Original subtitles

[suspenseful tune]

[chopper whirring]

[indistinct chatter on radio]

[man 1] I remember that particular raid.

We always believed from an early time

that Mayo was, kind of, the patriarch of Sinaloa.

[indistinct chatter on radio]

So we thought to get him would be a coup.

They were delayed in doing it.

Which always makes me nervous because maybe somebody got to them.

[indistinct chatter on radio]

[man 1] The hour of the raid is great. That's what everybody thinks about.

It's... days and days of monitoring and communications.

We were hopeful that we would, if not get him,

we would get someone around him who would lead us to him.

[indistinct chatter on radio]

It just didn't work out.

Somewhere along the way there was a leak.

[voice on radio, in Spanish] Go on. Go upstairs.

[in English] That's why Ismael Zambada is still alive and free.

Has never been arrested.

Never.

[indistinct chatter on radio, in Spanish]

[ominous tune]

This is a guy that's been... essentially on the run for over 20 years.

[sirens blaring]

[in Spanish] "El Mayo" Zambada is the mastermind

of the drug business here in Mexico.

[man wearing scarf, in Spanish] He's more poisonous than a snake.

[reporter, in Spanish] Mayo Zambada controls the Sinaloa cartel.

[reporter 2, in English] His cartel is believed to be the number one supplier

of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana

into the US.

[man] Mayo, he doesn't want to be seen...

[gunfire]

...as a fragile boss.

[woman in Spanish] After 40 years in the business of narcotrafficking

the mysterious Ismael Zambada Garcia "El Mayo"

has never been captured.

[reporter, in Spanish] Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada for whom the United States offers

a bounty of five million dollars.

[in English] For the first time in recent history,

opioids killed more Americans

than gun homicides.

[female reporter] The opioid epidemic is the deadliest drug overdose crisis

in US history.

[child wailing]

[man] It's easy to get and it's... easy to smuggle.

It's a pretty scary epidemic.

Because it takes so minimal of it...

to kill you.

If you make one wrong error, you're done.

My name is David Lorino. I was the agent that managed the group

of investigating agents that put the case together.

This investigation started from...

what we would consider the lowest levels [scoffs] of narcotics business

here on the West side of Chicago.

[indistinct chatter]

[Lorino] We were buying ounce quantities of heroin

from a gang banger on the corner here in Chicago.

[phone ringing]

[Lorino] We started intercepting his phone...

[speaking Spanish on phone]

[Lorino] ...which took us to another guy...

which took us up the food chain. And the next thing you know...

we're onto cartel members.

Uh... and the guys that we're buying the dope from on the corner

it's coming from Chapo and from Mayo.

That's when... now, we got real targets.

[suspenseful tune]

It's like a narcotics agent's dream

to... to start buying ounces on a corner

and end up with a cartel member. You-- It just doesn't happen.

[man] Mayo Zambada is a foe that we've never dealt with before.

He understood at an early age the importance of maintaining a low key.

That told me something important about Mayo.

He's somewhat of a business visionary.

In that he's very strategic in the way that he thinks.

I'm Jack Riley.

Retired from DEA.

And I was part of the hunt for El Chapo and Mayo.

We brought every agency in. The police,

FBI, DEA, ATF. Secret Service was even there.

The strike force's sole goal

was to go after Sinaloa and its tentacles to the Chicago street gangs.

[Lorino] We were trying-- We wanted to get El Mayo on the phone

to talk about lowering the price or... about quantity

so that we could verify that that dope actually came from him.

But we didn't have the...

ability at the time to structure a call with Mayo.

[man] There is nothing on Mayo Zambada.

There is no voice recording about... him.

My name is Jesus Esquivel.

I am a writer who has been investigating narco traffic for several years.

Mayo knows if he's too much on the phone...

could be his end.

[dogs barking]

[crickets chirping]

[Esquivel] In the meetings with top, top, top leadership of the cartel...

what Mayo said?

Nothing.

When he wanted to give an order

he called the guy, went outside, and gave the order.

