Original subtitles

(phone ringing)

MARIANA: I've been reporting on Mexico's criminal networks

for more than a decade.

Cartels, human traffickers, drug smugglers, of all kinds.

This is half a kilo of pure heroin mixed with fentanyl.

A lot of the marijuana and heroin that ends up on the

streets of the United States comes from right here.

These stories all had one thing in common.

They were about people and products moving north

into the United States.

But there was another story I was missing,

about what's being smuggled south.

MARIANA: It's military grade? T: Yes, ma'am.

MARIANA: They call it "the Iron River."

Day and night, American guns are flowing across the border into the

hands of Mexican gangsters, fueling an arms race between

the cartels and terrorizing innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.

On a journey to discover the truth about American guns in Mexico,

I found a reality more terrifying.

MARIANA: Than I ever could have imagined.

(theme music plays)

(screeching)

♪ ♪

MARIANA: So, it's almost midnight and we're very

close to Downtown LA.

We're following this person who's driving this

car right in front of us.

It's allegedly someone who transports guns down to Mexico.

We're just looking for an isolated place to park and talk.

For years, I've cultivated sources in Mexico who have

connections to the cartels.

One of them has helped me gain access to an LA‐based

operation that moves guns south of the border.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

MARIANA: She won't reveal her name but tells me to call her

"La Guera" or "Blondie."

Blondie tells me she's been

working for the Sinaloa Cartel since she was 18 and has

driven vehicles packed with American weapons into

Mexico at least 100 times.

For her efforts, she's paid $20,000 a month.

MARIANA: Blondie's children live with her mother.

This way, she can hit the road whenever her employers

need more firepower.

MARIANA: Blondie is just a low‐level courier.

She can't, or won't, tell me who her suppliers are.

The buyers, on the other hand, are less of a mystery.

(speaking native language)

(rapid gunfire)

MAN: Hey!

MARIANA: Over 35,000 murders were committed in Mexico in 2019,

the most ever recorded.

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: And yet there's only one gun store in the whole country.

It turns out 70% of the weapons seized by Mexican

authorities originated in the United States.

You see, this story isn't a "Who done it?"

Everyone knows the cartels are behind Mexico's

skyrocketing murder rate.

What's less well known is how these weapons move so freely

across the border and what's driving this insatiable demand.

The following night, my cartel contacts set

me up with Blondie's LA‐based suppliers.

How are you?

T: T. Nice to meet you.

MARIANA: Nice to meet you, I'm Mariana.

T: Come on in.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: Thanks for meeting me.

The lead supplier tells me to call him "T."

Then introduces me to his cousin and his 17‐year‐old niece.

This is the, you guys all work together?

T: Yes. We do a family business and all.

MARIANA: So, it's somebody down in Mexico,

who's your relative who called you and said,

asked you to do this favor to show us this operation up here.

T: Yes.

But like I said.

MARIANA: We're not cops. T: I know you guys not cops.

MARIANA: I'm a journalist.

T: And that's why I'm doing what I'm doing right now.

Or else you guys wouldn't even be this close.

MARIANA: I see that you've got some stuff ready here.

T: Yes.

MARIANA: Could you tell me what this is?

T: Well, I have a AR‐15 with a scope, I have a .45 Ruger,

I have Mossberg shotgun.

I have a AK‐47, and I have another AR‐15, wrapped around.

Brand new.

MARIANA: And are these going down tonight?

T: They're going, they're getting shipped out tonight actually.

MARIANA: Whoa.

"T" tells me he's been helping his family smuggle guns into

Mexico since he was seven years old,

and he's served his share of prison time.

This life of crime has helped him foster some savvy business

connections on both sides of the law.

So, where, where do these come,

how do you get a hold of so many weapons?

Where?

T: Well, actually, honestly, I'm gonna be honest with you.

This one, we just got it from a police officer that just

took it away from one of our fellas.

And he gave it back to us for $1,000.

And we just get that for like 700,

so he made $300 worth of that.

MARIANA: Wait, wait, wait, wait. LAPD?

T: LAPD.

MARIANA: So, the officer confiscated the weapon and

then you paid him $1,000 to get the weapon back?

