Fernando Puente exposes Tijuana's narco death zone, detailing his arrest for aiding immigration smuggling under Sergio and the brutal "La Tabla" discipline used against minor infractions. He contrasts the wealthy Ariano Felix era with the thrill-seeking "Narco Juniors," noting that illegal immigration now generates more revenue than drugs at $15k–$20k per person. While criticizing ineffective government slogans like "hugs, not bullets" and the cyclical violence resembling a Hydra, Puente champions his podcast "El Bordo" as a vital tool to offer youth legal alternatives through music and storytelling rather than glorifying cartel life. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026, WAV2VEC2_ASR_BASE_960H, sat-12l-sm, script v26.04.01, and large-v3-turbo
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How I Got Arrested00:13:12
How tied into the cartels are you right now?
And are you going to put yourself in danger by talking about some of this on the podcast?
Yeah, well, like I said, I've never been a member of the cartels, just to get that clear.
I've never been a member, but I grew up with a lot of friends.
And it's just like I was telling you that movie, Slumdog Millionaire and Forrest Gump, where the guy's just like at the right place, or maybe at the wrong place at the wrong time.
I don't know how you want to, depends on the perspective.
Where I've met these people like in different situations, like street, like, Most of them, I met them doing graffiti, to be honest, when we were just bangers and we were just like, like, uh, just kids tagging and like fighting each other, you know, fighting with rocks, if anything, you know, just like, hey, there goes whoever, and we chase them down, you know, and then he passes a certain block and then we don't chase them anymore, you know, that's that type of stuff.
But eventually, all these little, and it's funny because it was like the leaders of the crews are the ones that actually became leaders in what is it now, you know, like little sections of cartels and stuff.
And, uh, And that's how I communicate with most of them.
Like, I got my fair share.
I've been locked up.
You know, I've done my, I've done, I, I, that's the life I want to live at some point.
But you, you said you never, you were never an official member of the cartel, but you obviously had, it could have been very easily happened that you could have been a member of the cartel.
Yeah.
A lot of the guys you grew up with are cartel members, right?
Yeah.
If I could, I'll get my membership like tomorrow.
But nah, man, I mean, shout out to all you.
A lot of you know who you are.
Those who speak English.
But I mean, it's a really like a gray area to consider yourself part of like a cartel.
You really have to be like working for them, like following their instructions, you know what I mean?
Because a lot of like, let's say when I was 19, I used to cross people, like illegal people.
That's what I was arrested and that's what I was charged with.
What do you mean when you say that?
Well, crossing.
I used to work for this guy.
He would bring people from the South, you know, like just.
immigrants and um and i was like i always wanted when i was young bro i was crazy like i would meet all these like older cartels that weren't like my friends when they were young like older cartels and i'll just be like hey what's up hey like what's there to do you know like i want to make some money like you know i was always down for it i was just looking for it you know that's why i was in jail at 19.
but uh but eventually he he uh uh it was this guy uh we um rest in peace don't sergio he uh he was pretty chill man he only he never got into violent stuff or anything he only uh crossed People over.
You know, he had like drivers and he had people like me that walked them over because he actually liked me.
He didn't want me to like, he just saw how I was asking everybody for jobs and stuff like that.
So he was like, Look, come here.
You're going to do this for me.
And it's like the easiest thing you could do to like keep you the farthest away, but keep you working for me and like keep me on his watch.
So he would have these safe houses where he would keep the illegal people and like the immigrants that came in.
And If you, if we use papers back then, like if uh, he had like boxes of visas and and like all these papers that weren't reported stolen or anything.
So, if let's say you um got this, uh, white guy from Guadalajara, you know, he's legal, he's trying to make it to trying to make it back to Florida.
So, we find a visa with uh, that has a USC uh residency, so you can work over here.
So, okay, so what we do is we give you a uniform, which we have tons of uniforms like gardening uniform, construction jobs uniform, all types of shit.
So, we'll dress you up as you.
Like, if you were going to work, you know, give you a little lunch bag and everything, and you would just follow me across the border.
Because he never wanted me to do the driving and like the hard stuff.
He was just like, just walk him across the border, take him to the trolley station, whatever, the H Street or whatever, and somebody would be there to pick him up.
And that's what I did for when I was younger.
And what are the things you have to look out for?
What do you have to do when you walk him across the border?
What do you have to be aware of?
That's why he gave me that job, because that's basically the easiest.
You know what I mean?
My charge was aiding and abetting, or abetting.
I don't know how to pronounce it, but aiding and abetting.
They couldn't charge me with transporting them because they weren't in my car.
They were just following me across.
But eventually, one of them got arrested and they saw me.
A few of them got arrested and I was on the cameras, I guess.
And one of them eventually snitched on me.
He's like, Yeah, that's the guy that I was following.
How old were you?
When I got arrested, I think I was 18 or 19.
19, yeah, I believe.
And so, yeah, that's how I got arrested.
I just crossed the border one day and.
It was actually a girl, like a 17 year old girl.
She crossed too.
She was following me like a couple of people behind me.
So she crossed too.
And once I waited for her, and I seen she crossed, I was like, all right, we made it.
I got her on the trolley.
And this is the funniest part because while I was on the trolley, it was usually me and another guy.
And we both had people following us, but his didn't make it and mine did.
And all of a sudden, I kind of had this feeling.
And I was talking to him, and he was like, hey, I think that might be on to us.
And I was like, I don't think so, bro.
And even if they are, I mean, even if this white guy next to me was the cop, he could just go fuck himself, bro.
Like, what the fuck is he gonna do?
What is he gonna charge me for?
And he wasn't the cop, it was the guy behind me.
We were being followed.
Like, when I made the drop and they picked up the girl, as soon as she opened the door to get in the car that was picking her up, all these cars, like undercover cops, just started pulling up with like the little red and blue on the grill.
Yeah.
And I was like, oh, fuck.
And it was like, it was irony at that moment because I was like, damn, they were following us, you know what I mean?
So I'm outside this roster just fucking with my hands against the wall and my friends getting arrested.
And they're just like talking shit to us.
But they're referring to me as pinchy pollo, pinchy migrante type shit.
And I remember I told him, I was like, what the fuck are you talking about?
I'm a US citizen.
And he was like, what?
And they took my passport and then everything went like a little quiet.
I'm not saying they got scared because I was still arrested, but they watched their words after that.
They're like, oh, we got a USC, we got a USC.
And then they put me to the side.
They were like, hey, are these too tight?
You know, like they started treating me like a little with more respect.
But at first, they were like, Yeah, we got you, pinches pollos, pinches ilegales.
What year would this have been when you were 18, 19?
Uh, uh, should be 2009.
Okay, 2009.
Okay, so uh, so yeah, they put me in the back of this car where it was there was like a child seat next to it, and it was like a man and a woman that were driving me.
So they just taking me over, and I'm like, Because that day I was actually gonna enroll to adult school because my mom had been giving me shit about that.
Not doing shit and stuff.
So I was like, all right, I'm gonna, I'm gonna roll today.
As soon as I finish with something, I'm gonna go to the, uh, the adult school and enroll in that shit.
So I got to, they took me back to the border and, um, they made, they let me make a phone call.
So I called my mom and she's like, what happened?
I was like, well, don't say anything because I got arrested.
I'm in, I'm like in front of them right now.
And, uh, they arrested me because I had illegal people with me and stuff.
And she was like, oh, well, what, what's gonna happen?
I was like, well, I don't know.
Um, eventually I gotta sit here till they send me to the MCC.
And I, I just kept mentioning the MCC because she was arrested.
And when, when she was arrested and my grandma, they took her to the MCC.
And like, they just take everybody to the MCC, to be honest.
Everybody is the MCC.
The Metropolitan Detention Center.
Well, over here is the MDC, but over there is MCC.
Okay.
So it's just a federal prison.
There's others like the GEO and the CCAs.
But when I was growing up, they were my mom and my grandma, they were involved in like some shady stuff with some people from Sinaloa.
And I didn't know I was too young.
It was like I was like two or three years old, probably something like that.
But as you're growing up and stuff, you hear like the news or like the gossiping.
And my mom had me when she was like 17, 18.
So I was like, and she's the oldest of her brothers.
So I was like the little brother, kind of like they just took me everywhere.
And I kind of have these flashbacks of stuff.
And sometimes I ask my mom, like, hey, remember this house with the bulletproof windows and stuff like that?
And she's like, how the hell do you remember that?
You know, shit like that.
But eventually they got caught.
And I was really young.
I barely remember this.
I just know the story because I talked to her.
But eventually, yeah, my grandma tried to work for somebody else.
And actually, it was a good luck for them because they used to cross things.
They used to cross like heroin, I think, back then across the border.
What year was that?
Like the early 90s, okay, like 93, I want to say something like that.
So, um, so yeah, my grandma just she was working for this one dude and you know she was making him money, but then uh, his work stopped for a little bit or slowed down, as I understand something like that.
And she got a job, uh, work from somebody else.
So, I guess this guy I i mixed up the story right here, but one of the guys actually uh used her um to get like another bigger load, you know, so they snitched on her so they would.
Catch her and well, she's getting arrested, whatever.
A bigger load of cross.
So instead of sending her with drugs, they sent her with like cut.
I don't know how you say it in English, but they just sent her with like when they ran it through, it was like less than 10% heroin.
You know what I mean?
It wasn't really drugs.
So eventually they got like three months in jail, whatever.
And she got deported.
And my mom got her papers back again.
I can't remember.
Well, back then the laws were a little different.
So, but after that, my mom just went straight arrow.
Like she didn't want to do anything about that life anymore.
She likes to work from Mondays to Sundays.
She's had like two to three jobs from time to time, you know, because she raised me by herself.
I got two sisters, two younger sisters.
But yeah, after that, she just went like that.
But at this point, I started listening to the music.
I read a lot.
So I hear names in the news, in the newspaper.
And then I'm out in the streets now a little bit because I'm like 13, 14 and stuff.
And I'm hanging out with these older dudes.
And they hear names like the Arianos or like, I was chop or shit like that.
And it's just things that I heard in my house out of gossiping, you know, just like the news.
I mean, maybe they never met my grandma or anything, but like it was just when you're around that world, you know, it's just the news and stuff, the gossiping, the friends that come over and they're drinking and they say stuff.
And I'm there playing around.
So I get to listen to everything.
And you know how it is?
They're like, ah, he's a kid.
He doesn't understand.
But I kind of did.
Like, not, I didn't understand.
But as I grew older, everything started making sense.
You know what I mean?
It just stayed there.
So, um, I was always a fan of music.
I started listening to music really, really young.
And I would only listen to like rap.
And Mexican music seemed to me like old people music.
You know what I mean?
Because it was like, I would just see like old people drinking and listening to like sad songs.
That was my perspective of it.
But then one time I remember I got this CD and I heard a narco corrido, which is like a song dedicated to like a story.
Back then there wasn't that like they are today, but it was a story.
And I love stories.
I love reading.
I write myself.
I consider myself a storyteller.
So when I heard it was a story, I really got deep into it and I just started like playing more and more and more.
And then all of a sudden, like names, you know, like last names started popping out that I knew or that I've heard before, like from the family that my grandma used to work for.
So something clicked in me and it wasn't really like I didn't really get it.
But my grandma, she's kind of still a fan of that life or still was back then.
Like it wasn't like my mom.
My mom, she was like, no, I don't want none of this.
Like fuck this.
But my grandma, she was still kind of like, she was willing to introduce me to some of that people when I grew up a little bit.
She's a gangster.
Yeah, she was a gangster.
She was a gangster.
Just a little bit of background, my grandma.
She met like some of these names that you hear now, like back then when El Chapo wasn't the chapel that you know now, he was just like another mid level dealer.
And my grandma would be one of those ladies that she had her best friend, she would be dating the dealers.
And my grandma was like, Hey, go bring us food.
Hey, go bring us this.
She would do like secretary kind of stuff, you know, like maid, you know, clean around the house, stuff like that.
So she was around and she got her fair share of things, you know, she got a fair share of knowing people.
So, whenever I came up to ask her, I was like, Hey, I heard this in a song or whatever.
And she just raked the whole thing down for you.
She's like, oh, yeah, that's him.
He's married to this lady and she's comadre with this lady.
They're fathers to this guy.
Like, she would give you the whole thing.
And that's how I started, like, because my mom wouldn't tell me.
She didn't like it.
She didn't like me going like that way, you know what I mean?
Which was clear where I was going.
So, but she was always working, you know what I mean?
And as a single mom, always working and stuff.
Journalists Watching Me00:07:03
And she was living in Tijuana, but then as soon as she could, she found like a place to stay in San Diego with like a roommate.
And So, like, we'll cross the border every day because I went to school over there, but I lived in TJ.
So, we crossed the border every day, bro.
I'm telling you, like, from Monday to Friday, half my life was in San Diego and half my life was in TJ.
What is like the biggest misconception when it comes to your experience living in Tijuana and Mexico and dealing with these guys and what you see on the media when you see people like reporting on what's going on?
When people make it sound like it's just a war zone down there like that.
I mean, there's a lot of legitimate people reporting on it, like Luis.
Shout out to Luis for hooking us up and making it happen.
Yeah, shout out to Luis.
He's one of the rare guys who are, I feel like, Actually, in it, like reporting on what's really going on.
Yeah, that's why I actually kind of connected with him and actually liked him.
And because I see his work and stuff, and I have a lot of reporter friends, like on kind of enhanced level and stuff like that, that he knows too.
But they, like, I explained it to him.
I don't like how they, like, I'm going to give you an example real quick.
And it's the same thing.
There's this author that writes about narco corridos in Mexico.
I forgot his name right now.
And one day they invited me to one of their presentations and they were going to talk about, like, the narco corridos and stuff like that.
So I'm like, I got excited.
I was like, okay, it's like, Academic people talking about like all this, so I show up there and it's really all academic.
Like, I was the only one, I felt awkward being there, you know what I mean?
So, I was telling Luis, I was like, I don't like how they talk about like this world.
And I was right there, and they were looking at me like I was a little monkey in a lab, typing, like, Oh, instead of like, like talking like you and me, like, Hey, how's it like, how's your flight, you know, like just regular people?
They were like, So, how does it feel to be like, you know, they were really like investigative type thing, like.
Psychologic, like I don't know.
I felt like I was being observed and watched, and it wasn't really like they invited me because I thought you know I knew one of them and I thought they were, you know, it was gonna be just like some.
Where were these guys from?
They're from Mexico, they're authors, they have a lot of books and stuff like that.
But, uh, but that's how I feel like, uh, like people, nobody dares to like Luis, nobody dares to go in the like we call it the wolf's mouth, you know what I mean?
Like they just want to look at it from afar and report whatever they see, so they just get like.
Like, splash on little information.
But, like, Luis, I've been giving Luis some real good, like, hey, this is what's happening and nobody's talking about right now.
And he's been like looking into it and stuff like that.
Yeah, what he did going into Chapo's son's house and filming all that shit, that was pretty mind bending stuff.
That was crazy, man.
I thought he was legitimately risking his life going in there and doing all that shit.
I mean, if he would have got arrested, he would have been fucked.
I don't think there's no arrest going on in this situation like that, bro.
I mean, it might make it look like an arrest.
Yeah.
But most likely, I think they would have handed it over to like the owners of the house.
You know what I mean?
I think he said that he met.
Yeah, I seen the video.
What was El Chapo's son's name again?
Ovidio.
Ovidio.
He met Ovidio's mom and his lawyer when he first got there and he'd waited for them to leave.
And I was asking him, What was your biggest fear?
Running into Sicario there or whatever?
And he said, Honestly, he's like, My worst fear was having one of the police come and throw me in a jail in Sinaloa or in Culiacan.
And that would be a worst case scenario for a journalist like me is being in a fucking jail there with those guys.
Yeah, I don't think jail would have been it for him, bro.
They have this thing in.
Over there, the owners of the house and them, it's very well known.
They brag about it on their songs and stuff.
I don't know if you heard of the term La Tabla.
It's a board.
It's kind of like this.
That's what they call a surfboard, La Tabla.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They say that too, but not this kind of tabla is used for way different reasons.
It's one of those like a.
Yes, he told me about this shit.
Yeah, so this is very common to happen over there, bro.
So I even tell him, I was like, bro, you're about to meet the tabla with that video, bro.
Like, I'm pretty sure if you go back and like.
If one of them guys, good luck for him that he does his stuff in English.
So like that kind of keeps him like, uh, not a lot of, uh, Spanish speaking, like, because those people watch podcasts, bro.
Those people see podcasts.
Those people listen to podcasts.
Which people specifically?
Uh, like cartel people, like the owners of the house type of people.
You know what I mean?
They have time, bro.
They have time.
Trust me.
And I've told them before, like, yeah, they, they, I mean, like I said, lucky for him, it's in English.
So his audience is like mostly on this side on the U S because if it was in Spanish, that video would have been gone probably viral in like the, Like the Mexican media and stuff, like all the cartel TikToks and all that stuff that goes around and shit.
I think that would have made him viral.
Wow.
And yeah, I don't think the police station would have been the place he was going, bro.
He would think it was probably, I mean, everybody would have known, like, hey, they caught somebody in the video's house.
Oh, like that would have been the news in Culiacan.
You know what I mean?
Right.
Yeah.
He also said that out of all the journalists that get killed, I mean, I guess more journalists die in Mexico than anywhere else.
Yeah.
And he said they're all Mexican journalists.
None of them are American journalists.
Oh, no, no, no.
They, yeah, they, well, they know the kind of attention they're going to get if they.
They do something to, I mean, that might scare them, you know, they might do a little something like that to them, but they will let them go home.
So they don't want the hate on them unless he reported on some shit like where he really lifted up a lid on something.
Well, yeah, yeah, you know.
But I mean, many of these reporters have died for like stupid reasons, to be honest.
I mean, and it's sad, it sucks.
But then again, it's like a friend was telling me, he's like, what do they want to report?
He's like, what more do you want?
What more do they want to tell people?
It's already known.
Everything is known.
Like, why?
The thing is, like, sometimes, and I'm not justifying the death at all.
Like, it's something sad that should not be happening.
But sometimes they get so involved in reporting on a certain type of individual or a certain cartel or something.
And I understand it's reporting and stuff like that.
But if you're the guy that they're looking into, you might take it personal, too.
You know, you might be like, hey, why are you not reporting on them and them?
And, you know, why?
You know, I'm not saying this happened within any individual or something.
It's just something that I was talking to a friend about.
And yeah, he was telling me, like, bro, we know everything that's going on.
Like, there's way too many news outlets.
Like, it's not like we don't know that there's bodies hanging.
It's not that we don't know who's doing this, who's doing that.
Like, why do they want to go so deep?
You know what I mean?
And then Luis talked about this too.