Smart. He probably knew that the DEA of the Mexican government

or even people working with him was taping the conversation.

[cricket chirping intensifies]

[ominous tune]

[Esquivel] When the Sinaloa cartel was in a real boom...

the middle man, the guy who makes the deals...

was Chapo. Because he's a nice guy.

[phone ringing]

[man 1, in Spanish] My friend!

[man 2, in Spanish] What's up, how are you?

[man 1, in Spanish] Good, good. Nice talking to you. How''s your brothers?

Look, there was a gob of evidence against Chapo, okay, in this case.

[man 3, in Spanish] If this telephone falls into the hand of the government

our security will be heavily jeopardized.

The calls we got to Chapo... were structured through an intermediary.

[Chapo, in Spanish] How much did they give you?

[man 4, in Spanish] They gave me 20.

[Chapo, Spanish] Alright then, I'll pick the money up tomorrow. That's fine.

[man 4, Spanish] Yes.

Those tapes were a killer for him.

The tape recordings of him talking upon the cost and the price

and the quantity... of that heroin deal.

No matter what, he could not make those tapes go away.

[man] I think it-it really goes to...

how powerful Mayo Zambada is versus El Chapo.

Mayo must be an extremely, extremely intelligent man.

Now, he must be 71, 72, and keep in mind,

his narcotic trafficking started in the early '80s.

[Riley] It's going to be more difficult than Chapo.

He's very familiar with his surroundings and doesn't go from there.

So... we got to stay the hunt.

We really do.

[Esquivel] Mayo was a real ranchero from La Sierra.

The way he talks, the way he walks.

The most luxurious car

that has been driven by Mayo was a Ford truck.

He doesn't have to be driving a luxurious

or a Lamborghini or a Ferrari in La Sierra. No.

He started working...

-[gun clicks] -...as a pisolero, sicario, a killer.

Mayo is well known that when he's angry

it's better for you to hide wherever you can.

[gunfire]

[sirens wailing]

[Esquivel] Everybody asks me: "Are you afraid?"

If they want you dead, you're gonna be dead.

Especially if you're a Mexican journalist.

[indistinct chatter on radio in Spanish]

[man wearing mask, in Spanish] On this van, I shoot down anyone.

Right in the head. I never miss.

My name is Eladio.

I am Eagle One. I follow every order.

I am happy to be part of the Sinaloa cartel.

[ominous tune, intensifying]

Mayo surrounded himself with,

you know... his own little army, if you will.

[Esquivel] With the rings.

Several rings before you get to top guy.

That's why he delegates too much authority in the sicarios.

[indistinct radio chatter]

[interviewer, in Spanish] Who's your boss?

[Eladio, in Spanish] "El Senor Grande", our master, gave us instructions

on how to look after ourselves.

We must never tell his name to anyone.

There are many protocols and we must follow them.

[Esquivel, in English] They called El Mayo "El Senor."

You don't say his name.

It is dangerous. That's evident.

That's very incriminating for you.

[man on radio, in Spanish] There is a red Toyota.

[indistinct, muffled speech]

[indistinct voice over radio]

[Eladio, in Spanish] We have to set an information system.

We have 150, 160 members.

Some of us are checking the cars...

and inform us about their routes.

We have people in the entrance.

Others are in the midway point. Some guys are on the hill.

We also have people in the airport checking flight logs, timetables

and departures. We get information everywhere.

It has to be this way, otherwise we may have surprises.

[interviewer, Spanish] You don't like surprises.

[Eladio, Spanish] No, it's too much responsibility.

It does not look good to have your chief scolded.

[indistinct chatter on radio]

[interviewer, Spanish] How does El Mayo always manage to escape?

[Eladio, Spanish] He is at peace with the community.

That's essential.

[church bell tolls]

[Esquivel, in English] You ask with the people, local people:

"They... happy?"

Because the economy's good, the narcos are doing a lot of money.

Everybody's fine.

[man in ski mask, in Spanish] This car will go tomorrow morning.

This one goes directly to the border.

And the car will come back here, loaded with money.

[in English] Follow the money.