T: Yes, ma'am. MARIANA: Oh, wow.

T: And then this one was actually bought from a

marine in a military base in San Diego.

All this is different.

MARIANA: Right, but they're, all ultimately come from

law enforcement here in California.

T: Yes, ma'am.

MARIANA: So, in general, just outside of California,

in general, how easy is it to get guns in the United States?

T: Easy.

MARIANA: So, this is the AR‐15, right?

T: Yes, that's the AR‐15.

MARIANA: It's military grade?

MARIANA: So, this, for me, is so insane,

because I live here in Los Angeles.

This is my backyard and the fact that I'm holding an AR‐15,

with another one next to me, and an AK‐47,

these are the guns that are killing Mexicans on a daily basis.

But that's the killing machine you got right there.

MARIANA: These are the same weapons being used in many of

America's mass shootings.

So, what would happen if you're caught with a gun like

this here in LA?

MARIANA: My time is up.

T tells me they need to get the merchandise out the door

and on the road.

This is (bleep) crazy, because we're on a corner,

out in the open, there's cars passing,

it's like 10 PM on a regular weekday night in Los Angeles,

and they're going to stash the guns in this car and

then the car's gonna go to Mexico.

T and his family stash about 15 guns throughout Blondie's SUV.

They refuse to tell me the exact number and claim some of

the hiding places are trade secrets.

♪ ♪

The Iron River moves quickly.

I can't ride with Blondie and her cargo,

but I know where she plans to deliver the guns.

I also know if she doesn't make it,

Blondie won't just lose her cargo, but her family, too.

MARIANA: But to make her delivery,

Blondie will have to get past this.

The US/Mexico border is the most frequently

crossed border in the entire world.

And San Ysidro in Southern California is its busiest

port of entry.

200,000 people pass through here every day.

Trying to stop an illegal shipment is like finding the

proverbial needle in a haystack.

It's a massive effort that demands 16,000 border agents

and billions of dollars of surveillance

technology spread across America's southern border.

But all this effort is focused on traffic coming

into the United States.

As I passed through the border,

I didn't see a single agent screening cars heading down to Mexico.

Mexican law enforcement is concerned that as many as

2,000 American guns are trafficked into their

country every day.

But many US politicians are panicked about a very

different border crisis.

TRUMP (over TV): They wanna come into our country.

WOMAN (over TV): Hundreds of migrants attempted to storm the US border.

WOMAN (over TV): Is really reaching this crisis point.

CASTRO (over TV): The President continues to fearmonger around the

issue of immigration.

TRUMP (over TV): These people are criminals.

MARIANA: Hardly anyone seems to be paying attention to

how this all connects.

180 miles southeast of Los Angeles lies Mexicali.

A dusty desert town that sits along the US/Mexico border.

♪ ♪

This is where Blondie told me to meet her if she hasn't been apprehended.

MARIANA: So, she's waiting for us right at that place.

She sent me the map which should be right around the corner.

I'm about to witness what few journalists have ever seen.

The first stop in the Iron River.

MARIANA: For 24 hours, I've been tracking a cartel mule

who smuggles American guns into Mexico.

Now, I'm about to witness her delivery.

Okay. She's right here.

I think that's her car right there.

See if I can park behind her.

Yup, that's her.

Camera stay in the car and I'll just go out and talk to her.

Blondie tells me she's exhausted from driving all night,

but not a single border agent searched her car

or questioned her.

It's so hot outside.

She's made it, she's here.

She is, uh, hiding the keys apparently.

This is how it works, she hides the key under the mat,

the door, the car mat.

And then somebody else will come here, get the car,

take it away and then call her when the car is ready.

So, we just stay here, and we wait.

Okay. Now off she goes.

And supposedly now, she says somebody else is gonna show up

and take the car.

Do you see somebody?

Oh, yeah.

Okay. Is that it?

There's a guy coming this way.

That might be our guy.

And so, the deal is that once he gets in that car,

we actually follow the car to wherever it is that they're

taking this to unload it.

Okay, yes. This is it.

This is him.

So, this guy knows we're following him

or at least I hope so.

(honking)

(Bleep). Sorry, sorry, sorry.

