Original subtitles

[interviewer] Let's go back to the capture of El Mayo.

Mm-hmm.

[interviewer] Can you tell me where you were on July 25?

- I was having a beer. - [both chuckle]

JOURNALIST, RÍODOCE

We were chilling and having a beer, and, uh...

After the confirmation that Ismael Zambada was in the United States,

although it wasn't very clear at the moment

whether he'd been arrested or turned himself in.

And obviously, no one mentioned the word "kidnapping" when it went down.

The truth is, other incidents were occurring that day.

I must confess that we journalists tend to be

deeply skeptical and suspicious of coincidences.

The local prosecutor's office had conducted the investigation,

and they disclosed the fact that on the night of July 25,

Héctor Melesio Cuén Ojeda was at the gas station.

He had been the president of the largest university we have in Sinaloa.

He had also been the mayor of the city of Culiacán.

And his political party had become

the most significant one in the state of Sinaloa.

There is a video in which the thugs open the passenger door,

and apparently, they fire, shooting directly at the truck.

[tires squeal]

The truck pulls away.

And later on, Héctor Melesio Cuén was apparently rushed to a hospital.

A clinic, a private one.

EMERGENCY ROOM MUNICIPAL POLICE

I went straight to the clinic where Melesio Cuén was.

I didn't see his body, but I got a photograph.

He was on the slab already, covered.

[somber music playing]

I went to the gas station. I spoke with the employees.

They told me what had happened, what they had seen, and so on.

There were plenty of inconsistencies.

Uh, we spoke with the employees of the clinic,

and they told us that when Cuén had arrived,

he had been dead for hours.

I left my phone over there.

Ismael Zambada's letter reveals a different story.

STATEMENT BY ZAMBADA

This is Ismael Zambada's statement.

"Since I was brought to the United States by plane

from Mexico on July 25, 2024,

there have been many inaccurate reports in the media in both countries."

"I know that the official version given by the authorities of Sinaloa

is that Héctor Cuén was gunned down on the night of July 25 at a gas station

by two men on a motorcycle."

"That's not the whole story."

"He was killed at the same time and place that I was kidnapped."

[gun fires]

"Héctor Cuén had been my friend for a long time,

and I deeply mourn his death."

So you can't help but ask, "What happened here?"

"What's the actual story?"

[somber theme music playing]

THE FALL OF EL MAYO

5 YEARS EARLIER

OCTOBER 17, 2019

[reporter] When the US puts pressure on the Mexican authorities

regarding the issue of fentanyl trafficking,

the group most affected by this pressure is Los Chapitos.

[clamoring]

[officer 1] Come out. Come out, Ovidio.

- All right. Don't shoot. - [woman] I'm a woman.

- [officer 2] Come out. Come out. - [officer 3] Calm down.

[woman] We are calm.

[agent 2] Show me your hands. Show me your hands!

[man] See, that day was anything but ordinary.

- [engine revving] - [sirens wailing]

I noticed a bunch of motorcycle cops and local police on the move,

their lights and sirens on.

I found it very strange because they were going too fast,

knocking side mirrors off cars,

bumping into things, zigzagging.

I put the window down,

and I could hear in the distance, maybe like a mile away,

there were strings of shots from long guns.

I decided to pull over and live stream.

A fierce gun battle is currently underway

in the Tres Ríos urban area of Culiacán, Sinaloa.

At this time, several members of the Mexican Army

and the municipal police are on their way to this location.

My reaction was to leave as fast as I could.

Because the military was up ahead,

and they returned fire at the guys carrying out the shooting.

[sirens wailing]

[intense gunfire]

[tires screech]

[Martínez] This shootout is intense. There's a brutal clash.

I don't know how many people have been killed so far.

An intense shootout... right now...

[phone chimes]

There's a fierce shootout right now.

[intense gunfire]

[crowd clamoring]

[man] Hurry! Get in here!

It was absolute chaos.

[clamoring]

Motherfuckers.

Get in.

[officer 1] Give me something to stop the bleeding.

[officer 2] Help me here! Help me!

- [indistinct chatter] - [man] Ovidio was arrested.

His brother says we move forward.

Everyone move forward now.

[man 2] Well, I was at home when I heard the news.

SOLDIER OF EL MAYO'S FACTION

I was half asleep when a friend came to get me and said, "Let's go."

"Dude, grab your gun." That was it. "Time to fuck 'em up." It is what it is.

