All language subtitles for Trafficked.with.Mariana.van.Zeller.S04E06.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH

[♪ ominous music]

[Mariana Van Zeller] There
are hundreds of people here.

Everywhere you look.

You just see groups
of people waiting.

They're sitting with backpack.

This was me,
nearly 20 years ago

on one of my first
international assignments.

[speaking Spanish] Maria!
I don't believe it!

How good. How are you?

[speaking Spanish].

[Mariana Van Zeller] I was
doing a story about migrants

trying to make their way
across Mexico and into

the United States.

The starting point for
that journey was Tapachula.

A chaotic little town on
Mexico's southern border,

where migrants hopped
on board "La Bestia."

La Bestia, or "The Beast,"
is what migrants called the

dangerous freight trains they
rode north for days on end.

The train keeps on jerking.

So, you, you have to keep a
constant grip on the train,

and it's hard.

Back then, all you needed to
reach the border was courage.

These days, I'm told you
need a whole lot more.

Wow, this is so crazy.

This looks nothing
like it used to.

This was the main train
station, so you'd have

hundreds of migrants here
every single day, basically

just hoping to get on
the train to go north.

The train tracks are no longer
here, but the migrants,

they still keep coming.

They have to come
through this, this area.

Tapachula is still the
first stop in Mexico for

thousands of migrants,

but the path north to the
U.S. is now controlled

by a violent
criminal underworld.

There's a new beast in town.

[gunshots]

[shouting]

[Mariana Van Zeller]
That's why I've come back.

To try to get inside the most
profitable migrant smuggling

machine the
world has ever seen.

[theme music plays]

[Mariana Van Zeller] So, this is
the central square in Tapachula.

The vast majority of the
people that line up,

that are around here at
the square, are migrants.

They all have backpacks,
they have bags.

There are so many, it's crazy.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Years ago,
migrants like these would

hop ride on the train
and continue north.

But free rides are apparently
no longer an option.

[Mariana Van Zeller] But what
happens to the migrants

who do have money?

What exactly are
they buying into?

That's what I want
to understand,

which is why I'm heading
to meet a man

I'm told is one of
the key players

in this new
people-smuggling pipeline.

I've been hearing about
this guy for over a year now.

There were a lot of times
where we thought we were gonna

finally meet him, a
lot of false starts.

It never happened
until, hopefully, today.

This is a big boss in
this sort of operation.

[dog barking]

[Mariana Van Zeller]
I think we're here.

Let me know if you
guys see anyone.

Oh, yeah. Okay.
I see him.

I think that's him, yeah.

[Mariana Van Zeller] We're
calling him Jose, but his

nickname on the street
is "King Coyote",

coyote being slang for
a migrant smuggler.

He works mostly with migrants
from South and Central America,

but has clients
from as far away as India.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Uh-huh.

[Mariana Van Zeller] I've been
reporting on the underworld

for nearly two decades.

This is the first time a
black market operator has

referred me to their
finance department.

[Mariana Van Zeller] I was
certain that no one is making

that kind of money smuggling
anything in Mexico without,

what you might call,
"permission."

[Mariana Van Zeller] Wow.

[Mariana Van Zeller] From
the cartels' perspective,

I understand the logic
of this new system.

By allowing these transport
companies to exist,

it professionalized the
business of people smuggling,

making it more efficient
and more lucrative.

[Mariana Van Zeller] I had my
doubts about the rosy picture

he's painting of his operation,
but I'm eager to learn more.

And he agrees to connect me
with one of his smugglers.

A man responsible for
transporting migrants from

Tapachula, north
towards Mexico city.

We're heading to meet
this contact and he's been

incredibly
nervous to talk to us.

And he's very suspicious
still, so we just,

for all of our sake,
just, you know,

make him feel as
comfortable as possible.

I see him over there.

So, just put the cameras down
for a second and we can

pick back up when
he's inside the car.

Camera down.

Sure enough, he
doesn't want to talk.

I have to practically beg
him to get into the car.

But he finally does.

I'm eager to hear what it's
like on the frontlines

of the people
smuggling business.

[♪ mysterious music]

[Mariana Van Zeller] This man,
who we'll call Ernesto,

is part of a new breed
of transport company

making millions shuttling
migrants across Mexico

and into to the U.S.

[Mariana Van Zeller] From there,
he drives them north

towards Mexico City.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
It's a bit shocking.

His boss, King Coyote,
told me they charge

12 grand per person,

which seems like a lot
for such inhumane treatment.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Like his
boss, he's quick to

justify their approach.

[Mariana Van Zeller] I'm
doubtful about that, but

I don't press him because
I want to keep him talking.

