Original subtitles

[♪ soft guitar music playing]

♪ Crossroads, crossroads ♪

♪ I'm standing at a fork in the road ♪

♪ No sign to tell me ♪

♪ Which way they go ♪

[telephone ringing]

[♪ dark music playing]

[Jamie Abercrombie] I got a call from

the local investigator.

There's something weird at this cabin,

we looked around, but there's really nothing out of place.

We walk into the bathroom, the bathtub looks clean.

But she shines a flashlight into the drain...

and right then I knew that we had a murder.

[♪ sinister music playing]

Oh, no. Is that blood?

Blood and flesh and bone.

Oh, my God, that's crazy.

[Jamie] We began looking outside the cabin.

We soon discovered a burn barrel

and human remains.

This is not our typical mountain murder.

This was a professional job.

But I didn't know it was gonna be the cartel...

-[gunshot] -[indistinct radio chatter]

...in small town America,

the backyard of where I grew up.

[♪ unsettling music swells]

[♪ guitar music playing]

[birds chirping]

[Ken Howard] I've been doing this for 30 years now,

and all murders are not the same.

You know, we don't see a lot of dismemberments,

uh, and burnings.

That's very unique, when you try to disappear

someone in that fashion.

[Mariana van Zeller] Ken Howard and Jamie Abercrombie

are special agents

with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

They were able to identify the dismembered body

found outside the cabin as Rossana Delgado,

a 37-year-old Venezuelan immigrant.

What can you tell me about her?

She had been in the country for about five years,

and she had come here to work, to support her family,

and she was a legitimate taxi driver,

but she also was a taxi driver

for what we learned to be the cartel.

She was transporting drugs for the cartel?

Yes. She was a courier for them.

[Mariana] The investigation revealed that Rossana's murder

was ordered by her boss, Edwin Murillo,

a drug trafficker with ties to a Mexican cartel,

known for employing ruthless gangland style tactics.

Was she living the perfect lifestyle? No.

But she had a family. She was a mother.

She was a wife.

And killed for no reason.

[Mariana] Mistakenly under the impression

Rossana was stealing from him,

Murillo hired a Mexican sicario or a professional hit man.

[Jamie] At the cabin,

she is interrogated and tortured.

Murillo is the one interrogating her.

But Murillo's in prison.

Oh.

[Jamie] So he's interrogating her

on a phone call.

And during her interrogation,

the fingers from her right hand...

Oof.

...are cut off with pliers.

Oh, my God.

The sicario that was brought here gets a chainsaw,

and Rossana is in a bathtub,

and he grabs her by the hair of her head.

Oh, my God.

And while she is alive and conscious...

puts the chainsaw to her neck and ends her life.

I mean, this is the stuff that you think only exists in movies.

I mean, you definitely don't ever imagine

that this is happening in small town America.

-No, you don't. -I think most people think of

drug trafficking organizations and distribution,

and they think of big cities, right?

Why do you think the cartel

is operating in small town America?

I think a lot of times they often assume

that maybe law enforcement doesn't have the resources.

So let's start operating

where there is less law enforcement presence.

[Ken] That's right.

[♪ intense music swells]

[Mariana] The United States has long been

the world's largest, most lucrative market

for illicit drugs.

A market estimated to be worth

at least $150 billion a year.

The cash flowing south has corrupted governments

across Latin America.

And according to some sources, has given rise to at least

200 drug cartels in Mexico alone,

resulting in a staggering amount of human carnage.

[siren wailing]

But the murder of Rossana Delgado

is a wake-up call that cartel-related violence

is much closer to home.

Do you have any idea how many cartel members there are

across the country or at least here in Georgia?

No way. No way to know.

Cartel trafficking organizations,

they're very good at blending in.

Their kids go to school with our kids.

A lot of 'em hold down legitimate jobs and look normal.

-Look like everybody else. -[Mariana] Mm-hmm.

There's just a shadow life that they lead behind the scenes.

Most average citizens would be fairly shocked

to hear what kinda presence they have here.

[♪ slow dramatic music playing]

[Mariana] I want to uncover the true extent

of the cartel's reach north of the border

by gaining access to one of their US cells.

But to do it, I first need to head south

to the seat of the crown.

