The Connect- with Johnny Mitchell - Mexican Cartels Are Moving MORE Drugs Than Ever, Going To WAR On The Government- Ed Calderon Reveals

Episode Date: March 27, 2025

In this explosive episode, Johnny sits down with former Mexican Special Forces officer and cartel expert Ed Calderon to uncover the real state of the cartel wars in Mexico. From the ongoing civil war within the Sinaloa cartel between Los Chapitos and Los Mayos, to how cartel kingpin El Mayo Zambada still pulls strings from a U.S. jail cell — Ed breaks it all down like no one else can. We also dive into: - The cartel's deep infiltration into Mexican politics - U.S. pressure on Mexico through tariffs and diplomacy - The fentanyl crisis and its real players - Why drug trafficking is more corporate than ever - Corruption, violence, and the future of narco culture in Mexico Brace yourself — this is an unfiltered look at the front lines of one of the most dangerous, politically entangled conflicts in the world. 🎧 Follow Ed Calderon: @manifestoradionetwork3191 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manifestoradiopodcast Join The Patreon For Bonus Content! https://www.patreon.com/theconnectshow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bro, they raided a Doritos factory, and they found, like, child immigrants working it. At the Dorito factor, this is a huge brand. I'm pretty sure Tyson Farms is full of some of that as well. Junkies need dope. And corporations need labor. Those are the two drugs that the U.S. is hilt on. Illegal immigration is illegal for a fucking reason. And drugs are illegal for a reason.

Today's guest is a favorite here on The Connect, the one and only Ed Calderón. Ed is a podcaster, influencer, and former Special Forces officer from Tijuana. He's here to give us an update on the cartel wars in Mexico, including the status of the civil war in Kulia Khan between the two remaining factions of the Sinaloa cartel, the Chapitos and the Maitos, and how, even from his federal jail cell in the United States, Mayo Zimbada is pulling the strings of power between both the American and the Mexican governments. And more broadly, Ed turns our attention to the rest of Mexico,

especially the northeastern regions and organizations like the Gulf cartel who are engaged in full-on war with the Mexican military and the U.S. Border Patrol. This is about to be the craziest year that the United States and Mexico have experienced in generations, and nobody can explain it better than Ed Calderon. Make sure to check out his podcast, Manifesto Radio, and follow him on Instagram. All right, you guys, reporting from the front lines, my man, Ed Calderon, right here on The Connect with Johnny Mitchell. Why do you think drugs are illegal? I can probably guess why. That's a little simpler of an answer. Why do you think drugs are illegal and why do you think immigration is illegal?

Beyond the surface. Personal responsibility leads down some dangerous roads. People shouldn't have guns. People shouldn't put substances in their fucking mouths that make them feel funny. So that's like against whatever these reptiles want to fucking control us. you know yeah yeah i don't know i don't know like in my mind it's like hey why don't you let us have this like why am i not allowed to just take mushrooms and chill out because of the shit that i have going on in my head you know why am i not allowed to do any of these things the fentanyl thing

you know cool allow them to do fentanyl but let's take it not to slab city you know where we don't have to pay for them you know right right well you know you know what the fucking president of columbia said the other day he goes yeah co-execkel C cocaine is like doing cocaine is kind of like drinking wine. It's it's what's the big deal? Yeah, he was good. You compared it to alcoholism like, hey, who what kills more people a year? Alcohol or lines of coke?

And I was like, hmm, damn, motherfucker at the point. And he's not wrong. And he's not wrong. He's not wrong at all. And but the thing is, it goes against Columbia's interest. He shouldn't be saying stuff like that. Because like, but he's a lefty. though. So it's like popular to

like throw like fucking random horrible shit like that. See the lefty. But if Coke becomes legal, they'll start making it in Mexico. You know, Colombia, if Colombia loses its cocaine trade,

there's thousands of people in the rural areas that will starve. They have no, like during the pandemic, when they had such, they couldn't move any blow, but they had huge stockpiles of it. It tanked the price.

And the then president goes on air and he says he told the fucking compasinos that do the cocecha chill the price will go back up and you'll get your jobs back because they were like going hungry these guys that depend on the on the blow trade

so it's like hey keep the party going don't keep you know like the war on drugs like is good for a lot of people yeah Ford Motor Company 511 uniform company H&K rifle company all of these companies like that

the war on drugs too because they supply on the government side you know so they're like oh cool let's so they're noticing that the war on drugs is like ah man let's make it war on terrorism because we can fucking you know spend money on fucking drones that are now

going to be patrolled in the border more regularly uh send fucking soldiers down to Mexico to train them on weapon systems that we're going to sell to them I don't know it's right right because now you have a double pop You get a double pop if you're a government insider.

You've got war on terror money, right? And you've got war on drug money. Yep. I think the war on drugs is over. Now it's all war on terrorism. I mean, I'm hearing from the Americans, like the guys that I know, they're like, hey, hmm, like this seems familiar. This focus and expenditure now on this problem. Right.

What do you mean? Yeah, like when 9-11 happened and they're like, when 9-11 happened and they're like, passed the Patriot Act. Yeah. A lot of things were unlocked for us that we couldn't do before. And that's what you're kind of seeing now. It's like, oh, we can send a military drone to this country that used to be kind of off limits because it didn't have terrorism in it.

But now it's, you know, now it's like now we can send like one of these drones. It'll drop a ginsu knife missile on you. Yeah. Mexico was denying that these drones were flying around. for like a while now. And I would say that they are, but they're in coordination with the U.S. Okay. So let's get to that. Sure. But let's go to the most topical thing that's going on that made press. Yvonne Archivaldo, who is Choppo Guzman's oldest son, I believe. He narrowly escaped a raid in Kulia Khan. Do you have any insight into this? Why is he, why was he in Kulia Khan?

why is he being hunted like this? I have some connections. I have some connections to the federal arm of this. Like there's a, they recently renewed this federal police force under the umbrella of the National Intelligence Center is what they call it now. So they're actually recruiting a lot of ex-federales

for that unit. And that's like a lot of those guys I know from back in the day. So that's like, that's some of the information I'm getting this from them. And also I'm friends now with this guy named Gaffet, down in Haliska who does this.

He's the Mexican Sean Ryan. He's this former spec ops guy that has a podcast down there. They gave me a lot of connections, and I've been able to hear this different side of what's going on. According to them, the priority targets were not. It wasn't Ivan Archivaldo. It was some of his top lieutenants who were in some way, shape, or form commanding this illegal

network of cameras and security around the territory that they were controlling. So that's what they were after. They found these two safe houses. One of them included a drug tunnel very reminiscent of the drug tunnels at Chappo Guzman used to use to escape. These things are directly attached to the sewer system. So it's like a classic escape hatch that they found in these. But they got two of his uncles, one of his lead,

when it comes to basically adminning the guy of the money man, one of his money man, and one of his, like, very close, uh, very close, uh, parts of the leadership that dealt to a lot with the, you know, the, some of these exclusive flights that they do. Um, so they, they're, they're close. Um, they have a, they have large segments of, of, of the area, basically corned off. They're watching everything coming in and out. And like, everybody, on the ground is saying that it's a matter of time before they went before they grab this guy. Like he's in the area. Now, if they get him, he's, I believe, one of their last remaining sons to have influence in that side of the organization. If they get him, will that be the end of the war?

Will that signal that the Maitos have won? I mean, that will say, yeah, that signals definitely that the Maitos have won. and also indicates a pretty interesting focus by the Mexican government on a single one of these factions. And it, yeah, it means that the war for Kula Khan is over. Knowing the ways that the O'Mayo side of things kind of operates, they're always about low-key control. And I think whatever this next evolution of this, gone are the days of the, you know, the fast cars running around Kulia Khan in the open, I think. So whatever this is going to morph into with the winners of this war, which are thinking

are going to be those of Mayo's, I think it's going to be more of a rural presence and out of the way and quiet. Okay. So do you think that given what's happening with Mayo, he's not only is he cooperating, he's now petitioning to be extradited back to Mexico for reasons that we'll get into. But first, is the raid, their ability to get the drop on the Chapitos, what do you think that is? Do you think that's just good intelligence, good police work by the feds, or is that the Mayo's finally influencing people in power the way that they used to? I mean, there's three things that could be happening. One, you know, all these planes that are mysteriously flying around Mexico now that are gathering signal intelligence have actually produced a pretty workable intelligence map as far as who is where and who's talking to who.