[indistinct radio chatter]

Iván had hundreds of armed men to rescue his brother Ovidio.

[officer] Against the wall! Get on your knees!

- [clamoring] - [woman] He'll cooperate.

- [Ovidio] I'm on my knees. - [woman] Leave him alone.

- [man] Tell them to stop. - [Ovidio] Tell my men to stand down.

- [officer] Get your people to stop. - [Ovidio] I told them.

[Balliet] They turned Culiacán into an actual war zone.

[gunfire]

[man on radio] Go fuck yourselves, you filthy pigs.

Fuck you all.

Fuck you bastards.

Get those fuckers and send 'em straight to hell.

[Balliet] They had .50 calibers, vests.

They had trucks converted with .50-cal mounts on 'em.

[rapid gunfire]

Those drums that we found back in 2014,

all of a sudden you're like, "That's what it's for."

Like, "It's for events like this."

"Hey, we need all hands on deck and we're, like, blazing it down."

[reporter] Panic in Culiacán.

The announcement of the arrest of the son of El Chapo Guzmán

resulted in a shootout where armored vehicles

with military-grade hardware

were exchanging heavy fire with federal troops.

[Valdés] The violent response from Ovidio and his faction

was a direct challenge to the state.

That was simply unthinkable to Mayo Zambada.

[Joel] Zambada's faction is less violent.

The Chapos are known for being especially bloodthirsty.

They're more vicious, more heavy-handed, more...

More intense when they're doing what they have to do.

[man on radio] What's up with Comanche? Are they gonna back us up?

They jump like stray dogs whenever they need us.

[Joel] There was beef

because the Mayo faction didn't want to get involved in it,

didn't want to back 'em up.

They fought over the radio, screaming, "Hey, we need backup."

There are recordings going around, where they were berating the Mayos.

We need the backup. Hurry up. We need support here, support there.

They say El Mayo didn't want to.

[man] Hey, Comanche. What did they tell you?

[trafficker] There's bad signal.

[Joel] That's when the tension began.

They started accusing us of being cowards.

They thought we didn't want to do anything because we were scared.

But it wasn't out of fear. We'd been instructed not to.

[sirens wailing]

[man 1] They call, we fucking jump.

Don't freeload, or we'll lose our shit.

Let 'em see we ain't afraid of anything.

- [gunfire] - We're the Chapitos.

[loud boom]

[man 2] Stay here.

Stay down.

Back then, President Andrés Manuel

he had to make the decision to free Ovidio.

Attempting to stop the violence on the families in Culiacán.

This decision was made to protect the public.

PRESIDENT OF MEXICO 2018–2024

You can't fight fire with fire.

[Bojórquez] The operation was a failure.

And they forced the government to back down.

The "Hugs, Not Guns" policy was a mockery,

I mean, for every Mexican.

[Martínez] It's deeply ingrained in my memory.

The sheer terror on the faces of the people who were there.

[clamoring]

I'm telling you, I don't... In all my years working as a journalist,

remember a shootout like that.

I'd never seen such violence.

[Bojórquez] Some said that, with Iván Archivaldo's response

to the army, to the federal forces,

Los Chapitos had earned their stripes as narcos.

And after the Culiacanazo event, major frictions began to arise.

[somber music playing]

And that's when the conflict started, and it just grew and grew and grew

between Los Chapitos and El Mayo Zambada's crew.

3 YEARS LATER

JANUARY 5, 2023

[indistinct radio chatter]

[reporter] Federal Forces carried out an operation in Culiacán, Sinaloa.

The objective was to arrest Ovidio Guzmán López.

[distant gunfire]

[man] By 2023, the president of Mexico

was personally invested

in rearresting Ovidio to take away the stain from his presidency

that the first arrest

and release of him, the Culiacanazo, had caused.

[gunfire]

[sirens wailing]

Subsequently, there was another attempt at his arrest.

[gunfire]

[siren wailing]

I honestly believed there wasn't going to be another Culiacanazo.

[man] Get down. Get down. They're shooting this way.

[Martínez] But I guess somehow we got used to it, that kind of reaction.

And they succeeded in arresting him.

[reporter] Today Ovidio Guzmán López was recaptured.

- [gunfire] - [clamoring]

[man 2] Ovidio's people were firing at any aircraft,

airborne or on the ground.

[passengers screaming]

[man 3] They're shooting at the fucking plane!

Fucking hell!

[reporter] El Chapo's son, Ovidio,

put on a private plane with a one-way ticket to Chicago.