He's like, it's just a part of a reporter in us that is like grimy, like doesn't care about anything but the story.
You know what I mean?
And I was like, yeah, that's why I don't never want to be a reporter.
You know what I mean?
That's why when I write, I tell people, I tell stories.
I don't tell gossiping.
Like, if you come read my stories, it's just, yeah, they're based on like real stuff, but I'm not telling like real, real, real shit that, you know?
Yeah.
Because I don't want to gossiping.
I don't want to tell like cheese mess what we say in Spanish.
You know, I don't want to, it is not a, Pitch of where you're going to come here and find out about who did this and who did what.
Childhood Friends in Cartels00:04:16
It's like for entertainment, you know?
But reporters, man, they get in there and it's sad because in Mexico, people die every day and, you know, and it's pretty easy.
How many of your childhood friends ended up in cartels?
Wow.
Oh, shit.
Alive or dead right now?
Both.
Both.
I don't have to say more than 20.
More than 20.
Yeah.
When we were young and I had this graffiti crew, we became very popular as a graffiti crew just because we threw big ass parties.
Like, our families did good back then.
Like, well, my family is from San Diego.
So everybody would work in San Diego and living in Mexico back then.
It was really, you were making money.
Like, you know, you had all kinds of groceries in your house and, you know, all this stuff.
So when we started throwing parties, like other of my friends' families that were doing good as well.
So we just threw like this for like 14, 15 year olds, we threw big ass parties.
We just got a bunch of alcohol.
My mom would buy me like, like, Because she would see, like, it was just like tagging, and you know, it was nothing, nothing like in parties.
And she's like, As long as I see where you're partying at, that's cool because we rented houses, like, we did it, we did real, like, real nice parties with it, like, flyers and stuff.
So, so we became pretty well popular in TJ with our crew.
So, when everything, when everybody's transitioning to these other lives, I'm already well known, you know, like, and I'm doing stuff too, like, I'm not, I'm not innocent, you know, I'm not trying to say, like, oh, I was just watching, nah, I was in the shit, like, I was looking for it, I, like, And where you're like trying to get into it, like I was, you just do stupid shit for free.
Like, you're not even like, they're not, you're not even bored.
Not bored, but you just want to like build a resume type thing.
Yeah.
Like, nobody's going to hire you if you don't have no experience.
You know what I mean?
Like, you got to get this experience somehow.
Got to be in, got to do internships for the cartel type thing.
You know what I mean?
You start hanging out with people and you start doing shit with them for free.
Just typical, oh, hey, you want to go with me?
I got something to do.
All right, let's go.
And I was already looking for this shit.
You know what I mean?
So, like, So, um, when I'm 19 and I get to jail, I already have my fair share experience of dealing with like uh cartel friends, cartel activities, and stuff like that.
But I'm not a member, you know what I mean?
I'm not in there yet.
And then, but I just keep getting like, like I said, now I'm in the MCC and I'm 19 and I'm kind of known.
So, when you show up to MCC and like this federal prison, there's all this, all this uh conspiracies and people with conspiracies, like all the top dogs, you know, the most wanted fools out there and all this.
And um, I was young, I remember uh, um.
I was really quiet and, you know, I just got there and started talking to some people and stuff.
And one day there were these three dudes talking to an older guy.
And these three dudes, when I first got there, they kind of bullied me.
They saw me that I was well dressed and stuff.
So they thought I was like a good kid, you know, that did some stupid shit.
So I didn't say anything.
I was like, I was already ready to fight one of them.
Like, the next time he was like, he wasn't picking on me that bad, but I don't need you for me to pick that bad on me for me to get it.
Like, I'm like, You know, I'm mecha corta type thing, what they say in Spanish.
You know, I don't really take a lot of shit.
So I was like, all right, next time this guy sees me that way or says something in the room, I'm just going to ask him to fight.
But they're talking to this older dude that just came in for like half a ton of marijuana or some shit like that.
He has like a big conspiracy.
And you hear about this conspiracy this way here.
They're like, oh, these guys are coming.
Like you see the news and shit like, oh, they're coming over here.
Like Hells Angels conspiracies and all this big stuff.
So he's talking to them about some people and they're like, they're kind of bowing down to him because he's like a real top dog.
Like he's a boss.
And then he starts mentioning some of my friends, some of my childhood friends.
One of them, his family has been involved in the cartel.
So when he joined the cartel, he was already like, he got a good job in it.
You know what I mean?
So when he mentions him, I was like, yeah, I know.
I know Hondro.
Shout out to Hondro.
He's still in prison.
I was like, yeah, I know Hondro.
And then one of the other dudes that didn't really like me, he's like, how do you know?
And you're not a fool.
And then I told the guy, he's like, yeah, his parents with him and we grew up.
He's like, oh, no, he knows.
He's like, no.
And after that, everything changed.
You know what I mean?
They started saying, like, yeah, now he knows.
Switching Probation Again00:03:40
Because I was young and I looked like a Like a kid, but I was already out in the streets, like I was going everywhere.
Like, I remember I used to steal my mom's cars and stuff like that.
And I would just drive to like no places, like, because a lot of people don't leave their hood and you know their surroundings.
And I was just like, I learned how to drive when I was 12.
So I would just like steal the car, like get a little pillow on the seat, and I get my friends, like, hey, let's go.
I pick up my friends and stuff, and we just drive all over, man, and just go meet girls and like go to places where other people didn't really want to go because they couldn't get a hold of a car or whatever.
And so I've always really been out there, you know.
So, when I get to prison, well, jail, the detention center, because I never really made it to prison, I just start meeting people, and like we all know people that know people that know people.
You know what I mean?
So, that gets me a seat in the table somehow.
And yeah, when I get out, I still do shit, bro.
Like I get out of them.
How long were you in there for?
Well, here's the thing my original charge, the sentence was two months, 60 days.
So, I get off, but I get three years probation.
Which sucks.
I don't recommend if you could do your time inside prison and get off without probation, do that because probation they just want to grab a hold of you.
Yeah, so eventually I violate my probation.
I smoke, but like I said, I smoke a lot of weed and I go, I keep going to TJ without permission.
I see it doesn't pop out in the computer, so it becomes easy for me to go every day.
What's it like going there?
How do you cross the border?
Like, what is it?
What is the border crossing like 20 TJ every day?
Are you just walking across driving?
Car well, um, at this time, my mom has a house over there in San Diego now, so she lives there.
But I have my aunt and my cousins that they still live in TJ, but they either work, go to school in San Diego.
So, like, they'll cross real early, spend a night, spend like a few hours at my mom's house till it's ready, till it's time to go to like work and stuff.
So, they're always at my mom's house.
You know, they come and going every day.
So, whenever I want to go, I'm like, hey, Tia, can I go?
Can I catch a ride with you?
Okay.
And she's going to my grandma's house and I'm going to my grandma's house.
So, you know what I mean?
So, and I'm crossing with family.
So, they never say anything on my way back.
I thought it was going to be like, oh, you're in probation.
Like, where's your permit?
It's like, because you need your permit and stuff.
But then once I cross, I don't pop up in the computer because I didn't get arrested at the border.
I got arrested inside San Diego.
So, like the people that get arrested at the border, it pops up for them, but not for me.
So, once I figure this shit out, I'm 20, bro.
Like, I'm just gonna fucking, I just kept going and stuff.
Eventually, this shit gets caught up with me, catches up with me with my probation.
He's like, You've been going to TJ for like 150 some times, unregistered times this year.
You came out dirty in like two tests.
Like, you're not going to school, you're not working.
Like, what the fuck, you know?
So, I'm like, Nah, come on.
Like, give me a chance, whatever.
So, he sends me to the halfway house.
He has me two months to have Wales.
And there is just like, it was just boring, bro.
Because I never really looked for a job or anything.
I was just fucking doing whatever.
Everybody was smoking spice in there.
I don't know if you're familiar with spice.
Everybody was smoking spice.
So I started smoking spice because I don't want to violate probation again.
So I just started smoking spice.
And eventually I got out the halfway house and then I violated again for some reason.
I can't remember what I did, to be honest.
Oh no, they switched my probation.
After I came out the halfway house, they switched my probation.
And the other guy was like, he wasn't having it.
As soon as I fucked up, I can't remember.
I think I came out there or something.
He sent me back to jail for four months.
And after getting out to jail, another four months in the halfway house.
So I was pissed because I was like, I didn't even commit a crime and I'm getting charged.
I'm getting doing more time for this than for my crime, you know?
Hooking Up with Friends00:08:44
But this time, I mean, like, I met more people.
Like, there was this big conspiracy.
So, like, the most wanted people that actually now I've become good friends and not because we did illegal shit.
El Gordo Villarreal, one of the most wanted people back in like 2008, 2009.
El Gordo.
El Gordo Villarreal, yeah.
Now he's writing his book.
So I helped him.
He found out that I'm editing and I got a sense of writing and stuff like that.
So he reached out to me.
He's like, hey, what I like about your writing is that you use our words and our lingo.
So I want to see if you could help me out.
And I was like, yeah, yeah, for sure.
So that's in process right now.
And another guy that was with him, he's doing, he's trying to, he did 11 years.
El Gordo is still inside.
But another guy, one of my friends, his name is Fausto.
Shout out to Fausto.
He did like 11 or 12 years.
And right now he's doing straight.
He's, you know, But he's trying to get into like the music business and stuff like that.
And I'm connected to that.
So we hooked up on that and I got him, you know, some, I got him some corridos too because he wants some corridos.
So I hooked him up with some of my friends and stuff.
But there are these people that I met back then, you know, on that shit.
And now they're trying to do like some different stuff.
And coming back to what you asked me earlier, how's my communication with some of these?
It's kind of like this, you know, like, like I said, some of them that are still very active, my only communication with them is like, hey, what's up, bro?
How you doing?
How you doing?
Oh, no, just here, bro.
Like chilling.
Like I was telling you about this other guy.
I want to shout him out, but he doesn't speak English, so it would be pointless.
I got to get this podcast translated to Spanish.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, like I was telling you in the truck, I hadn't talked to him in a while for a few years.
Last time I talked to him, he actually had to, well, I don't know if he had to, but he killed another of our childhood friends, like we knew from.
What?
Yeah, it's just cartel politics.
And it happened at a party or something.
So, when the word gets out, you know how gossiping is?
They get the.
You know, like they start mixing information.
So they were saying that he was dead, that somebody killed him.
So I was like, oh, fuck, man, you know.
So I tried to reach out, like, reached out to a couple of people, like, hey, you know, if he's all right, whatever.
And so he somehow gets a hold of me, he calls me, he's like, hey, what's up?
I heard you were looking for me and stuff.
Yeah, bro, how you been?
Like, are you cool?
Like, everything cool?
And he's like, oh, I thought you were asking about the other so and so.
I was like, oh, no, what happened?
I was like, nah, he's the one that died.
I was like, oh shit, man, that sucks.
Well, I heard of one of you guys too, but I was trying to find out who, but I don't know this.
I find this out like, how do you call it?
A hindsight, whatever.
Yeah.
He was actually trying to find out if I was trying to revenge my friend.
Oh, fuck.
Yeah, man.
He was like, yeah, you know what happened to him?
I was like, nah, do you?
He's like, nah, man.
But what are you trying to do?
You're trying to go after the fools that did that to him or what?
Let me know.
I was like, nah, man, you know, I'm not really, like, I'm not, I'm not trying to do that anymore because I was already like, Away from, like, I was trying to say, I was like, nah, man.
I was just like, you know, you guys are home.
He's like, whatever happened, that shit gets to me, you know what I mean?
He's like, all right, all right.
And when he said that, I kind of like, what?
Like, you know, I sensed that shit.
And he's like, all right, all right.
Well, I just want to know if you were trying to look for the dudes, you know, if you're trying to do something, you know.
And I was like, I think he's high.
You know, I thought he kind of sounded something.
He sounded mad or whatever.
I was like, nah, nah, man.
I mean, you know, it's how it is.
You know, motherfuckers die every day.
That's the typical shit, the typical line in the streets line.
You know, fools die every day, man.
Just like, you be careful, man.
Watch your back.
Watch your back.
He's like, all right, man, cool, whatever.
So after that, I didn't talk to him for like two to three years till him and At this point, he's like a probably like a second level boss in the Tijuana cartel right now, currently right now.
Okay, so uh, two or three years go by, and him and his boss, and like a few other guys, they want some.
One of my best friends is a singer, he's really famous.
Uh, Codiciado Eddie Garagona got his hat right here.
Oh, yeah, hold it up, hold it up next to your face, people can see it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So he, he, we became best friends before he popped off.
Yeah, this is this level.
Oh, is he?
He's got a microphone in his hand, yeah, yeah, and uh, he did a corrido for.
To my friends that passed away.
So I made his logo into my friends.
I put them in my fingers.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, that's wow.
Yeah, you got some cool tattoos.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I'm becoming best friends with him because we just clicked up and we were both looking for the dream type thing.
You know, he wanted to be a singer and things and stuff.
And at this point, I really didn't know what I wanted to do.
I just wanted to do something creative.
Like I said, I've always loved music since I was a.
How are you making money?
What are you doing for work?
I'm just selling weed.
Okay.
I try to keep it with the weed because that's the least.
Like I was saying earlier, it's like cartel won't fuck with me if I sell weed and like not even the law sometimes, you know, because they think it's like they think I'm sending Reggie, but I'm sending like this fucking medical marijuana from San Diego.
Oh, because this, if I start talking about this, it's going to be whole, I'm going to go into a whole other thing.
Because I'm one of the first in TJ that started trafficking weed from America to TJ.
Back to TJ.
Yeah.
Back when nobody was doing it, I started doing that shit.
And I can, I can, I can show this podcast to any other fools from TJ and I stand on my word.
You know what I mean?
I know what I was doing back then.
There wasn't really that many.
And that's why I got a lot of good clients because there wasn't really that many people willing to pay $15 for a gram.
You know?
That's one of the things that blew my mind when Louise told me this.
Yeah.
And I'm talking about you.
Yeah.
No, no, we talked about, yeah.
Me and Louise talked about this too.
I'm talking about like shit, bro.
Like, how the fuck did that happen?
20, what?
2010, 2011, 2012, somewhere around there.
Like, I mean, don't get me wrong.
I did some other shit too that made me money.
Like, um, Well, this is a lot of years back.
So sometimes my friends, my childhood friends, they'll be like, hey, I had some friends in San Diego too that were just robbing fools.
They were just robbing cartel fools.
They lived in San Diego.
They moved from Tijuana to San Diego and they just started robbing like cartel fools and they stayed in San Diego so they wouldn't get killed.
You know what I mean?
So they just started doing this shit.
And I know them because they grew up on the block.
And on the block next behind my house, so I know them since they were a little kid, they're actually younger than me.
So, and um, I was staying in San Diego at this point because I was, I think, I was, yeah, I was living with my girlfriend.
So, we were living in San Diego, and well, I'm just hustling, I'm just trying to find ways to make money.
So, um, I call these guys because they're my friends, I don't know they're robbing at this point, I don't know they're doing all this, so I'm just thinking, like, oh, I'm gonna try to sell them some stuff, you know, either like some middleman, you know, like, hey, I got my friend that has like certain pounds of something, do you know anybody that needs them, you know, like that.
And we start kicking it, we start smoking, whatever.
And I find out all this shit, like, I find out what they're doing.
And I'm like, oh, nah, nah, like, you know what I mean?
I ain't trying to do none of this shit.
So, um, one of my friends calls one of them and they're like, Hey, there's this guy that stole from us.
Like, could you guys go get him?
Because they know what they're doing.
Like, a lot of people in here know that they're doing what they're doing, and some of them don't even care anymore because some of them see, like, Hey, that's how the game is.
You know, some of them, like, some of some people actually want to kill them, but a lot of people, like, they were robbed from each other and they were still cool.
You know what I mean?
They'll be they still be talking to each other and shit like that.
And it was basically like, All right, you rob me right now, and then next time I'm gonna rob you.
Not like, uh, Not like a word for word thing, but it was like, you know what I mean?
Like something like that.
Yeah.
So, um, eventually one of my friends called him and he's like, Hey, can you guys go get, you know, these guys are, uh, they took some of my shit and they didn't pay me.
So at this point, I'm not looking at it as robbing.
I'm looking at it as, okay, my friend, you know, like a mission for them, for, you know, for these fools.
So we go and start doing shit, you know, we start getting to like our first share of licks, you know, we start, uh, getting people and stuff and robbing.
I didn't really like it, bro.
To be honest, I only did like three times.
But, um, I was really broke and I was really in need of some money.
But after I did it, it didn't feel good.
You know, even I mean, I've done some other shit that you should be like, well, you did that and you have a problem with this.
But this didn't, I've never liked to steal.
You know, I've never been the robber type.
So eventually I started feeling that kind of like, you know, I don't want to have that shit on my resume and all that robbing.
What kind of other shit did you that was worse than that?
It's just some shit I've witnessed and shit I've seen in Mexico, man.
In Mexico, like, you see people getting shot, you see people getting.
Stealing vs. Robbing Cartel00:02:30
The tablazos.
You see, people.
Yeah, we got off that.
You were explaining that, and I was telling you, Louise told me that you never actually explained what happens with the top.
I was trying to see if I could find.
He can Google it.
How do you say it?
Can you Google?
How can you Google this?
Probably La Tabla, I would say.
La Tabla?
La Tabla.
Culiacan.
Culiacan.
Or Cartel.
Yeah, it's just keywords.
Cartel La Tabla.
I'm sure we'll find it.
Yeah, La Tabla for La Cartel.
Yeah, well, they use this to discipline people.
They.
There's this Corrido singer.
There's this singer that he sung a song about somebody and he didn't ask permission.
So the guy got offended, called the guy in.
Shit, I was about to say something really specific.
So the guy, he has a, you know how people use code names over there?
Yeah.
And it's usually numbers.
So this guy, the guy that was offended, he has a certain number.
Okay.
So he gave him that, let's say 50.
You know, that's too many, but let's say just 50, you know?
They say his code name is 50, so he gave him 50 tablas.
And it's you either put your hands on the table, whatever, ass out.
You get spanking?
And you get spanking, and people shit themselves.
You know, you can't sit because you don't get like a small spanking, bro.
It's this 4x4 tabla, and they're just laying it onto you, like if you just diss their mother type thing.
There's videos, I mean, I don't know.
I'm sure you can't show that on YouTube.
Holy shit.
But if you want to see it, there's videos of people getting the tabla.
So it looks like a 2x4?
It looks like what are these?
What's this?
Like one of these, like one of these, this table's made out of.
Uh, yeah, yeah, kind of like this, probably even thicker, but yeah, with a handle on the edge so you can hold it right, you know, so when you're hitting them, doesn't you know?