I just don't wanna lose him.

I don't know much, I don't know (bleep) about this guy.

Just, I believe this, he works for the guy that receives the

guns here in Mexico.

Um, so he's another link in this chain.

But essentially right now, we're following a car that is

fully loaded with assault rifles through the streets of Mexicali.

We follow the SUV until it stops outside a small garage.

So, he's pulling the car in now.

Now we wait for the signal that it's safe to enter.

Let's do this, guys.

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: So, I guess this is it.

This man, who tells me to call him "Hector,"

informs me that we aren't the only ones using cameras

in Mexicali today.

MARIANA: Mexico's drug cartels run a multibillion dollar criminal industry,

and nobody controls that kind of cash without guns,

a lot of guns.

But in a country with exactly one legal gun store,

firearms are almost impossible to acquire unless you know

someone like Hector.

Or her shoes.

If Blondie is a mule, then Hector is a middleman,

and this garage is an underground distribution center.

Oh, wow. Check this out.

Okay. See, that's just wrapped in a denim jacket.

Oh, no, in a denim, no, jeans.

Jeans.

Here, Hector fills orders from the cartels with a massive markup.

So, we've got a, a .9mm, a .22 caliber,

both of these have already been sold for $3,000,

that's 1,500 apiece.

And then there's an AR‐15 here sold for $5,000

and there is a Colt 45 here and a Glock.

MARIANA: Hector says he's a businessman,

and in a country with a skyrocketing murder rate,

business is booming.

(speaking native language)

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: It's dangerous to pry into organized crime

affiliations in Mexico, but Hector is part of the

same supply chain as Blondie and I'm fairly certain they

both work for the Sinaloa Cartel,

the dominant drug cartel in this area.

MARIANA: To understand why so many American guns are being

smuggled into Mexico, you first have to understand

that there are more than a dozen drug cartels here,

all competing to supply the world's largest consumer

of illegal drugs, the United States.

In 2006, the Mexican Government decided to crush

this supply and launched their own war on drugs.

But the plan backfired and unleashed a wave of violence

that 14 years later is deadlier than ever.

To beat back both the military and local competition,

the cartels need firepower, so they look to the most

heavily armed country in the world,

with some of the most lenient gun laws.

Mexicali was just the first stop in the Iron River.

To see where America's weapons head next,

I'm driving deeper into cartel country to meet a group of

gunmen arming for war.

♪ ♪

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: Tracking the flow of illegal American weapons into Mexico,

you're bound to run into a few roadblocks,

whether you're a gun smuggler or a journalist like me.

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: Drugs and guns, he says.

That's what they're looking for.

He says a lot of people actually hide guns inside,

on the doors.

So, they're shaking the door to they making sure there are

no guns inside.

(speaking native language)

So, he's saying in here too.

This is a regular place where people hide guns.

And in the AC ducts and all this area.

We're free to go.

We're gun free, we can go.

I'm pursuing a new tip from my underworld contacts.

They've connected me with a group of traffickers who can

show me how they dodge checkpoints just like this one.

I'm scheduled to meet them about 100 miles southeast of

Mexicali in San Felipe, a small coastal city

on the Sea of Cortez.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: San Felipe is an old fishing village recently

transformed into a popular tourist‐town with a colorful,

Caribbean vibe.

It hardly looks like a cartel war zone.

Yet somehow the Iron River has led me here.

MARIANA: We finally get the call we've been waiting for.

The man holding the phone is my local contact.

The voice on the other end is one of the gun runners we're

hoping to meet.

MARIANA: A location is sent to my phone and we're off.

So, still a (bleep) ton of unknowns.

We know we're meeting them at this location right now,

but we have no idea where we're going.

We don't know even what cartel they belong to.

Our local contact says that's something you never ask

here in Mexico.

That can get you killed.

So the more out into isolated areas we drive,

the more nervous I get, because we don't wanna be

caught in the middle of nowhere where we don't get

cell phone service, and nobody knows where we are.

The information I've been given directs me to the most

unusual meeting point.

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: Okay. What's happening here?

MARIANA: Oh, yeah, they probably are looking at us.

They're checking us out right now for sure.