[somber music playing]

[reporter 2] Ovidio Guzmán López arrived in Chicago on Friday

and will be held in the federal jail in downtown Chicago.

The same place where Vicente Zambada was held.

[ominous music playing]

He faces charges related to leadership in the Sinaloa Cartel

and his alleged involvement in one of the largest and most violent

fentanyl trafficking operations in the world.

In court, El Chapo's son said he suffers from depression and anxiety.

He's facing life in prison...

[reporter 3] "He is facing the rest of his life in prison.

If that doesn't give someone depression and anxiety, I don't know what would.

CAPTURED

[Balliet] One of the things that's important is

Ovidio and Joaquín, Güero, are extremely, extremely close.

Édgar had been killed.

They're kind of like the only true blood brothers that they have.

And, um, Güero was kind of ready to, like, cut a deal.

[Joel] Joaquín lost interest.

Didn't want anything to do with the business.

He had an existential crisis, I guess you could call it that.

And his brothers said, "If you don't want this, just go."

That's how it happened. They let him go.

CAPTURED

[Flores] There comes a time, I think, for people who are involved

in those operations of that type of criminal activity,

wish they had a different life, you know?

I know for a fact that Joaquín and, um, an HSI agent

were in telephonic communication about his surrender.

But he wanted, anything he did,

to provide assistance to the government, to also help Ovidio.

So, from everything I've been privy to,

I think what Joaquín could offer was fairly limited.

Like, there wasn't a whole lot of bargaining chips

that he had to play with.

And it's that... that fine...

like dance of, "Hey, we want you to surrender,"

but, like, "You're not getting a sweetheart deal out of the gate."

TWO WEEKS BEFORE EL MAYO'S CAPTURE

MEXICO CITY

[ominous music fades]

[line ringing]

[Scherer] It was the morning, if I remember correctly,

when I received a call from the director of Proceso.

And he told me he had something for me.

He said, "Hey, María, do you remember the guy

that got here like 15 years ago

to ask your dad if he would like to meet up with El Mayo Zambada?"

CHRONICLE OF AN UNPRECEDENTED MEETING

"Well, he's back."

[airplane engines whirring]

[solemn music playing]

I flew to Culiacán.

We were met at the airport by a man.

We got into a small car.

He dropped us off at a shopping mall, and that's where an SUV picked us up.

They picked us up and there was a stretch where we were on the highway.

But then, dirt tracks.

Dirt tracks and unpaved roads.

Some of those paths were clearly makeshift.

Lots of greenery.

And all of a sudden, I felt like I was in a maze, you know?

I had no way of knowing where I was.

After a while, we arrived at what looked like a small village.

And I remember that it was very clean,

all the streets, and the local church, and the houses

seemed to be recently painted,

which is not common in Mexican villages.

And suddenly, we were in front of an electric gate.

[gate whirring]

Which opened.

Then I bent down 'cause my backpack was on the floor,

and I heard, "No. Sorry. No telephones."

I was surprised to see him

because the image that I and everyone else had of Zambada

was the one in my dad's picture.

Those 15 years took a toll.

El Mayo was wearing that Boss polo,

sweatpants, and sneakers.

I had imagined him being taller.

I held out my hand, and he shook it.

I'm thinking, "Does he need anything?"

"Why me of all journalists?"

"And why now?"

Right away,

he started asking me about my dad.

What was his life like,

how many children he had, what was he like when we were kids.

At one point he said to me,

"Your father..."

He clenched his fist and did something like this. You know?

As if to say,

"I carry him in my heart." Or, "He touched my heart."

Then... he opened the front door.

And straight ahead, in what looked like some kind of vestibule,

there was what appeared to be an altar.

[intriguing music playing]

"I'm immediately struck by what I see on a wooden easel."

"A very colorful painting with bold strokes

depicting Zambada and my father, with Zambada's hand on his shoulder."

"I am troubled. I don't know what to say."

In the same spot where he kept my father

and his parents, he had what I'd call an oddity.

It was an image of Gandhi.

I asked, "Why do you have Gandhi here?"

And he replied, "Well, because, you know, I stand for peace."

"I believe in peace."

Wow.

In that same room, there was another painting.

It depicted, let's say, that very same instant.

My father, except the artist had portrayed Zambada alone.

And I said, "I like this one more than the one where you are with my father."

"This is a better painting."

And then he kind of puffed out his chest

and proudly said to me, "It's Vicente's."