[buzz]

[motor revving]

[tires screeching]

[Riley] The Robin Hood theory that Mayo is a hero...

he's building soccer fields and all those other things, churches...

uh... that also is built into his security plan, and his business plan.

[church bells toll]

[Riley] Because it really makes the locals...

voices, in terms of them seeing things and reporting it up the road.

[church bells pealing]

[sirens blaring]

It's difficult for any agency

uh... to go after a guy as accomplished

in organized crime as Mayo Zambada is.

So, what we needed to do was concentrate on the people around him.

[phone ringing]

[Riley] If we're... targeting Mayo,

we're targeting everyone around him

because they're usually least cautious when they use phones.

[phone ringing]

[Riley] By doing that, we can build a life pattern on Mayo.

[upbeat tune]

[man, in Spanish] My name is Victor Gerardo Garay Cadena.

I was in charge of the Federal Police Anti-Drug Unit.

In July 2008...

an American agency representative contacted me

to give me information

on a man called Rey Zambada

and a house in the neighborhood of Linda Vista.

"El Rey" Zambada, brother of Ismael Zambada Garcia

was controlling the drug transport in Mexico City Airport.

I received the information and he asked me for help.

"Of course I'll check it," I said.

So we were monitoring the place.

We were certain that something was happening in that house.

On October 20, 2008

there was a raid.

[repeated gunfire]

There was a huge shootout.

He tried to escape.

But we'd surrounded the house.

Desperate, Reynaldo Zambada...

calls the Chief Research Officer of the Federal Police Anti-Drug Unit.

He said to Rey Zambada,

"Hey boss, what can I do for you?

Don't worry. I'm coming to help you."

As the shootout was getting closer

"El Rey" Zambada called again and told him,

"What the hell is going on? Why aren't you here?"

He said, "Sir, I'm almost there. Don't worry. I'm on my way."

We found out that the head of the police investigative unit

was working for the Zambada brothers.

[indistinct chatter]

[sirens blaring]

[man, in Spanish] "El Rey" Zambada was caught. He was the main operator

of Mayo's cartel.

[Cadena, in Spanish] Zambada was very well protected.

Today, we understand why. He was surrounded by policemen.

Because he paid them. As the saying goes, money talks.

The police is state-funded, but drug dealers pay more.

So they obey their orders.

They call them "boss", "chief", "sir".

Throughout my career...

in some areas I've been...

I noticed half of the officers were involved with them.

[Riley, in English] It's part of their terror strategy.

Number one, we're going to try to convince you... to come to work for us.

And if that doesn't work or you're hesitant,

then we're gonna attempt to bribe you.

And if we feel that you're that vital to our operations,

it could be hundreds of thousands of dollars repeatedly.

However, if you turn us down after that

we're gonna put a round in your head.

[suspenseful tune]

They were trying to make a deal with the DEA.

Can you believe that?

Mayos and Chapos making a deal with the DEA. Well, it was real.

So Mayo Zambada sent his son to Mexico City to talk to the DEA.

Vicente was essentially doing logistics for... for Mayo.

Mayo was prepping him to be... his replacement.

He would've been the guy that stepped up.

And had something happened to Mayo,

Vicente would've been the guy in line.

[Esquivel] It was... in the hotel Sheraton in Mexico City.

A few meters actually from the US Embassy.

There were three DEA agents

Loya-Castro, El Vicentillo's lawyer,

and Vicentillo.

[Riley] When... wanted guys want to approach DEA?

What we want to do is find out if it's even worth it.

And they need to understand

if you're gonna tell us something, you gotta tell us everything.

And if we catch you lying, the deal's off.

[Esquivel] They make a deal...

to give the DEA information about...

the whereabouts of the enemies of "El Cartel de Sinaloa."

Talk to the US government. And give them information about your enemies.

And they're gonna... keep you aside.

To continue doing business.

It happened, kind of, that way, but it wasn't set up, if you will.

If one bad guy wants to give up another bad guy...

That's what informants do all along, right?

If we can take information from one bad guy

and take another bad guy out of business... is that a bad thing?