It all looks like it's go, go, go, adrenaline,

things happening, but I'd say 80% of our job is just waiting.

And the more time passes then the more nervous you get that

it's not gonna happen.

And then just like that, my contacts arrive.

They're wearing orange life vests which,

if you're trafficking guns,

doesn't seem like the best idea.

It's always borderline comedy.

I quickly realize the joke's on me.

In a town overrun with tourists,

these smugglers are wearing the ultimate disguise.

Hiding in plain sight as tour boat operators.

So, it looks, it looks like this is it.

He's saying to go.

Let's go.

Rock and roll time.

♪ ♪

(speaking native language)

(speaking native language)

They asked if we wanted to put on the life vest.

I think that's the least of our concerns right now.

(speaking native language)

There's more to San Felipe

than most tourists will ever know.

This town hides a dark side, and I'm close to seeing it

for the first time.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: In my quest to expose how American guns are

trafficked throughout Mexico, I never expected to be

headed out to sea.

But as we move deeper into the waters,

these smugglers break down their operation.

The Sea of Cortez is over 700 miles long but less

than 100 miles wide.

That means these smugglers can make the crossing in less than three hours,

completely bypassing the military

checkpoints set up along Mexico's highways.

Right now, they say they're delivering more and more guns

to Sonora directly across the sea,

that's the same heavily contested territory that

Hector in Mexicali is also sending guns to.

I think, like, that's it.

I think we're going to that beach over there.

Oh, there's some guys there.

There's some guys actually waiting at the beach.

Or at least one guy that I see now.

And he's coming to greet the boat.

He's all dressed in black with a mask as well.

Yeah, they're anchoring right there.

So, this is it.

I'm told the man in black is another buyer from Sonora.

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: 50 calibers, RPGs.

MARIANA: None of this sounds like arming a criminal organization.

They're arming for war.

MARIANA: I'm told the buyer is from an affiliated cartel,

fighting to regain territory in Sonora.

He's picking up a fresh order, including a pair of customized

handguns for rich narcos who don't just want a weapon,

they want to make a statement.

Sales like this are common for these smugglers.

The market for American assault rifles is exploding.

MARIANA: (Bleep).

So, they had 200 AK 47s, cuerno de chivo,

which is what they call them here, come through here,

San Felipe, in just one day last week.

MARIANA: Here's where things get interesting.

Remember when I said that you never ask what cartel someone

belongs to?

I didn't.

This guy just decided to tell me that he works for one of

the fastest growing mafias in Mexico,

the Jalisco Cartel also known as CJNG.

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: The organization is only about ten years old,

but aggressive maneuvers and terrifying,

ISIS‐style executions have helped them dominate

underworld markets across Mexico,

becoming the Sinaloa Cartel's biggest rival.

And the kingpin of these violent upstarts,

perhaps the most dangerous drug lord in the world,

is known as "El Mencho."

MARIANA: The timing of these ambitions is no accident.

(gunshots)

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: In 2016, El Chapo Guzman,

the billionaire leader of the Sinaloa Cartel,

was captured by the Mexican marines, extradited to the US,

and sentenced to life in prison.

In his wake, the country's murder rate continued to

skyrocket as rivals fought to fill the power vacuum.

El Mencho and the Jalisco Cartel see this as an

opportunity to strike while the Sinaloa Cartel is vulnerable.

A turf war is underway, and firepower is needed by all sides.

That is why Hector in Mexicali told me he was rushing another

load of firearms further south, directly to Sinaloa.

MARIANA: Blondie tells me that things are hot in

Sinaloa right now.

That means she won't be heading home to her three

daughters any time soon.

MARIANA: Blondie and I are both headed deeper into narco territory.

I've seen where The Iron River begins.

Now I wanna know where it ends.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

MARIANA: 800 miles south of Los Angeles lies Sinaloa,

Mexico's drug capital.

(singing in native language)

Here, outlaw culture is part of everyday life.

(singing in native language)

This is where the country's notorious narco traffickers

got their start when a small group of impoverished farmers

started planting poppies and marijuana.