[Mariana Van Zeller] This
description of the cartels'

involvement sounds
more threatening than

King Coyote's version.

I want to hear more,

but I think talk of the
cartels has spooked him.

He cuts our interview short,
after less than 20 minutes.

Okay, so we just
dropped off Ernesto.

The interesting thing that we
weren't able to film is that

his wife was actually
in the back seat

in-between the two cameras.

Apparently, they discussed and
the only way that he'd feel

comfortable talking to us was
if she was present, as well.

So, that was interesting.

These are the trucks
that he says they actually

transport people in.

That's exactly it.

You know, it's really hard
with these interviews,

we were trying to make him
comfortable, but it's always

sort of a balance of how much
you push and pushing too much

will mean we'll lose access.

So, we're hoping that we can
ask more questions and see

more of the operation
in the following days.

But more access to King Coyote's
operation never arrives.

So, we're stuck chasing access
to other people-smugglers.

Some with a very
different pitch to migrants.

We're heading to meet a guy,

sort of involved in
the migrant trade.

There's a boat apparently
waiting for us

to take us to him.

And they just told us to, you
know, have our eyes wide open,

ears wide open in this area
because there is a lot of

cartel presence here.

[engine rumbling]

Okay. I see. Yeah.

There's a boat
coming this way.

He's, uh, yeah, he's
coming right towards us.

Yeah, so he's, uh, our guy is
the guy wearing the mask and

there's a bunch of
people on the boat.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
It's a little awkward,

he's not saying anything.

From the looks of things,
we're wading right into the

middle of his business.

[boat engine idling]

[Mariana Van Zeller] I'm in
Southern Mexico talking to a

smuggler who's asked
us to call him Pantera.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Despite
the cartels being paid off,

these boats must run a
gauntlet of armed opportunists.

[Pantera] Uh-hmm.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Her
entire life's savings,

spent on a gamble,

that this little boat will
make it to its destination.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Just like
those who travel by road, the

boat will take these migrants
north before they are shuttled

to Mexico City.

From there, they are stuffed
like any other product into

18-wheelers, for a
drive to the U.S. border

that could take
up to two days.

It's a leg of the journey
that has become synonymous

with tragedy.

[CNN Reporter] They have found
50 migrants dead inside a

truck in San Antonio, what
they now believe to be one of

the deadliest smuggling
incidents in U.S. history.

[Mariana Van Zeller] These
migrants sell everything they

own for the chance to make it
to the U.S., and this is how

they're treated along the way.

[speaking Spanish].

[Mariana Van Zeller] Uh-hm okay,
they're saying they have to go,

because the sun is going down.

They have to
start their journey.

[Mariana Van Zeller] What's
becoming clear is that the

people doing the actual work
of smuggling migrants,

people like Pantera and the
transporter I met in the car,

know the details of their job,
but not much more.

It's only bosses like
King Coyote that are familiar

with the actual terms
of this ugly business.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Thinking
back to our conversation,

what's still unclear is this,

even if companies
like King Coyote's,

have learned how
to work with the cartels,

how could they possibly
move thousands of migrants

past so many police?

[Mariana Van Zeller] So this guy
we're meeting is very nervous.

We were supposed to meet
him at a train station.

He's moved locations on
us a few times already.

And it's understandable
why he's nervous.

He's essentially a whistleblower
who's going to be

talking to us about corruption
within the government.

[Mariana Van Zeller] I'm talking
to a federal immigration agent

turned whistleblower,
who we'll call Miguel.

He says it works like this,
on every route north,

there are dozens of checkpoints.

Migrants who have hired a
cartel-approved company like

King Coyote's, are
able to pass through

without getting hassled.

That's part of what
their $12,000 ensures.

[Mariana Van Zeller] On
the other hand, migrants

attempting the journey on
their own, like the Venezuelan

family I met in Tapachula, are
forced to pay small bribes at

every checkpoint
along the way.

[Mariana Van Zeller] It's a
system designed to maximize

the exploitation of desperate
people, while simultaneously

enriching both the cartels and
corrupt government officials.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Sadly,
this sort of collusion

between the cartels and
the Mexican State isn't new.

[Reporter] Caught on tape,
Mexican police apparently

carrying out
orders for gangsters.

[Mariana Van Zeller] It's
been a problem in Mexico

for decades now.

So much so, that just this year,

Mexico's former head
of public security

was found guilty of
drug trafficking.

This is the type of power
that the cartels wield

throughout the country.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Uh-hmm.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
The immigration officer's

accusations hang in the air
as I head towards the border.

The stories the
Venezuelans told me

suddenly make much more sense.