[Esquivel] They spoke for a couple of hours.

They left the room.

[sirens blaring]

[Esquivel] And a few hours after that,

"El Vicentillo" was arrested by the Mexican military.

The obvious question and the obvious situation...

that is drawn from that is,

who gave information to the Mexican military

that el hijo de El "Mayo" Zambada was in Mexico City?

There is a dirty agreement that we don't know the details.

[in Spanish] The Secretary of National Defense informs me that on the 18th

the Army arrested Vicente Zambada Niebla,

aka "El Vicentillo"

son of Ismael Zambada Garcia, aka "El Mayo" Zambada.

[in English] He was arrested and extradited

back into the United States.

[chopper whirring]

[Lorino] I met Vicente as he came off the airplane.

I think he was shocked that he got arrested.

We transported him in a van

with state police escort...

from the airport directly into

the Metropolitan Correctional Center here in Chicago.

[Riley] I remember he was in a... a tracksuit.

And he stuck his hand out to shake my hand and I wasn't gonna shake his hand.

The first thing I wanted to do was ask, "Where's your father?

What's his phone number? What's he drive? Who's around him?" So we could go now.

[scream echoing]

I told him, just, you know: "You gotta think about... your position.

There's no getting out now."

The conditions they kept Vicente in for two years...

were literally draconian measures.

Complete isolation.

[Esquivel] No communication, even with his wife.

He was... kind of, crazy.

He said, "I was so sick, I was...

you know, losing my mind in that cell."

So, he gave up.

He was ready. Vicente was ready... to cooperate at that point.

We told him, "You're gonna have to tell us about your dad, and your dad's activities.

That's your only option for probably ever seeing

the outside of a jail cell again."

[Lorino] I understand his... his dilemma.

For a lot of those guys, you know

their immediate families is a big deal to them.

That's blood. You know, that's a tough spot to be in.

We finally went to, as an option, to try and get past that hurdle...

was through some intermediaries, if you will.

We were able to structure a telephone call...

between him and his father.

Through a number of attorneys, we got a cell phone number to Mayo.

[phone ringing]

Finally, in the middle of the night, uh, Mayo calls.

[Esquivel] Around midnight, the DEA agents...

opened his cell and took "El Vicentillo" out...

and gave him a phone.

[static]

Who was in the line?

Mayo... Zambada.

[Lorino] That phone call was strictly for the purpose

of him explaining to his dad,

"I don't really want to tell them...

but it's the only real shot I have."

Mayo told him:

"You do what you have to do, son...

to help yourself and... help your family."

That was a big day.

[busy telephone tone]

He led to probably hundreds of arrests.

[sirens wailing]

[Riley] Quite frankly, he showed us...

how they operate.

They forced him to betray Chapo.

That was the reason of that call.

To say, "Papa, I don't have other option.

It's us... or him."

Will you sacrifice your son... for your compadre?

No.

He was over.

Especially, if you call the attention of international media, the governments.

For the narco-traffic business, you have to be quiet.

Towards the end, Chapo got a little stupid.

And he began to go places he shouldn't.

He began to do some public things.

I know, because we know from Vicente that Mayo was very upset...

with the way that he was going, because he was concerned

that Chapo was gonna lead to more heat for the organization as itself.

Chapo became an international problem...

because his name was known all over the world.

[Eladio, in Spanish] He felt over-confident about his safety.

This kind of person, you can't say anything to them.

He let himself be seen where he wasn't supposed to be seen.

-That's why he is in jail now. -[banging on door]

[indistinct voices on radio]

[gunfire]

[rapid gunfire]

[Marine officers shouting indistinctly, in Spanish]

[officer, in Spanish] Two here.

[Riley, in English] He's coming off the plane,

and, uh, he's crying.

And I had that freeze framed, and I got it in a frame now.

[interviewer] Did you meet Chapo?

No. Good thing, too. 'Cause I probably would've dropped him.

I would've cold-cocked him right there.

[reporter, in Spanish] Drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman

was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.

[reporter 2, in French] El Chapo will spend his life in prison.