"He painted it."

"Vicente, your son? El Vicentillo?"

"Yes, he painted it while he was in jail."

And I was told that El Vicentillo

would send his mother a letter once a month

from the United States, along with a drawing.

He said to me, "I miss him every day."

"Like thousands of families miss their dead and disappeared children."

"I know that pain."

He said... he was able to feel what the people who...

who mourn their loved ones feel 'cause he had been through the same.

I really don't...

I'm not elaborating too much about what I...

I find too, um, uh, obvious, right?

Uh, Zambada...

was a man who treated me, um...

with care, uh, with warmth, and, um... kindness.

I think I've mentioned warmth before. Kindness too.

Uh, but it doesn't change who he is.

I felt curious about, uh...

the pain and how aware he was of all he had caused them.

The families and the mothers that mourn their children

or someone they love who's nowhere to be found.

Because having a body to cry over nowadays

in Mexico is a privilege, you know?

There are those who don't get that closure.

They spend their entire lives searching for the remains of the ones they love.

He stated that he only resorted to violence in extreme cases.

He said his business was drug trafficking and violence was a separate matter.

He's quite... an evasive person.

"It's not an easy interview."

"El Mayo is made of smoke."

We said goodbye

and... and made plans to meet again.

HOURS BEFORE THE CAPTURE OF EL MAYO

[phone dialing]

[line ringing]

[Don Chuy] El Mayo was up in the mountains and El Chapo's son Joaquín called him

and asked him to help settle some deals.

[intriguing music playing]

[Grillo] Joaquín reached out to El Mayo

to calm down various problems,

frictions between Héctor Melesio Cuén

and the governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha.

And El Mayo, being the ultimate godfather of Sinaloa,

it's what he would do, the kind of meeting he'd go to.

[Bojórquez] Knowing El Mayo's profile, I have no doubt

they used that as a lure.

[Grillo] Even with tensions with Chapitos, El Mayo went to the meeting

with a relatively small team of bodyguards.

Mayo had, particularly, a trust with Joaquín Jr.

Because Joaquín Jr. was his godson.

[music peaks, fades]

[Joel] "Pa," he said, "let me go see what's up."

"What the problem is."

"No, no. Why would I distrust my people?"

DOÑA ANA COUNTY INTERNATIONAL JETPORT, NEW MEXICO

[indistinct radio chatter]

JULY 25, 2024

[tires squeal]

[Balliet] I get a text that he's coming.

And then, uh, that day, it was like...

"He's stateside."

"Guess what?"

And I was like, "What?"

He's like, "Mayo Zambada was on the plane."

I was like, "Get the fuck out! What?"

[reporter] El Mayo Zambada,

along with the son of El Chapo Joaquín Guzmán López, were arrested.

I was on holiday and, uh,

this news came through.

And my phone started heating up.

Just endless messages. "El Mayo's arrested."

[Don Chuy] I was fuming when I heard that.

I was so blown away by seeing him

exactly as I had seen him only two weeks ago, with the same shirt.

[tense music rises]

[Balliet] Looking back, the only thing I was told was that

Güero was bringing me a surprise or bringing me something nice

or something to start, like... get off on the right foot,

or something like that.

And it was like, I thought it might be financial documents,

or, "Hey, there's two tons of coke in this house," or whatever.

I thought it was information.

[scoffs] I was like... I was shocked. I was like, "What?"

- [camera shutter clicks] - [ominous music playing]

[reporter] We have the limited information provided by US authorities.

Nothing from Mexico.

And if he did make a deal, as other versions say,

with whom did he make it?

And what was the deal for?

There are too many questions that remain unanswered.

MEXICO CITY

[López] Good morning.

Okay, we're going to give a briefing on the arrest or surrender

of Ismael Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López.

[reporter] Are we still unable to confirm whether it was a surrender or an arrest?

Exactly.

It's been nearly 12 hours,

and you still don't have concrete information about the arrest?

Precisely. The information and investigation

is being handled in the United States.

Is the government surprised that Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada was captured

in the United States and not in Mexico?

We still don't know whether it was a surrender or an arrest.

What was crystal clear is that the authorities in Mexico

were basically trapped in limbo.

They had absolutely no clue.

Was it an arrest? A surrender?

What actually happened?

That's something the United States government

will have to provide an explanation for.

Those who knew about it in the US,

were, I mean, I guess they received orders to remain silent about the details

because he is a very important name within the crime underworld.