And maybe they share that information with Mexico. There's been a lot of talk back and forth about this new, like, virgin in cooperation between two countries with the threat of tariffs ahead, which is not at the table for the Americans. So that's one on possibility. Another possibility is that somebody ratted them out. And I think that is kind of the main narrative that you hear across the circles related to some of these social media accounts that are attached to some of these criminal organizations that just the underground speaks of somebody basically betraying them and ratting, writing this upper echelon circle out. And this new police director, head of intelligence, Harfush, He's a different type of leadership when it comes to public safety and police work in Mexico. Very smart.

And it seems like as soon as he got into office, a lot of arrests have been made and concentrated around those chapitos. And I think what we're seeing now is giving results as far as the federal government goes. I recognize that they're definitely upping their game as far as what they're capable of and who they're going after, specifically focused on those chapitos right now. Now, is that the result of bribery? Is that the result of the old ways where, you know, somebody in somebody at the top of the organization would be able to influence Mexico city and the top brass to take out the weaker side and let the more powerful,

more low-key structure like the Maitos exist and operate? Or is after this over, are they still, is everybody, a target now forever? Is it the end of the old ways where the top cartel got the privilege of paying off the brass in Mexico City? What you're seeing on the ground is like a focalized effort against those little chapitos and that is suspicious to most eyes. A lot of people will say how quiet it is on the new generation cartel front and how quiet it is on the Mayo front, like how there's not a lot going on as far as arrest or targeting when they are in the open. I recently posted a video some people probably attached to Los Maitos moving around in Sonora in this armed convoy recently, I mean, in the open.

So there's definitely open movements of armed people in the area that should be targeted from the air from a helicopter or for some or by some sort of military presence that there's all over the area. So there's definitely something going on as far as like focus, you know. We've also, I mean, recently we, the whole Mayo Sambada letter that came out asking the Mexican consulate office and the government itself to intervene on his behalf and to protect his human rights because his abduction and arrest subsequent arrest in Texas by DEA agents is completely irregular and illegal. and saying that if Mexico doesn't intervene on his behalf, this will greatly destabilize a relationship between both countries, which is a weird thing to say, you know? People can read into that in many ways. Some people think it's because El Mio Sambaara basically knows everything there is to know

about all politicians that have been on the take for years, not just with this current ruling party, but all the way into the past. since he gained leadership status probably in the late 80s, 89, I think is when he kind of rose through the ranks into a leadership position. So a bunch of pictures have come out of El Mio Sambada's personal lawyer being given awards by the current ruling more than a party back in 2003, next to the president in some sort of a campaign situation,

and around all of the upper upper echelon of the Moranna party. So people are wondering like, what's going on? Like, why are you in all these pictures? The president, Claudey Seymol denies knowing this person. He's at all met many people on the campaign road. But there's that he received like justice warrior recognitions and ceremonies by the Senate. back in the back in 2003 so there is definitely a clear and open relationship between people that represented legally umma sanbara and the the current ruling party in and Mexico and the

president yeah clearly um they they have a lot they have many many reasons to want mayo to stay in the u.s at the mdc completely gagged, right, and spend the rest of his life in a federal prison. I don't think they're going to be, I don't think they're going to let him go. I think the U.S. lord its lesson by letting go of that former general, Sienfuegos. Seen Fuegos was arrested on cartel charges on a trip to Disneyland with his family. Can you tell us who Sienfuego was the, basically the head of the army back in the Enrique Penaetto administration, who was heard speaking to certain crime.

cartel members over the phone and recorded and an open investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, basically a should arrest warrant for him. He was on a family trip after his tenure as the head of the Army in the U.S., and he was arrested by federal agents. This was during the last administration in Mexico, presidential administration in Mexico, run by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the Moranda Party, who is rumored to have been funded. funded by these organizations as far as his campaign. So he put forth this envoy to try and negotiate the release of this general, even though, you know, there's all this evidence behind his arrest. State Department issues a letter to the Justice Department to drop all charges and basically send to, to send them over to Mexico so he can face those charges in Mexico is what they say.

You know, in the interest of national, binational relations, Mexico says, yeah, we'll try him here for these crimes. So when he arrives, he gets escorted to his house. And, you know, and he recently shows up in a public event in his full military gear, kind of like saying hi to the cameras in a clear act of defiance. Mexico's government says that there is no evidence that we see no proof that he's completely innocent that it's basically fake, you know, there was a fake charge that they did on them. So that's kind of the history behind right now, the way the relationship is between

the United States and Mexico. Yeah, Mexico kind of fucked. Mexico kind of fucked the U.S. So there's no way I think they're going to release El Miao some bother to U.S. custody. So does that mean he's out of leverage or is he able, I mean, if he feeds them info on all of these different members of the ruling political elite. I mean, could that potentially buy his way out? I don't know about his way out. I mean, there's there was rumors and people speaking about him being trying to get out of a death penalty. He doesn't qualify for a death penalty according to some laws that I've read and studied up on specifically because there's no death penalty in the country that he is from. So you can't do the death penalty.

him. The next thing is basically sending him to a Supermax, like they do Alchapa, which is almost close to death. Sure. But I think, I don't know, I don't know what he's trying to do. I think he's, he's definitely flexing. He's flexing with the comment about destabilizing relationships. I think it's a clear flex on whoever reads it, that he can basically influence and or talk about things that might destabilize the relationship between both countries right now. On the U.S. side, it's being pressed that the Mexican government is compromised. They haven't stopped saying the same thing. On the Mexican side, they say that we're, you know, sovereign nation.

Don't mess with us. Don't come in here. Please respect our sovereignty. We're not working with the cartels. This is not a picture of me with my Osumaz lawyer and multiple times online. you know, deny, deny, deny. So that's where we are right now, this stalemate. I think the tariffs are on their, I think the tariffs were put on hold for a month.

And I think we're coming up on that month. Supposedly, the U.S. was looking for results on the Mexican side. I think that's why you're seeing this constant pressure and chase on Ivan Archivaldo. I think that's what they wanted to present to the American to see, like, look, we're doing something. Right. these are the fentanyl guys right you wanted to stop fentanyl this is the face of fentanyl here you go yeah just like the dito chapa guzman this is the senelalal cartel this is the face of the cartel this if you arrest this man everything will go away right right and you know they they get in viewed with this massive power i mean

you you have people have to realize this is one organization um a very battered organization and a very and now a very fractured organization. But somehow it's going to be infused and viewed with all the responsibility of Fenthal across the U.S., which is people kind of should look into that. Okay, so it sounds like Mayo, the best he could probably hope for

is not getting sent to a Supermax. Maybe they give him life, but he gives them names of military generals, politicians, everything he's got saves some of his own people and they send him to a USP. Something like that. Who knows? He's probably not long for the world anyways.

First of all, who's running the Maito's side now? What's going on with them in his absence? The leadership aspect of it right now, like, I'm not too clear with it. Like, I could speak upon, I could speak upon what's going on state side right now with O'Mio, as far as the reasons why he's. why he may change his mind about going back to Mexico. As far as, like, I don't want to want to step out of the side of my lane when I talk about myo,

um, cartel and what they're actually leadership structure is. But I can't speak about the U.S., specifically the fact that he has many, uh, kids in the U.S. with U.S. passports, including some of them who are already under witness protection. So the relationship is already there. There is no reason, real reason why El Maya Sambada would have this, how can you say, this loyalty to Mexico other than to just be belligerent and angry about the way he was arrested,

which I could see that there's some anger in him as far as why he, the way he was picked up and moved. the U.S. is going to use them as a leverage of leveraging chip. I think in a lot of ways, this has been planned out for years. I think his abduction and arrest were probably part of the U.S. covert operation of some sort. And like the way he was picked up and the way he was arrested is a regular in all of its nature. or so, like, how are they going to make that stick later on if it goes to trial? So there's a lot of holes in what's happening.

Oh, right. So he's got some action. There's, yeah, he has a lot of ways of getting out of that legally is what I've heard from some people that I know that are close to that. And again, I go back into this whole position of how the U.S. is basically going to go the route of constant pressure against Mexico. And one of the biggest ways that it could pressure Mexico. Mexico was through tariffs and justifying those terrorists by the smoking gun in the form of

Amaya Sambada speaking about his direct ties to presidents and politicians stemming back till at least 1989 when he kind of rose to prominence in Mexico, in the Mexican criminal culture. What was his, in 89, you know, he's been active. He was growing marijuana since I think the late 60s. He was working in the mountains. when it first really started to boom in Sinaloa, the state of Sinaloa. What was the thing in the late 80s that really shot him to the top of the pile?

