn't even figure out how to share it so I had to screen record it and the whole time I was screen recording I was sat there with my hand very still because for ages I thought that if I like moved it it would make the screen recording wobble and Miriam's just like figuring all this shit out and connecting all these dots is using Facebook a 60 year old woman who just like runs a fucking cowboy apparel shop in Mexico. I don't even know how to screen record so you've got one up on me. Yes. So yes Miriam figures out where this ice cream shop is and she starts going there every single day even though it is a two-hour drive away and she sat outside this store for weeks studying the woman. She was waiting to see if Sama would turn up.

And one day, he did. Miriam followed the couple to their home and got their address. But it wouldn't be enough. She needed more. So Miriam cut her hair, dyed it bright red, so that obviously Sama wouldn't recognize her, because after all, they had met in that restaurant. Then she put on an old government uniform she had from a previous job and even made herself a fake little ID, grabbed a clipboard and started doing a fake poll in the area. And somehow, because this isn't super clear how she does it, but somehow she managed to get a name for Sama.

She took the information she had to every level of government and law enforcement that she could, but everyone turned her away. Until she finally met a police officer who was keen to help. He, quite rightly, was amazed by the work Miriam had done and all that she had gathered. But by the time he had managed to get a warrant for Samar's arrest, he'd left town. So Miriam began again. She started trawling through Facebook, finding connections to Samma. Then in September 2014, by sheer luck, Luis, Miriam's son, spotted Samma in their very own cowboy shop.

They called the police and Samma was arrested. He protested for a while, but soon gave up a bunch of names, including that of 18-year-old Cristian Gonzalez. The police pulled him in and Cristian seemed scared. He refused to talk and just kept saying that he was hungry. Miriam bought the boy some fried chicken and a Coke, despite the protests of the detectives. And perhaps her kindness touched him,

because after this, Cristian agreed to take the police and Miriam to the ranch where the cartel's abductees had been taken. The ranch was abandoned. Decaying and rusted-out farm equipment littered the grounds. Bones lay everywhere, and there was even a menacing noose hanging from a nearby tree. At the ranch, Miriam spotted a scarf that she knew was Karen's, laying on a pile of belongings. A year later, Karen's femur was found in a mass grave on the site. Finally, Miriam had found Karen, but she wasn't done. And the day she was driving home from the ranch, she suddenly remembered something. There was a local barbecue restaurant on the way and she thought back to a couple of days after

Karen had gone missing. Miriam had gone to that restaurant and spoken to a local woman she knew very well, Elvia Bettencourt. Miriam had asked Elvia if she had heard about Karen. Elvia said no and this surprised Miriam. Everyone knew. Miriam went back to Facebook and discovered that Elvia was in a relationship with a member of Los Zetas. This man was in prison for a different crime, so Miriam staked out the actual prison. She waited patiently four weeks during visiting hours, waiting for Elvia to come. The police arrested Elvia soon after this prison visit and found that some of the ransom calls Miriam had received had come from her phone, Elvia's phone, this person that Miriam knows. So as the months passed, Miriam continued her hunt. She found that some of the men

who had been involved with Karen's murder were now either dead or in jail, but some had tried to lay low and become ordinary people with ordinary jobs, and one was now even a born-again Christian. So, Miriam joined his church, and when the police came to arrest him, his family begged for mercy, but it was a no for Miriam. After months of work, Miriam had locked up 10 of the people involved in Karen's murder, and she knew that in doing so she was putting herself in serious danger. But she had told a close friend who had warned her to slow down, quote, I don't care if they kill me. I died the day they killed my daughter. I want to end this. I'm going to take out the people who hurt my daughter and they can do whatever they want to me. In March 2017, when there was a mass breakout of a local prison that

held some of those Miriam had helped to lock up. She asked the government for protection, but it wasn't enough. And at 10.21pm on Mother's Day 2017, as Miriam was heading home limping on crutches having broken her foot a few weeks before, as she chased down yet another suspect, a truck pulled up behind her and fired 13 shots, killing Miriam. There is a war on women being waged in Mexico. And like with Miriam, those who dare to speak up and try to change the order of things are now at risk. The first round of femicides have been very much linked to sexual motivations and trafficking. But as more female activists are rising up, the cartels are also turning their attention to this particular problem. And we're going to wrap up today's episode with the murder