Over time, the farmers began to organize and arm themselves,

creating one of Mexico's first narco mafias,

the Sinaloa Cartel, the same cartel that gave rise to El Chapo Guzman,

the most successful drug trafficker in

Mexican history.

Once number 701 on the Forbes's annual billionaires list.

It's an outlaw rags to riches tale that continues to inspire

Sinaloa's poor.

But you don't become the world's most powerful

trafficking organization without making a few enemies

along the way.

(gunshots)

We don't have much information,

just that it's a guy, it's a man who was shot

about 20 minutes ago.

MIGUEL: Yeah.

MARIANA: He's been, he's, it's confirmed,

he's been confirmed dead?

MIGUEL: Yeah, he's dead.

MARIANA: This is my fifth time working in Culiacán,

but I've never arrived quite like this.

We just got here last night, and this is the first time we

took out the cameras, and immediately within seconds,

we got a call that there was a shooting.

MIGUEL: Right.

That tells you the level of violence that we live in this city.

Culiacán is becoming like a war zone now.

MARIANA: Miguel Angel Vega is a local journalist

and an old friend.

We work together every time I come to Sinaloa.

He tells me gun violence in the city has spiked recently,

and no one knows exactly why.

Some say outside cartels are trying to muscle their way

into Sinaloa.

Others suspect the Sinaloa Cartel has internally

splintered since El Chapo's capture as different factions

battle with El Chapo's sons for control.

Whatever the reason, 82 people were killed

here the month before I arrived,

that's one murder every ten hours.

Oh, it's right here.

It's right here, guys.

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: Oh, so they're picking up the body right now,

but he's saying that it was an assassination.

There was a guy inside.

He was shot several times.

♪ ♪

(speaking native language)

I try to find out more,

but no one wants to speak to me.

Impunity reigns across Mexico, 95% of murders like this

are never solved.

Yeah, they're scared to talk. You know?

A lot of people around here, even when they're witnesses to crime,

if they're, go on television or talk to the

press about what they saw, that can get them in serious trouble,

that can get them killed,

so they don't feel comfortable talking.

They definitely know something,

they just don't wanna talk to us.

Miguel has more luck with his crime beat contacts.

The victim was allegedly part of the Mexican underworld,

though it's unclear which cartel he belonged to.

He recently arrived in Sinaloa from Tijuana,

and just before noon this morning,

two assassins followed him into the building supplies

store and shot him four times, at point blank range.

We still don't know what kind of weapon was used,

but he says usually, the vast majority of times,

it's either AR‐15s or AK‐47s, it's, uh, assault weapons,

and the vast majority of times,

it's well‐known that those weapons come from the United States.

It's also known that Culiacán is a city controlled by the cartel,

and they have eyes everywhere.

It's a well‐known fact that, especially if you have cameras,

the moment you land in Sinaloa,

that you're being watched.

Those guys are just like, watching over,

like checking out what's moving.

MARIANA: The guys on the bikes? MIGUEL: Yeah.

There's another one coming over,

the one with the blue shirt.

MARIANA: Yeah. Yeah.

MARIANA: Yeah.

Despite increasing challenges to their authority,

Culiacán is still the seat of power for the Sinaloa Cartel.

Miguel tells me I can't go any further without first getting

permission from the cartel itself.

He sets up a meeting with his main source,

a narco boss who controls one of the branches of the Iron River.

MARIANA: This man is the highest ranking cartel figure

I've met so far.

He won't allow me to reveal his name but tells me he

personally oversees every link in the 1,000 mile supply chain

I followed from Los Angeles,

from the gangsters who obtain the weapons,

to Hector in Mexicali,

and the mules like Blondie who smuggle the guns into Mexico every week.

MARIANA: Every meeting I have opens another door into the underworld.

This time, I'm invited to see where the cargo Blondie picked

up in Los Angeles was finally delivered.

Oh, my God.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: This is the belly of the beast

when it comes to narco trafficking in Mexico.

With the green light from the cartel boss,

I met in Culiacán, Miguel and I head into the mountains outside the city,

to see where Blondie's shipment was delivered.

This is it?

MIGUEL: Yeah.

MARIANA: Okay.

This is the plan that we have to stop the cars,

and then we're going to have to walk the rest.