The arrest of Felix Gallardo, who was basically this legendary cartel head that controlled vast amounts of the border territories that were being utilized to cross drugs. into the United States. You would see the fracturing of what we now, what then turned into the Tijuana Cartel and then the Seaman Law Cartel Federation, including Omaha Samara, who had kind of learned a big part of his tradecraft through the years, starting from the bottom,

then going to Los Angeles, then meeting this mysterious figure in the form of this former Castro police office, Castrista police officer who worked under Castro, That then disappeared. Fidel Castro. Yeah. Of Cuba.

Wow. Yep. And then disappeared and then mysteriously showed up in Florida. And then married El Mayo's sister. Streaks of CIA, that guy. But so in a lot of ways, that scene in a law cartel was born in Los Angeles. If you really kind of like delve into it. With this fracturing, this is what we now get as far as all these families

kind of spread out through the country. and some of these small groups growing and fighting. And I mean, the kind of the war that made El Chapo famous was with these Arianofides cartel members when they fractured off into their own thing and started these epic wars that led to Cardinals getting assassinated in airports and shootouts that it would eventually lead to the arrest and or the murder of most of the Arianos-Fedis cartel members. Spring weekends are all about family. sunshine and evenings on the patio. Before everyone arrives, I stop by my local Total Wine and

Moore to grab a great bottle to share. With such a wide selection and the lowest prices, it's easy to find something amazing for everyone to enjoy. If you're not sure what to pick, their friendly guides can help. Find what you love and love what you find only at Total Wine and More. Shop Total Wine and More in store or online. Spirits not sold in Virginia. and North Carolina, drink responsibly, B-21. When people see Omao Sambala, they have to realize that this is a guy who has never been arrested. He was roamed around Mexico for about, I don't say, 50 years doing illegal shit. Not just Mexico, but the United States.

I mean, he has many kids that are in the U.S. that went to visit him when he was arrested. So I could probably safely assume that he probably spent some Christmases in the U.S. without any issues, you know, sort of. So this, this figure who was never arrested, never, never, never, never picked up, never touched for years, obviously had this open relationship with many members of the government, the military. And, you know, who, who was he friends with in the U.S.? Because there had to be a relationship there probably. And he's just through the decades, has just been accumulating a rolodex of people that he has leverage on. Yeah. essentially from paying for bribing, from making deals, from giving intel on other members of the Sinaloa Federation, obviously, right?

Something that was not during my time, but you would hear about it, that when 9-11 happened and the U.S. was trying to secure the border, that there were phone calls made to different people, you know, not just the Mexican government to secure that border. So you hear stories about smugglers being told to not touch or to remember. report anybody with Arabic descent and order, or like, they looked Arabic in any way, shape, or form. And the orders were coming from high-level cartel leadership. So why would, why would, why would, why would they want to get involved in U.S. national security issues? Right. Right. So you would hear stories like this at, like, when, you know, this is beyond, this is before my time, but you would hear stories like this.

And you were like, oh, wondering what lines, what lines of communication existed if the senior law cartel in its territories is telling its smugglers not to touch and or to report back if they see anything Arabic. Wow. So he acted like how lucky Luciano worked for the feds. These are all rumors. During World War

2. He policed. Well, no, this was in America. That's not even a rumor. That was a, it's an open not secret that in exchange for immunity, because he was Sicilian, he purged because he controlled all the unions on the ports in New York City. And he purged, and he

purged them of Nazis and German sympathizers and shit like that. So he's the lucky Luciano of Mexico in many ways. He's always very political. He was always very calculated. They say that El Chapo Guzman's sons were picked up by the New Generation Cartel, the New Generation Cartel territory when they ventured off and went to eat at a restaurant in enemy territory. They were picked up by about 50 cartel guys. The rumor is that El Miao was the one that directly negotiated their release with El Mention, which is, again, this is

wow. This is a lot of high-level cartel politics and things that I think other people couldn't probably pull off. And he was, he was a legendary figure and is a legendary figure for a reason. Okay. So today, what happens? What happens in C. Naloa. Have the cartels lost the social permission that they enjoyed for so many years from the population, from the civilians? I think, I think in some parts, yes. I mean, there's still parts of Mexico you can't go into. We get discovered by some of these organizations. So that hasn't gone away. We're seeing a lot of coverage of a specific part of the world, which is Sina Loa and what's going on there. A few things

that people should take away from that. They're flooded with federal officials. There's roadblocks everywhere. There's aerial patrols of gun ships overseeing the law. I just posted a video of one of them yesterday sent to me when one of those guys that are going to doing those patrols.

There's technology, signals intelligence, there's everything like that, and there's still people getting murdered in the middle of the night. There's still people getting shot in the face and they're still like executing each other's guys in the area. So putting a lot of bodies and a lot of uniforms in a city like that, flooding it like

that doesn't do a lot but make people bury themselves deep. And what I've heard from different groups like that is just basically a wait and see pattern. So we're going to wait and see this. They say the government has turned up the heat before. And when they do, we go on vacation and then we come back. Elieco Guacraja is what they call it, the cockroach effect. Right, right. You put heat on a very specific part of the geography.

They leave. And after the heat is gone, they come back. Tijuana is an example of this. You know, we put a lot of heat on Tijuana for the better part of like six years. People left and then it's back on the most dangerous cities list on the planet again. Now, is the whole of Mexico right now, you could argue, because of Trump's posturing, the whole of Mexico is having the effect, though, Kukaracha, no? Yeah, I mean, people are leaving on vacation at high levels.

Every now and then members from the media approach me to try and hook them up with somebody that they can talk to as far as cartel members and stuff like that. And I'm like, dude, everybody's, they're all, they're all, they're camera shy right now for some reason, right? Or they're unavailable. Right. And I think there's a fundamental change happening at a federal level with the way that some of these cartels are being gone after.

There was a dismantling of a lot of the systems that used to combat organized crime in Mexico with the past administration with his whole Abrazas no Balazasas policy, which is like hugs, not bullets. But this administration is like, fuck that. All bullets is what this administration is all about. And it was like that before Trump came into power. So it makes me consider that maybe there's some sort of actual official. effort to go after these organizations.

But like among some of the military members that I've been speaking to recently that I met through my friend Gaffet, and among some of the people that are working now at a federal level that I used to know they're still in it right now. They're saying that this feels just exactly like the kickoff of the drug war back in 2006 with Calderon. this sudden prioritization of cartels and criminal

and organized crime and this new designation of them as terrorists allowing now being this looming acts above them where there's a federal government

that's screaming about national sovereignty and the possibility of an armed invasion by the Americans and all the anti-American sentiment that produces

and on the other end a shit ton of Americans living in Mexico and making their lives down there. And this weird, strange moment where the pressure is on either this

changes or this open criminality changes and the people go after them and not support these structures anymore. Or nothing happens. And the U.S. decides to send some

ginsu missiles after some of these cartel heads. and and and maybe accidentally turns one of these criminal organizations into Robinhood and turns them into these folk heroes. So it could have the opposite effect bombing them. Yeah. It could turn them into how the Taliban is now running Afghanistan with some level of legitimacy in the eyes of the population.

I mean, you see this sentiment from American saying. saying, like, why isn't Mexico excited about us sending our army down there? Yeah. That's because they saw what it looks like in Afghanistan and in Iraq. So they're afraid of it. And another aspect is we've been living through about six years of pure anti-American rhetoric with one president. And now this other president who's speaking about Mexican sovereignty against U.S. aggression.

And you have a very controversial figure. the White House right now who is he has a mixed reputation among amongst Mexicans and this whole aspect of the him being kind of a villain in their eyes so

if the U.S. Army decides to do something on the border let's say like a targeted drone strike of some sort and I keep mentioning that Ginsu missile because I think that's what's going to happen maybe you know like I predicted a lot of stuff that related to this in

past, but if I was a guessing man, I'd say they would, they would probably throw one of these guided missiles that has these knives right on a cartel target's head. Ivan Archibalo would be a perfect one if they can find them. Wow. But if that happens, and there's some sort of collateral damage or... Yeah, an American gets hit. There's Americans living in Hermantio. There's Americans living in Juarez, even.

There's definitely Americans living in Baja. Or if it just hits a school, you know. Right. And the federal government spins it as a, you know, these guys are freedom fighters now. Or I don't know. It's complex. It's not as easy as just droning these people out of existence. I mean, they have to be dismantled.

And I think in some way, shape, form we're seeing some of that, but in a very specific targeted way for a faction of the Sina Loa Cartel that is dwindling and almost extinct. But what about these other organizations? But the work has to get moved. Like we were talking about at the top of the episode, junkies in downtown L.A. don't care about a fucking war. They're like, I need to get high. I'm literally sick.