And, um, and yeah, it depends what kind of discipline you're getting, the number of tablazos you're getting, and that's really common, bro, because people tend to up a lot.
You know the watch out, the guys in the motorcycle that are watching out for the yo.
Well, if military came in and you didn't see them and you didn't let people know on the radio, you're gonna meet the tabla, bro.
Yeah, you're a singer if you sing without authorization about somebody break bones.
Nope, but it leaves your ass black.
Oh, no, this is a video.
The Wooden Paddle Threat00:04:05
Turn it, don't, don't, don't.
Oh, oh, he just got the tabla.
Yeah, he just got it.
Oh, yeah.
The whole back.
No, don't show it.
The whole back of him is completely black.
Well, there's videos of people getting it.
Like, that's the afterthought.
You can't find a picture of what this thing looks like.
The, the, the, the tabla.
It shows a song.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
It's a famous corrido.
It's a really famous corrido and it's called the tabla.
And it's, it's, it's like a warning to people.
I, um, what does it say?
It just say like those who are like stepping out of line and gonna be the tabla.
And these guys who are getting the tabla, they'll willingly just accept it.
Like, I gotta go through this.
Yeah, well, if you say no, you're dead.
Yeah, most likely.
So it's like, look, you fucked up, right?
We get it.
You're going to get the tablet, but then you get to go home and rest and recover.
Or you could get this bullet in the head and not go home for, you know?
Yeah.
So how did you get into bringing weed back into Tijuana from San Diego?
Well, because I'm a stoner, first and foremost, I'm a pothead myself.
Then you would think they would have plenty of weed down there.
They got Reggie.
They are Reggie.
And remember, I'm going to school in San Diego.
So in San Diego, they're smoking that back then, that Skung Diesel, that White Widow, that OG Kush, you know.
And back then, you know, the famous song, I got five on it because four of your friends would get, put $5 on it, get a gram, and then get somebody to buy you a Swisher.
And you smoke the whole thing by four dudes, you know.
So I just started buying like little grams and eights.
Well, at this point, I was working.
I got a job.
I got a legal job in San Diego.
I got a girl.
I'm living with my girl.
I'm trying to do right now.
You know, I got, and, But I want to make a little bit extra money.
I want to quit my job because I'm out of probation at this time.
Dude, the day the probation call me, he's like, Look, bro, you've been doing.
Well, just for close this up, I go to jail for four months.
I meet a bunch of people.
And then I go to the halfway house.
I meet more people, one of them I'm going to talk about right now.
But I only stayed there for three months because I got kicked out.
We're just so bored and we're just so full of energies that we just started checking each other.
First, it was like the all the people from Tijuana, like, hey, everybody got their B. Gotta be on their shit.
And if you're not on your shit, like we just started beating everybody, not beating, but like body shots.
Just because we were bored and it was most of us were like on our 20s.
It wasn't like really older people.
It was a bunch of 20 year olds.
So we're just full of fucking energy and shit like that.
And we're just with other criminals and shit, you know?
So we just started getting in trouble with like being, playing body shots, but we started playing like, it wasn't friendly body shots, you know?
And I was all like, I have fucking bruises and shit.
We left other people bruised up and shit.
So one day the guard sees that one of the guys is all bruised up, kind of like the guy with the tabla.
Oh, yeah, there it is.
I found a real.
All right, don't, don't, we're just going to react to it.
Don't put the video on.
Yeah.
Yeah, he's about to, you see?
Oh, shit.
It's just like a big paddle.
Giant paddle.
That's the word paddle.
That's the word I was looking for.
My bad.
God damn, bro.
Yeah, if you move like that.
Yeah, he, oh, he only got two.
Yeah, he's lucky.
I think they do another person or something.
All right, I get it.
I see what it is.
Luis said he was going to bring one next time he comes here so I can have it and like put it on display in the background.
Yeah, you should.
Cool.
Or I'll put it on the shelf.
Yeah, well, he was about to meet it.
Talking about the.
What?
Oh, Luis, he was about to meet it.
That's what.
He was about to meet the tablet?
Well, if he would have been caught or, you know, he did the dispensary thing and they.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
So, yeah, man, he should be careful, man, because it's small stuff that are not going to get him killed, but it's enough to give you some tablazas, you know what I mean?
Like, they know, like, you could go to the police, but, like, they didn't kill you, so they're not going to make a big deal out of it, you know?
Yeah, well, that dispensary story with him was crazy because the dude, I guess the dude he was talking to.
He kind of backed out of, like, the.
Yeah, like, he was already, like, balls deep into the story with him.
He was letting him in, and he wanted to, but the guy wanted, like, he wanted to, like, let Luis in and tell the story, but.
Everyone Is a Suspect Now00:02:20
He didn't want to give him too much.
Yeah, well, he wanted to keep the names out of it, but Luis was going in for the names.
I mean, what's the point of talking about the expensive?
You're not going to talk about who owns it, you know what I mean?
And I get his point, but I also get the other guy's point too.
And I didn't want to be that guy.
That's why I talked to my friends, be like, hey, can I say this shit?
And can I say this?
Can I say that?
Because I mean, I'm not going to change this, bro.
Even if I were to turn like full on snitch or whatever, and like, I'm not going to change anything, you know what I mean?
I'm not trying to, but I'm not helping them either, you know?
I'm not doing anything bad.
Just staying on my way and anything.
But at the same time, they're still my friends, and the people that are not, I don't want to cause them any trouble.
I don't want to get in their way at all.
I don't want to cause them trouble or I want to help them.
It's just, what's up, like neighbors.
You know what I mean?
Just say what's up to them and keep it cool, and everybody goes on their way.
It's crazy watching the history of Mexico and how the cartels became cartels from the day of the plazas to the Jalisco or the.
To the Guadalajara cartel, and then that being broken up into all the main cartels you see in Mexico right now.
And it's wild to think about what is going to happen in the next decade, I wonder.
Do you ever think about that?
Yeah, always.
Yeah, especially because, yeah, well, right now I don't really go to TJ because it's a full on world right now.
And yeah, if you're like what they call out here, like a civilian, if you don't have nothing to do, well, yeah, you might be pulled over for whatever reason sometimes, but you're not going to get in any trouble.
But now it's to a point where, like, you get pulled over and everybody's a suspect.
It's just the war has gone so bad that, like, everybody's paranoid.
Yeah.
No, like, I was telling you, the cops are paranoid.
I mean, they've arrested all kinds of people that look all sorts of ways.
So it's not like they're looking for the people that look, you know, dressed or type of wearing.
They're just going on for everybody.
You know, they've arrested girls with their kids.
You know, they're arrested mothers.
They've arrested all kinds of.
So it's just like everybody's a suspect, but it creates this tension where, like, the cops are not nice at all, bro.
Especially what that's a good thing to explain right now.
What is the dynamic?
Between the cops in Tijuana and the cartel.
There's one cartel in Tijuana right now.
No, there's three.
There's three cartels in Tijuana.
Well, kind of four with police, but yeah, let's say three.
Cops Are Paranoic Too00:15:05
There's three.
So there's three different cartels in Tijuana.
Guadalajara, Sinaloa, and Tijuana.
But it's funny because they all branched out from the original Tijuana cartel.
Once the original leaders started getting arrested, killed, and stuff, everybody just started finding other ways because the thing is with the Tijuana cartel was based on the family, the Ariano Felix.
Right.
So when the Ariano Felix didn't like, when the, the, the, it's a big family, what I understand, and not everybody is involved, but when the guys that were involved either got arrested or killed, like, um, well, Ariano Felix, for people that don't know who Ariano Felix is, he was one of the main founders of the Tijuana cartel.
They, they, they're brothers.
Yeah, the two brothers.
Yeah.
Well, there's a bunch of brothers, but only like four of them were involved with the cartel.
But I believe there's like eight.
And there's a picture, I don't know if you want to put, there's a picture of the whole family.
Who was the brother that was on the David Letterman show that they like?
Ramon Ariano.
Ramon Ariano.
He was the violent one.
He was the guy Benjamin, which is the brains, and also violent, but it's mostly the brains.
And you got Ramon, which is just like the general.
He was the killer.
He was the guy they started filming.
Yeah, but they all had.
I think we're getting into all these different guys.
I know, yeah.
But the thing with them is they were mostly rich families.
So they all could cross to the U.S. before they were even criminals.
So they would come and go to L.A., and I guess one day he was in.
Uh, where they filmed, uh, I think that was in LA, yeah, in LA, and you could see, like, well, if you don't know him, you don't really, you can't tell, but you can see he's kind of trying to, like, um, uh, what do you call it, like, wear like a costume type thing, like, because he has like, yeah, yeah, disguise, terrible disguise, yeah, and and and and, but to the production guys, they're it's funny to them, look, because he looks kind of funny, yeah, so they keep putting the camera on, he's like, nah, no, I'm a spaniel, he's like, he's probably thinking about shooting them if he was in Mexico, probably,
because he has that reputation of shooting people in the face, like, there's this story where, um, He's getting out of a club or something, and he's like on the street and he's drinking and he's talking to a girl.
So, eventually, a cop comes up to him and he's like, Hey, you can't be drinking on the street.
And he just pulls out a gun and shoots him in the face.
And that's how much power they had.
You know, he just drove off from that and nothing happened.
So, I'm guessing at that point where the David Letterman guy is like putting the camera on his face and he's like, Noble Espanol.
He's like trying to get him to like.
He had that like fanny pack around his head.
Yeah, yeah, that everybody wears.
So, he's like, Noble Espanol.
There it is.
Oh my God.
He looks like Tim Dillon.
And yeah, man, I mean, you'd be right next to him in LA and waiting for the light to, you know, to change and you wouldn't even know.
And that's really the dynamic in TJ, you know.
There's another really famous comedian YouTuber out there.
His name is Adrian Marcelo.
Shout out to him.
He came a couple of times to TJ for presentations, but he's kind of like interested a little bit because he hears the news and he's curious.
He asks about stuff.
So last time he came, he spent the weekend there.
And then on his last day, I was like, So, how was it?
Did you feel like unsafe or anything, whatever?
Or did you feel like he was like, Nah, man, not at all.
And I pulled up a news story and it was like, 16 people died this weekend, bro.
And it was like a high, for Mexico, still like a high number for a weekend, for three a week.
16.
I told him, 16 people got killed in TJ while you were here and you didn't even feel like nothing, you know?
And that's the dynamic.
And like, all this shit is going on.
But if you're like on your thing, like, You might not even know, you know?
Right.
Now, is TJ, is it so violent in Tijuana because all the cartels south of there have to travel through Tijuana to get to the US?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I talked to one of my friends.
The difference between, like, let's say Sinaloa, their history with like the narcos is usually because people don't have opportunities.
You know, they live in rural areas, you know, the country, the government doesn't give a fuck about them.
You know, some of these people don't have lights.
You know, they don't have shit like that.
So they come out of, That and and you know, they they grow, they they get into the business, you know, for bettering their lives.
Um, but in TJ, the people that get into the business in TJ, in TJ, we got opportunities, bro.
Like, people from the south come to TJ to find jobs, right?
Or to work.
So, like, people over here, we do it because we like it, you know, it's more like the thrill of it.
Like, the uh, also, this culture from I was telling my friends from uh, Nuevo Leon over there by well, like Juarez, like Luis, he gets he gets all this like Texas thing, it drips down to.
To Juarez, but us, we get LA.
So we get this gang culture also.
So you see, like, the low riding culture is pretty popular in Tijuana.
Like all this stuff that just fucking boils down to this American culture, it just boils down to us.
So, this gang culture really settled in.
That's why they say we were the tag bangers.
We did graffiti, but we like the gang banging thing because we listen to NWA or gangster rap, West Coast music.
So, we grew up on that.
And then you mix it with all these traffickers and their gang life, and it just becomes a whole nother thing.
So, that's the difference between people in the South and And the people in TJ.
And that's why it's more violent because that's what I was saying with Ariana Felix.
Most of them, and they actually had a group of their cartel that was called the Narco Juniors.
And it was these people, it was these guys, like the wealthiest families of TJ in San Diego, their sons just became members of the cartel.
So that's like I was saying, like in the South, you got these people like doing it for, you know, for, Looking for opportunity, lack of opportunity, right?
But over here, you got like literally these guys, like sons of like uh neurosurgeons, and like all these important people.
They're like the wealthiest kids, bro.
And and they're like with Ramon and them, like killing people.
And like, they're actually like, if if you make it seem like characters of a movie, they actually were like the real deal because they had money and they had everything, and but they did the themselves, like they were the Sicarians, but they were doing themselves, they were doing it for the thrill, you know what I mean?
They were doing it for the Just to leave, like, you know what I mean?
Yeah.
So, Narco Juniors, they really left a legacy because it was this really rich kids that were cartel bosses.
So, that's like, well, like 25 years ago.
So now you got this new generation of Tijuana cartel.
And the day you called me, like I said, I was talking to one of them and I was like, hey, so they want to ask me in this podcast about, like, what's up, you know, about the life and shit.
And I thought they were going to be like, nah, keep it low key, you know, like, don't say much, whatever.
Bro, they're like, nah, tell them we're the shit.
Tell them, like, yeah, there's all the cartels, but we're the ones, you know, like, tell them we're the new Narco Juniors.
Tell them if he knows about the back then, well, we're the new Narco Juniors.
And show them this Narco Corrido.
Like, I'm not going to play no songs, but I'm going to tell them, like, I'm going to let them know.
So, and I mean, this new Narco Juniors, you look at them and they're like, I mean, they're wearing like, they look like rappers, you know, they're wearing like fucking $50,000 outfits.
Fits with like their chains and like fucking expensive shoes.
They go to Dubai and like for fucking two weeks, you see them in Lambos, you see them buying expensive shit, like taking tours in helicopters, like just, and they're like, they're not past 25, probably, you know?
And I know some of them because they're the little brothers of my generation of friends.
You know, they're little brothers now grow up.
And now they're like, hey, I remember you used to be like, and I'm like, damn, that's you?
And I see them like all, you know, like all with like fucking all Gucci out and all shit.
And we're at a private party with like all kinds of like, you know, shit.
And now they're like the, now like the head of the cartel, he's like, he's looking out for them because their brother was like a really, he was respected in the cartel.
He got shot, he got killed.
And now the guy that, the boss, he's just looked out for them.
He's looking out for them in a way, you know, just giving them easy jobs and stuff like that, a way to make money and enjoy life, you know, because they can travel, they can go to like Dubai and Colombia and stuff like that because they're not looking for them, you know, they're not wanted yet and stuff like that because they're, they're, They're young.
Some of them are like 21, 22.
You know what I mean?
They're barely starting and they're already living, you know?
And that's why they tell me they're like, tell them we're the new Narco Juniors.
And if you see the Narco series, Bad Bunny plays one of the most famous Narco Juniors.
He plays the one that became a snitch, though.
Well, that's what, yeah, yeah.
He's not because a lot of Narco Juniors, they went back, bro.
When they got out of jail, they went back.
Really?
Some of them went back.
And so a lot of them, like, they turn, like, the one that Bad Bunny plays, he's, they never seen him again.
Well, I'm pretty sure, like, the families, because they, it's like a mafia thing.
Like, their families are, you know, like, I'm compadre to your kids and stuff like that.
So they call each other family.
Everybody calls each other Uncle Tio.
Hey, that's my Tio.
Now it's a generation of them, a new generation that, I mean, like I said, this is 20, 25 years ago.
Most of these people get like 25 years in jail, but with good time, they get out in like 20.
So some of them are out.
And yeah, I don't want to say more about them because they didn't let me talk about them.
But yeah, some of them are out and their kids are like following the same steps.
So we kind of got distracted, but the main dynamic in Tijuana is there's, You said four, but there's three main cartels there.
Yeah, we just say four because the cops sometimes act like a crystal of their own.
So, my question was like, what is the dynamic with the cops and the cartels there?
Well, what percentage of the cops are bought off by the cartels and just working with them and communicating with them?
And how many of them are just like rogue, completely against the cartels?
Completely against, I would say it's, I don't know, I want to say half.
I think I'm just trying to be fair because I know there's a lot of good cops.
I actually know a couple of cops that are not that corrupt.
Like, they'll take your 20 bucks if you ran over a red light type thing, but they won't kidnap you or they won't, you know, they won't like do shit like that.
So, you'd say half of the cops in Tijuana.
Maybe.
I want to say something like that.
Oh, shit.
I want to say more, but I want to be fair.
Like, I don't want to talk out of ignorance.
Right.
But I'd probably say more, man.
I mean, because just the shit that I've seen, like, I don't want to, I don't want to disdain my respects to all those police corporations over there, but.
But yeah, man, sometimes they don't get fucked.
Like, they be ruthless, ruthless.
Like, and do they work for all the cartels?
Well, they kind of have to, to be honest.
Like, but different sections, though.
Like, I'm trying to find a way to break this down.
Like, let's say one cartel had bought off the homicide department, and let's say the other cartel has bought off the, what do you call it?
When you sell drugs, but it's not in a big scale, but in a lower scale, narcotics, yeah.
When it's like narcotics, you know, like they have bought off like different sections of the police type thing, different cartels, you know what I mean?
So it's not like back then where you just showed up and you bought the commander or the captain, and like now the whole police was at your service.
No, now it's like some people were for these guys, some guys were for these guys, and actually, right now, they're actually fighting amongst each other.
Right now, actually, oh, I remember this.
I was showing Louise a news story.
They're having, eventually, it was going to happen because, you know, they're serving a lot of people.
They're fighting each other because they act like cartels sometimes, bro.
They've arrested cops.
And this is public news.
They were arrested cops like trying to sell weed that they confiscated, not weed, I mean, drugs that they confiscated, mostly meth and cocaine, you know, or fentanyl, like the pills.
But yeah, they've actually caught like other, like police have caught other police trying to sell the shit that they confiscated.
And you know, because like, They go and confiscate, like, let's say, like 50 keys of cocaine from a certain cartel.
And if the cops go and present it to the authorities and do the right thing, like the cartel won't even trip.
But if they don't find out anything about the shipment and they just lost, well, then that means the fool stole it.
So now it's personal, you know?
So now you see this, this, what do you call it?
Like when they leave signs and messages on the bridges and stuff like, hey, comandante, whatever, whatever, you took this shit from us.
You better either sell it back or give it back or, you know, because one thing is getting confiscated and doing your job and, you know, presenting it.
And one thing is you stealing it from them.
That's not a police job, you know?
So that's, they've been having a lot of trouble with that, that now it's even, Like it used to be like the guys that they were robbing against the police, but now it's like other police against themselves.
They have this really famous group in Facebook where they're actually looking for the like they're they just they just post every time they see the state police because they're they they've been getting this really infamous or what do you call it when it's a bad rep of just kidnapping innocent people now.