(speaking native language)

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: Are these people with us, Miguel?

MIGUEL: Yeah. MARIANA: Yeah? They're with us?

MIGUEL: Yes. Yes.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: These men are called "Sicarios",

hired killers employed by the Sinaloa Cartel to protect their product,

and eliminate the competition.

MARIANA: They lay out the ground rules for filming,

and the very real threats we need to be aware of.

MARIANA: Okay, so.

MIGUEL: If, if, if there's a situation.

MARIANA: Where the Marines come.

MIGUEL: In which the Marines or the Army comes,

they're gonna fight them, but we do not run.

We just stay low.

MARIANA: Stay where we are?

MIGUEL: Stay low. And go.

MARIANA: So, we're gonna be in the middle of a, a, a shoot‐out?

MIGUEL: It's possible, I mean, it's very unlikely,

but it's a possibility.

MARIANA: I'm reminded that the cartel's billion‐dollar

profits may come from the drug trade,

but their real source of power will always be violence.

MARIANA: For rural men like this,

the gun is seen as an essential tool to change their fortunes,

just like El Chapo.

MARIANA: And that is what fuels the never‐ending cycle

of violence in Mexico.

The extraordinary profits made from America's insatiable

demand for drugs, means the cartels will always find a

supply of eager young recruits.

(gunshots)

(gunshots)

(rapid gunfire)

(gunshots)

MARIANA: At first glance, these young men look no

different than Americans having fun at a shooting range,

but they are worlds apart.

They're old enough to wield America's lethal exports.

(Bleep).

But too young to comprehend the epidemic violence they're

an essential part of.

(speaking native language)

♪ ♪

MARIANA: The Sicarios believe it's the Mexican marines on

their way.

MARIANA: Where is that?

Our vehicles are exposed in the open fields.

Now we're (bleep).

MARIANA: So, there's, uh, apparently military everywhere.

There's a helicopter coming our way,

which means that we can't actually get out of here

without being spotted.

So, now we're stuck in this position where we can't leave,

but we also have to hide.

(radio chatter)

MARIANA: Right now, my film crew and I are embedded with a

group of cartel hit men, but a Mexican marine helicopter is

closing in fast.

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: Our contact here, he's freaking out.

Um, and now, it's just a matter of trying to figure out

what's the safest way for us to get out of here,

because we're just (bleep) sitting ducks right here.

MARIANA: (Bleep).

MARIANA: We need to follow them.

MIGUEL: Right.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: Thankfully, we managed to avoid incident.

We take refuge inside a cartel‐controlled town where

I'm directed to the next location the bosses have

agreed to show me.

MIGUEL: Okay. We're here, Mariana.

MARIANA: Oh, okay. Should I get out?

MIGUEL: Yeah.

I was told to stay in the car so you can now go there.

MARIANA: But this is them? MIGUEL: Yeah.

This masked man tells me to call him Marco.

He works with the boss I met in Culiacán and oversees

over 150 gunmen.

Every one of them loyal to the Sinaloa Cartel.

MARIANA: Okay.

MARIANA: Wow.

MARIANA: Wow. Okay.

It's, uh, a bunker, essentially.

Down there.

Oh my God.

Now that we're down there so be careful.

♪ ♪

I've witnessed a lot on this journey,

but never a stash quite like this.

Hidden in this bunker are assault rifles, pistols,

shot guns, laser scopes, even bulletproof vests.

MARIANA: If I take Marco at his word,

that's as many as 3,000 military‐style weapons in just this village,

one of many controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel.

MARIANA: Despite everything they've shown me,

I know I'm just catching glimpses of a complex chessboard,

and I suspect the cartels like it that way.

By keeping everyone in the dark,

it's impossible to anticipate what they're going to do next.

MARIANA: Only weeks later, the monster emerged,

when the Sinaloa Cartel laid siege to Culiacán.

(speaking native language)

(gunshots)

(speaking native language)

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: I mean, it's a guy with a .50 Cal

on top of a, a truck.

That's absolutely crazy.

It looks like scenes out of, uh, you know,

Iraq and Afghanistan at the height of the war.

MAN (over TV): Chaos and carnage unleashed in the City of Culiacán.