Yeah. Business doesn't stop. It doesn't sleep. And these companies need migrant labor. So how do you dismantle demand? I mean, we know that this is a this is a toxic relationship between two countries this is what's happening you know this is what it is uh the u.s is addicted to drugs and to illegal cheap labor

that it could use to feed its tourism industry um it's sex industry um it's a manual labor industry you know like there's COVID hit and there was produce on the produce in the aisles. There was no shortage of that. So illegal immigration is essential worker status, basically. That's one issue. And it's an issue that the kind of the U.S. is kind of in denial about. They don't want to acknowledge it, I guess, the dependency on it. And on the Mexican side, they're completely dependent on the fact that the U.S. is there, that their families that go to the U.S. send back the remissas, you know, basically send back money. So there's a whole industry and, and addiction there as far as money and labor and a symbiotic relationship between both.

And these criminal organizations have become quasi-government agencies in the areas that they operate in. They built hospitals. They enforce mass mandates for COVID in the areas that they work in. Some of them built roads, payments. Yeah. So who's if they get killed or left, what there's going to be a void there, you know, like who's going to, who's going to be supporting all these families now, not the federal government in Mexico? Well, so how is work getting moved? Because we know, I mean, we read about drug busts still every morning on the news. So they're, they're moving products. So just start with Sinaloa. And then we can talk about other parts of Mexico that are that are really hot. my understanding is it's the the actual business structure is mostly like just take fentanyl for

instance it's mostly independent fentanyl kitchens that are just labs dotted throughout the rural areas the countryside it's basically these independent guys who are contracted by whoever's putting money behind moving it to the border yeah is that kind of how it's working now there's a There's a lot of independent people basically making product for a specific client that they sell to. And there's not a family familiar tie there. There's not people actively engaging in meetings with high-level cartel operatives that are dealing with this. These are independent manufacturers that are working in shanty towns, hillsides, industrial centers, in actual pharmaceutical company settings in Mexico.

because they've long since invested in some of these industries and have, you know, why hide the fact that you're cooking, just buy your own pharmaceutical company and just do it there. Sure. So there's a lot of that. All of that product gets sold to very specific people. That's why whenever you see a brick, whenever you see any of these packages, they always usually have this, I don't know, like Batman logos on them. like a panther or a scorpion.

Those are the people buying, those are the owners of this product. So it's a way to keep track of who, what goes to who. These are people that have already paid for the product. There are people that want to move this product upwards into the US. That's right.

And who are, before we get to this next stage, who are some of these people? Are these business people in Kulia Khan? Are these industrialists? Or are these people that are actually directly in one side of the organization,

either chopos side or miles side. I mean, anything related to transportation means you have to pay off people. It means you have to have a route. It means you have to know people on that route. It means that you probably know one captain or somebody a bit more high level,

maybe a colonel somewhere in the military. There's going to be in charge of one of these checkpoints. So if you do the mask, you maybe you'll give them one load, but you're going to pass like three or four of them. This is, these are people who are involved. These are people who are organized.

These are people who are in the game per se. This is where the influence and presence and, you know, territorial aspect of some of these organizations manifest. You know, let's say I have a drug route that goes from a production site somewhere through a city, through a loading space where I'm going to try and put it on boats and put it on vehicles and put it on cargo trucks. I should probably know the head of police. there. I should probably know the head of the Fiscalia there, which is the investigative branch of the police.

She probably know somebody in the manina because they run the ports and I probably should know somebody in the army. So I pay off all these people. But somebody that's a rival of me doesn't want me to succeed in my endeavor. So he starts killing all the people that I pay. And that's how you start getting the fucking horrible violence in some of these places where there's people killing each other's assets in these areas. And that's where the, la man poluda is present, that's where the hairy hand is,

you know, in these, in these areas where you have to have influence, pay for influence and security and protection and corruption at a local and state and federal level to be able to move your product, put it into containers, put it into vehicles, put it into trucks and loads, and figure out how to then send it all north. And that's what.

And that is, And that is the basically like the last and only function left of the what's known as a cartel is the infrastructure to be able to do all that. Yeah. It sounds like right. Yeah. And that feeds a lot of other things they do. I mean, that feeds money that I could pay enforcers to tell like, hey, this is my part of the border fence that I pass drugs through by tunnels and by other means, by vehicles. I mean, people are really focused on dudes with backpack.

jumping the border wall, that's sometimes. Tunnels are another big thing. And we haven't seen many of those being dismantled recently with all of this new attention on the border. So that should make people wonder. And cars. I mean, just everyday cross-border traffic between these two countries,

the volume of drugs in these vehicles getting passed through from cargo trucks to just everyday vehicles crossing back and forth. And just using the mail service and using packaging services internationally. I mean, the product is, it's still going through. The border wall is not a security feature against drugs. It's just, it's just not, no. No, just people. Yeah, just people that can't jump and run.

Well, I've heard that the price has gone up significantly for human smuggling. I think I read it was like 18,000 is what somebody, a migrant who got caught told a report of the other day. Yeah. Which is significant. Yeah. And if you're Chinese, it's more. I don't know why. I don't know they charge Chinese people more.

Well, they get the good crossings, you know. Yeah. People are still getting across. Yes, numbers are really low. And only people with money are crossing now. So think about it in that way. Only people with money are crossing and there's an urgency to cross because everything is changing right now. So it's Navidad, it's Christmas for some of these mugglers.

Some of the good professional ones are making more than some of these organizations are probably making more off that right now than crossing loads across that border. So the increase in price is kind of off. set all of the people that aren't trying to get across now. Yeah. Like during the Biden administration. Yeah. I mean, they're they're checking IDs at the airport at the Tijuana airport, for example. I mean, immigration is on in Mexico. It's funny. It's like it was such a, whoever heard about Mexican immigration services. Like I worked, I worked for, I worked as a cop at Mexico for about 12 years and I got to deal with them like twice. They're a joke. They're, were a joke, I guess, but now they're, like, now they're a thing. They're checking, when you fly anywhere

near the border into place like Tijuana, your ID is going to get checked to see, and your status as a citizen is going to get checked. Right. Because there's this now federal mandate keeping people to the south. All deportations are not going to be taking place all the way in southern Mexico. So no longer they're going to be dropping off people at the border in Tijuana. They're going to be sent all the way south. So there's interesting. So is that why those migrant centers that they built in anticipation for all these people getting deported? Is that why they're still not, they're basically empty? It's because you guys send them all the way south. Well, it's, it's, the U.S. is flying them all the way south now. Apparently. Oh, I see. There, there was a surge of migrants on the border,

but I think they're changing tactics that they think they're going to fly them all the way to southern Mexico, which is, it's a dick move. And I understand, you know, but it's like, man. Some of these people are not, haven't, never even seen the south of Mexico and all of a sudden they're going to be finding themselves in the middle of Shappas or Waxaca. I don't know exactly where they're going to be dropped off. And that's,

to me, seems like one of the last places. Also, Mietwa Khan, right? Mieto Khan is lively still. And there's drones, dropping bombs on cops,

their IEDs. Right. So that seems like the last, because I have a theory and I'm going to ask you, your opinion after I tell you what I think is happening. But I think things, just like in the U.S., Mexico is going through a change in systems. So the U.S. is de-imperializing, even though nobody wants to admit it. Trump is bringing the empire home, and he's winding it down just the way in 1989 Gorbachev did with the Soviet Union. Yeah. And I think, I think Mexico is, and then I'm talking like 50 years out.

Okay, I'm not talking about like next year, four years or now. But I think especially once you guys get that, that new Panama Canal, Mexico style through, through, I think Mexico is going to be so opulent. And with Americans moving there, I think you guys are, I don't think it's going to be a criminally dominated society anymore. Meaning, I think it's going to be wrought with criminality still the way Italy is, right? Like the Italian mafia, the Camorra out of Naples or the Andrangeta from the. from Calabria, they, they are doing tons of crime. They're moving blow, their extortion, bid rigging, high-level white-collar crime. It doesn't stop, but they go to prison for life.

And they don't. There's much less corruption. There's a clear delineation now between criminals and civilians and civilian society and law and order. I think Mexico's in the early stages of that, and I think it's going to get worse before it calms and gets better. I don't know what your take on that is. I think Mexico is poised to be the next industrial plan of the world. So, yeah, this is Wakanda.

Like, Mexico is Wakanda. Instead of vibranium, it's labor. We have the, I think one Mexican worker is worth like four Chinese ones. China's kind of on a downward spiral with its, with its industrial base. So I think at some ways, people look at this designation as a threat of invasion. And yeah,

it could be that. I view it more as an attempt of, an attempt to stabilize their industrial plant because that's what they want to turn Mexico into. You know, they don't want the labor to go into the U.S. and live off the welfare system. They wanted to stay in Mexico, have Mexico stabilize and become its own thing.