They used to do it to like the state police, yeah.
They used to do it to like criminals.
They used to like, you know, if you cartel.
Oh, yeah, we got some money from you.
All right, we're going to let you go, but we're going to keep this $50,000.
And you know, as a criminal, you're like, all right, cool, you know, fuck it.
You know, you know the drill, you know what's up.
But there's been news coming out where they've been doing it to like regular businessmen.
You know, you don't have nothing to do, but they see that you have money.
They can get a quick $10,000 from you.
You know, they might be like, you better give up this money or we're going to present you to the judge with like, I don't know, the fentanyl or something.
And they're going to say that they caught you with it.
And even though you can prove that they didn't, it's going to take months for you to prove that, which months that you're going to do in prison.
So you don't want to do that.
You know what I mean?
So if you have the 10,000 bucks, it's like a kidnapping.
You know, it's just like a kidnapping.
Yeah.
So they've been really having bad reps because of that, that now they created a famous Facebook group.
And it's not even cartel people, it's civilians in this group.
And it's like people just reporting on them.
Hey, they pulled over this car.
If anybody of you is.
It's like, if you know them, whatever, you know, they've had them there for like about an hour.
And there's this other thing it's illegal to check your cell phones, for the police to check your cell phones, but they don't give a fuck.
That's the first thing they, when they put you over, that's the first thing they ask for.
Civilians Reporting on Us00:15:11
Really?
Yeah, they take your phone.
If it's locked, you better unlock it.
And what are they looking for in your phone?
They look for the pictures, they look for the messages, they look for your notes, they look for everything.
Like, if you have, I mean, there's been times where there's like girls who are like, hey, I have like in intimate pictures.
They'll be like, I don't care.
Better unlock your phone right now.
And one of my friends once said, I can't unlock it.
Bam, you sure, all right, unlocked it.
And uh, and I mean I, I think anybody you go to their phone, you're gonna find something suspicious.
Man, I mean, even if you're innocent, you know what I mean.
I believe that anybody has like yeah, because there's always this talk like I got in trouble once because I had, I had some of my friends.
They were like hey, what's up?
Uh, where's the weed at?
You know?
Just, they just wanted to smoke.
And he was like hey, why is he asking you for weed?
Do you sell weed?
And I did so, but I didn't have proof that I saw it.
So I was like, nah, man, I'm just a stoner.
I was like, we smoke joints.
I don't drink.
I was like, it's like if your homie calls you and he's like, hey, let's drink a six pack.
I don't drink six packs.
I smoke joints.
So my friends called me to smoke.
So that's how they got cut off with that one.
But there's been times where I haven't gotten off.
And I've met, you know, I've been through that drill, you know, the bag over your head drill, you know, tied up behind a police car.
How long ago did this happen?
In the middle of nowhere.
Pretty.
Let's say about two years ago.
Two years ago.
Yeah, I was in.
Like I said, I've been trying to stay away from the whole thing, but this thing that came, there's this white guy, like ex military, and he gets a bunch of guns and he sends them to TJ.
And I bought one for him one time, but it was just for me for like for my house because you're in TJ, you know what I mean?
Like there's people like bringing in your houses, maybe you're such, you know, whatever reason, I just, you know, you feel safer.
I'm pro guns, you know, so I'm like, I just had it in my house.
How could you not be?
And yeah, but once I bought that one of them, I bought that one gun.
My friend's like, hey, where'd you get that gun?
I was like, oh, this white guy has them.
He's like, okay, you think you can give me one?
I was like, yeah, for sure.
So, American guy?
Yeah, he was ex military.
He goes to these gun shows or gang, you know, where they do like expos and stuff and you get cheap.
He has like a membership.
He's like a very well known buyer.
So, he gets a bunch of guns and he used to sell them and like get them in Mexico and stuff because they're clean guns.
So, like, I got one for myself just to keep in my house.
My friend wanted one for himself just to keep in the house.
But my friend's friend, he wanted three.
So I was like, yeah, he has them.
For me, it was like, yeah, yeah, he's right there.
So he bought three, you know, and then he bought like another three.
Then he bought like four.
Then he bought like two AKs and stuff like that.
And I kept being the middleman because I was making like a few bucks on the side.
But sometimes I didn't even see the guns because they had their thing going.
Like they know who picked it up, whatever.
So they just, my friend just got the money to me.
So I get pulled over and I have all these messages with pictures of guns and prices and the people I'm selling them to and shit like that.
You know what I mean?
So, um, So, yeah, man, they're like, hey, what the fuck are you doing?
You know, like I said, sometimes they get innocent people, but this time I was fucking up.
You know, I understand, I recognize I was fucking up.
But on my mind, it was just something like, it wasn't that big of a deal until I was with the cops.
So you got pulled over and then.
No, it was some fucking bullshit.
I've always been really careful, but really careful.
Like, I've never, my house never got raided because of shit I've done.
Like, I've always stayed, like, I've never been arrested in Mexico or anything.
I was arrested over here, but it's American and I was crossing shit and I was young.
But, um, but after that little trouble, I've never been in trouble again.
I've never been arrested, even though I kind of like fucked up sometimes.
I've gone away with shit like that.
So, um, so at this point, um, uh, I was doing that shit and, and I'm in TJ, and my friend's like, hey, let's go to Swabi and I gotta buy this computer.
So I'm like, all right, let's go.
I just rented a new house and I have no furniture and I only have like my bed, I think.
So I don't want to stay in there.
I didn't even have Wi Fi.
So I was like, I'll go with you.
Cause he was like, wait for me here.
I was like, nah, I'll go with you.
So he's using an Uber to maneuver around because that's how, that's the, That used to be the easiest way to move around because you don't get pulled over.
If they see it's an Uber, they're like, you know, it's like where you sit in the back.
The guy has the Uber application on his phone, so it looks pretty clean.
So we move around like that.
We get to the swap meet.
I can imagine being a fucking Uber driver in Tijuana.
Bro, them Uber drivers be moving stuff, some knowing and some not knowing because I've been in the Ubers with like my backpack full of like two or three pounds of weed and like edibles and just all kinds of dispensary shit.
And they don't even know.
So, yeah, we go to the swap meet.
Just to give you a little context, there's been reports of like extortion going on.
So I meet or like they are like little, little, you know, little shops.
What do you call it in so I meet?
Like little, yeah, little, little different types of shops.
Some of them sell drugs or some of them are being extorted.
So we're not there to extort nobody.
We're not there to say anything.
We're just there to pay for a computer that my friend bought for his kid that he's learning how to stream.
But as you can see, I look like a fucking Mara Sabatrucha with all my tattoos and shit like that.
So I'm just like, I got sweats and I'm like, I just got out the house, so I'm not even dressed.
Like, you know, like I'm like a sweat.
And my friend, my friend is like, he's dressed well.
So if you put us together, you know, it kind of looked like some cartoon shit going on.
He's all well dressed.
He has a cholo with him, all tatted out.
And they always say this.
He's like, yeah, you're the hitman and he's the boss.
And I'm like, no, no, no, like, we're whatever.
We're different.
So we pulled up to the shop with a computer.
And then while he's doing the business, no, they're showing him the computer, the shit that it has.
And he busts out the money.
It's like a thousand bucks to pay for it, but he has like 3,000.
And then all of a sudden I hear a cop.
Coming by because I'm just like on my phone, like right outside the little shop on the alley.
And then the cop comes and I just see him like staring around and looking at me.
He's all fat and like, he looked more like a mall security.
So I see him and I'm like, whatever.
He's like, everything good?
I was like, yeah.
Why?
Why wouldn't it be?
You know?
So I just keep minding my own.
And then I hear all kinds of radios and walkie talkies and keys.
And I look to my right and four cops, four or five cops just coming our way.
At this point, I'm like, I'm the only suspect in here.
Like, there's no way they're coming for somebody else.
So, my friend's dealing with stuff with the computer.
So, they just come grab me and throw me in the curtain, the metal curtain that they used to close it.
The other shop was closed.
They just threw me against that shit.
And I was like, hey, bro, you're tripping.
Like, I don't have shit on me.
Like, what are you doing?
He's like, no, shut the fuck up.
They just came, bro.
Even the guy that was saying, as a computer, was like, hey, they're just buyers.
And they were like, yeah, shut the fuck up.
You shut the fuck up, whatever.
So, they didn't even ask us anything.
They handcuffed me and my friend.
They let the Uber go.
They let the Uber go.
We don't know if he's the one that, you know, like, That said something for us again.
Yeah, set us up or something.
So we're going to the, they're taking us out to Swami, going to the patrol car.
They use pickups over there.
So I'm like, these are stupid.
We only have like a vape pen.
Like, what the fuck are they?
Because they're local police too.
They're not state police.
I'm scared of the state police.
So if they're local police, I'm like, oh, these dudes, like, they're cooler.
You know, they're more understandable.
I thought they're more like, they're not that mean.
So I'm like, they're probably going to take us to the, they probably want money.
At first, I'm like, they probably want like 50 bucks or something because we got a vape pen and they're going to threaten us to.
You know, take us to the judge if we don't give him some money.
So, you know, I'm thinking this is going to happen.
But the guy takes our phones and puts, uh, handcuffs us and throws us in the pickup truck, but in the back, like in the bed and just facing down.
And at that point, I'm like, all right, all right, this is not like I've been a red, like, I've been, I've been through that shit a bunch of times since I was a kid, a bunch of times.
I have runs with the cops lots more than a hundred times, probably.
And I know this is not one of the regular shit.
So we're riding on the back of the car and, um, And I kind of know where we are.
It's like the other side of the city I grew up, but I kind of know where because I had a girlfriend over there.
So I literally see we drive past the police station.
And at this point, I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell is going on?
And some months back or something, I have some friends that were beefing with a cartel that is from the area that they were taking me.
So I'm like, oh, they probably think that I'm from, they probably think I'm associated with so and so and they're beefing and they're taking me over here.
So I'm like, oh, man, like, you know, this is not good, not good at all.
So, yeah, man, we go up a hill and it's like a dirt road and stuff.
Like, just fucking, you could barely hear like cars and like people.
And they park.
Cop gets off and he starts talking to us.
Like, come on, just tell me.
Tell me who you guys are.
Tell me what you guys do and we'll see how we can help you.
And we're like, what are you talking about?
You didn't catch us doing anything.
Like, there's nothing you can catch us with.
Like, we just had a pen.
And my friend, I had like 300 bucks on me.
My friend had the money he was going to pay a computer.
So he's like, bro, I'll give you the computer money.
Just let me go.
If it's for the wax pen, like, Like, I don't want to just let me go, like, you know?
Yeah.
But at this point, my friend was, he's active.
The friend I was with, he works for the Sina Law, and he was active.
He is active.
So he starts getting messages because he was.
Well, what I mean when he's active, because I don't want to get there's all sorts of branches in the cartel.
He's in charge of like setting up cars to cross the border.
Okay.
You know, he doesn't sell over here, he doesn't do anything.
He just sets up cars over there and like that's his thing, you know?
He's like the what do you call like the freight or like the U haul type thing.
Yeah, like the U haul transportation.
Yeah, yeah.
So he started getting messages of like some transportation shit he was doing right now.
I didn't know because I'm not like asking, like, hey, so what are you doing around?
How many?
I don't care.
Like, it's just regular shit.
So I just see him.
He's working, whatever.
So he started getting messages, and the cops started seeing, and he's like, nah, you guys are not nobody.
It's like, tell me what you guys do.
And they have his phone.
They got both of our phones.
And they haven't unblocked them yet.
They just seen the tabs on the net.
Oh, shit.
But just from the tabs, he could see what the fuck was going on.
Right.
So he's like, come on, tell me.
And then they have us like on our knees on the bed of the pickup truck.
So we're kind of like face to face with him.
Oh, shit.
And he, since they found his messages first, they're like, unblock it.
And he has that face ID.
Yeah, but the sun was hitting him on his face.
So he kept going, Oh, it's not working.
Bam, just fucking a right hook.
You sure it's not working?
Come on.
Like, and before he was in the face.
Yeah, he was just plugging him in the face.
But, and then my friend, before he unblocked, he was like, Come on, man, help me out.
I'll give you a thousand bucks.
You didn't catch me with anything.
Why do you want to go through my phone?
At this point, the cop's like, Now I want to go through your phone.
So we have to unblock our phones.
Mine's digital, so they just put the thumbprint and that was a wrap.
And like I said, I'm always careful.
I was always erasing my messages, keeping everything clean.
That's why I got pulled over a few months before and I got away clean because I didn't have anything on my phone.
They went through my phone and I didn't have anything.
But all this stuff that I was doing was like two days prior type thing.
And I was busy, like coming and going to San Diego.
So in San Diego, I don't have to worry about erasing messages.
So somehow they were still there.
But it was funny because after this, everybody was telling me, bro, you're always erasing messages.
Yeah, like you literally forget what we're talking about because you erased the messages and pictures.
How the fuck did they get you?
And I was like, bro, we all have our fucking five minutes of superiority, bro.
Like, like everybody, everybody, like there's no way you're going to be.
I mean, I've been in this and I've never had something like this happen to me, whether I've done some like really big shit and stuff.
And this is the first time.
And I think I got away pretty lucky after this.
Let me finish the story.
So, um, so yeah, man, they start finding everything.
And by this time, the local cops don't want nothing to do with us.
They're like, oh, you know what?
They put me back in handcuffs.
And we're like, so what's going to happen?
And they're like, oh, no, you'll see what's going to happen.
And at this point, I'm like, oh, I'm dead.
Like, if they don't want to take the money, they don't want to do, like, what the fuck?
We're dead, you know?
Why would they want to kill you, though?
Because I thought they were working for the cartel that's beefing with my friend's cartel.
So I'm thinking there's some sort of confusion because.
Oh, you thought that they knew that.
Yeah, because they took me to that area.
The way it works over there, it's like certain sections, you know?
Like, I'm by the beach.
So, most of the part by the beach is run by one people, and then next to the beach is by other people.
Okay.
And then over there, away from like to the east, is like other people.
So, let's say the guys from the beach are beefing with the guys from the east, and I'm over there, and then all of a sudden they start taking me to like their main area, you know?
Like, so I'm like, oh, fuck.
And like I said, so like a few weeks before this, something big happened between them, and um, got it with people that I know people from both sides.
So, like at this point, my conscience is just betraying me.
I'm like, oh, fuck, these guys think I'm in the middle of this or something.
And he didn't take the thousand bucks.
He didn't arrest us.
I'm like, what the fuck?
You know, what else does he want?
Like, everybody would take a thousand bucks just for a wax pain.
Like, any cop would take him.
Know what I mean?
So he just lays, left us there, like tied up in the back of the car for 30 minutes.
I know this because my Google Maps, my locations is on.
So afterwards, I looked at all the places I've been because they took me to like different places and it tells you how long you were there.
So I was there for like 30 minutes, the longest of my life, bro, to be honest.
The longest.
I was just thinking, I was, I was, what do you call it?
Like, when you like just accept this situation, I was like, I'm, I'm gonna die, like right now, like they're gonna shoot me, like, and then I just started.
Thinking like you had accepted it, yeah.
I just was just making my mind up like, well, just for a little, I've always had this thing with death.
Like, I've always had, like, you know, like I was trying to understand it.
Like, I always had a problem.
Like, every time somebody dies, it just hurts me a lot, you know.
So, I started working with like therapy and stuff like that, just kind of like accepted somehow, like, you know.
And but it kind of helped me because it changed my the way I started, I lived.
Like, that's one of the things that made me want to get away with it, with get away from all the stuff because I was like, I don't want to, like, I don't want my mom to remember me as.
This cartel friends guy that always did stupid shit, you know?
So I just went through a lot of shit like that.
And at this point, I feel like I've changed.
Like I've done the music thing.
I've been with the music.
We made it big with the music.
My friend, he went like star famous.
And I just keep working.
I manage a group of rappers in the Poco Locos Collective.
I do my writing.
I started a podcast.
So I'm, you know, I'm doing my other stuff.
So at this point, I'm thinking I'm going to die.
And I'm like, well, you know what, man?
At least my mom's going to be like, well, at least he had a chance to fucking change.
You know, at least I got a chance to.
See him in a different face, you know?
Because if I would have died on my 20s, they would have just remembered me as this fucking, oh yeah, he just fucking was up to no good, all this shit.
But now I was like thinking, if I die now, it's gonna be a whole different perspective of me, you know what I mean?
Giving My Gun Away00:14:57
Even my shit's gonna be viral, you know?
Even my social media stuff, they're gonna be like, oh, because I'm pretty well known out there and among some famous people and the streets.
So you started like thinking about how you'd be remembered.
Yeah, I just started accepting it.
I was like, well, at least fucking, you know, And then it got to a place where I was just so calm, like so, so, so calm.
I was impressed with how calm I was, knowing or thinking that I was going to die because my friend was shit scared, bro.
He was like, What do you think is going to happen to us, bro?
I didn't even want to tell him.
I was like, You don't want to know what I'm thinking, bro.
They're calling somebody else to pick us up.
I don't know who, because that's what I heard.
It's crazy that this guy was more freaked out and he's actually active.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So 30 minutes go by, which seemed like two or three hours.
And we start hearing these tires again.
It's a dirt road.
So we hear like, And then we hear all doors open, the cops get out of the car too.
So, you guys are at this point, you guys are face down just in the back of the truck?
Yeah, we're face down, tied up in the truck.
And I hear I'm wearing yellow sweatpants.
So, I hear the cops, the local cops, tell the state cops, the one in yellow, not in the face because he's a U.S.
They said that in Spanish.
But this is basically, they said, don't hit him in the face because he's a U.S. citizen.
They found my passport.
So, at this point, I'm like, all right, I'm getting in the body and we're getting hit.
That's one thing I know for certain, you know?
They didn't say nothing about, I mean, they wouldn't be worried about.
Hitting me in the face if I was gonna die.
So at this point, death is kind of like a little bit out the way, but still not much.
But you know, by the things that I kind of put together, I was like, okay, they're beating us up for something.
I thought when you said in the face, I thought you're meaning like shot.
No, they meant don't hit them in the face.
Got it.
So that's when I was like, okay, death is not what's next.
Maybe it is, but not right now.
So right now is a beating, which is kind of weird.
Like, shit, I mean, the shot to the head would be, but you don't know what you're getting.
So yeah, they just come over.
Pull the door down on the bed of the truck, and we face up like this, you know, because we're all tired and we're all scared and shit.
So they look at us, and at this point, I know who it is because I see the state police uniform and the patrol.
And they see my friend, and they're like, and I don't think he meant it.
He just wanted to hit him to make us know that they were for real because they didn't hit me in the face.
And my face was the only thing available.