[Mariana Van Zeller] I've kept
in touch with the Venezuelans.

And the last I've heard, they
were able to slip past the

authorities and hitch a ride
north on one of the trains.

Riding La Bestia is
apparently still an option,

but much less common.

Which makes sense, considering
all the vested interests

in the new system.

[Mariana Van Zeller] After
almost two weeks on the road,

I finally arrived at
Mexico's northern border.

It's the last leg of the journey
and we've gained access

to yet another
transport company,

run by a rival of King Coyote's,

a man who calls himself Zorro.

So, we got a call from Zorro.

Apparently, there's a
group of a few migrants

that have just arrived.

They're going to cross
to the U.S. soon.

And he's given us this address
for this stash house where the

migrants are staying
before they cross the border

[speaking Spanish].

[Mariana Van Zeller] Okay.
Around the corner.

It's around the corner
from here. Okay.

[Man] Walkie-talkies down.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Walkie-talkies and cameras down.

[Man] And camera down.
Let's do it quickly.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Yeah.
So get out? Okay.

So they're saying right now.

[distant sirens]

[speaking Spanish].

[♪ dramatic music]

[Mariana Van Zeller] We're
witnessing one of the last

hurdles for migrants on this
side of the border,

the final payment
before crossing,

which is split between
the transport company

and the cartel.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Uh-hmm.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Um...

He says he's going to make
a phone call to his family,

because he's the only
one who hasn't paid yet.

And, uh, he wants to ask them
when the money is coming in.

[Mariana Van Zeller] The subtext
of that last bit was chilling,

but also easy to miss,

"I want my brother here.
We want him here with family."

In other words,
please don't hurt him.

[Mariana Van Zeller] I'm in a
stash house in northern Mexico,

not far from the border,

where migrants are
held captive until

their payment is delivered.

[Mariana Van Zeller] We depart.

According to King Coyote,
these sorts of confrontations

are common on both
sides of the border.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Despite
the thinly veiled threats,

I'm told that later that evening
Angel's sister came through

with the money.

He'll be crossing with the
others in the coming days.

[speaking Spanish].

[Mariana Van Zeller]
The next morning, I meet up

with Zorro again.

He's transporting a different
group across the border;

migrants who've
already paid their part.

Super tight quarters here,
we have a driver.

Zorro sitting next to me
here too in the front row.

And then four migrants are
in the back of the truck.

Uh, we are heading to the
drop off point, it's about

a 20-minute drive, where
everyone will get out of the

car and the journey across
the desert starts for them.

[Mariana Van Zeller] The
migrants slip through a

rickety barbed wire
fence and begin walking.

But once they cross, they'll
face another one to three days

of hiking through the Sonoran
desert, until they reach

their pickup location.

[sirens]

[dog barking]

[Mariana Van Zeller] As for
what happens to migrants on

the other side of the border.

You don't have
to look too hard.

Even TikTok provides clues.

Black market transport
companies post ads

recruiting drivers.

They're looking for Americans
willing to shuttle migrants

from the border into
urban centers,

where they can
effectively disappear.

Drivers make thousands
of dollars per trip,

if they can make it past
U.S. Law enforcement.

[Cop] What we're trying to
do is position ourselves

at choke points.

I'm, uh, right here
at Pearce and 191.

Where we believe that they're
going to have to come through

us in order to get to
their final destination.

[Mariana Van Zeller] We
spent one night with the

Cochise County, Arizona
sheriff's department.

And witnessed the
chaos firsthand.

[Cop] He's gonna run.
We are northbound.

[sirens]

Driver, step out of the
vehicle and face away from me!

Be advised, as soon as
I activated my lights,

the vehicle is not stopping.

Driver, stick your
hands out the window!

Put your hands
behind your back.

How many more do you
got inside the car?

[Mariana Van Zeller] These
arrests may seem like a win

for law enforcement.

[Cop] You have the
right to remain silent.

Anything that you say can and
will be used against you

in the court of law.

You have the right to talk to a
lawyer and have them present...

[Mariana Van Zeller] But the
reality is that each year,

thousands of
migrants get through.

And the ones who don't
will often try again.

In a nutshell,

that's why the people-smuggling
business is booming.

Because for the world's
most vulnerable people,

the dream of living in America

is only available on
the black market.

In case you're wondering,

the Venezuelan
migrants I spoke with

crossed the border
in May of 2023,

after an eight-month journey
through seven countries.

They surrendered to
authorities in Texas and

are currently living in the U.S.

And awaiting an asylum
hearing, along with nearly

1.6 million others.

Captioned by
Cotter Media Group.