This criminality aspect, though, that we talk about, I think there is a part of it at a very high level that is completely attached to the federal government. And I wonder, you know, if we're moving towards this new era in U.S.-Mexico relationships where the cartel is no longer an issue where it's not a destabilizing force where people can you know criminality and all that is going to be what it is but like specifically we're not going to have roving bands of armed cartel members showing up to a town murdering a mayor and threatening a president that they're going to blow them out of the sky you know um which may or may not have happened uh in the past um is is that going to happen without some heads rolling at a high level I don't know Right. I don't know because there's there are high level interest tied to power.

And some of these power structures, including the Mexican military and the Mexican federal government, have a have a connection there. So when the U.S. attempts to exert its force, who's going to be left standing? I don't know. I think we are living through the last stages of this narco culture, this open in your face rolling around the city with a tiger in your car, narco culture, which I got to see. I'm so glad I did, I guess. But I think it's over.

I think you're right. I think we are going to see an evolution of a more low-key criminality in Mexico. because it's not going to go away. These people, you know, what are they going to do? What else are going to do? No. But I think the mass in your face open movement of armed personnel in militarized ways. And I think that's what we're moving towards as far as extinguishing itself in Mexico.

So does that mean that could that exist? Could that new society where criminality is, all underground and they no longer have a foothold with the civilian population? Could that exist without corruption at the highest level like there is now? Or are those things hand in hand? Do you have to get rid of the corrupt elite first before you get rid of these, the worst parts of the cartel? I think people in your comments are going to be screaming at me saying that I'm like pro other past parties in Mexico, Bari or Pan or whatever. Like, I hate all of them.

They're all horrible. All of them are fucking criminal. Right. All of them did horrible shit. And this new Morena party is basically a bunch of the people that left those other parties and joined this Morana party. I mean, it's the same faces. That's just a different name. So there is something wrong with the Mexican pop political culture and structure.

It's the same faces, the same names that just, shift and change colors constantly. And it is clear as day that there's clear ties between some of these government forces and some of the criminality that plagues people. I mean, why is the president of Mexico giving time on air reading this letter by El Mayo Sambada and considering helping him when she hasn't agreed to meet with any of the Madres Buscadores all across Mexico, these mothers who are looking for the. their kids in mass graves across the country.

Some of them unprotected. I mean, I've walked with a few of them. They ask for federal or police protection every now and then, and they don't get an answer. Why isn't she prioritizing them? Why is this at the top of the task list for the consulate? Incredible. So these are the things that make me pause and think about interest and who's like, Who are they really looking out for?

Is there enough drug money left in Sina Loa to where the president who's under a microscope right now would be influenced by? Like, is there enough? I think, you know, I think Choppel offered like $150 million to, I can't remember who the president was. I think it was the guy who started the drug war, basically. Yeah, Calderon. Yeah, Calderon. I think he offered him, like they had, Calderon wanted $200 million.

and Choppe only wanted to give them 100 and I think they settled on 150 million. But those are the good old Coke days. You know, that's what things were thriving. Like now is like, can Cloudia Shinebaum really be influenced by this organization that's essentially just different clans that are all decentralized?

I think the new thing and the thing that is shifted and you hit it on the head, I think is the pressure is no longer going to be money. Right now the pressure is that they know what you did. last summer. I think the pressure is people are going to find out just how deep this relationship was. Save your

ass. And they point fingers to the other parties that they were worse before Calderon was worse. Erika Panganita was worse. They're all the same. And I think that's what Mexicans need to get in their head. It's not about, you know, this party was

better and that party was worse. It's like, all of them are bad. We need to change everything like at a fundamental level because there is no going into the future and becoming a like a global power and I think Mexico has everything it needs I mean the Mexican people are resilient their workers there's great parts of Mexico Mexico Mexico is in all cartels like I've been to some places where these communities amazing communities where like people give you the shirt off their backs that they're amazing people and they there's no doubt who built those pyramids in Mexico with fucking Mexicans built them pyramids So yeah, it is two countries, really.

It's a tale of two countries. So Europe, so the Mexican government might really actually want to get Milesumbada back because it's like, let's keep him close. Let's appease him so he shuts up. Maybe. But I don't think they can do that. I think the only way Americans are going to spring him is after he spills his guts and then they're going to keep him in America.

I would assume. We're talking about theory. right now and I think the only thing if they catch if they catch if they catch a if they catch if they catch a choppo son finally I mean that would be a worthy trade with an with the with the with the U.S. government basically calling the chapitos the main fentanyl distributors and archivalro being you know number one on their list right that's the only one I could see being like a word worthy trade. It just to me feels like once six months go by and America is in a recession and we've just forgotten all about Mexico.

It feels like organizations will regroup, go underground, but just keep moving product. I mean, they already have. They've already changed flight patterns. there was a big aerial route between Tinaloa and Baja that is now heavily monitored and they're aware of this so that they're already kind of like changing strategies in that way. I've heard multiple communications being basically kind of now cycled through.

They used to do that not that regularly. Now they're doing it pretty sporadically. They're aware that they're being listened to on open communication. channels so they're you know they're they're doing their best of like manage that and everybody's not there right now like nobody's picking up the phone so people are on vacation they're they're underground they're hiding you know so my question is if okay with this raid on ivan archievaldo you know they they didn't get him but they got a bunch of people really high up in the organization the money man sounds like his accountant maybe one of his heads of security who's organizing if

I'm a, if I own a couple of companies in Kulia Khan and I also fund fentanyl shipments and I can't get a hold of anybody, who do I go to? I mean, you just wait. You just wait till somebody contacts you. That's usually what happens. I see. Again, I saw something similar to this happen when I worked in Baja where some of the people that basically took control of the area went away.

You know, they were arrested by federal authorities and or. captured, or some of them were killed, you would see the people that they would use, that would use to move things and or to move money and are basically, you know, stall in a wait and see type pattern. I mean, there was a, there was a case of this banker guy who was managing a bunch of accounts that was later caught by, caught by, I don't know, he basically stole a bunch of money from this cartel guy that got fucking killed. So he was like he was trying to figure out how to shovel that money into a, to this weird investment. And I think he got caught that way.

But a lot of these, I mean, they're in the stage of warfare right now. So that is completely unattached through some of the aspects of how they keep their business run. I mean, you have people on the hillsides growing things for them still that I've heard this. You have people still basically managing some of their houses and their drop sites in places like Baja. And you still have people on the U.S. side who have communications and or some sort of allegiance to them still active. So like things are still moving. So there's this whole rumor that he was there for this arrest and he escaped through a tunnel.

the head of the head of national intelligence came out Harfouche came out and said that he wasn't that they were really prioritizing the targets that they got so he's denying it so who knows

I mean if I was him I probably wouldn't be in Kulekod Leggeo. I would not be in Kulay Khan I would be I would be somewhere where I have friends not in Kulekuton so I don't think he's there

myself. A lot of these high-level guys have, you know, have a way of working remotely. And I think in some way, shape, or form, the job is still being, the job and organization is still being done remotely. And there was a war effort being done on the ground in Kulikon by some of these people that are getting, that are getting caught up now by the federal government. Do you think it's a war of attrition? Like, if both sides can keep their business operating separately from the fighting doesn't it seem like the fighting is all just over beef

and not really about money anymore? I mean, it is a vitrition. I mean, they're robbing graves. They're burning each other's houses. There's a famous YouTuber whose parents' house was shot up and burned who has clear ties to old chapitos. Wow.

A bunch of actually famous YouTube. who had ties to Los Chapitos from Kulikon, who basically became famous for their relationships and for them showing up at weird parties and being funny around some of these cartel members have been shot as well. So it is, I mean, I think that this is, this is now beyond any sort of strategic thing. They're, right. They're trying to, they're trying to take each other out. It's completely out of control.

And I guess it's been simmering for so long. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and also, I mean, this, I mean, the betrayal aspect of it, I mean, And criminality being what it is, I mean, betrayal of this level is like a universal language, I think. And handing over a figure like that, I think, has in the consequences that that is going to have on people that they deem as responsible. I mean, I think I wouldn't be surprised if we saw some sort of organized attempt at some of, I mean, El Chapo has family. in the U.S., right?

And they're probably hiding somewhere. Like, I'm waiting for some sort of movement on the U.S. side between these families as well, because if it is a war of attrition, it's something that's probably going to bleed out out of Gula Khan eventually. We haven't seen anything outside of a few assassinations in places like Mexico City, where we saw this European cartel-connected gang member being shot at a parking lot, It had a fake DEA badge who was connected to those miles. Wow.