So they looked at my friend.
He's like, I've gotten you before.
Bam, bam.
And they gave him a quick one, too.
And my friend's like, nah, I've never been there.
Shut the fuck up.
Bam, bam.
So they just drag us out the pickup truck.
I barely stand on my feet because I had hurt my leg.
I was doing a mural and I almost fell off the stairs.
So I landed a little bit bad.
So I was limping.
So I was fucking trying to get in the other car that they were taking us to.
They put us in the other patrol car.
Now they put us inside, not in the bed of the car.
They put us inside, but with my head in between my knees and they just lifted out the handcuffs in the back.
So we're literally, you know, fancy shit.
And they just keep hitting us on the way.
It's three cops.
It's one next to me.
And the backseat is my friend, me, and a cop.
And two guys in the front, the driver and the boss.
The boss was the co pilot.
I don't know if he was like a commander or something, but they kept calling him, hey, comandante.
That was the guy doing the orders.
And they take us to another place and they put me back in the back of the truck and they just start interrogation starts and they just start hitting us, man.
I mean, they start hitting me in the body, like in my legs and my belly, my chest, the back of my neck, you know, my back, places where you, Couldn't really tell that they were hitting me, but it just fucking hurts.
And my friends, and I guess they were asking me some stuff, but they didn't really.
We had some, they didn't know how deep we were, to be honest.
We found this out later when they kind of lowered down their attitude.
But they just started finding all kinds of shit on my messages, man, because I didn't erase a lot of shit.
And they were actually playing like, fuck, man, I have this friend.
He's in jail right now, but.
He used to tell me every time he killed somebody.
Every time he would send me audios while he was shooting people, sometimes like on Messenger, he was like, Hey, I'm about to do a job right now.
These fools, they'd be up, whatever.
And I was like, Damn, for like, I just kept going, Oh, dang, you're crazy, whatever.
This and that.
And then an audio, like, Look, look, look.
Hey, hey, like you hear shit in the audio like that.
So I had an audio like that.
And while it was playing, I tried talking to the cops so he wouldn't listen.
I was like, Hey, hey, no, but let me tell you something.
You know, I tried to like, Come up with something.
So, and he's like holding my phone, like, turn it here.
And it was, and I tripped out then because he didn't say anything about it.
He kind of like, he was like, What the fuck?
But he tripped out on the guns because it was more like I had this conversation.
Let's say, like, you have cameras.
And then let's say one day I'm driving by out here and I see cops outside of your house and I show you a video.
I'm like, Hey, what's up with all these cops inside your house?
And then you show me a video of inside the cameras and you're like, Nah, I'm watching everything.
It's all good.
So they see that.
So they know exactly where it is because they got a video of the outside.
And they got a video of the inside of the house, and that's the guy that was buying me the guns.
So they and I didn't, um, there was all this misconception.
The cops actually told the cartel that I snitched on them, they're trying to get me in trouble with them.
But, um, the point is, they found this on my messages and stuff like that.
And uh, they were like, Who is this guy?
I was like, I don't know, I never met him because in the messages, there was like a middle guy, like I was telling you, like the middleman.
I wasn't really sometimes not even seeing the guns, but I have pictures of them.
And the ones I had, I have pictures of them with this hand, so my tattoos were showing, so I couldn't really say it wasn't me because it was like, Let me see.
And then they grab my hand.
Oh, that's you.
Bam, bam.
They just start hitting me in the ribs.
Because I wasn't admitting to anything.
Like, they just kept acting like, no, no.
And then they, what are you saying?
No, bro.
Like, what the fuck?
I'm not going to say yes.
Like, what the fuck?
And so, yeah, they found this stuff and they wanted me to take him to that house.
And I just kept saying no.
I was like, nah, I guess I don't know who he lives with, whatever.
And they put the bag on my face.
They actually took it from my friend because he was inside getting tortured and stuff.
So I seen how one cop, that's how I know I was too calm.
The cop was like, nah, he's too calm, bro.
Like, he's too, like, he's too chill.
Like, fuck that.
He went inside, he grabbed the bag from my friend's head, went outside and put it over my head just to, like, so I knew it was real.
But at this point, I don't know how it was calm.
I thought, like, Inside, it was shit scared, but I guess I wasn't showing it.
And, uh, cause they thought I was just like, I was like calm, but I was like, nah, fuck that.
I want this shit to end, you know?
And they put the bag over my head for a few seconds.
And I just kept saying, like, I don't know, bro.
Like, that's the only thing you've seen the conversation.
That's the only thing I know.
So, what would they assume from you being so calm that you were just like, you've been through this before?
You were, yeah, they, yeah, they thought I was just way too used to this.
They thought I was way too used to this, that I was well protected, that I was like, Because if the situation had come across where they had actually captured a guy who was a cartel and was not afraid of getting killed and knew that there would be repercussions, that guy would not show any sort of fear.
Well, maybe.
Well, it depends what kind of cartel.
Like my friend, he doesn't get violent.
He's not a violent person.
He's a cartel because he moves stuff and works for them, but he's not a violent person.
So he was scared.
He was like, nah, just let me go.
I want to see my kid.
He was begging for his life and shit.
The first thing I thought about was that video of Ovidio, the first video of Ovidio getting raided.
And he comes out, he walks out, he's on his phone, he's like, Yeah, I want to make a phone call.
He was like so calm.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, that's kind of like the attitude that most people have.
But if you're like, like my friend, he's just like a real family dude, you know?
So he's more of a, he was really nervous.
He was like, but like on some, like I'm, you know, I kind of grew up more of a violent environment, I want to say.
And I do have my runners with cops since I was young, like just a lot because I always dressed like baggy and stuff like that.
I always look suspicious type.
I was always, Getting thrown in juvie, but they take you over there for like overnight, you know.
If you're walking late or whatever, for whatever reason, they would take me.
So I knew a little bit, but I still get scared, bro.
Like, don't get me wrong, I still don't want to deal with it.
I'm always nice to them.
I'm never like, I'm never like on my bravado type.
I don't have a license, but I don't have any drugs, you know, like, I try to play cool.
And but these guys, they were just like on it.
They didn't want no fucking nice part of it.
They were like, no, no, no.
So, yeah, they're looking at me and they're like, nah, you're too calm, whatever this and that.
They put the bag over my head.
They find this stuff.
And eventually they just started asking me about, like, all right, just give me a house, give me a name or something.
I was like, bro, I'll give you my gun.
I don't want to, like, I don't have nobody else to snitch on.
Like, I'll give you my shit.
Like, I'll give you my gun.
It's in my house.
Let's go get it.
Like, you don't even have to, like, raid it.
Like, literally somebody can go out there and give it to you.
Like, that's the only thing I have.
And at this point, They start getting calls because one of the cops took a picture of me.
When they found the houses and when they found the pictures, one of the guys took a picture of me.
Apparently, he is connected with my friend's cartel.
Sinaloa?
No, no, Tijuana.
Okay.
No, not the friend I was with.
Oh, my other friend.
Got it.
So apparently, yeah, he shoots.
They got this like Telegram and apps like that where they got the whole group in there and you shoot a picture and, like, hey, anybody know this guy?
Because he's niching on.
So and so.
So the cops have some sort of a telegram channel connected to these cartels?
There's always like in the group of cops, there's always one or two that are in groups to stay connected with the cartels, whatever, whichever they're working on.
For example, like in case they kidnap somebody who's part of the cartel, yeah, let's say, for instance, I would have been a son of somebody important or something like that, you know, that would have been, uh, and I didn't tell them because, because like, even like when you brag about being somebody, that's not well looked upon, you know, unless you're like really, really somebody, be like, hey, I'm this guy, like, don't with me.
At that point, they know, you know.
But when you're like coming up or when you're like, we're not even like a real member, like I was nothing, you can't really be like, hey, you know who I am.
Like, you know, that's not even the attitudes, especially if you want to.
I've always been a negotiator type.
Like, I don't give a fuck.
Like, I get crazy sometimes, but with the cops, I'm always negotiating because you're not going to beat them.
You're never going to beat them.
So it's better to negotiate and be friends with them and be on the good side, you know?
So, yeah, I mean, at this point, yeah, one of the cops takes a picture of me.
I didn't realize, but I was handcuffed.
Takes a picture of me and sends it to the group.
And everybody knows me because he sends it to my friends' group.
And once everybody starts, like, hey, what's up?
Like, why you get them?
Like, because I'm not involved, and you know what I mean?
I'm like, I'm like super, like, third party, such.
So everybody's mostly like surprised that they have me there and tied up and saying that I snitched.
So now they're like, they're calling the cops.
They're like, hey, what's up with my boy?
You know, what do you need for him to let him go?
Like, so now they start getting calls from Sinaloa too, because my friend, he's connected too.
So I guess they send a picture too of him to the other group.
So now they got these guys looking for us.
And at first, nobody knew like they had us, you know, because they just caught us like in a swap meeting, like some random shit.
But now they actually made everybody know.
So now they just want to hurry up.
They're like, okay, so what are you going to give me?
And I was like, like I said, I got my gun in my house.
I'll give you that.
How are you going to do it?
I was like, well, my friend, he's a psychologist.
He lives right in front of my house.
He's my childhood friend.
He does not have nothing to do with it.
And he knows my family.
I can tell him, go in, get it.
He'll bring it back out to you.
You guys don't have to, like, my grandma lives there.
Like, I was in TJ.
I was like, it's my grandma's house.
It's all family.
Like, you don't want to.
There's no need, bro.
Like, there's just a waste of time if you break into my house.
Like, I literally just will give you what I have.
And they're like, all right, call your friend and tell him to get the gun ready and take it to the Oxo, you know, or 7 Eleven.
And so I'm doing this negotiation.
My friend is doing another negotiation with the ones he's dealing with.
They're asking him for $3,000.
After all of the shit they saw on their phones, they only want my gun and $3,000.
Well, at this point, we weren't together, so we didn't know.
But I was like, damn, they only want my gun?
I was like, they were asking me for all of these kinds of information and shit, and now they only want my gun.
I was like, Okay, you know what's going on?
So, okay, so we come to an arrangement.
I'm going to give them my gun and they're going to let me go.
So, they put me in.
Okay, they put us back in the car, you know, same again, head between the knees, hands behind your back.
And it's a long drive because I live all the way to the other side of the city.
So, we're just driving and they keep going through my phone and they're like, So, what?
You got a podcast?
What's up with all these pictures?
Well, these famous people and stuff like that.
Well, I was like, Well, I do.
I've been telling you, like, because I've been to it.
I was like, I've been telling you, I do music.
Like, I do this and that.
And I got a podcast and, and you know what?
You should come too.
You, you know, you should come and let's talk about this at the podcast.
I'm tied up, bro.
I'm like, my head between my knees and shit in the back of the patrol car.
And, and we're having like a little five minutes of bonding, you know, like they're forgetting I'm arrested.
I'm forgetting I'm a victim.
And we're just talking about like podcasting.
We're talking about El Calderon.
Shout out to Ed.
I don't know him personally, but I was, I was telling him like, Hey, you ever seen this guy?
El Calderon.
He's like, because they've, Oh, okay.
Just going back.
They saw pictures of El Gordo Villarreal, the one I was mentioning.
And he goes way back.
So the, the guy in charge, the cop, he's like, Hey, what do you have pictures with him for like, What the fuck is he up to nowadays?
And I was like, what do you mean?
Like, you know, he's like, I used to chase him back in the day.
Like, I'm from, he mentioned Ed's team.
He's like, I'm from the team of Lisa Hola type thing, whatever.
I used to chase all these motherfuckers, whatever.
And I'm like, well, you should come and talk about this, bro.
Like, I'm like, you should talk because I interviewed Gordo and he's still in prison, but you should come and talk about this.
And that's where I was like, you know Ed Calderon?
He's like, no, who the fuck is that?
I was like, what you mean?
You don't know Ed Calderon?
And I was like, and the guy had my phone, the guy next to me was like, hey, can you pull up the Instagram?
He's like, what do I type?
I was like, can you type Ed's manifesto?
He's like, how the fuck do you type that?
I was like, Put it on my hand.
So I type it from and they're going through it.
I actually texted, I don't know it.
I never talked to him, but I actually texted this to his Instagram to tell him this story.
They're actually going through his Instagram while we're tied up and we're driving to one of the houses, going through it.
And they're like, nah, man, he's a phony.
I never seen him, whatever.
I was like, nah, man, I think he's the real deal.
He's like, man, all these people coming out.
If I were to come to your podcast and I told the stories, man, I would be given a real thing.
I was like, Well, what's up?
You know, when should we do it?
And they were just, they were not going for it because, like I said, there was only like five to 10 minutes of bonding after we started getting close to, I thought we were going to my house.
When they made me look up, we were outside my friend's house.
Snitching and Industrial Secrets00:15:25
The pictures that they found were outside that house.
So at this point, I was like, oh, yeah, we're bonding.
We're just going to my house.
I'm going to give them the gun.
They're going to let me go, whatever.
So I'm like, hey, all right, shut the fuck up now.
They slap me in the back and he's like, levanta la cabeza.
So I look up and I was like, oh, shit.
And I see my homie's block.
And I'm like, Nah, I don't know what house it is.
They're like, nah, bullshit.
What house it is?
I was like, I don't know.
Like, you've seen in the pictures, I just drove through the block.
I don't know.
I just know because he sends me pictures of his inside of the cameras, but I don't know what house it is.
And the same cop that took a picture of me, he was a driver.
He looked and he was like, well, that's the only house with cameras.
So he took a picture of the house with cameras and he sent it to the text again.
And then he sent it to the group and he was like, he's snitching on this house.
I don't know this.
They told me this afterwards, but he was like, hey, he's snitching on this house.
And that's like, oh, no, no, no, no, that's one of our houses.
Like, don't, don't, don't, don't fucking go in, whatever, this and that.
And I didn't, like, they would have gone in if I would have told them, like, hey, that's his house, shit's in there, whatever.
They would have gone in, bro, before even, like, texting the house.
But since I didn't want to give it up, I guess the cop kind of, like, he was like, all right, let me ask first, I guess.
I don't know.
But once he asked, they were like, no, not that house.
So they didn't go in the house.
And after that, they just busted a U turn and they took me to my house.
So now we're getting to my block.
I call my friend, I'm all tied up.
I'm like, hey, uh, What are you doing?
He's like, Oh no, man, I'm just on my way to Oxo.
Get me a beer.
You want, like, can I drink it at your house?
Because they drink it in my studio.
It's like a spot.
It's like right here.
They come in and chill.
Like, they like to drink beers.
I don't drink, but I let them drink in my house and I smoke.
So he's like, Hey, I'm on my way to get a beer.
Can I drink it at your house?
You at your house?
I was like, Not yet, man, but I need a real big favor from you.
He's like, What's going on?
I was like, Can you grab my gun?
It's in my purse and one of my baggies and just take it to Oxo.
I'll pick it up there.
He's like, hey, dog, everything cool.
I was like, yeah, yeah, just handle, bro.
Like, this is real serious, bro.
Don't fuck it up.
And he's like, yeah, yeah, no worries.
But he's like, whatever.
I'm just going to get my friend.
Like, that's what I was telling you before.
He's in the middle of something, but we're so used to this life that it's nothing.
Like, I could have asked him for my jacket.
You know, it was the same shit.
You know what I mean?
So he gets that shit.
We're parked like a block away and we're seeing my friend go from his house to my house, get the bag, go in his car, and drive to Dog, so that's two blocks away.
So he's like, That's him, right?
The cops are like, That's him, right?
That's him.
I was like, Yeah, that's him.
So boom, they go and they pull up on him and they act like they are arresting him.
Like they get him out of the car and he's scared.
He's like, What the fuck?
And he's thinking that I snitched on him because later on he's like, Bro, I thought you snitched him.
I was like, Bro, you're a fucking psychologist.
You were just giving me my, like, how am I snitching?
He's like, nah, I wasn't.
He was like that friend that thinks he was in the middle, like a big ass fucking.
Yeah.
He was like, nah, man.
But then after a while, he's like, nah, he was just fucking around.
But he's at this point, he's thinking, like, I fucking called the cops on him or something.
So they take the gun from him, they search him, whatever, they get the gun.
And one of the cops is like, hey, man, don't be hanging out with the wrong crowd.
This is what you get for hanging out with friends like this.
Don't be hanging out with this kind of friends.
You're a good guy, bro.
Like, he tries to give him a lesson.
But then they get in the patrol car again and they just start acting like they just robbed somebody.
Like, go, And the guy's driving and like, go this way, go this way.
No, no, no.
Turn this.
No, I know this road over here.
There's a lot of cops over here.
Go this way.
And I'm like, what the fuck?
We're in the patrol car, like running away from the cops.
Like, damn.
So now we're going to my friend's house because he lives all the way on the other side of the city.
He promised them $3,000.
At this point, I don't know, but that's what he told me.
So we go.
We meet his mom at a public place, like a car junior or something.
And the lady hands over the money.
And they let my friend go.
So the guy in the back, he kind of actually, like, I think he follows me on Instagram because he was asking me, like, my social media.
And I think he follows me.
He was like, hey, so we're going to let him go too, right?
Asking about me.
I'm all tied up and shit.
And one of the cops is like, no, no, no, no, not yet.
And I was like, whoa, like, whoa, bro, like, you got my gun, you got the money.
Like, what do you mean not yet, you know?
And they just close the doors, they get in the car, and they just drive off.
And I'm like, what?
And then they took me to this, like, little industrial blocks, and they just, like, Get the fuck out of the car and don't look back.
Don't look back.
Don't look back like a fucking kidnapping.
And they're like, don't look back.
Look, walk straight.
And I'm like, bro, I don't fucking want to.
Like, I just want to go home at this point.
Like, you got my shit.
Like, I don't want to.
They were scared.
They kept telling me, like, on my way, when they were going to drop me off, they kept saying, like, hey, bro, remember, I'm doing you a favor.
Don't go up.
Don't go crying to, you know, to you know who.
I was like, nah, I'm like, bro, I'm straight.
Like, just let me go.
He's like, nah, nah, nah.
We've caught many people like you and I help him out.
He was.
He's like, look at this fucking site.
He's like, I help them out.
And then they fucking go and tell the guys, the bosses, and now I get shit.
So, like, you, I caught you slipping today.
I'm going to let you go with some money.
And that's it.
Be like, take it as a man.
And he was kind of right.
You know, I was fucking up.
I was doing shady shit.
You know, I should have been arrested, but the streets and TJ is different.
So I didn't get arrested.
He let me go home and they took my gun from me.
So it's even.
You know what I mean?
But I can sense his.
He was scared, you know, like not maybe not scared of me, but of a backlash of some stuff because all the people that just were like, Hey, I know him, I know him.