[reporter 3, in English] "El Chapo" Guzman was sentenced to life in prison.

[in Spanish] Breaking news.

Vicente Zambada Niebla, "El Vicentillo", was sentenced in Chicago

to 15 years in prison and five years of probation.

[Esquivel, in English] The sacrifice was to be in jail for a period of...

fifteen, fourteen years?

And then: "Mi hijo, you're gonna be free."

And... under the custody of the US government.

What an irony!

His father, the biggest narco-trafficker ever, in Mexico

and his oldest son, being protected by the US government.

What about El Mayo?

Now that you have El Chapo, that's it?

Sinaloa disappears?

No.

[sirens blaring]

[reporter, in Spanish] A very violent day in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa.

[sirens blaring]

The Mexican Army and the Guardia Nacional...

were working on a tip

about the hideout of Ovidio Guzman Lopez,

one of Chapo's sons.

And they found him.

[indistinct conversations in Spanish]

[officer, in Spanish] Get out, get out! Get out, Ovidio!

[men discussing indistinctly, in Spanish]

[officer, in Spanish] Calm down.

-[officer] Do you have weapons? -[Ovidio] No, not anymore.

[Esquivel, in English] Even when El Chapo is in jail forever,

his sons are under the protection

of his compadre, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garcia.

[in Spanish] The federal authorities have found

one or two sons of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

This triggered a violent reaction from the Sinaloa cartel.

[gunshots]

[Esquivel, in English] The sicarios, pistoleros or killers...

started to intimidate...

the society of... Culiacan.

And it was all this crazy stuff.

[rapid gunfire]

-[heavy gunfire] -[people shouting indistinctly, Spanish]

[voice 1 on radio, in Spanish] What do you say, boss?

[voice 2, in Spanish] What did "El Senor" tell you?

[in English] When they refer to "El Senor"

he's talking about... Mayo Zambada.

Nothing moves in Sinaloa without the order

or permission of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

He was in charge. He was giving the orders.

[voice 3 on radio, in Spanish] Go ahead! Our man has been captured,

the other commandant said to go ahead.

[voice 4 on radio, in Spanish] Let's kidnap families,

and until they don't free him, we will not release them.

[gunfire]

[voice 5 on radio, in Spanish] Cool down, bro. Cool down, all is good.

We are negotiating.

[Esquivel, in English] The Mexican government

was so intimidated.

That's when they sent the orders to let Chapo's son go.

The message sent to the Sinaloa cartel...

by that action is: "You guys are untouchable.

You are the owners of the State. This is your home."

[indistinct chatter]

[in Spanish] The arrest of a criminal

is not worth

human lives.

[policeman, in Spanish] We arrived here at 2 a.m.

Later, we started to notice

the smell that comes from this kind of labs.

They produced nearly a ton a day.

Methamphetamine.

[interviewer, in Spanish] Arresting Mayo Zambada is a priority?

[in Spanish] Our priority is to guarantee the people's safety.

Arresting him is not our priority. Do we arrest him because it's priority?

No, it isn't our priority.

[man over mic, in Spanish] We've finished with the strategy

of operations

to arrest drug lords.

We've wasted a lot of time doing that

and it didn't work.

There is no war.

It's official: "The war is over."

We want peace.

We'll achieve peace.

[Esquivel, in English] The reason that he wants...

peace with the narcos...

is the insecurity in Mexico.

Now Mexicans, we are used to... the death.

And it's too sad.

We don't get surprised if we saw people dead on the streets...

or hanging from a bridge. It's normal for us.

It's not normal for any society.

[church bells pealing]

[prayers in Spanish]

-[prayers in Spanish continue] -[woman weeping]

[in English] We still think... Mayo may be the number one bad guy in the world.

[chanting, in Spanish]

[in English] We gotta keep the pressure up on all angles...

and not let this thing go...

you know, in the moth balls for another ten years.

[man on radio, in Spanish]

[Eladio, in Spanish] Empires never end. Empires never fall, never crumble.

If one falls another takes his place.

Stronger and steadier.