But like, I'm waiting for something to happen in the U.S., but I just don't know why we're not seeing that right now. Right. But eventually, when things die down, Kula Khan, I think we're probably going to see something state side. Yeah, I don't know how that wraps up. You know, if they catch Yvonne, maybe the government goes in and decapitates the rest of the command.

Like how do you like in a real in like a government sanctioned war? One side eventually just gets so demolished and demoralized. They lose all their land. And they just say, okay, we're going to go turn ourselves in. We're going to surrender. But how does that work with a fractured drug cartel? Like you can't kill everybody on one side. There's thousands of people and associates and, you know, people that are like how does that repair a

or do they just go to work for the winter? Right. They go to work for the winter. Historically, that's how that's how it's always been. Like, hey, this, this, this car shop is pretty good at building hides in vehicles. Yeah. And the guy that used to manage him is dead. Cool.

Who are we working for now? And people will show up and tell them like you work for us now. Right. It's like it happens. It's a change of management. You know, somebody will show up. have a talk with you and the change of management. But with a place like Kula gone with all the heat is on right now, I don't know.

I guess the reason why nothing has changed in Mexico for decades is because the heat has never been consistent. It does seem like the game of, like starting from Mayo's time in the 80s, the whole cycle was one guy gets big. he gets informed on by one of his partners, he gets knocked off. Next guy takes his place. Next guy.

He's, the buck kind of stops with him. He's got, they've got nobody else to go after besides the politicians. So after all of this is done and after the Chapitos are gone and all of, you know, anybody connected to Chapo that's active is incarcerated or just retired or in hiding, same with the Mayo's.

There's that. whole let's grab a guy that whole kingpin strategy for the u.s like these targets that we like these really convenient like scapegoats those all be gone yeah yeah so it seems like the war is even more hopeless i don't know um i think again i've seen this before a large organization fractures into two then it gets prioritized by the government and the organization goes away and gets fractured in its small independent parts. And among these independent parts, somebody comes up and now you have a new organization or somebody from the outside comes in.

So we've seen a single arrest of a high-ranking member of the Northwestern cartel, for example. I'm about to actually go to Monterey and talk to one of the state cops that works that whole region. It's going to work. Their unit has been hit by IEDs and drones and shit like that. So this is recent. So whatever is happening is still happening across the country. Like whatever this fun, people thinking that there's some sort of die down of cartel activity or violence in Mexico or no.

But they've only had one guy, a high-level guy, being arrested from that organization. they still ask the president of Mexico almost on a daily basis if El Mancho is alive or not and the Mexican government doesn't have an answer for that. They don't know if he's alive or not. They just know that he has kidney problems. He's always had kidney problems. That's something I've heard when I was active almost 10 years ago.

So and I just came from Halisco a few weeks ago and they're still there. They're still around, you know, so. Yeah. Who controls the port of Manzanillo? There's a ton of product. There's a lot of meth leaving that port, and then a lot of precursors coming in through that port. Who's really controlling that right now? The Mexican Marines are the ones that officially control that port and control all federal ports coming in and out of Mexico.

And the new generation cartel is the one that is in charge of that specific port. So, again, if people. are looking for like direct ties between the federal government and some of these criminal organizations. How can all these things come into the country and go up into the U.S. without having sort of deal done with these, these members of the military that control some of these forts? And also, why are a bunch of them being assassinated every now and then? You know, like what's going on there?

There's been some, like, very interesting, targeted high-level assassinations of admirals and people that have been in charge of some of these ports, specifically that Port of Manzanillo. So, like, what's going on there? For me, it's always, like, fascinating, seeing the denial aspect that Mexicans have. Some Mexicans have who are very loyalist, the federal government, who are like, no, this is just being utilized in the excuse for the U.S. Well, yeah, it is, but it's still, it's still true that they're being,

the government is corrupt and the military is corrupt here. Right. So there's this denial aspect of it. And on the U.S. side, they don't know, I see some signs of like, oh, they're not buying into the federal government's bullshit anymore. They're still putting pressure on. But then, then you hear the president talk like, oh, we had a conversation. We're cool. She put some troops on the border. Like everything's fine. Like, you know. Are those troops doing anything on the border, by the way? I mean, they look cool and walking around in white multicam in the middle of the fucking brown desert, you know? I mean, they're scaring poor people that can't afford

a smuggler, professional smuggler from crossing the border. Right. The thing with that is like Trump said they were going to put 20,000 troops on the border was the thing. Well, the trick was that they were already on the border.

There was like 4,000. of them in Tijuana alone, I think, before that petition was issued. So there was a big scramble to make these symbolic flights of troops from Mexico City to Tijuana, and you would see these planes show up with like, I don't know, like 40 people, 40 agents coming out of those planes on a big spectacle of them being in Mexico. But nothing has changed. I mean, Tijuana, they left a head recently. in front of a government building.

There's two, three, four, five murders every night. People getting abducted. There's a lot of paid extortion going on all over the country, all over the city. So, like, I get a lot of news because of the people that are still lived there that kind of of talk about some of this. So, like, I'm looking directly at the effects of that surge of federal agencies. on the border and maybe they're scaring off a few poor migrants that want to cross that border through some of the gaps on the border fence but that's about it i mean they're not really

yeah making everybody or everybody feels safe because now they're here you know yeah and that's a guardia nascent al too what you were telling us when we were down there is the most worthless underpaid uh government body right i mean it's um when i started in 2004, I would drive around a bunch of soldiers dressed in gray in the back of my truck to patrol the city. And now there's a bunch of dudes in the back of trucks patrolling the cities dressed in white and gray. So they only added a single color to their uniform and they're doing exactly the same thing. I mean, these are criminals. They're smart.

They know when to go out. They know to use grandmothers with tortilla baskets to move cocaine through the city to the stash house. they know, you know, they know to pay off local cops that will tell them where the federal forces are. They have camera systems throughout the city that are, they're fucking hidden and they can see two movements. A bunch of army guys in the back of trucks that are marked, you're not going to do shit. I mean, business as usual. There's nothing is going to be done with them. Ed, before we get out of here, I want to talk about some of the other areas, the hot zones in Mexico.

You mentioned, like, the east, Monterey and that whole area. Nuevo Laredo, those are like infamous for just constantly having like brutal violence and infighting from different clans, right? Why is the East so much more corrupt? Like, why are those, why are they able to have the military and the cops so much more in their pocket on the east side of Mexico as opposed to like T.J. and the Western side? That's a great question. I think it's probably related to the big aspect of how rural some of it is. I mean, it's vast expanse of just desert and rural areas. There's a pretty interesting collection of money in the form of Monterey and some of the people that live there and the ways that these old wealthy families

and industry around these wealthy families and this very opulent part of Mexico and how that leads to money laundering and people moving in and out of that area. kind of like utilizing that aspect of that part of the country to move their money and influence and basically, you know, manage and maintain drug routes that go right into the upper Texas corridor up into the U.S. I think that corridor itself is the one that feeds most of the East Coast. So there's a shit ton of money in that area. Historically now, the Northwest Cartel of the Northwest is the one that has had the most power in that area. This is a cartel that is hyper-militaristic in its ways. They took a lot of notes from Los Eta's.

They took a lot of notes from some of the Gulf Cartel-era operations and basically turned themselves into a very hyper-militarized cartel with capabilities. that are interesting. I mean, one of the guys that I'm about to talk to this weekend is a state cop who runs, who runs in an operations group very much like the one that I used to work in. And these guys are carrying grenade launchers and like 50 cows and stuff like that. So he's saying that a lot of the stuff they're seeing right now are basically roadside mines, IEDs, with syringe plungers. being utilized detonation devices.

So you put a syringe with the with the actuator. So when the truck falls over, it presses the plunger and it actuates these explosives. The explosives that are being utilized are mining level explosives. And the charges are very reminiscent of stuff that you would see in Columbia with some of the FARC units, which makes sense because a lot of the weird weaponology and the, and the explosives and stuff like that are influenced by American servicemen coming back from the Middle East. Some of it is that influence. But a big part of his IRA people went down to Colombia in the 80s and 90s and trained the FARC forces.

So the IRA method and ways of blowing people up have made their way up into Mexico from Colombia, from some of these people that learned that trade graph back then. And so you and in the northwest cartel is the most dominant. What is the difference between them and the Gulf cartel? They're just a name and leadership, but they're basically related in a lot of ways as far as how they came up and the structures around them. The Northwestern cartel, I think what I see in them is basically youth.