So he was like, Don't go tell them, like, don't go crying to them, you know.
And I'm like, Bro, I don't fucking want nothing, I just want to go home or no smoking joint and be with my fucking dog, you know what I mean?
Like, so, um, so yeah, they just dropped me off at an industrial complex and uh, they gave me my shit back and they just drive off.
And uh, uh, I was already fucked up on my leg, so now I'm.
Limping like for real, my ribs hurt, my knees and shit.
And I get my phone out, and the first thing I do, I get the ghoul message and see where the fuck I am because I don't know where I am.
I'm like, all right, I'm in the other side of the fucking city.
So then my friend calls me, the one that they just, he's like, hey, where are you?
I'll pick you up right now.
And I'd send him my location.
He picks me up.
And on my way to his house, I'm checking my phone, and there's just all kinds of messages, man, like, hey, what happened?
What are you doing?
And one of the guys I trust the most, he used to be a military, he used to be, what do you say?
How do you say, teniente in English?
Like lieutenant, maybe something like that.
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Something like that.
He used to be, yeah.
But now he became a personal security guard.
Like you could hire, like, you know how you hire ex military and shit.
But a lot of cartel people hire that type of security guard too.
So he got connected that way with them.
So he has communication.
He doesn't work with them or anything, but they respect him and he has good communication.
So he was telling me, he's like, hey, this is the word that's going around that you snitched on this guy and you better fix that shit because, you know.
So I'm like, what the fuck?
I'm thinking, like, okay, I got off my shit.
Like, finally they let me go, whatever.
And now I got handled with all this fucking pressure from the cartel and shit like that.
The cops that you snitched.
Yeah, I didn't know that.
That's why, what happened?
Like, why are they tripping?
He's like, well, no, they're saying that.
That you took them to this was house.
I was like, if I would have said the shit was in there, they would have broken in because one time it happened to me.
They caught my friend.
They found pictures of shit I had in my house and he said they were in my house and they broke into my house and they took him.
So I was like, if I would have said that, they would have did the same shit.
Like it's exactly the same case.
I was like, I didn't say anything.
I mean, that's why I got the fucking bag on my head.
You know what I mean?
God damn.
And so these days, probably a week, a week and a half go by of just negotiations of just.
Trying to convince them and trying to like, because they were like, nah, if the cop told me, bro, like, I don't know, why would he lie to me?
I was like, why would I fucking lie to you?
He's like, well, cause I could kill you if you were like, and I was like, nah, but I'm like, you know, so eventually, like, uh, the guy, the, the house they showed up to, the guy, he's actually my friend.
Like, it's, it's not only a business.
Um, he was actually my friend.
So, so eventually he was like, nah, you know what, man, I believe you, bro.
Like, like, like, I know I was tripping at first, whatever, but, and like I told him, like, I was tripping when somebody snitched on me, like, I feel you, bro.
Like, I, I know, I, I've been in your shoes before.
But this time that wasn't it, like that's why they didn't bring into your house, otherwise, they would have just gone in, burst it in, like they always do, you know.
But I didn't say anything, like whatever they found, I know I up because I didn't raise the messages, you know.
Everybody, even like the boss, I don't want to say his name, but like the real head of the cartel right now, he's like, Hey, no, says pendejo, borra mensajes, like come on, don't be stupid, raise the messages next time.
And it's funny because, like I said, everybody knows, like, bro, you always erase the messages, like, what happened to that?
The head of the cartel told you that, yeah, yeah, because he was in the group when they asked for me.
And I've met him like a couple of times.
I've shook his hand before and we've been like at the party.
And I know people that work for him.
I know a lot of people that work for him.
So it's just this like familiarity of like, he probably said he knew me, but he doesn't really know me.
No, he's like, oh yeah, I know him.
Like, you know, that type of thing.
But yeah, like people next to him know me.
People like on the same level of him know me too.
So I was kind of like protected, I could say that from on that occasion.
But at the same time, I'm now like, okay, we backed you up, but now you got to respond to us for what the fuck happened.
But at the same time, I was like, what am I responding to?
You guys didn't get anything confiscated.
Your houses didn't get raided.
Like, nothing happened to you guys.
You know what I mean?
Like, I'm the one that paid for my shit.
I gave him my gun.
Like, I'm the one that got beat up, you know?
So, yeah, eventually it was just like a little tension the first couple of days.
And then now I'm cool with my friend.
You know, like, I was telling like, bro, like, I know motherfuckers that kill fools like years later.
So I'm just going to trust you and, you know, like, and know that we're cool.
But now, now, like, I trust him and I know he understood the situation and what happened.
Like I said, man, the good thing is that I never get in trouble.
Like, the cartel never had to do this.
Type of things for me, like, it's not like, oh, they always got to be answering.
You know, this is never that's why when the one and only time happened, they were like, wait, wait, wait, what the fuck?
Like, why you have him for?
Like, you know what I mean?
So it seems like the cops are making shit worse down there, yeah, they kind of are because it seems so backwards, but it seems like it's true.
It seems like if they weren't there, there wouldn't be all this fucking bullshit happening, yeah.
And the thing is, back then, we were talking about, you know, Ramon and them, they used to have they used to be very violent with the cops, like, back then, bro, like, even when I was like 17 coming up, you could like literally.
Be drinking in your car, whatever.
If the local cops pull you over, you will be like, Hey, what the fuck are you doing?
Like, let me the fuck go.
You could be a fucking pain in the ass for them.
They would have to bow their heads out because they were like, they were terrified.
They were terrified of the cartel.
And like, I don't know if I told you this over the phone.
One time I was like, yeah, like 17, 18.
And I was with one of my friends that passed away.
And he was very well connected since we were young.
And they pulled us over.
We're on our way to deliver some.
He used to sell Coke.
Like, he used to sell like eights and stuff like that.
And we're just on our way to deliver.
I was with him on the way to deliver.
And we got pulled over by like two.
Local cops.
And he was trying to, you know, I feel like he was one of the good cops.
He was just surrounded by guys that weren't backing up, but he seemed like one of the good cops because he wasn't backing down.
My friends were telling him, like, hey, I work for such and such.
Like, you should just let me go.
Like, we're being nice.
He's like, hey, I work for such and such.
I'm just on my way to do something.
Let me go.
Like, you know, I'll give you 15, 10 bucks.
Back then, it was like 20 bucks, like the rate, you know, for just getting pulled over.
Usually, like, hey, I got pulled over.
Oh, just give him something or buy him some.
That's what they say, you know, you should like 20 bucks, you know, whatever you have something.
So we're trying to get away with that.
And the cop was like, nah, nah, nah, nah, whatever.
He was like standing his ground.
So my friend called his boss, and he's like, and his boss is like, hey, hand him over the phone.
Tell him to answer the phone.
And the cop was like, nah, I'm not talking to anybody.
And back then it was like, oh, you know, and so my friend's like, hey, he said he's not picking up the phone.
So my friend's like, so his boss was like, oh, what?
Give me the patrol number.
So we look back.
He's like, all right, P291, whatever.
He hangs up.
Probably like a minute and hey, and they called him on his walk, and they're like, You better let my nephew go right now.
I didn't hear the rest.
I'm guessing you know what they said, but the cop came back.
He's like, Hey, why didn't you tell me you work for such and such?
We told you, but we look young.
Like, if I, I, I, I look young at night, like 18, 18.
I was, you look like the youngest.
So we took, we look like two kids, you know, trying to play hard, but we were the real, like, my friend was connected, you know, so he didn't believe us.
So he was like, Why didn't you tell me you guys work for such and such?
And my friend's like, I told you.
He's like, Oh man, you just got me in trouble, whatever.
Like, Bro, I told you, like, I wasn't even trying to get you in trouble, just trying to get on my way.
That's how the local police cops used to be treated back then.
Now it's just like, well, what I was saying is back then they used to keep them in line with the narcos, used to make way more money than what they do now, like what the bosses do now.
So they had just way more power where they like would just buy the whole police and they could kill like police bosses, you know, and police chiefs.
How do they make that kind of money anymore?
Because it used to be a one organization.
But now it's all broken up.
Now you got three cartels.
If they work together, they could become what it used to be.
But that's not the thing anymore.
Not even in Sinaloa.
Everybody, all the big organizations, like what you see in Narcos, all that broke down and everybody just starts, it just keeps branching out.
Every time they catch someone, two guys come out.
Which makes it worse, makes the situation way worse, way more violent.
Yeah.
And it also, but it makes it violent amongst them because now nobody wants to kill cops because it's too much heat.
It draws too much heat.
So nobody wants to fuck with the cops.
They're shooting some, like the ones that they killed recently, like from, I don't know, like seven years from, yeah, probably like seven years now.
They kill them because they've been stealing.
They've been, you know, they've been messing with the cartel.
But back then, they used to kill guys that didn't want, you know, Plata Plomo, remember that?
Like, you work for us or you're dead.
Well, back then, they used to do that.
And that's how they ran the police.
Like, that's how the police would bow down to them.
Right now, nobody wants to kill police.
And I'm not saying they should.
But right now, nobody wants to do that kind of activity because it creates heat.
And they can't, they're trying to worry about more as businessmen to make money.
The guys that are fighting, the guys that are violent and everything are the guys that are fighting the little drug houses where they sell meth.
And usually, in those, they sell like their biggest income is meth, but they sell like little Reggie.
They sell pills.
They sell like.
Yo, can you turn that back on, Austin?
Shit's fucking loud.
It's.
What's the difference from wholesale?
It's wholesale and.
Wholesale retail.
Yeah, it's like little retails.
Like the retail, those are the ones that are killing every day.
Because that's like gang violence.
That's like one block is run by Sinaloa, another block is run by Jalisco, and the other two blocks are run by Tijuana.
And then the blocks in front of it, it's all Sinaloa.
So it's just like gang fights.
It's just like Crips and Bloods.
And that's one section of the cartel fighting.
They have power over police too, because the bosses of certain areas also pay cops.
Gang Violence in Blocks00:14:48
So recently they had this other cartel trying to come in where I'm from in TJ to this area where the same people have.
Rules for like years.
And now they're like, many people are trying to come and take their stuff, but they're always like, they're always standing around.
And so some guys actually opened a little retail trap house in one of their blocks.
And the state police showed up and they went in there, they took everything and they left two dead bodies outside.
And I only know this because a big deal, it was right next to my friend's house.
And like three different friends live in that block because this is a closed street, it's a no outlet street.
So they all know each other.
It's like a little, they're always hanging out together and stuff.
So they know everybody.
So this happened.
And now the owners of that turf went back and they're like, hey, we want to see the cameras of your house because we want to see what cops did this.
So my friend doesn't want to be in the middle of it.
He doesn't want to, you know?
So he just didn't want to show, like, he didn't want to give up the cameras, the videos.
So they threatened that we're going to kill him.
So he had to move.
He had to leave his house because there's this war going on in his fucking neighborhood.
And his cameras got what happened, and now, you know, and that's the section of the retailing trap houses part of the cartel.
That's the most violent.
The guys that work wholesale, it's very well known when one of them dies because most of them are pretty chill.
You see them out in clubbing, you see them out, they're like businessmen, and they're like, you see them in parties, you see them, you know, they're the bosses, but they're not in the businessmen.
Yeah, they're more businessmen.
So when one of them dies, you're like, oh shit, like that fool, like, Either became a snitch for the DA or he was, he stole from somebody, he switched cars, like you know, like something, something out of that sort.
But all the other, like 10 killings you see during the day, all the other 20 Joes, how do you call it, John Doe's that you see, that's just methods, that's just, um, yeah, friends of methods, you know, junkies, yeah, junkies, and a lot of innocent people too, man.
A lot of innocent.
I know in TJ, when somebody dies, it's very well known that, oh, he must have been in, you know, something.
But now, man, many people, like I was telling you, like it's like if we're just having lunch and we're just friends.
Maybe we just met at war.
Like, I got this homie that he used to play soccer, but he was involved with the cartel and he was with other soccer players celebrating after, and they just came and shot up the place, you know.
And it's this place where, like, bro, who shot the place?
They were gonna get one of them, the cartel guy, yeah, but he was celebrating with the soccer team, so they just showed up to the shop and just shot up the whole place.
And that's how many innocent people die, and they're not involved.
Like, how do you, like, if you're in a soccer team and a cartel member, do you just, like, oh, you know what, I don't want to be in the soccer team anymore because he's playing.
Do you really do that?
Like, really?
Really?
Do you really do that?
Not really, man.
You know, you don't, your first thought is going to be, well, I never see this guy.
I don't hang out with him.
I only see him in soccer play.
So, whatever, you know?
Well, also, Luis was telling me that when they raided Ovidio's house, the army killed tons of, like, not tons, but there was a lot of civilians who got shot and killed during that whole shootout.
And apparently, from what I understood, is that they captured Ovidio.
Like, they had some paramilitary guys come in in a helicopter, take Ovidio out, and then they started the big fucking gunfire.
If you hear the radio frequencies, you could hear when they're like, hey, we're getting raided by the white people, or like the guerrillas, you know, like, they're actually reporting.
Because you know, they use Mexican military too, but they also, white people, like the agents, they do operate.
It's so well known that they mention it in corridos.
And their own corridos, like when they're bragging about stuff and anything, there's this couple lines where they're like, oh yeah, we're looking out for the Marines, but also those undercover DA Marines, those DA that dressed as Marines, yeah, we see you, we know you're there.
You know, they say there's lines like this in the corridos.
So it's well known, man, because they're patrolling the streets and they're pulling people over.
And if they pull like somebody over and they don't find anything, let's say they pull me over and they don't find anything on me, but I see that some of them are white, you know, some of them aren't speaking well good Spanish.
So I go and they let me go.
So I tell my friends, like, hey, there was white people with them, you know?
So this word just starts spreading around so much.
They see them so much that now it's like they recognize them, you know?
So in the frequencies, the radio frequencies that they get on the social media, you could hear them saying, hey, we're getting raided by the hueros, like the hueros nos cayeron a video, like, you know, they're getting a video.
So, you know, it's stuff like that.
That's not mentioned, as well as the people that died.
You know, like I was telling you earlier, like when they're gonna, when they want to clean something, you know it's kind of hard to pick and choose who's guilty and who's not because, like I said, it's not certain type of people.
You know it's not like.
Oh, only these guys are like, only the guys that dress like this are nah man like, especially in those real areas where where uh, look man, all these rural areas in Mexico, they have this uh dark.
They never had a good relationship with the military.
If you go back to like, the days of the revolution and stuff like that, they were always fighting the military.
It's always the military against this, the countryside people, because they're forgotten, you know, the government doesn't do anything for them.
So, this hate doesn't come from like the narcos, you know, it's been, it's just been boiling through generations, generations.
So, these people obviously are going to back up their local, you know, in this case, Ovidio or Chapo.
So, you as a cop, you're going to them and tell you that the whole town is against you.
So, like, I mean, I'm not saying they did it on purpose, but if you're fucking shooting and then adrenaline and then you see a couple of kids, guys running somewhere and fucking shoot them too, you know.
Maybe they were just trying to get away.
Because if you see the shootout, they're shooting in the middle of the town.
It's not like, I mean, it is in the outskirts, it is a rural area, but it's still a lot of houses and a lot of families and a lot of stuff.
It's still like a neighborhood, you know what I mean?
So the military has this rep of just picking up the dead and disappearing them.
You know, even in this started happening when they have these big shootouts back in like 2009, 2010, when these big shootouts started happening, when they're like, Everything became militarized, you know, like the setas and all this stuff.
And it was funny because you would see this news where it was like 14 sicarios killed, one arrested, and one military injured in the leg.
You're like, really?
Like, nobody gave up.
Like, you killed the first two guys and nobody gave up.
And then a story started coming out like, they were just killing them.
They weren't arresting them because they were eventually let go by the judges.
So after the shootout, they just killed everybody.
Even the guys that were begging for their lives, that were, you know, crawling, like, they would just shoot everybody.
And it's common sense.
Like, there's no way the 15 Sicarios fought to the death.
You know, at least there's going to be five that's going to be like, you know what?
Fuck this.
You know, like, fuck that.
You know, that's human nature, you know?
So it just, if you like, like I said, yeah, I've always read news and stuff like that.
I've always been on point with that.
So you started seeing all these stories, and I asked my military friends, I was like, this is military propaganda.
You can't really say that how many military men are actually injured, right?
He's like, nah, man.
The lieutenant, he's like, because if we do, we lower the morale on the.
Right.
On other places, and they're going to think that we're losing.
Like, there were some places where, like, it was only main news that militaries died because the cartel would leave, like, stacks of bodies in a very well known road where it made it, like, fucking obvious.
Like, you can't hide that you guys are taking, you know, deaths, too, you know?
So I asked my friend, he's like, yeah, we can't really, what do you say, like, the voter, we can't really say.
Yeah.
We kind of hide that information because we don't want to lower the morale of the troops that are actually fighting out there, you know?
And because it seemed illogical that, you know, like, Only one military hurt in the leg.
I mean, I know Sicarius can't shoot, but you know, like, yeah, I would expect a few more, especially when they're like getting ambushed.
Like, sometimes military will be like parked in a gas station and then bam, another convoy of cars just pull up and start shooting at them and they didn't hit nobody.
Like, really?
Right.
You know what I mean?
So, I see what you're saying.
What sort of plan is there?
What is the president of Mexico talking about when it comes to trying to eradicate the violence between all these cartels?
Like, what do they say they want to do?
Like, what is their plan?
And what is actually being done?
And do you think any of this shit will work?
Do you see any end to this?
I have a lot of friends, not only in the cartel, bro.
I have friends in politics.
I have a lot of reporter friends, a lot.
Like, I like all that stuff.
But what I've seen with this government, I think they.
Well, his slogan, right?
With the hugs, not drugs.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hugs, not bullets.
Abrazos, no balazos.
He's kind of stand on it, to be honest, because.
The cops are crazy, like I was telling you in my city.
They just they're just taking advantage of the situation, you know.
They're uh, uh, most of these, maybe even in Sinaloa, like the bosses right now, they've been bosses for like 10 plus years now.
They haven't had no like attempts.
Usually, used to read about oh, they were close to El Mayo, oh, they almost caught a chapel, he got away, or or whoever was.
But the guys that have been here for like the last 10 years, yeah.
They've been like, you see them at parties.
I see them at parties.
I've seen them like, in.
But why Ovidio?
Why did they get him?
I think my hypothesis on that from the different information I gather is that, you know, how they say they stumbled upon him.
They didn't know they were going to get him the first time they got him.
Like when they ran into him, I think this is Ed's version where he's like, when they get him, they're like, oh shit, they didn't know it was him, you know?
But.
Sucks for him.
But now they know who he is and now he.