The US government has to give a report.

There has to be transparency.

To my knowledge,

there was not anybody in federal law enforcement

that was aware that Mayo Zambada was either being tricked onto a plane,

kidnapped and put on a plane,

or that US law enforcement was involved at all.

Once the plane was in the air,

US law enforcement realized that he was on that plane.

And then it was like, "Oh, shit, we gotta scramble."

It caught everybody that I've talked to, everybody,

by complete surprise that he was on that plane that day.

DOÑA ANA COUNTY INTERNATIONAL JETPORT, NEW MEXICO

[Provance] The agents arrived about 30 minutes

prior to the airplane arrival.

[Young] Yeah, they trickled in.

[Provance] I think I counted 17 vehicles.

It was a little bit unusual. That's what got my curiosity up.

I noticed that the tires had some bald spots on 'em,

which, for a nice King Air, is unusual.

[Young] Some sticks.

On one side, there was a stick, twig, sticking out of one wing.

It was kind of interesting.

A little different to what you would find on a normal airplane.

[Ornelas] I noticed on their airplane

very visible chips on the propellers, on both sides,

kind of what you would see typically

on an airplane that would be taking off on dirt airstrips

or rough terrain.

[camera shutter clicks]

Once the statement came through that he would have been,

allegedly, kidnapped.

The significance of seeing the zip ties inside this bag

was just extraordinary.

[somber string music playing]

Total shock. I could not believe it.

I couldn't understand how he could be in El Paso. How'd he get there?

[assistant] Interview Frank Perez, take one.

[interviewer] Can you just describe your history with the Zambadas?

Right, yes, I... I... I knew the family,

and I came into Vicente's case after he had pleaded guilty.

I helped, uh, Vicente through sentencing.

During that period,

I made trips to Culiacán, where I met Vicente's father, Mayo.

Obviously, he was very interested in his son,

how his son's case was going.

From time to time, I would stop by and just kind of let him know

how his son was doing.

And, visit with him, you know, we'd have dinner together,

and he was a gentleman, very nice, very polite, very courteous.

THE CHAPITOS

The Chapitos grew up with Mayo's kids. They... they were around all the time.

He had a loyalty to Chapo.

Because they were El Chapo's sons, he just felt a loyalty towards them.

[prosecutor] Your Honor,

the government calls Vicente Zambada Niebla.

[Pérez] After Chapo's trial was where I started hearing rumors that...

Uh... They just weren't happy with Mayo and wanted to get rid of him.

They wanted to take him out.

And I... I had a feeling that... that something was gonna happen.

I had discussions with him about that, but in his mind,

he... he was just a loyal man, and he believed that, uh...

they were loyal to him as well.

I went to the DEA building, where they had him in custody.

His leg was injured, his shoulder, and he was still in shock.

It was hard for him to get over that he had been betrayed.

We spent most of our time just talking about what had happened.

He repeated the story over and over and over.

He says when he got to the airstrip, he was zip-tied to... to the seat

in the plane, by Joaquín.

The people on the plane were Joaquín and the pilot,

who was named Jando.

Jando was Iván's personal pilot.

Iván Guzmán.

He thought Joaquín was gonna throw him off the plane.

[indistinct radio chatter]

But Joaquín told him, "Nah. I'm gonna take you to the United States."

"I'm gonna get a good deal. I'm gonna get three years."

"You're gonna go to jail, just like my father."

[plane engines roar]

SINALOA CARTEL EL CHAPO - CAPTURED

ISMAEL ZAMBADA GARCÍA "EL MAYO" CAPTURED

There was a lot of things coming out,

saying that Mayo had surrendered to the US government

and was cooperating with the government and was turning everyone in,

which just wasn't true.

El Mayo wanted to set the record straight. "I need you to tell them what happened."

Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, through his lawyer,

has issued a statement.

He says he did not voluntarily surrender to the US authorities,

but was ambushed

while waiting to meet with the governor of Sinaloa,

Rubén Rocha Moya

and the politician Héctor Melesio Cuén Ojeda,

who was murdered.

He was concerned about Cuén, and there was a... a coverup.

STATEMENT BY ZAMBADA

This is my client's statement regarding the kidnapping.

And I... And I quote...

"I know the version given by the authorities of the state of Sinaloa..."

"That is not the whole story."

"He was killed at the same time and in the same place I was kidnapped."

"I think it's important for the facts to be known."