And what comes with this, you know, this unrestrained way of doing things. is hyperviolence. And also that area has a history of it. I mean, restraint is something you usually find in a territory that is uncontested and controlled. Kula Khan used to be restrained until recently. But that area is constantly under threat and constantly being fought over because, again, it's the richest corridor that feeds the eastern part of the United States with its habit. And it's so vast, too. There's a lot of room for competition to come in.

Yeah. And again, I mean, and Mexico doesn't have a lot of air power to patrol. It's, it's territory. So they're not doing anything. It has drones, but there's like a few of them. And I already talked to somebody that works on a Mexican Army drone program. And he was laughing at me saying that most of their drones fit in, you know, in a small warehouse. I mean, there's, there's basically.

nobody supervising or looking after a vast swath of Mexicans northeastern border at all. And unlike the bad luck of the Sinaloa cartel, those guys don't have a brand. Like Americans don't know the Northwest Cartel. There's no figurehead that Americans can point to. You're not yet. You're right. It's interesting when they do become a brand. You know, that's when I always tell people like, why, why him?

Like, with El Chapaguzman, like, why El Chapagouzman? like why el chapo guzma realistically like why him why rolling stone why shan pen right right because you know why because that's the that's what they call in the business of show show business the intangible quality he's just got it yeah why why does this guy get famous in comedy and this other guy who's funnier does it yeah that's sina loa choppo just the names are fucking cool you know I think that's part of it. I think in the Robin Hood aspect, too. Like, we're drug dealers.

We're not terrorists. Like blowing up, setting IUDs. I mean, what is the difference between that and Al-Qaeda? There's no difference. Yeah. I guess the only difference is they're not speaking Arabic and they're not like overseas somewhere really far away. They're really nearby. And there's, there's, it's definitely.

Trump has four years to do something. And I think if he folds in any way, shape, or form with the pressure on the federal government in Mexico to basically not only get Archivaldo, but maybe hand him over, I think then we're going to probably see a repetition of what we did in his first term. And a lot of pressure, a lot of rhetoric, and Mexico is still where it was, you know. we haven't seen them move after U.S. money or companies that have ties to these cartels. We haven't seen any of that. I haven't seen any of that. We haven't seen any part of that designation being utilized in the financial sector. I think that's so why isn't that happening?

What about the special forces in the other day? Yeah, the Senate approved the access of 10 members of the Army special forces to train the military in Mexico, which is something that happens every few years. There's, it's, it's, it was waived as a big, we won flag by certain members of the US,

uh, politicians, but it, it's, it is business as usual. I mean, it's 10 SF guys going down to train the Mexican Marines and some of the Mexican top tier units within the army,

which is something that's happened many times before. I mean, I think probably the Cina Loa, the Maitos probably have that many guys training their own cicadios. There's rumors. There's rumors of some ex-armie, ex-military, U.S. military special operators training different members of the cartel forces, including at least one that I can speak about directly. There's a former Marisot guy or some sort of special operations guy that used to be a part of the Marines who tried. who has appeared many times in training camps up in Michoakan and Halisco. But, you know, 10 guys coming down to train people. It isn't a call for victory that the U.S. just won.

It's access to Mexico. Mexico is still being antagonistic against the U.S. Mexico still doesn't want to cave into the U.S.'s demands. You know, probably what ends migration, big time is a huge recession in the U.S. Is, hey, there's layoffs of everybody. So there's no incentive for somebody from Venezuela to come up.

Yeah. Right? It's probably a correction. I know, I don't know if that's going to happen. I kind of doubt it we'll get that bad. I think they'll start printing money again pretty soon. If there's more of like a correction in the stock market than there already was. But it sounds like Shinebaum and the political party in power in Mexico.

Mexico's is they're between a rock and a hard place because they, they know if they allow drone striking, their parties fucked. Mexicans don't want that shit. Political suicide to be in any way, shape, or form seen as somebody that bows to American interest. Although the last president, unless Mano Lopez or sent a bunch of troops to the border and bowed to American interest. So it's a game.

And I think right now, what I would tell people to look at directly is, you know, is part of this game where they're denying any sort of relationship to O'Maya Sambalaun, and the senior law cartel as far as political supporters. But now we're seeing this whole connection with this lawyer and the legal firm that works for him, uh, for Amaya Sambana and his connection to the Morena party all throughout the last administration and beyond. Wow. Such crazy things are going to happen in the next in the coming months.

I can't wait. I can't wait. And it sounds like a lot of things will just go back to business as usual as well. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm,

I'm, I'm, I'm, this is all going to fizzle out. I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful it doesn't. That then there's something that is, you know,

definitely changes. I mean, legit, I think we're witnessing the end of the scene of law cartels. We knew it. I think Los Chapitos are going to be a thing of the past. pretty soon. But I don't see the other large organizations going away.

I mean, I've seen some high-level arrests. Some pressure is on. But again, I was just in Halisco in there. They're running around. They're rocking and rolling, right? Yeah, they're moving around. And are they pretty out in the open in Halisco? Like, I know that in Mutual Khan, it's basically lawless.

They control everything in the mountains. What's going on in Halisco in the south? of the rural parts of Holisco basically is where you'll see you know these trucks show up and gas up in a town with with things strapped to the back of them and and technicals

and shit like that so like you know we're they're not worried about a Mexican gun chip flying overhead and shooting at them or so like that's what makes me like pause I mean like okay so these guys are

business as usual but I Imagine Gula gun, they're pretty underground. I mean, they're running through tunnels and shit like that. So is this going to be a blanketed effort? Or we're just witnessing like, we're going to target these guys first and then we're going to go out for these. And there's a strategy there, which if there is, cool. I could see it.

I could see this divide and conquer strategy maybe. But I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. I think it sounds like the best thing for everybody. And by everybody, I mean everybody but the people, the citizens. But it sounds like the best thing for the cartels, for the politicians on both sides of the border is that Yvonne gets arrested, that Chapitos, there's big headlines, that Chapitos have fallen. And then we all go have lunch.

Yep. That's, that's, that's, I think the outcome that I, again, the outcome that I think is probably going to happen. this this new figure of this new old choppo guzman and the figure of his son being arrested paraded in front of the media yeah and people saying our job here is done just like toxedo man and in uh you know and the uh sailor moon he would show up and just like say some advice and leave not do anything right you know something like that i think it's probably maybe going to happen um yeah everybody's excited about troops on the ground and and these special forces guys coming down and taking on the cartels, but it's, I don't see it, man, I don't see it.

Yeah. Well, we witnessed it. We witnessed it. Sorry, go ahead. Any sort of fundamental change that is going to do anything is going to involve the federal government or somebody in the federal government being arrested and or, you know, found out or exposed. Wow. I think if that happens, then I'll sit down with my popcorn and say that, you know what, I think

I think there's some fundamental thing that's about to change. Okay, so why? Why? If say like the number two person, number three person in the government of Mexico, in Mexico City gets arrested for blatant corruption from, you know, taking money from Mayo and God knows who else, what would that signal? Would that tell other politicians we can't take bribes from cartels anymore?

Yeah, I mean, imagine, imagine, you know, It's funny that most of the presidents, ex-presidents of Mexico live in Spain right now for some reason. So imagine we see Felipe Calderon on the news in handcuffs because, I don't know, it was found out to have direct ties to one cartel or the other. Or we see an arrest warrant being issued for former President Andres Manalapis Elipas El Salvador by the U.S. because of clear cartel ties and stuff like that. I think that is going to be a big president as far as like what happens after that, you know. Okay, so say that happened.

Now politicians can't take drug money anymore. That would affect how cartels do business. They could no longer be these outward militaristic organizations because they're all going to go to jail or get killed. Like they would in the U.S., right? Is that? And so then everybody gets, and then society calms down.

and there's still drugs moving and there's still humans getting smuggled, but it's just a more law and order-based society versus one that's driven by crime first. Yeah, the whole aspect of this being in the open. I mean, I always mentioned this. When I first started working, there were cartel, a cartel convoys in the middle of the day rolling around with a case outside the window, you know, in the middle of the city. And everybody was looking at them, nobody was doing shit.

That's in Tijuana, which is so insane because you could see. downtown San Diego. Yeah. Yeah. And that was going on just 15 years ago. That was going on. Yeah. And that's gone.

And now we're at a point where the only thing that is exposed or that you can really see is Omaeus and Bob's lawyer hanging out with the president. You know? So that that that's the open in the open aspect of this now. So I don't know. Like that's something if that happens, if they target like they already targeted a general and they let him go. Like I'm waiting for a presidential, a president's name to be dropped as somebody of interest

or in an open, a U.S. investigation on a, on a former Mexican president. Right. That makes a lot of sense. If that happens, I'll sit down and eat some popcorn and say like, oh, okay, now there's, this is going to be interesting. Hey, hey, buddy, I wouldn't hold my breath. I mean, I mean, there's, there's, again, there's two of them in Spain. right now hiding having the time of their lives for some reason in Spain.