Well, the fact that they the whole thing happened, how they took him away from the club because it was public, they had to admit.
They now like, if he would have been arrested that day, he would, he would have probably made it like uh, with money, you know, probably bribing a judge.
He probably would have gone out because he wasn't that big, he wasn't that known like.
Like his, his brothers are like in the, in the most wanted, you know cartels and stuff like that, but he wasn't really that much like.
He's well known Among the things, but it's different too.
Like, there's a lot of narcos that are not in the most wanted list that are big narcos.
You know what I mean?
We said that Ovidia was like the one son of El Chapo who, uh, El Chapo didn't want him to be in like the cartel business.
He kind of like tried to shade him.
Well, they have many sons like that.
They have other kids that are not known.
They have other.
Oh, really?
They become known once they go to the dark side.
But there's people, like I was saying, in the Ariano family too.
There's brothers that never.
There's actually one that I believe he's in the Vatican, that he's a priest.
What?
Yeah, you should look into that.
There's one that's real.
That's why when the whole, when the horror thing happened with the cardinal and stuff like that, they actually were getting a little bit of backup from the church.
And I mean, from like their.
Church, not like local churches, you know, they the because they were wealthy family, you know, how wealth and church is always like, you know, yeah, so they were always of that family.
And uh, yeah, man, one of the brothers, I believe he's, I think he's in the Vatican, I think he's a priest.
So, um, yeah, I mean, many of many members of these families they're not known, they become known once they do something like a video, once you start doing like the social media and stuff like that, they start getting known.
But there's Chapo, how many sons do you think he has, you know, he's just all these like virgins and you know, like.
And it's like a prideful thing for older generations to get these virgins.
That's why his last wife is younger than his older son, I think.
You know what I mean?
Right.
Yeah.
So someone was just telling me about that.
And as well as Pablo was like a sick fuck like that too.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
His wife was super young when he married her.
And she was pregnant when she was like 13 or something.
And that actually goes a lot in the country over there.
And it's not like.
I'm not trying to justify him, but actually, girls like want to, you know, like girls look for these guys.
Like, if a chap was hosting a party, all the little girls be like, oh, let's go and see if he fucking marries me or some shit.
You know, they actually like, and then it's all glorified, the narco culture and stuff.
So it makes it like, like it makes it for them to think it's okay.
You know what I mean?
Like, well, they're just looking for opportunity, right?
Yeah, but it's also this old school way of like getting young girls, like, because it's not even the narcos, like, like, nobody's, like, nobody's getting like young girls too.
And young girls are getting older guys.
It's like, it's weird.
You know what I mean?
It's like, you know how they back then they wanted like boys go to work and girls get married.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
So that's kind of the thing in those areas.
It's country, bro.
It's not like, you know, they got people that come and go to the city and that've been out, but it's very countryish.
You know, it's very, well, yeah, it's a rural area, you know, old school ways.
Yeah.
And, but yeah, I mean, once they start getting known, it's because they jumped in the dark side.
Like I was saying, you know, the oldest son, Ivan.
He's been into the life since he was really young.
Like, I don't think he ever wanted to be like, I don't know, but I don't think he ever wanted to be like a straight up kid or anything because him and Elmayo's older son, they were like the, they were basically, I feel like they were teaching them to take over the business.
You know what I mean?
That's why they got, they got so powerful.
Like, Ivan is very powerful.
And Elmayo's son, the one that became an informant, he, he was very powerful too.
Like, and there's sometimes where people take charge that you're like, yeah, people don't respect him.
He's in charge, but, People don't respect them that much.
Well, these guys, they are.
They are loved.
They like them, you know, they're worth liking.
So they got the whole thing to be the boss.
So, like him, he's always been in the spotlight because since he was young, he was the son of El Chapo.
He's the oldest, you know, he's known in Culiacan, the fucking Ferraris and everything.
And eventually he went to jail for a couple of years, I think.
And then he got out and he's never been arrested since.
And he got out in like, I want to say like 2007 or something like that, 2006.
He was in a crash, in a car accident, something like that.
And he did like three years.
And they say that, oh, okay, I remember.
El Mayo's Brother In Law00:13:40
I remember how these stories connect.
They said in the streets that, you know, how Chapo went to war with his cousins, the Beltran, Beltran Leyva.
I don't know if you heard of them.
They used to be like this federation, but they broke up once.
They used to back up a Chapo when he was in jail and stuff like that.
So when Chapo gets out, they still help him out and everything.
Is this the guy who helped El Chapo escape the first time?
No, I think you're talking about El Licenciado, the guy that turned himself into.
Yeah, that's right.
No, no, not him.
This were actually other side of the cartel that was really strong.
I don't think maybe you've seen a picture when the military killed him, they just filled his body with bills.
And there's pictures of him with like his body, and they actually got in trouble for that.
But yeah, it was just this other section.
It was just like another version of another Chapo, another Mayo, but they were both the Beltrán Leivas.
It was Alfredo Beltrán and Arturo Beltrán.
And they were the same, but when Chapo got out, they started like beefing and they said this is the word in the street.
It's not nothing I, you know, that I'm thinking, but they said that Chapo turned one of them in so that his son could get out.
Because when his son got out, they arrested one of the other guys.
And then after that, the brother of the one that got arrested, he's like, nah, you motherfuckers niche on my brother.
And he just went full on war.
And that's the war starting in 2008, 2009 over there with them.
And it was like one of the worst.
And who were the guys?
And there were two guys that were a big part of Chapo's final arrest the two guys that were in Chicago, those two brothers.
The brothers, yeah, that they're working with 50 Cent now.
I don't know if you've seen it.
They made a.
That made a podcast telling their stories.
I saw that yesterday.
50 Cent.
I've seen this interview of 50 Cent where he's saying how he met them.
I guess back in the day when they were deep in the game, one of his artists snatched his chain.
You know how over here they snatch rappers' chains, I guess.
And I guess one of the twins got it back for 50.
Oh, shit.
And that's how they met back in the day.
So now that 50 Cent, shout out 50 Cent, bro.
I love his series.
I love it.
I read his books.
Really?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
He's one of them.
I look up to that guy.
Um, but yeah, man, I like how he's turning all that into like entertainment, you know.
And he's turning like the BMF thing you heard about the BMF guys, yep, yep.
Yeah, he made a series about that and he put the son of Meach, uh, he's playing Meach.
That's like getting a son of a chapel to play a chapel, you know what I mean?
Wow, that's crazy, that's pretty wild, man.
Yeah, man, that's crazy, and that's and that's hustler, and that's keeping it pure too.
That's keeping it like in the you know, you're not just hiring any actors to do this, you're actually hiring actors that know what happened and that are close to the.
To the thing, you know, but yeah, man, shout out to 50 cents, but yeah, he was working with those twins, and uh, and I mean, my street side is like, man, these guys are snitches, you know, like these guys turn on everything, like they weren't in Mexico, but they were over here, so that's how that's why they were it was easy for them to snitch in a way, you know, because I think their father did get in trouble, so I don't know if they I don't know if he passed away or something, but I've seen a little bit of their interviews and stuff, and uh, because their wives also had like a book or something, yeah,
I think they got in trouble for that too, so um, but uh.
Yeah, man.
I mean, it's while I like, like if El Mayo's son tried to do it, I don't think he could do it.
I don't think he could just all of a sudden turn a YouTuber, a storyteller, and just going around telling a story.
I don't think he's just too street for that, man.
And I'm not saying the twins are not, but it's really different when you grow up in the cartel and like them, like family, like, you know, that's going against all of your values, all your.
How come you don't hear about El Mayo?
He's not in any of the shows.
He's not in Narcos, right?
Nah, he's in El Chapo series.
He's in the El Chapo series.
Yeah, but it's funny how he's not in Narcos.
They don't mention him or anything.
I feel like a lot of people don't mention him.
Well, this part gets shaky, man, because I think Luis mentioned this here how he has this background with the CIA and all this stuff.
And people keep blaming them every time somebody gets caught.
They're like, oh, he probably snitched on them, stuff like that.
I mean, yeah.
Luis was telling a story, I think it's on his Instagram now, where he just made this whole video about how a guy who was a former police officer or CIA officer became his brother in law, who became his brother in law, who got El Mayo.
Into the cartel, and then Mayo's son talks about this in his book.
His book came out like what five years ago, maybe more.
And uh, this is information that's been there, but nobody reads, yeah, you know what I mean?
Nobody reads the book, it's not in a video, so it's so nobody knows about it.
Nobody knows about it, yeah, it's in a book, a paperback, yeah, it's in like two pages in the two pages of like a book, so like nobody knows, might as well be on a stone tablet and some sort of crazy, yeah, and and and just a little, a little thing there.
Uh, one of the things when I started writing, I actually, um.
How do you sell it when you foment?
Is that the word?
Fomenting reading?
Because all my friends that don't read, I made them read.
They read my shit.
They like it just because it's my shit.
And they would call me and they'd be like, hey, bro, I read that shit you published.
I mean, I don't read.
But since it was you and you're talking about life, that shit was cool, bro.
Keep it up.
So I was talking to one of my writer friends.
He actually interviewed Benjamin Arellano.
He wrote a book with him.
And he was like, bro, you're actually making people read, like people that don't read.
Yeah, you know what I mean?
Not just regular people.
That's pretty cool, man.
Yeah, and that's just something that's still up to like, because I keep getting it from my friends like, hey, man, I read that shit.
Or I would have books and there would be like a shootout, like in pages, and I'll read it and I'll be like, hey, read from 24 to 27.
And then I'll have them reading in my studio like fools that will never pick up a book, bro.
They were reading that and they'll be like, oh, well, find me another one like that, you know?
And then I would have to find them another like shootout or something, you know?
But yeah, man, most of these people don't read.
So that's information about the CIA brother in law.
It's in the book.
And I mean, yeah, he has this background.
Oh, that's in his book.
Yeah, his son talks about it.
You haven't read the book?
I have no.
I have no right now.
Oh, my God, bro.
You're missing out.
He actually, I think in the book, he talks about how while he's arrested, he calls his dad while he's with the DA agents.
And he's like, you know what?
I think that's when he's going to tell him.
And his dad's like, yeah, do whatever you need to do.
Like, say whatever you need to say.
Like, you do what you need to do to fucking save your ass.
And I mean, the way he tells it in his book, it just sounds so fucking like thrilling, like an anecdote.
What's the book called?
The Traitor.
The Traitor.
He wrote it himself, and it's the cover, it's him with a clown face that he drew himself.
His own face?
Himself.
He drew himself.
I don't know if you can find the cover in the.
Wow.
Now, what is he doing now?
Well, he's probably living in one of those random cities in the U.S. where they have.
Oh, he's in the U.S. like.
Like he's got some sort of witness protection.
Well, he testified against Ochoa too.
He testified against everybody.
Oh, that's his book, The Traitor.
No way.
He drew that himself.
That's wild.
His attorney contacted one of the most.
Oh, it's on audio.
There you go.
Yeah.
His attorney contacted one of the reporters in Mexico.
I don't know if you heard about her, Annabel Hernandez.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, his attorney contacted her.
To talk about the book.
And they became, I think it's over five years of writing the book.
She kept talking to them and the lawyer and stuff like that.
And she's the author on that.
And yeah, man, I mean, that's a really good read, bro.
That talks about the whole background on El Mayo with his son is telling about it with his dad's authorization.
Like he's literally telling a book how he called his dad while he's with the DA.
Are there any interviews of El Mayo?
Yeah, it's only written though.
They never released a recorded one.
No recorded video.
No, but there's pictures where you've seen, you never heard about this interview?
No.
There's this really famous magazine called Proceso.
I don't know if you heard of it.
And I believe it's one of the founders, if not the founder.
He passed away already.
He was like this really respected journalist.
And I guess Amayo admired him and he reached out to him.
And he was like, Yeah, I want to do an interview with you.
So this guy, there's a picture of him.
I don't know if you could pull that up too, because his name was Julio.
I'm forgetting the name of the journalist.
But Julio something.
And he took a picture with Amayo and they talked.
I read it.
This was like 2011, 2012, I think.
So.
Uh, when I read it, I remember they're talking like in one of El Mayo's cabins, and he's not really answering questions, he's more like letting him talk more.
This is a long time I read this, but it's really interesting.
It's really interesting that El Mayo wants to get it like something out there, you know what I mean?
That's something that I was telling Luis, like, hey, how do you know when well, he's getting older now, El Mayo?
Yeah, he should be really old, man.
I mean, I heard he's sick, I think diabetes or something like that.
I don't know, yeah, but that's what Luis told me, but yeah, he.
I mean, he must be.
He's old and all the stress, bro.
Like, just like I was talking about the stress of flying, like, you know, how your belly hurts and all this stuff.
Just imagine knowing every day, every time you wake up, that there's tons of people looking for you.
Yeah, bro.
And I mean, tons literally like enemies, military, and Interpol, like DEA, all these people.
Like, your head is worth $20 million, bro.
Imagine the stress of that shit.
That's it for him?
Yeah.
$20 million?
Yeah, that's why he has a correo.
He's like, They're offering 20 million for me.
I spend that shit on a horse.
That guy's got to be worth billions.
And Escorrio says he spends that on a horse.
He literally says that.
Oh my God.
He's like, 20 million to get me.
I spent 20 million on a horse.
If that's not bars, if that's not rap bars, bro, I don't know what the fuck it is.
And coming from the guy, you know?
I mean, I know he didn't write the Corrido, but he had to authorize it.
So it's, you know?
So yeah, man, I mean.
What makes the most money for the cartels right now?
Well, illegal immigrants right now, it's a good deal.
Illegal immigrants.
Right now, they're going for like more than any drugs.
Not more, but it's a good money because they're paying like $20,000 per people.
Like if you were trying to get across, you will pay around $15,000 to $20,000.
And that's for one person.
And that's not like, and that's like, I could put two people in a trunk and just drop them off in San Isidro.
That's my 40 bucks right there.
How has that shit changed since?
And what was the difference between when Trump was president and now that Biden's president?
Because we were talking earlier, and obviously the relationship between.
Oh, that's the picture.
Yeah.
Oh, that's the journalist?
Yeah.
Julio Scherer.
Yeah, that's his name.
That was a long time ago, huh?
Yeah.
Yeah, that should be like, what, 2009, 2010?
It was 2005.
Yeah.
Oh, wow.
13 years ago.
Yeah, I remember when that came out, everybody was stunned, you know?
Like.
And the reporter talks about how you recorded the conversation, but he never released it.
I think he did have a recording, but it's only on, he only typed it.
And it's not really that long or anything.
It's just like a little small talk.
But I mean, coming from a Mayo, you want to hear anything.
You want to know what fucking food he ordered and shit.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
No, how has the border changed since Trump was president to now?
I don't think.
Have you noticed anything?
Any difference?
It didn't really change when Trump was in.
It didn't change.
Not really.
I know one of his campaigns were like the wall, but the wall's never been a problem.
Right, you know what I mean?
It was just some sort of like, yeah, he if it worked for him, you know, it worked for him.
But uh, I mean, you see all these videos, you've seen tunnels, you see, we have, I mean, not we, but literally, cartels have catapults.
I don't know if you've seen them, but there's I have, there's this places in like Arizona and stuff where it's mostly desert, so they just use like medieval uh catapults, bro.
You know, they have you seen the ramps where they jump the cars over, where they jump like the like the Baja cars with like the trucks?
I don't think I've seen the ramps, bro.
If you can, you should pull it up.
There's ramps literally going.
Over the wall, there's videos of this.
Uh, there's pictures, I know there's pictures because I think he got caught, but there's one with there.
I mean, if there's one picture, how tall is that wall?
Is what like 50 feet tall?
The one that the new one, yeah, but the one that was before, I don't think it was that big.
Okay, and like I said, there's places in the desert where there's no like where it's just a fence.
Like, once you get it, like I know there's big walls like in the cities, but once you get like deep in the desert, like when you go into like Hermosillo, like all the stuff in the desert, like there's places where it's just like we just move the.
Just move the little thing, you know, and just go in.
And that's why you see all these videos of all these illegal immigrants with backpacks because they're making money off of illegal immigrants and they're having them carry stuff across.
Cutting Up Cocaine Users00:12:23
So that's, you know.
Shit.
But yeah, I mean.
So the drug stuff is kind of like small time now.
Nah, nah.
I think it's still up there.
Coke, that's always going to make money.
Coke.
Marijuana, well, not really.
Unless you send it to like the states where it's still illegal, you know, because I know people that send marijuana to states where it's like, I think like Mississippi.
I don't know, like places where it's still illegal over here.
And I guess there's still a market for Reggie, you know, or like really good Reggie.
So, but I mean, but yeah, man, I mean, Coke is always going to be there, you know.
What would change if drugs became legalized in the US?
How would the cartels adapt?
They survive.
Like, what would the violence change?
Well, I see it like this look at California with the weed.
You still got a black market.
I mean, you got legal dispensaries.
And at first, people were like, even myself, like, man, they're taxing.
Like, I don't want to go like tax.
I'll just go to my dealer, you know?
He's still selling.
So, like, there's, like, in California, it's the best place for weed.
Like, I'm pretty sure you know, but it's still a big, a large black market on it.
Like, a large black market.
Like, they're doing it.
And I'm doing it because I used to sell weed.
Like, you know what I mean?
So, I would get it from like, at first, I would, before I found a dealer, I would go to all the dispensaries and get all the like first-time patient deals and all this stuff and just fucking buy all this shit.
But eventually, like, first-time patient deals ran out and all this shit.
And I was getting it for, Third person price.
So eventually I connected with people, with like locals in San Diego because I never really grew up in San Diego, you know?
So I didn't really know like the streets in San Diego.
So eventually I started getting to know like a little bit of locals and street people and stuff.
And I eventually came up with some people, like growers and stuff like that, that actually I met them because they did this big ass events of weed where it's just like a group of vendors would just show up and sell the weed.
But there were events with like rappers, giveaways, and shit like that.
And they were four hour long events.
So, by the time the police got a report on it, it was over.
And they would do it in this empty warehouses or shit like that, you know?
And they have a little community in Instagram where it's like, okay, the next event, we're dropping off the Addy tomorrow at a certain time.
And they drop the Addy, and then you go out, you know, get a free gift in the entrance, and you show up, and there's like 40 vendors of different kinds of weeds and shit, all illegal.
And this isn't a place where weed is legal, like where you could, you know, but it's expensive to put a legal dispensary on, you know, it's like a million dollars or something like that, all these kinds of things.
So, like, I mean, cookies, that's how it came up, you know, the backpack boys, that's how they came up, you know, eventually you got to rise up, but it leaves this.
There's margin for like black markets too.
And I think that's kind of what's going to happen with, if like, let's say if they legalize cocaine, it's going to be, the government is going to have control of it.