THE TRUTH HAS TO COME OUT.

[Villareal] Ismael Zambada García's letter

was a well-aimed poisoned dart,

which caused an uproar that actually linked

a prominent figure like Héctor Melesio Cuén

with Ismael Zambada.

[camera shutter clicks]

[Clouthier] To this day, we don't know who killed him.

That is, it's still a mystery whether he was murdered by the cartel

or by the political elite.

The fact is, nobody knows.

The only thing I'm certain of is that's not it.

[Balliet] The minute they got Zambada on that plane, the rules changed.

It's an unforgivable betrayal in their mind.

AKA "EL MAYO" CAPTURED

Now it's the Chapitos versus the Mayo faction.

Which means a very, very messy divorce

for whoever was left in Mexico.

[Martínez] I always said that the day that man was gone,

all hell would break loose.

AMBULANCE MEXICAN RED CROSS

[siren wailing in distance]

Upon arriving at the scene,

a lifeless body of an unidentified male was found.

According to the report, the victim

was approximately 20, 25 years old, slim build.

It's common that we're now seeing people turn up murdered like this

because there's a war, uh...

There are two factions of what used to be the Sinaloa Cartel.

[camera shutter clicks]

[reflective guitar music playing]

We realized that there was gonna be a huge wave of violence,

UNDERTAKER

And we were gonna have a lot of work.

MISSING

ANONYMOUS TIP LINE

They call us "vultures."

They're the scavenger birds, you know?

That... that circle above a dead person or animal.

PUBLIC SECURITY COMPLEX

STATE POLICE

[Castro] There have been many cases

where children have died in the middle of this war,

from stray bullets or whatever.

The streets are empty.

The moment you step out onto the street, you feel the danger in the air.

THE NARCO-PANDEMIC IS ALSO PATRIARCHAL VIOLENCE

[gunfire]

[interviewer] A shooting. Can we stop for one second?

No, it's not close. It's okay.

It's for our own safety we don't arrive sooner at the scene.

UNDERTAKER

We wait for instructions.

[gunfire draws closer]

They're up there, man.

Yeah, it's like a mile from here.

- [interviewer] It's getting closer. - [Castro] Maybe across the hill.

- I think we should leave. - [Castro] Yeah. We should leave, yeah.

- It's too close. - [interviewer] Getting closer.

It sounds bad. Too much shots.

- [gunfire fades] - [sirens die out]

[reflective string music playing]

[Vázquez] There's a famous Colombian expression,

"Better a grave in Colombia than in a cell in the United States."

It's not like that anymore.

And that had a lot to do with Vicente Zambada Niebla

and also El Rey Zambada.

And obviously, the Chapo Guzmán trial was a very big showcase for them.

I mean, we absolutely had enough independent evidence

to convict Vicente with our eyes closed.

But for his cooperation,

he would've been sentenced to life in prison.

[reporter] Good news for Jesús Vicente Zambada Niebla.

The judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison,

although he could be out in just four.

[man] It's absolutely ridiculous

to give him only 15 years in prison.

Given the number of homicides and trafficking,

it's a mockery of the country.

[Vázquez] It's a new profession, the testifying business.

They regain their freedom

and are also allowed to live in the United States as someone else.

It's worked very well for them.

The Flores twins from Chicago. Same thing, you know?

[Flores] I'm here, hopefully, sharing some of the stuff, I'm...

that could be put to good use,

but also to kind of inspire you guys.

[Vázquez] And now we see him giving talks, like...

I don't know, save others and steer them away from drugs.

[Flores] Last time I was here, did I share about me being Christian?

So he went from being a drug dealer to being a spiritual advisor.

This protocol of making deals,

offered by the government of the US to the kingpins,

to pursue some other kingpins...

is practically building

a retirement paradise in the US,

you know, for Mexican drug lords that want to leave the business.

I could have a whole career as a criminal.

I accumulate many hundreds, thousands of millions of dollars,

finally surrender, make a deal,

maybe spend five or ten years incarcerated...

I then offer to turn over half of my fortune,

and then live happily for another 40 years,

without any risk of anybody coming after me at all.

And with a lot of money left.

[Esquivel] The El Grande case has always cracked me up.

[reporter] Sergio Villarreal Barragán, aka El Grande,

in his statements, admitted to having killed almost 100 people.

He liked firing his AK-47 and blowing people to pieces.

Now he's in witness protection too.