[squawking]

[Miguel Angel Vega] This looks very quiet,

and then you realize every single person in this city

has a link to narcos in a way.

[Mariana] Culiacán.

Headquarters of the Sinaloa Cartel,

one of the largest and most brutal

drug trafficking organizations in the world.

Okay, so this is el mercadito.

Do you see how all these parasols here,

all these umbrellas, they are people, basically,

it's cash exchange huts.

So all of these people here are here

to exchange dollars to pesos?

[Miguel] All of them.

My friend, journalist Miguel Angel Vega,

knows firsthand how in this city,

narco trafficking is simply a fact of life.

Mostly because they don't want to declare that money,

because the, the money was made through

narco trafficking, most likely.

Right.

[Mariana] The money exchangers,

do they declare that money?

Is that, any of that money being declared?

[Miguel] Of course, of course not.

-[Mariana] It's confusing. -[Miguel] Confusing?

What do you mean? It's not confusing.

[Mariana] Just that it's out in the open!

And nobody comes and stops this from happening.

The police knows that they're doing this.

They can't come here and shut down the business?

Because the police, the police is owned by the cartels.

What are they gonna do? They can't do nothing.

Because, you know, the power of the cartel.

Why do they have a lot of power? Because, corruption.

They have so much power.

[Mariana] I'm here to find someone high up in the cartel

who can grant us permission to film their US operations.

And Miguel is a man with connections to the key players.

[Mariana] So who's this guy

that we're gonna talk to, Miguel?

[♪ electronic music playing]

[Mariana] Tony is in charge of logistics

for several drug cells in the US,

making him the perfect person

to give me an insider's view of how the organization works.

[Mariana] In recent years,

advances in surveillance technology

have allowed the cartels

to extend their reach thousands of miles from Mexico.

[newscaster] Ninety people have been arrested,

including seven in Seattle.

...in connection to a drug trafficking ring

that's been linked to a Mexican cartel.

[newscaster] Forty-one people just indicted in a massive

Mexican drug smuggling and money laundering operation.

[Mariana] Tony's fear of ending up

in headlines like these

means he's hesitant to give us access.

[Mariana] So Miguel and I hit the road again

to chase a lead from within a different faction

of the Sinaloa Cartel,

a shadowy figure with ties to the US.

And this is a lieutenant?

He's a lieutenant.

I know he's big, and I know

he has this direct line in several states in the US.

[Mariana] But he hasn't said we have that access,

but he wants to meet us first?

I think it's like a test.

Men, they have these gunmen,

they have these lookouts all over the place,

that have these offices, oficinas.

[Mariana] And we'll be watched as soon as we enter.

[Miguel] Absolutely.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

-[radio beeps] -[faint chatter on radio]

[Mariana] No matter how many times I've done it,

being in a room full of people with guns is always unnerving.

[indistinct chatter]

Especially when everyone is noticeably on edge.

[radio beeps]

[♪ ominous music swells]

[♪ peppy music overlaps]

[person cheers]

[♪ music grows sinister]

So we're in a, basically a small building,

and he's saying that there's other security members,

um, gunmen, some are hidden, and we can't see them.

[Mariana] Meet the lieutenant,

who we'll call Sami.

Lieutenants are one of the highest-ranking positions

in a drug cartel.

These are the guys who report directly to the big bosses,

who are responsible for calling in hit men

and for granting the access I'm looking for.

[Sami] Mm-hmm. Yeah.

[speaks faintly]

Qué?

[♪ tense music playing]

[Mariana] The Marines are a tight-knit organization,

known to be the least corruptible

of Mexico's armed forces.

They're one of the few groups the cartels truly fear.

[Mariana] It may not be the best time

to push for access,

but that's exactly what I'm here to do.

[indistinct radio chatter]

Okay. So, yeah, so he's hearing all the chatter

and they're saying we have to go for our own security, guys.

[♪ intense music builds]

Despite our best efforts, we're forced to leave Mexico

without knowing where the investigation is headed.

[♪ slow acoustic guitar music playing]

♪ The other road is crooked ♪

♪ Could lead to sorrow and pain ♪

♪ But that lonely journey ♪

♪ Might bring me fortune and fame ♪

Shortly after I arrive back in US,

Sami, the lieutenant, comes through,

sending us to Minnesota,

deep in the American heartland.