MAN (over TV): Culiacán, Mexico.

The historic homeland to the violent Sinaloa drug cartel.

MARIANA: The media called it "Black Thursday."

MAN (over TV): Police appear to be outgunned by drug cartel forces,

as men with heavy machine guns open fire.

Civilians ran for safety.

MARIANA: As I watched from the safety of my hotel room,

eyewitnesses on the streets of Culiacán captured video of the

chaos and confusion.

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: One thing was clear, it all started with the

capture of the son of El Chapo.

WOMAN (over TV): Notorious drug kingpin, El Chapo,

was taken into custody.

MARIANA: Around 2:30 PM, Mexican Security Forces

attempted to arrest one of the Sinaloa Cartel's youngest bosses,

Ovidio Guzman.

MARIANA: He was to be extradited to the United States

to stand trial, just like his father.

MARIANA: But as Mexican federal agents began taking him into custody,

blocks away, the cartel launched a counter attack,

firing on military vehicles from the turrets of

their own armored pickups.

(rapid gunfire)

MARIANA: Instead of halting the attack,

the cartel did something unprecedented.

(radio chatter)

MARIANA: These are the same Sicarios that showed me how

the Iron River supplies them with American guns.

Now, they're telling me how they used those same weapons,

not to fight a cartel turf war,

but to bring the government to its knees.

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: The warring factions of the Sinaloa Cartel combined

against a common enemy; the Mexican states.

And in less than an hour, hundreds of the heavily armed

gunmen poured into the city.

MARIANA: I can only assume the weapons bunker I recently saw

was completely emptied on Black Thursday.

MARIANA: This woman, who tells me to call her Maria,

is a member of the Sinaloa State Police.

MARIANA: Police and military were out‐manned and out‐gunned,

unable to regain control.

But what seemed like total chaos was actually part

of a sinister plan.

By hijacking all of the roads and bridges leading into Culiacán,

the cartel had the city surrounded like a noose,

choking the Mexican Government.

And it was about to get even worse.

Sometime after 4 PM, cartel gunmen stormed a

housing complex in the heart of the city,

where the wives and children of Mexico's military officers lived.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: The events of Black Thursday began with the

capture of Ovidio Guzman.

If I wanted to hear how it all ended,

I needed to speak to the hit men who work for El Chapo's sons.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: Miguel and I are en route to a high stakes meeting

with one of the only gunman who can tell me exactly how

Black Thursday came to an end.

MARIANA: This Sicario is part of a faction that works

directly for El Chapo's sons.

He commands a small group of hit men that are on call 24 hours a day,

waiting for instructions,

usually to murder a rival.

But the call he received on Black Thursday was something new.

A rescue mission.

MARIANA: He tells me that he and his team attempted to

enter the home where Ovidio was being detained

by law enforcement.

MARIANA: While his team of Sicarios fought Mexican

military forces to a standstill,

the rest of the city erupted.

By the time the cartel threatened to execute all

of the women and children at the housing complex,

the Mexican government faced an impossible choice.

Exactly what the Sinaloa Cartel wanted.

MARIANA: The government officially acknowledged the

death of 13 people on Black Thursday,

but the Sicarios I spoke with dispute that figure.

MARIANA: Black Thursday was a wake‐up call,

but it's not an isolated event.

American weapons have been spilling Mexican blood for years.

In fact, it's estimated that 200,000 people

have been killed here over the past 14 years.

Countless innocent civilians caught in the cartel's crossfire.

Police and witnesses executed for upholding the law.

More than 100 journalists silenced for daring to speak out.

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: And student protestors abducted and never seen again.

MARIANA: It's clear to me now that Sinaloa's well‐armed

narcos aren't the true terminus of the Iron River.

Their victims are.

(singing in native language)

MARIANA: The Mexican countryside hides countless

corpses and mass graves.

MARIANA: Since the war on drugs began, 40,000 men, women,

and children, remain unaccounted for.

They are simply called Los Desaparecidos,

"The Disappeared."

Four times a week, 52 weeks a year,

Maria Isabelle Cruz leads a group of grieving mothers who

search for their sons and daughters.