There's Chupeta, he trafficked more cocaine than El Chapo,

and he killed a lot more people.

And now it turns out he's free too.

I wonder about citizens in the US who are their neighbors

who were lied to about their background.

"Hey, this guy, this Mexican is huge, but he's really nice."

I wonder what they would do if they found out

who the Department of Justice chose to be their neighbor.

They would be throwing hands in Washington,

protesting to put an end to these agreements.

I have... have mixed opinions on cooperation deals.

Um...

I think... they are a necessary tool.

That without them, we struggle...

We struggle on... on dismantling any major criminal organization.

You don't get Mayo and Chapo without cooperators.

Um, I wrestle with the... the violence, though.

[reflective music fades]

[man] These people left the place in a rush.

It is hereby stated that the house, registered with no street number...

Yeah.

...is... is uninhabited.

[camera shutter clicks]

This is El Palmito. The town is now deserted.

This is the area that was hit hardest by the recent outbreak of violence.

It's a ghost town now.

"EL VENAO" TACOS AND GORDITAS

HUMAN RIGHTS

All these poor dogs, uh, were... left behind, you know?

There's a lot of talk about the arrest of a person that is in prison in the US...

ADVOCATE FOR DISPLACED PERSONS

...and created conflict.

That conflict in the area leads to confrontation and brutality.

[woman] First, they laid me down on my back,

then they put a towel on my face,

and they were pouring water on me with a hose.

I was the only one left.

I thought, "This is it. I'm going to die."

So I stopped resisting.

They lifted me up and said,

"Right now, right now, you'll find out

whether you're being set free or die."

[González] There are 35,000 displaced people in southern Sinaloa.

[woman, crying] I only asked them to stop torturing me.

If they were gonna kill me, then just do it,

but dump my body somewhere my family could find me.

[sniffles]

Then they hit me harder. They tortured me even more.

[González] That's what happens when they get there.

They unleash chaos and murder people.

Take the children. They kidnap them as coerced recruits.

Because now they need more hands.

Those kids that we see on motorcycles,

we call them hawks, and their role is to let the cartel know we're here.

That's why we have to stay alert in case something bad happens.

These are safe zones for certain people.

Already? Okay.

They've already reported it, which is why we have to leave immediately.

The confrontation between the Mayitos and the Chapitos

is essentially no different from what happens in a conventional war.

The goal is to gain territory.

[shouting] You are all entitled to compensation!

The fault is with the state. It's not your problem.

We want you all to have a house.

A land of your own, a place you can call home.

- Do you all agree? - [crowd] Yes!

- Okay. - [cheering]

[González] Give it up!

[Villareal] And that impact has reached thousands of small communities,

not only in Sinaloa,

but the entire Golden Triangle, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Durango,

and all of Mexico.

[woman] Rise up, Culiacán!

[chanting] Enough! We want peace!

Enough! We want peace!

I WANT EVERY ACTION TO BE GUIDED BY LOVE

[somber piano music playing]

[reporter] Ovidio Guzmán López, the son of El Chapo Guzmán,

pleaded guilty to four counts of drug trafficking

in a Chicago court.

[reporter 2] "El Ratón," Ovidio Guzmán has reached an agreement

with the Chicago Prosecutor's Office to avoid a life sentence.

[reporter 3] In Chicago, one of the sons of Mexican drug kingpin El Chapo,

pleaded guilty to US drug trafficking charges.

[reporter 4] Joaquín Guzmán López has revealed

how he planned the kidnapping of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

He even details how he sedated him.

When they were on the plane heading to the United States,

he gave him a sedative in a drink.

[reporter 5] When asked by the judge what his job was for the past five years,

he replied, "Drug trafficker,"

to chuckles from the courtroom and the judge herself,

surprised at his candor.

Guzmán López could spend as little as ten years in federal prison.

[reporter 6] At least 17 family members of notorious drug lord El Chapo

were spotted entering the US.

The Mexican government confirms

that this is part of a plea agreement his son has struck.

It's not bad,

ten years in a cell for a lifetime of freedom,

but this policy from the United States that we here call "decapitation"

has been a disaster since the start.

Especially if we consider in the last half century,

what we've been seeing in the United States

is a greater influx of drugs,

of people struggling with addiction,

just like in the countries where those drugs originated...

[man] The alliance between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel

and the Chapiza is confirmed.

[Villareal] The result has been more violence.

[man] Fuck the Mayiza!

[gunfire]

THE TRUTH MISSING

- [chanting] - [Villareal] More murders.