♪ Oh, crossroads, crossroads, I'm standing... ♪

But I'm learning fast that filming with the cartel

in the United States is far more complicated

than on their home turf.

♪ ...which way to go ♪

[♪ tense music playing]

[Miguel] It's been crazy.

Uh, nobody trusts you here.

They change locations, they change dates.

It's, it's a hustle, you know?

It seems like you need a drink right now.

I do. [laughs]

[Mariana] I meet Miguel on the outskirts of town.

He's been working behind the scenes,

coordinating with the lieutenant back in Mexico,

who's been giving him the runaround.

We were told they were gonna show us

their operation here in Minnesota.

And then suddenly, we get a call saying,

"Actually that was just a cover story,

"it's not in Minnesota.

"It's in another state and you're gonna have to drive

"for many hours to get the other state

because that's where we're gonna give you access."

To complicate the situation even further,

the lieutenant's behavior

has been growing increasingly paranoid.

[Miguel] He was sometimes yelling, raising his voice,

and making all these threats.

Wh-what threats? What exactly did he say?

Like, if you guys are not real,

if you're undercover, then, man, you're gone.

He would... He said that directly to you?

-He said that to you? -He said that. "Nos vamos."

Which means, you know, you can get killed.

It's clear that, that he was so nervous

from the very beginning 'cause, you know,

this is not usual for them.

And the rules are different here than in Mexico.

[♪ slow dramatic music playing]

[Mariana] With access up in the air yet again,

there's no choice but to head to the next location,

which we've agreed not to disclose,

just one of many conditions we've been given.

[cell phone ringing]

Hola, Miguel?

[Miguel] So what's happening?

Wait, what?

[Mariana] I have no idea

why a high-ranking cartel lieutenant

would travel thousands of miles from Sinaloa, Mexico

to small town USA.

But it doesn't sound good.

[Miguel] Marianita, I'm not sure what's happening.

[♪ intense, suspenseful music playing]

Okay.

After numerous false starts and dead ends,

the latest twist is that the lieutenant

will be personally overseeing our shoot.

Okay. Adios. Wow, okay.

So it's actually the same guy that we met in Sinaloa,

um, which is surprising.

I wasn't expecting that, but, um, they seem to be

all a little bit on edge, even Miguel,

which I could tell he was, he's nervous.

But apparently this is one of the safe houses

that the cartel has here in this town.

Um, so just waiting on an address. Okay.

He just sent me an address, and it's about 20 minutes away.

Finally, hopefully this is happening right now.

Okay, you guys are filming? Everybody's filming?

We're good?

Okay.

[♪ tense electronic music playing]

Okay. Um, when I saw you in Sinaloa,

you told me that you never travel to the United States,

and yet here you are now.

-Yeah. -So you...

Were you not telling me the truth or...

[Sami] Mm-hmm.

So you travel to the United States?

[Mariana] Clearly, I can't always believe

what the lieutenant says,

and despite him agreeing to let us film a drug buy

that's about to go down,

I'm doubtful he trusts me either.

[knock on door]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

-It's the delivery. -[Sami] Uh-huh.

There was a delivery of drugs that he was waiting for.

-[Sami] Sí, sí, sí. -Okay.

[Mariana] Un kilo de coca. I mean you can feel it.

It's, it's definitely powder in here.

And so it's five kilos of cocaine.

A hundred thousand dollars worth of cocaine here in this.

So this is a little bit like a,

it's a hot potato here, basically.

They don't wanna have the drugs here in this house

for too long because it's a safe house for them.

But it's not actually where they store their drugs.

Okay. Um...

[crew member] We're gonna cut for a second.

Okay, guys, can you stop?

[♪ dramatic music playing]

With cameras off, the lieutenant tells me

he doesn't like my line of questioning.

And to make matters worse, right before we resume filming,

he gets a radio transmission

that our presence is disrupting his sale.

Uh-huh.

Again, everybody's on edge.

And it's very similar to what's happened to us

since we started working on the story here on the US side,

that things keep changing all the time.