that highlights this new and growing danger. Susana Chavez was a Mexican activist who led the protests against the murders of women in Ciudad Juarez, Susana was a leader within the organisation May Our Daughters Return Home, and she had made it her mission to draw as much attention to this city and the killings as possible. She was even the one who created the slogan, Not One More Death, which has become the anthem for femicide protests across Mexico. Heartbreakingly, in January 2011, 36-year-old Susana was found strangled to death with her left hand cut off, dumped in a neighborhood of Ciudad Juarez. The official verdict of her death was that it was just a result of a, quote, unfortunate encounter with some teenagers. I mean an unfortunate encounter. Okay cool. Yeah

and she was probably walking somewhere she shouldn't have been walking and it was probably after dark and she probably had jewellery on. Endless endless reasons. And while it is of course a horribly horribly ironic way for a woman who was doing so much to draw attention to the women who were being murdered in Juarez to also go. There isn't any clear-cut evidence that Susana was murdered because of her activism. But her murder in and of itself is just another clear sign that violence against women in Ciudad Juarez and Mexico is off the charts. Something I also found quite surprising to learn during the research that we did this week, given all that we've discussed, is that Mexico has some of the world's most progressive and feminist policies when it comes to gender discrimination. And did

you know this? Mexico also has a very high rate of female representation in its Congress. Since about five years ago ago it's been at about 40 percent or over i mean that's got to be in like the top three percent of the world that is an enormous number so it is really hard to stomach and see that this kind of thing just continues when there are women in power and it's what are they doing about this because that quote that hannah said before about the 10 p.mfew, that came from a female legislator. What is happening? The policies are there, but it's like the enforcement is completely lacking.

And I also think an issue that we can't ignore that we touched on before is the issue of corruption. There is so much drugs money in politics in Mexico that that level of corruption has only been on the rise and it cannot not be linked to why there is so much impunity when it comes to the murders of women. There just can't be. Linked alongside that is, of course, the lack of accountability for politicians who fail to take action. If you keep winning elections despite your total inaction on dealing

with this crisis, I guess their mentality is, well, no one clearly cares. And of course, like we mentioned before, there are huge failings in policing and within the judicial system. Just the way in which crime scenes are treated is shocking. And of course, if there's no evidence collected, there's no police investigation, no one is going to be tried. And that's why you see that horrific number of 98% of femicide do not lead to a prosecution. That is mind boggling.

Happy Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day, everybody. But despite all of this, the women of Mexico are not giving in. Protests against femicide are growing in size, frequency and ferocity. Because as the newspaper Globe Post put it, Mexican women aren't just fighting for equality, but survival. So yeah guys, that is the much requested episode on not one case so much, a bit of an amalgamation of a lot of stories that we found.

And the reason that we did cover three or four stories in this particular episode is because there are just so many. I sat down and started to look at just like murders in Juarez, murders of women, femicide in Mexico. And it was just tab, tab, tab, tab, tab. How could we sit and pick? We'll cover this story or this story or this story. We had to go a bit more broad rather than as deep like we normally do. And we really wanted to talk more about the kind of overarching systemic issues here. One of the things that I really wasn't that aware of is the link, the direct link between cartel violence and femicide. Like that is not something that I had connected in my mind. But you can see it's like a clear connection. They are like totally in sync

with each other only since 2006 have femicides in mexico been on the rise like they are now that is a direct correlation to the start of the mexican drug war so the two are inextricably linked it's horribly fascinating and i just don't see how justice will come about, apart from with women doing more and more of the protesting they're doing and drawing more and more attention to this. And the international community putting pressure on Mexican politicians. Exactly. And tell people about this. Talk about this. I think one of the only things we can do is sort of signal boost.

It sounds trivial, but just draw more attention to it in whatever way you can. And just because this is a conversational show doesn't mean we don't talk about important things. I think it's like, did you know that 98% of femicides in Mexico go unprosecuted? No, you didn't. Now you do. So go and tell everybody and think about it and change the world little by little, my small friends. I'm sure some of you are giant. Absolutely. Whatever height you are, you can go and change the world with your voices. So go and do that. I know this was, again, another very heavy episode on Red Handed,

but hopefully you're still there and not sweating as much as we are. So if you would like to lighten the mood a little bit now, you can come and hang out with us on Under the Duvet immediately after this episode. They're getting progressively longer and longer. I think we're averaging about 30 minutes in Under the Duvet episode now because we can't stop talking. It's because I do not speak to anybody else all day except you. Yes, this is why.