They call themselves Sabuesos Guerreras,

"The Warrior Hounds."

And they do the work the Mexican Government

can't or won't do.

(speaking native language)

They just found this tape.

They say it's very common to find, you know,

bodies that have been wrapped around, or they put tape, ooh.

Such strong smell.

They'll put tape around the face.

They tell me they've recovered 78 bodies so far.

But not Maria Isabel's son, Josimar.

MARIANA: Josimar was a member of a Sinaloan Police Unit,

aggressively combating the cartels,

until the narcos took matters into their own hands.

On January 26th, 2017, a group of hooded and heavily armed

narcos broke into Josimar's home,

and in front of his fiancée,

dragged him out into the night.

He was never seen or heard from again.

MARIANA: Maria Isabel now spends her days searching for

bodies the cartels don't want to be found.

♪ ♪

(singing in native language)

MARIANA: These women, and the pain they carry,

are not alone.

Families throughout Mexico and Central America are asking how

they can avoid a similar fate, because the Iron River doesn't

stop at Sinaloa.

It flows further South, creating devastating ripple effects.

Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras,

known as the Northern Triangle,

are now among the most dangerous countries to call home,

with some of the world's highest murder rates.

MARIANA: As more and more American weapons head south,

something else heads north,

an unprecedented mass migration.

They're no longer chasing the American dream.

They're fleeing for their lives.

TRUMP (over TV): Many of those people,

a big, fairly big percentage of those people,

are criminals.

And they wanna come into our country.

MARIANA: In reality, it seems the criminals are staying put,

killing with impunity.

It's their victims who are on the move.

It's ironic that to escape the Iron River,

they head to its source, the United States.

And it's here that I'm hoping to answer my final question,

"Why is no one able to stop this?"

MARIANA: We actually filmed a gun sale a couple of miles

from where we are right now.

They had AK‐47s, AR‐15s, and we saw them placing those guns in a car,

the guns went south.

It was as easy as transporting candy down to Mexico.

What do you say to that?

CARLOS: Welcome to my world. That's what I say to that.

MARIANA: Carlos Canino helms the Los Angeles field division of the ATF,

the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms,

the federal agency tasked with making sure America's weapons

don't fall into criminal hands.

That's easier said than done.

The United States is the only country on Earth with more

guns than people.

How many guns do you estimate are moving south every day?

CARLOS: No idea.

MARIANA: Well, shouldn't the ATF measure this?

CARLOS: How? There's no national database.

Nobody's keeping count on how many guns are sold per day

in the United States.

(speaking native language)

MARIANA: Carlos also tells me that even if Blondie or T are caught,

they can't be charged with running guns.

CARLOS: That person would be charged with dealing without a license,

selling a firearm to a person who's not a

resident of that state.

MARIANA: You're not actually charging them with the trafficking?

CARLOS: There is no Federal Firearms Trafficking Statute

currently on the books.

MARIANA: It's crazy to me.

Just months from retirement, Carlos is more candid than

most government officials I interviewed.

He says the cartels know exactly how to exploit

loopholes in America's gun laws,

buying legal weapons in ways that are impossible to trace.

CARLOS: There's a robust gun industry in the United States,

and they have very well‐funded powerful lobbies.

MARIANA: Do you think that the violence in Mexico is directly

connected to the fact that they can come to the United States,

and buy weapons so easily?

CARLOS: The cartels have a reliable, ready,

easy‐to‐get supply of firearms and ammunition.

Does that answer your question?

MARIANA: America's refusal to take responsibility for our

role in the Iron River is creating dangerous consequences.

Not just for the countries south of our border,

but for our own.

CARLOS: Banning guns is not the answer,

and it's unrealistic.

Unfortunately, the gun debate, everybody runs to their corners.

There's a lot of talking past each other.

And then, the only people who win are the people that you

spoke with who are bringing guns down to Mexico.

MARIANA: But, of course, they're not the only ones who win.

And that's part of the problem.

When there's money to be made, many people turn a blind eye,

and black markets flourish.

CARLOS: We have the ability to do better and we should be doing better.

That simple. And that's the truth.

(chanting in native language)

(music plays through credits)

Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.