What... Okay.

Months after starting this investigation

and major pieces of the puzzle are still missing.

I'm getting the sense there's a vast operation going on here,

but we're only being allowed a tiny glimpse.

But then I remember a series of messages

I dismissed a few months ago

from someone claiming to be an American

working for the cartel.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

At the time, I doubted he was legit,

but now, desperate for answers, I've decided to take a chance.

[♪ foreboding music playing]

[Mariana] Why did you decide to reach out to me

on social media?

[Mariana] Born and raised in United States, "El Gringo,"

as he tells me to call him,

isn't who I expected to be

working for the Mexican cartels.

One of the biggest surprises for me when we started talking

was the fact that you're American.

Do you even speak Spanish?

[Mariana] As a wholesale buyer,

he's the crucial link in the supply chain between the cartel

and his own underworld distribution networks

across the US.

It was flown commercial?

Commercial airplanes?

Like Delta, United.

Why?

And who takes it on the plane?

Isn't it much higher chance they will get caught?

And what products are you involved in?

A lot of our story is about how the cartel

is now operating in these smaller towns

and the places you'd least expect.

So these, these offices,

I was doing a raid once with the police,

um, they were looking for fentanyl.

[indistinct radio chatter]

And they actually found it in one of these houses

that now I'm thinking might have been what you call

an oficina, an office.

There were three people living there,

two sisters and a brother, I believe.

They were very young.

Cartels use the term "office" to refer to what's essentially

a cell's regional distribution center.

They are often located in normal-looking houses,

allowing the operation to hide in plain sight.

There were drugs stashed all over the house,

but they didn't seem like they were running any of it.

They were being paid to stay at the house.

How much money do you think you've made

from drug trafficking?

I mean, it's like...

So you were attracted to it at the beginning

because it was fast and easy money?

I mean, at one point, I'm sure you realized

there are people actually dying because of this.

I mean, they've sent you photos

of where you lived, as a warning.

Do you think that the regular American

has any idea of how much presence

there is of the cartel in the US?

I mean, you're a clear example of that.

Why do you say only growing?

[Mariana] If El Gringo's right,

then the threat of cartel violence in America

may be even more widespread than I thought.

[gunfire]

[Mariana] My next stop, a meeting with a man

who puts weapons on the streets.

This is how surreal it gets on these shoots sometimes

is that I hadn't even noticed

that there's a little playground right behind me.

Definitely a family that lives here with kids.

And they sell guns as well to the cartel.

[gunshot]

I'm gonna let this guy go.

Because I don't like being followed.

[Miguel] Yeah. We're in the middle of nowhere.

[Mariana] No, we are, we're driving

more and more out of, uh, civilization.

Legitimate businesses grow market share

through ad campaigns and acquisitions.

In the drug business,

growth happens in more ruthless ways.

You trust these guys?

You, you feel confident that this is a good idea?

[Miguel] I don't feel comfortable, but, you know,

I'm really hoping everything would be okay,

but just keep in mind that this is a business transaction,

criminal business transaction.

[Mariana] Miguel has arranged access

to an illegal weapons sale.

[Miguel] If he sees something, an issue he has,

he's gonna have, like, snipers.

They can, they can pull the trigger and--

What? They're gonna have snipers

around the location we're meeting them in?

[Miguel] This person we're gonna meet

is always one step ahead.

[♪ unsettling music playing]

[♪ slow hip-hop music playing]

[gunshot]

[♪ Spanish song playing]

[gunshots]

[gunshot]

[♪ song continues]

Um... can I ask what you do?

Do you work for the cartel?

[buyer snickers]

[Mariana] Okay.

I mean, your non-answer tells me that you do.

Can you tell me which cartel?

Is it the Sinaloa Cartel?

Sorry.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

[Mariana] Mike is an American arms dealer

who sells to the cartels.

Perpetually shadowed by a bodyguard,

he moves round the country demoing guns

for potential buyers like this guy.

[Mariana] Mike custom-makes his merchandise

to cartel specifications,

reliable, adaptable, and extra lethal.

[Mariana] But the main reason these weapons

are in such high demand

is that they're virtually untraceable.

And, so, you're, you're a ghost gun manufacturer?