I'm in this like massive empty house and I just talk to myself. My like monologues have got pretty intense. That's not worrying at all. I'm super glad. Yep, yep. No, me too though. I am definitely starting to increasingly struggle now than maybe I did for the first

five years of lockdown. It's taking its toll on me now. But hopefully we are on our way out. Maybe I won't even say that. I don't know. You know what I mean. So come join us on Patreon because there's just more content over there. And now that we've got super slick new webcams, you'll also probably see more of our faces. And remember to put in your calendars. Well, you can't really because we haven't told you the date the merch comes out but just put it on every day and then we'll tell you when it comes out follow us on social media because we'll be dropping some fun stuff over there so patrons here are some people we need to say thank you to oh my gosh there are so many of you thank you so much to lauren shemin george em Adelstein, Liz, Taylor Lindup, Karina

Something Russian. Thank you, Karina. Saving us. Thank you, Karina. Emma Farmery, Caroline Squirrel, Jade Bolton, Lola Morelia. Oh my God, I can't speak. Denzi. Denzi?

Yep. Georgia Caddenhead. Oh, my God. Denise. I'll save you. Eli and Martin. Justine Bottles. Mark Webster. Amy Martin.

Hannah Jacob. Claire. Justine. Amanda F. Christina Janko. Rav Norris. Natasha. Kristen. Griselda O. We've lost Sarita. She's never coming back. She's descended into hysterics. Robin Borders, Paula Smith, Kiri Kenyala, Brooke Denton, Lucy Androse, Morgan Glinwater.

I'm not looking at you because you're going to make me laugh. I can just hear you gasping in my headphones. Elena Omohoni, Taylor Bermudez, Larissa M, Rick, Catherine Hogan, Nikki Halliday, Charlotte Rose, Ellie Wright, Lucy Kennedy, Gina Yount, Hope Whitby, Lisa Flowers, Monica, Kathleen Whitehead, Do you want me to jump back in? Can you? I'm prepared.

I can do it. Just as long as no one's called Denise again. Caitlin Higgins. Crystal Brinson. Kylie Yoakam. Emma O'Loughlin. Bryn Hall. Monica CL.

Bryony Hill. Barry Kane. Jen Myers. RKXB. Taylor Clark. Catherine Schreiner. Gillian McLinger. Lady LeFou, Skylar Abduljali, Abduljalalil. Jen Little.

I'm actually going to piss myself. Oh, God. You're going to piss myself off. Come on. Come on. Jen Little, Heather Seabold, Christina, Callie, Carmen Marshall, Kate Riger, Elizabeth Dunn, Kayla Mendel, Michaela Blevins, Erin Detman, Marie Pack, Lulu Smith, Torrin Adley Brennan, Ali, Rosalie Brenton, Cyril Hawker. She's turned her camera off. Shania Sindhu. You have to do this one.

It's an Indian one. It's too hard. Oh, Shania Sindhu Ganapavarpur. I can't. Emma Nolan, Dorothy Rose, Kelsey Gilbert, Hayley Cressick, Christine Marie Henshaw, Alex Cook, Erica Shublin, Grecia Pedroza, Eileen C, Rosie Baycroft, Chloe Rewaj, Jacqueline Lavelle, Emily Turtle, Xavier, Greta Clark, Rudy Amantajian, Melanie Matinee, Lucy Plumley, Francesca, Melissa Healy, Laura Welpton, Bindi Stewart, Angelita Singh, Sam, Lily, Zoe Sharp, Victoria Ruta, Nicholas Baldwin and Laura. We made it. We did it. We're all still together.

Thank you so much for listening to the show. And for supporting us on Patreon, come and follow us on social media at Red Handed The Pod. And have a nice time as much as you can. And we'll see you soon. Bye. as you can and we'll see you soon. Goodbye. Goodbye. You don't believe in ghosts? I get it. Lots of people don't. in ghosts? I get it. Lots of people don't.

I didn't either, until I came face to face with them. Ever since that moment, hauntings, spirits, and the unexplained have consumed my entire life. I'm Nadine Bailey. I've been a ghost tour guide for the past 20 years. I've taken people along with me into the shadows, uncovering the macabre tales that linger in the darkness.

And inside some of the most haunted houses, hospitals, prisons, and more. Join me every week on my podcast, Haunted Canada,

as we journey through terrifying and bone-chilling stories of the unexplained. Search for Haunted Canada on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show American Scandal. We bring to light some of the biggest controversies in U.S. history. Presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, NASA embarks on an ambitious program to reinvent space exploration with the launch of its first reusable vehicle, the Space Shuttle.

And in 1985, they announced they're sending teacher Krista McAuliffe into space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, along with six other astronauts. But less than two minutes after liftoff, the Challenger explodes. And in the tragedy's aftermath, investigators uncover a series of preventable failures by NASA and its contractors that led to the disaster. Follow American Scandal on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season only on Wondery Plus. You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Start your free trial today.