A lot of cats from Sinaloa in Spain too. Getting money. So again, like people in Mexico always, people in Mexico always come up with this argument where like, wow, you're just defending the former presidents and like you're all about the other party. Like they're all, all of them are in on it. Yeah. Well, my prediction is just like most things, violence will not do it.

the technology and more opulence and affluence, which can only happen through time, is what will do it. That's my prediction. And so it's not going to be, it's going to be a few decades at least, I think. But yeah, I think money and the U.S.'s interest for an industrial base and manufacturing base outside of China. Yeah. Is the main push, not the fentanyl epidemic, which is not even, it's not what it was. Yeah, no, I agree. I agree. It's got to the change actually will come with America first.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's, I just, I talked to a bunch of reporters from the UK recently, and they were in L.A. first, and then they came down to Tijuana. And they're like, has the, has the fentanyl pipeline to the United States been affected in any way, shape, or form? And I told them, like, you were just at L.A. right? Yeah.

What do you think? And they were like, well, what did you see? A lot of people walking around like zombies. So I think the pipeline is, whatever is feeding that is still active. And there's nothing has changed with all the military presence on that border. Has, do you know anybody that does Coke that can't find Coke anywhere? Do you, what is the price? I don't know anybody that does Coke.

Has the price gone up? Has the price gone up of anything? No. That should tell you something. Yeah, like all the people that I know that know other people that might use the substance, they are not kind of like, wow, holy shit, man. Like, I can't find any or, you know, it's still there. No price fluctuations, no massive issues in hospitals for people going through withdrawals

because they can't get their supply, none of that, you know, which would be indicators that something is actually shifting and changing fundamentally with the drug trade. But you're just not seeing it. So last question. I heard that in Kulia Khan, their New York Times ran a big article about how it's, they're testing. They're basically like making magic potions of different fentanyl batches because it's gotten, the fentanyl's gotten weaker, they say. And so they basically, they buy bunch of.

bunny rabbits from pet stores and they test the fent, the new batches on them. And if the bunnies die, that means it's good fentanyl. Which is wild. It's such a Mexican thing. It's so fucking dark and funny. But is that, have precursors? Has there been a dent in the precursors coming over from China? Like, has there been increased enforcement on that at all?

I haven't heard anything about increased enforcement on precursors or lack thereof. I have heard of the addition of trank, a tranquilizer. I've ever heard about that. Trank is being added to some batches. And it's not even about the unavailability of fentanyl or precursors. It's more about they're trying to figure out how to not kill or like come out with something that won't kill people. Oh, interesting. I don't know about bunny rabbits.

I mean, some of the people that I've talked to about this type of stuff, they're like people. Oh, okay, you, sube talcaro, like, get in the car. Oh, yeah. Right. Like, try this. That's what I've heard, like people. Right. But I don't know.

This, this, this, uh, but certainly, uh, overdoses have really come down in the U.S. So it either means the population. It's probably a combination of things. A population is getting, uh, tolerant to it. I think the medical, I think the medical industry is getting really good at dealing with fentanyl overdoses. Uh, because they know what's, going on. There's a bunch of Narcan everywhere.

I went to Seattle and got a backpack full of it. They were like just giving it out with crack pipes and a needle. So I was like, well, I'll take some of these, I guess. It's better than Afrin. But whatever this

attempt that everybody's kind of like making to make the central feature of this drug war or now war on terror because I think the drug war is over now. making fentanyl central to this have to really kind of reanalyze that because it's

people are wise to some of it there's some pretty at-risk people who don't give a shit who will inject piss into their veins that have mental issues that living on the street that might not fit into this category but people are wise to it people are careful with their drugs

people who are worried about putting a pill in their mouth if they're not too sure about it, you know? So the culture, the drug culture has changed. Yeah. The medical industry has changed around fentanyl in the drug culture as well. So they're getting pretty good keeping people alive. So this is, it seems like the central issue, you're right, shouldn't be the drugs. It should be organizing the border, organizing the migration, so they're not exploited by cartels. But really, it's taking down the political elite in Mexico.

Yeah. And Mayo could hold the keys to that. That guy has, he's an atomic weapon. He is a weapon of mass destruction. Like if people would go down to Mexico look for a weapon of mass destruction, he is it. He is the weapon of mass destruction. He has a ledger that goes back 50 years, at least.

Wow. He's become a political lynchpin. He's so much more than a drug dealer. He's a spy. He's a diplomat. He's a politician. How everything we just talked about, how is he not a politician who traffics drugs? It's absolutely mind-blowing. The only thing that people should like pay attention to in his letter is that if his issue isn't resolved, that it will be stabilized. relationships between the United States and Mexico. Like, he is a very calculated person. Why did he put that in that letter? It's unbelievable. He even uses the propaganda of politicians. Yeah.

Yeah. Unbelievable. Well, we'll see. We'll tap back in because I think something is going to happen soon with that, like in the next couple of months. I'm keeping tabs on it myself. Again, I'm about to go to Monterey and talk to some of the people that are like fighting in on the East Coast.

which is something you don't hear that much about. So that's why I'm going out there to talk to some of these guys out there who are on the front lines. And again, my whole thing with this whole issue is advocacy. I have friends. I went on this giant podcast in Mexico with Daffa. And that reconnected me with a bunch of the people that I used to work with who thought I was dead or MIA or like they didn't know what the fuck happened to me. All of a sudden I show up on this really weird popular podcast in Mexico speaking about my experiences. And they're like, holy shit, this guy's a lot.

And a lot of them have reconnected. And man, some of the stories I'm getting from them. And also some of the details about what's going on. A lot of them, like myself, had a lot of training. And a lot of them are now placing high levels federally. Some of them are in some of these SF units. they're all over this current wave of it and they're like, hey, man, this is, this feels like the kickoff like 2006 again. That's what they're all saying.

It feels like 2006 all over again. Which in some ways makes you think like, well, maybe this time it's something that's going to change everything. Or this is just a snake biting its tail again and it's all going to settle down into two or three large organizations again. who are kind of low-key underground and date for and, you know, business as usual. I don't know. And another 400,000 murders and 15 years from now we'll be talking about the same thing. So hopefully, yeah, hopefully it doesn't go that way. And Mexico's got a lot of good cops, you know.

I'm talking to one of them, even though people think you're not from Mexico and you're a CIA agent. Cool. Yeah. That's so stupid Americans are. We don't get, we see somebody that can speak to. languages flawlessly and we're like, oh, he's a plant. Yeah, he's a, I'm a plant. You know, he knows Jeffrey Epstein. I spoke to my boss for four hours on a podcast, but that, you know, somehow I'm, I can't speak Spanish and I, I'm a CIA plant. It's cool. I love it, though.

We love you, man. We love you. That was, this was fucking enlightening. Let's tap back in when we hear more. I mean, the next time we talk, Yvonne could be arrested. Like, that's how fast these guys are getting knocked off. So we will wait and see. But go check out his podcast. Go check out his podcast. Go check out Manifest Radio podcast. For the love of God, he has the, all of these, all the details that we talk about.

He's talking to the actual people in Mexico that live it and experience it. So Ed, go plug away again before we get out of here. Manifesto Radio Podcast on YouTube and Manifesto Radio Podcasts on YouTube. and Manifesto Radio podcast on Instagram. And yeah, like, as soon as anything moves, Johnny, we'll come out and talk to you about it. Yeah. I've always appreciated the way that you and I talk about some of these things

because both of us were, we were in it for a while, and then we don't want to, you know, now we're not, and we can speak about some of the aspects of this, honestly. Yeah. This whole aspect for me is about speaking about the truth of some people that went through it. And the good and the bad and also the experience that comes out of it and, you know, how to make a positive out of it. On my end, I'm just trying to bring a voice of a lot of voiceless people like myself who are eaten up by the system in Mexico and spat out, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And I'm doing it because, you know, money and pussy.

Yes. And that hasn't changed. No, I'm doing it because I love Mexico. because I feel a kinship and yeah, I'd probably move in there. So I'd really like things to settle down. Come down to Mexico City. It's a great place. All right. Well, we're going to get out of here. Go watch Manifesto Radio podcast.

Go follow them. Best Instagram follow in the Americas is Ed. I'm serious. Is Ed on, I steal a lot of his clips for my own reuse on my own Instagram. So go check. them out but watch that podcast and and we're going to get back together very soon. Ed, thank you so much, my man. Thank you, brother.

We'll talk to you later. Take care, guys.