[Mariana] And with no serial number.

So, untraceable gun.

[Mariana] And this is all made with parts

that you got from different manufacturers?

[Mariana] Ghost guns are fully functioning firearms

made from a combination of readily available

over-the-counter components and 3D printed parts.

How much do you sell this one for?

And who's buying this from you?

And you sell to the cartel?

And how many of the guns do you think

that you're selling to the cartel

are staying here versus going to Mexico?

[Mariana] With more and more orders coming in all the time,

Mike can't keep up with demand.

You want to buy everything?

You know the price already?

[Mike laughs]

[Mariana] How much do you think

the guns that you're selling are contributing

to violence here in the United States?

And how does that make you feel, Mike?

Selling guns that are going to be used to kill people?

How many of you do you think there are?

We hear a lot about cartel violence in Mexico.

Do you think... Are you seeing

that violence spill over into the US?

[Mariana] The violence, the guns, the drugs.

It's all in the service of this...

cash.

But what do the cartels do

with billions of dollars of dirty money?

I'm going to meet someone who knows.

[♪ dark music playing]

[♪ hypnotic electronic music playing]

[Mariana] The cartel machine famously includes bosses,

lieutenants, bodyguards, and assassins.

But this lucrative multi-billion dollar enterprise

wouldn't exist without the people who manage the cash.

[♪ tense music swells]

[Mariana] One of Magnus' responsibilities

is stashing the proceeds of drug sales

before they get smuggled over the border.

[Mariana] The logistical challenge

of laundering so much money

is almost hard to imagine.

Out of necessity, the cartels take a scattershot approach.

They invest in cash-intensive businesses

like laundromats and car washes.

They make big purchases in luxury real estate,

jewelry, exotic cars, or prize-winning race horses.

And lately, to avoid leaving a paper trail,

they started to rely on an ever-growing number

of sophisticated financial maneuvers.

These include investments

in less regulated crypto currencies

and funneling cash through Chinese banks.

[Mariana] But perhaps the most

insidious part of the business

is one that few people think about,

and yet, it's the key to the cartel's success...

bribes.

Anywhere the cartels are operating,

palms are getting greased.

Over the course of my reporting,

the topic came up in nearly every conversation.

You mean American law enforcement?

-Yeah. -[Mariana] Okay.

And this is something that you've heard

from your buyers as well?

[Mariana] Where they say,

"We're paying off people in the police

and law enforcement agencies around the country."

A police officer or...

That's involved with the cartel?

[Mariana] As a journalist,

I have to be skeptical of my sources,

especially when they have a clear motivation to lie.

So perhaps the most damning evidence

about the corrupting influence of the cartels

comes from the front lines

in the fight against them.

Apart from the violence that the cartel brings with them to,

you know, small town America,

is also sort of the corruption of the system itself.

Because it seems like it's growing, right?

It's a problem that's not...

Yeah, that's a big question. That's a big question.

Um, because of the money

involved with these cartel groups,

they have been able to, uh,

infiltrate some of the highest offices

and law enforcement organizations,

not just in Georgia, but nationwide.

So, unfortunately, it's more common than most people know.

It's almost like they're corrupting the system

from the inside.

They're certainly trying their best.

These cartels are gonna continue

corrupting government officials.

They're gonna corrupt law enforcement officers.

They're gonna corrupt citizens, civilians.

Uh, they're a swarm of locusts

that is gonna continue to destroy crops

until you come up with a solution.

[♪ gentle music playing]

[Mariana] I was quite shocked when he was talking about

corruption within the government.

People who work in law enforcement,

but who also work for the cartel.

That's sort of another level.

Right.

[Mariana] The escalation to violence is much closer

when you have a government that's corrupt.

Because you don't have law enforcement that you trust.

In México, the enemy's within.

Yeah. Then you don't have an adequate system

to fight against the cartel,

-to fight against that violence. -[Miguel] Right.

[Mariana] And, and that to me, I think,

even more than the spillover violence,

the spillover of corruption,

that is when I think...

things can get really, really scary.

And then we might have a situation similar

to what we're facing in Mexico.

I'm hoping that I'm wrong, but history tells me otherwise.

Things might get really scary.

♪