Clearly, it has been a failure.

And the most consistent figure throughout all those years

has been, of course, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

[crowd clamoring]

[reporter] The details of El Mayo's hearing are starting to emerge.

He has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking.

[reporter 2] Today, in what is a historic hearing for all of us...

US V. ISMAEL ZAMBADA GARCÍA

At 11:55 in the morning,

the judge asked the defense, "Are you ready?"

And four minutes later, there was an incredible silence.

It was quite striking for those of us who were at the hearing to see him.

He's this person with a cloud of mystery surrounding him.

And he read this document.

[El Mayo] "I started getting involved in illegal drug trafficking in 1969,

when I was 19 years old, and I planted marijuana for the first time."

"Over time, I started selling heroin and other drugs, but mostly cocaine."

"From 1980 until last year, 2024,

I transported and sold at least 3.3 million pounds of cocaine,

most of it destined for the United States."

"The organization I led fostered corruption in my country, Mexico,

by paying bribes to police, military factions, and politicians

to allow us to operate freely."

"I recognize the great harm that illegal drugs have caused to people

in the United States, in Mexico, and in other places."

"I accept responsibility for what I have done

and I apologize to all those who suffered or were affected by my actions."

[reporters clamoring]

[reporter] He said he made payments

to police officers, military commanders, and politicians for 30 years

to operate freely.

Is that the information you have and intend to provide to authorities?

No, no.

Isn't that the information Mayo Zambada has?

The information Mayo Zambada has remains with Mayo Zambada.

- [reporter] Has he confessed everything? - [Pérez] No.

He did not cooperate.

He did not talk about government officials.

He didn't turn anybody in.

Did he have a lot of information? I'm sure he did.

He's been in the business for 50 years.

Uh, he would have a lot of important information

that the government, I believe, would be happy to receive.

I... I know they would be.

But with Mayo, he's just a more old-school type of guy.

He said, "I'm gonna accept responsibility. I'm not talking about anyone."

[Esquivel] Clearly, he would like to go down in history

as the biggest crime boss in the world.

But I believe it has to be stated,

El Mayo Zambada's hands are stained

with the blood of people killed in both Mexico and the United States.

We're here to announce a landmark victory

for the Department of Justice, our law enforcement partners,

and the United States of America.

[Esquivel] It was often said that El Mayo would never be captured,

but loyalties in the drug trafficking world

have an expiration date.

His guilty plea brings us one step closer

to achieving our goal of elimination of the drug cartel...

They say you have to cut off the head so that the body can't move.

But this dragon has many heads.

And when one falls, another takes its place.

CAPTURED

[Pérez] I don't think Joaquín or Iván or all of them together

really thought this through carefully,

because there was just a lot of collateral damage.

[reporter] The United States Department of Justice has announced an indictment

against Sinaloa governor Rubén Rocha Moya,

accused of being involved in a drug trafficking conspiracy.

I'm not afraid. I consider myself to be an upright person.

[Sheinbaum] Under no circumstances will we allow interference

from a foreign government

in decisions that belong to the Mexican people alone.

[reporter 1] The story with the pilot doesn't add up.

[reporter 2] The Mexican government handed the United States

the pilot who flew the kingpin into US territory.

A secretive cartel flight to a museum exhibit.

The plane that carried a Mexican drug lord into US custody is now on display...

[reporter 3] Replete with the drug trafficker's chip bags

and pop cans consumed on the cross-border flight.

Mexico's president and top justice officials there are questioning

whether the plane symbolizes an illegal US government operation.

It's on display as if the FBI were taking credit for the operation.

The first question is, who's lying? Who lied?

[Scherer] "I ask him if the life he has led has been worth it."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because it's full of death."

"As far as I know, that's how everyone's life ends."

[unsettling music peaks, fades]

ON JULY 20, 2026, A US FEDERAL JUDGE

SENTENCED ISMAEL "EL MAYO" ZAMBADA TO LIFE IN PRISON.

THE COURT ALSO ORDERED THE FORFEITURE OF 15 BILLION DOLLARS

THE LARGEST EVER IMPOSED ON A DRUG TRAFFICKER.

CARTEL VIOLENCE AND CLASHES WITH GOVERNMENT FORCES

HAVE CAUSED MORE THAN 463,000 DEATHS OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES.

AT LEAST 130,000 PEOPLE HAVE DISAPPEARED.

[somber music playing]