You know, it's going to be probably not as pure, you know, probably not as good.
People say, nah, it's definitely going to be pure because it's going to be better because it's the government.
But what the government, I don't, you know, like, I don't trust the government.
The government's going to try to make the most money they can.
Exactly.
You know, so.
Or giving it, selling it through pharmaceutical companies.
So if they're cutting it, but you still got this dealer, you know, that you always called, like, why would you just change?
Why would you start going to the pharmacy when this guy's always been selling to you since it was legal?
You know, he gets the good shit.
He drops it off at your house, you know?
So, this kind of connection with the dealers, I think maybe it's still early.
Maybe if they legalize it and then in 50 years, maybe, you know, everything changed.
But it's going to take a while.
The problem with cocaine is the dealers in the U.S., right?
Because they're the ones that are cutting it with shit like accidentally cutting it with fentanyl or cutting other shit that people don't know what the fuck they're getting at low levels.
But then at the same time, when.
Because cartels aren't doing that, right?
No, no, they don't like doing that.
It's a bad rep. But then again, you've seen users where they're like, they find out somebody OD'd and now they want to get that shit.
You know what I mean?
It's also like kind of the users for it too, where instead of being scared of like, oh, he OD'd, like I'm not buying from his dealer, they go like, oh no, where did he get this shit from?
You know, they want the strong shit because in their mind they think like, oh, he died, but I can't handle it.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, that's crazy.
And that's people that think like that.
They're like, I want this shit.
That's gonna be that I want to be flirting with death when I'm taking exactly, and it'll even become as a joke when I see, like, there's this famous video of a rapper passing out from a dab where he just couldn't handle the dab, so he just starts coughing and just passes out.
And me and the homies were like, I want to have that, like, I want to get what he, you know, but it's that, um, like, uh, addict mentality, I think, you know, where you think, Oh, it's that's too good, but he couldn't handle it, I can handle it, you know, so it.
That's the thing, I think that's what fucks up also because instead of the users being like, hey, no, like taking care of each other type thing, no, they want this shit that's killing people.
You know what I mean?
And it sucks because if, let's say, you're a dealer that's cutting your shit with fentanyl and one of your clients died, but you keep getting more clients, you're not going to stop.
You know what I mean?
You're going to be like, oh, Mexican cartels don't know what the fuck they're doing.
Yeah, put fentanyl on this shit.
You know what I mean?
So, yeah, man, I mean, it's a, I know it sounds like a cliche, but it's also a very lack of education on drugs.
Because I remember when I, I've always liked to research everything, everything.
And when I was young, and we only had one computer in my house, and you have to be like off the phone to use the internet, I would research, like, I would be on my friends.
And when I started, like, some of my friends were doing Coke really young, and I didn't do Coke till I was like 19.
But some of my friends were doing it like really young.
And I was like, you know, like, I kind of was like a mama's boy.
Like, I was raised by my mom, like, well, but I became a bad boy.
So all these things, like, marijuana, I kind of thought it was cool.
And I researched it.
I was like, what is marijuana?
Like, When they taught me how to use Google in middle school, they taught me how to use Google and ask Jeeves back in the day.
Yeah, I remember.
Yeah, so I would type everything, bro.
I love research stuff.
So I would research, like, what do these drugs do?
What did this drug do?
And once I grew like meth and coke and all that, I was like, oh, like, what the fuck is that?
You know, like, I don't want that shit.
Eventually, you see people doing coke all the time where you just, ah, it's whatever.
I do a bump.
And it wasn't really my thing.
Like I was telling you earlier, uppers are not my thing.
I'm always like more of a weed, chill guy.
But it was just all over.
Like everybody's doing it.
Everybody's drinking and having fun.
And it's just, ah, whatever.
Let's do a couple bumps.
And eventually, you become a coke.
You know, you're doing this shit every weekend and you think it's just socially, but now every weekend that you drink, you want to do it.
Yeah.
You know, and other drugs that really, really, Cause a lot of trouble, and I want to speak on this.
It's actually, I was thinking about this before.
Are actually the legal drugs like, um, there's this drug I don't know, I don't know what do you call it in English?
It's a ribotril or clonazepine.
It's canal, uh, um, clonopin, no, no, clonazepine, clonazepine, or ribotril.
I think they give it to people that have seizures.
It's a really down epileptic people, yeah, like epileptic people.
I think it's like a downer.
It just people take it for anxiety.
People, it's like, um, what's all that?
What, what, what?
Can you name me some pills like Valium, Sanax?
Yes, Valium, Vigodin.
Something around that.
Not as strong as Sanax, but it's something like that.
And it's legal.
It's like a real thing.
Legal in the US?
Legal everywhere.
Okay.
But this is one of the Sicarians' favorite drugs because it just blacks you out and you don't remember anything.
So they do that when they go out and commit murders.
Yeah, literally before they go, they pop two with a Coke.
That's a little combo over there.
With a Coke.
Oh, yeah.
It's a saying that with Coke, it hits.
Faster, but it's just you feel the gas uh deteriorating the pill, so it feels like it's you're getting a much faster high, but it's just the same shit.
But uh, but yeah, this is it's kind of like Senex, bro.
You know how people pass out on that and they just don't remember and they black out and they're like, Oh, I woke up with like new clothes and shit like that.
Or well, these uh, these drugs, particularly these pills, they're very much used by sicarios and by like regular people.
And like regular people, I like, I've I know a lot that they're like, Oh, I just use it to sleep.
Well, yeah, but when you don't take it, you get all irritated and you're fucking yelling and you're hitting your kids and shit like that.
Like, that's like mess.
You know what I mean?
Like, what's the difference?
And people, like I said, I have friends that before they go commit a crime, they pop that and they're drinking the Coke and they smoke maybe a little J and they wait till that shit.
And then on the dry over there, they do what they got to do.
Next days go by and they don't remember that they did it.
So maybe they remember a little bit, but not that weight in conscience.
You know, as if you like fucking did it, you know?
Well, like, yeah, it's just, it's so.
The lines are so weird when it comes to what's legal and what's not because, like, Coke is illegal, but we have fucking Adderall and all these other things that are basically just one molecule away from being just pure meth.
And 90% of students in America are on Adderall every single day.
And I feel meth is worse than Coke.
If Adderall had Coke, I don't think it would be as strong as it is because Coke is not really that strong as meth.
That's something else too.
I really hate meth, bro.
That's something I like.
I have close people, like family members and stuff that can't get over the addiction of meth.
And it's one of those things where it just sucks because, like, I tell people, at least heron, at least it kills you.
You know what I mean?
At least you're fucking ODing one day and that's it.
But meth, it keeps you alive forever.
What is the difference between.
I've never done meth.
What is the difference between coke and meth?
Well, meth is.
Like, I know what the difference is.
Like, I know what the actual difference is between the two drugs, but like, what is the experience?
Well, the part about coke is that it comes from a plant.
So it's kind of natural.
You know, it's mixed with other stuff that get the, the, the, the, what do you call it?
The ingredients, the ones that you want to get out, they get them out.
But meth is straight synthetic.
Meth is straight fucking medicine.
Methods, straight pills.
Yeah, it's cooked up.
It's all, it's just, yeah, it's the worst.
What is like the high?
Like, what is the difference between the high, getting high off meth and.
I've never tried meth.
I've always been scared.
I'm from the generation where when I was young and the older guys, they were like, they would be like, hey, if I ever see you smoking meth, I'm going to beat you up.
Like, don't do this.
And then just seeing them, bro, like seeing them, they're, I don't want to look like that.
Like, no, I see stones.
I see stones breaking bad.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I remember I used to watch the first movies I kind of saw marijuana in it.
It was like Friday, you know, like smoking stuff.
So you see like potheads, and it seemed fun.
Like for me, I love listening to music and chill in my room.
So, with a joint, it seemed perfect.
You know what I mean?
It kind of seemed like the vibe.
But I've seen like the meth heads and all these other fools, like all dirty and like, you know, all scrubbing shit.
Scratching themselves.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's the heroin.
Heroin makes them scratch themselves.
Oh, okay.
But yeah, I mean, there's people that mix it.
There's people that like to do meth with heroin, and there's people that.
One of my friends, he said he injected once meth and heroin.
He said it felt so good.
He said it felt, it was the best.
Yeah, they like stretching themselves, like getting high on the upper and then taking the downer and like rising.
He said he ejaculated.
What?
Yes, he said he wasn't even hard.
Holy shit.
He said he was literally like just fucking like all fucking on heroin.
You know how they get all like all folded up?
And he said that he was feeling so good.
And then when he got back to his senses, he was, yeah, he was all stained up because he came.
And he said that was the last time he did it.
He scared him.
He did meth, but he never did both.
And he said that time that happened, he was like, nah, fuck that.
That's too good.
I mean, he got shot like a few years ago.
Rest in peace.
But he's one of the guys that at first he tried to bully me in jail.
Then we became really good friends.
After he tried bullying me and he saw that he couldn't, we became friends.
And when I got out, I tried looking for him, but they told me that he was bad in drugs.
And then they found him dead one time.
But yeah, like I was saying, at least other drugs kill you, man.
And meth just keeps you like a zombie forever.
Forever and ever.
There's one of my friend's dad.
The doctor told him, like, the doctor told him, bro, don't stop doing it.
If you stop, you'll die.
Meth Keeps You a Zombie00:05:45
Like, they literally, like, your body is so used to this that you wouldn't take a, what do you call it?
A withdrawal.
Your body wouldn't, yeah, it would kill you.
Like, just keep doing it.
Bro, that's fucking, I mean, yeah, I hate that drug, man.
That's one of the drugs I've never tried.
I've lost friends over it.
Like I said, even some family members.
That just get lost into them.
And I think that's the worst.
That's just that's one of the things.
Like, if I was ever in charge, like a president or something, I would be like against meth, like all the Adderall and all that shit.
I think it's when I was in a couple years ago, I was in Puerto Vallarta.
And when I went down to like the streets and I was like riding around, I noticed on every corner there's like these little pop up pharmacies with all the fucking drugs you could possibly imagine.
And they got a list, knockoffs.
Have you seen the list?
I was telling Luis because he wants to do a story about NTA.
I was like, look, you just exit the United States walking and just walk to downtown in Tijuana.
It's like a couple miles, but you're going along like places and stuff, so it's not that long of a walk.
But you see all these pharmacies with like a sign in their front door with Cialis, Adderall, Valium, all the good shit, you know?
All the good shit.
They just advertise it there.
Like, they're not fucking advertising the fucking.
I don't know, Pepto or nothing else.
You know, they got the shit that they know the Americans are coming for.
Who is making that shit?
Because it's not the real, it's not the actual like brand pharmacology stuff.
It's not really hard to make pills.
You've seen how they press pills before?
Like how they make the ecstasy pills and stuff like that?
It's not really that hard, man.
I mean.
But who is doing that, though?
Is that the cartels?
That's kind of hard to ask because I don't think.
Shit, I've never gone down that rabbit hole, to be honest.
I mean, because I'm guessing they have to get it from somewhere.
Maybe the supplier that's getting them.
I don't know how it works for pharmacies.
I don't know if the owner is in charge of putting together his suppliers.
I don't know if the chain of pharmacies already has a supplier.
I don't know if they know what's going on or only the supplier.
I don't know.
I don't really know.
But just thinking that it's not that easy to do, it's pretty easy for anybody to do it.
Any cartel member that buys a couple of pharmacies, he could do that shit with his pharmacies.
Just fucking make some fake Cialis or I don't know what the fuck.
What are the other ones?
Adderall and all that?
Yeah.
Yeah, man, it just seems like just from talking to you and talking to Luis and Ed Calderon and all these people, it's this war just seems like there's no end in sight to it.
And it's crazy.
I think it started back.
I think it started like it's just.
You know how when you try to put together a puzzle and you fucked up on one piece and now you could take everything out?
I think that's what happened, man.
Since the beginning, they put something off and then they just, on the thing, fucked up.
And then now all the fuck up has just been going on that they.
We need like a reset button or something, you know?
Yeah.
And I mean, it's, yeah, man, it's.
I can't remember who I saw that was talking about.
I think it was Lee's about legalizing and stuff like that.
You asked him something like that.
There's this story.
There's this newspaper in Tijuana called the Zeta.
It's like the most famous one because even before social media, that was like our social media, they had the news of the cartels.
Like that was literally like you read that shit for like cartel information, you know?
Eventually, it kind of got wired down because they started getting into politics.
So.
You know, now if certain people are related to politicians that they're involved with, they're not going to talk about it.
So, you know, it got watered down.
But at first, and they got this video on their website.
It's like, I think it's called a metaphor.
They talk about this medieval times where there's this town and they have this dragon.
And the dragon is a metaphor for like the narcos.
And this dragon is always causing trouble in the town and whatever.
And eventually, the town finds a way for the dragon to cause shit.
And it doesn't affect them because they found they tried to kill them too many times and they just came back worse, so eventually they just became friends with them.
And now, you know, and they try to make this as a story for like our country.
I think that's kind of what's gonna have to happen, man.
I mean, yeah, some sort of legalization with like amnesty and like because it's it, I know it's like you know, the Americans we don't negotiate with terrorists, I know it sounds bad, but I if that's the only way to stop it, what's stopping you from doing it?
You know what I mean?
You know, they're going to be, like I said, some amnesty or something where some of them can keep some of their stuff, maybe do some time or maybe, you know.
Like what they're doing, your metaphor for the dragon is like, it's also like the Hydra where you cut off the fucking head of the snake and it just grows another head.
So now you keep cutting off, you keep cutting off like Ovidio, like you arrest Ovidio, you get rid of the Los Chapitos.
Well, now you're just creating a power vacuum.
We're going to create more heads of the Hydra.
You're just creating more and more factions.
Creates more and more violence.
And all these people have generations waiting to join, bro.
Like, yeah.
There's kids right now.
I don't have, I don't think he's going to be able to find it.
There's this video of this Corrido that's really famous right now, and it's about the Los Chapitos and their main security guy.
Oh, Chicken Little?
Yeah.
Creating More Factions00:06:23
Luis was telling me all about this guy.
He just evaded some sort of raid.
Yeah, yeah.
He watches podcasts, bro.
He watches podcasts?
He watches podcasts.
English podcasts?
I don't think he speaks English, but he's aware of what goes on in the social media.
He's very well aware.
I was telling Luis this.
And, but yeah, there's this Corrido about him right now that is so popular.
There's videos popping up of like kids in school buses singing it in field trips.
Like, if you know how they row, row, row your boat.
Well, now it's like, you know, they're singing Corridos, man, everywhere, everywhere.
So, all these kids, like, I mean, most of them, don't get me wrong, most of them, they see it as music, as what it is.
But there's always this one or two kids that are like, yeah, I wanna be that.
That was me, bro.
I wanna be them.
Like, when I started singing, like, well, I'm from, in TJ.
I didn't grow up around any famous singers, no famous rappers, no famous nothing.
The only guys that had money, either you worked in the United States, a construction job, you had a nice truck, you know, and you were well paid check, or you were in the cartel and you had a bunch of, you were cool in the community, you know, the girls wanted you, you go to clubs, you don't have to wake up early, so you do whatever you want with your life, you know what I mean?
So, yeah, man, I kind of wanted to be that too.
Yeah.
And when you see these guys that have money too, they're driving sick cars, you know, and at first you don't see, well, even if you see the bad thing, you're like, yeah, I want to be a bad guy, you know, I want people to receive.
Respect me.
I want to, you know, and then, and that's, there's all kinds of kids growing up like this, you know, looking.
That's why when I started with my friend, he became famous and stuff, and he's just from a hood just like mine.
We started getting like this sort of like inspiration for young kids, like to let them know, like, look, we made it out of that shit without having to risk our lives or anything.
We can chase our dreams, you know, if you want to be a musician, you can do it.
Don't think because you don't see nobody around you doing it, you can't do it.
Nah, you can do it.
So, me and my friend have this kind of like, we started this shit in TJ, you know, and he sings corridos, but he has a lot of songs that are, That are not narco corridos.
It's just corridos talking about how he struggled to become where he's, you know, kind of like the narco story, but in the legal way.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
So we started this little wave, and now even corridos became more popular because now you don't have to be a narco to listen to the saga corridos.
You could relate, you know, to just some people that is in a struggle, like rap, you know, it's just so you could listen to a rap song and you relate to the rapper that he's singing about his struggle, how he had to sell drugs to get by.
Now he doesn't sell drugs, now he does good, you know?
So it's the same story.
We actually, that's actually.
I love rap, so I told him I was like, Look, rappers do this, we should do this with you because you got the swag and it's a junior generation.
We started the whole trend, so yeah, man.
I mean, um, now TJ has a lot of famous people.
Now we have famous boxers, uh, that became popular because there's always been like sports and stuff, but if you're not into it, you didn't know about it.
Now we have now they're famous because of social media and because we there's everybody just trying to like make a change too, you know?
Yeah, there's this famous painter that he paints um, faces of like our famous people from TJ or just any Mexican in like bridges and stuff in TJ, so.
Now you drive around and you see like all these people's faces, and they're not like narcos or anything, they're like UFC champions.
You know, Brandon Moreno, yeah, he's from TJ.
This is faces in a bridge, a big ass bridge, and uh, just like this, like different.
I think all this movement started, and now there's a lot of uh, of good inspiration, you know what I mean?
They're because the narco was always there, the culture, and it's nice, bro.
Like, I've told people, I love it, I still love it, but I want something else.
Like, I'm passionate about creating too.
Like, I'm passionate about music, I'm passionate about writing, like, that moves me too.
So now that I want to do stuff.
More family and like want to get out of my way.
Like, it's not, it's not taking me, what do you call it?
It's not that hard for me to give it up, you know, because this, I'm passionate for this as well.
But if once I found another path.
Yeah.
But once I talk about that shit and everything, I'm passionate about that too.
It's like, I, because I grew up in it and just the culture and everything, I know it's fucked up and I know it's all that I've suffered, bro.
From death, I cried from every death.
Like I still do.
From my uncle, he passed away last year just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
You know, he, he, uh, he was a real hardworking man, but on the weekends, he liked to smoke a little bit of meth.
And he wasn't like a meth.
He's just like right after work, he would go.
He lived in TJ.
He worked in the shipyards in San Diego.
Got up for work on Fridays, went to TJ, stopped by the Connect before pulling up to this house, you know, take a couple hits and then go home and do whatever he needed to do with his family.
But on one of these stops at the trap house, some guys came in and they thought he was from the Sinaloa cartel and they shot him.
This is a hardworking man that he just liked to get high on the weekends.
You know what I mean?
I mean, if it was legal, I'm pretty sure that he would have a safe place where he could get high, you know.
But, like I said, if it became legal, it's going to take years for the program to get together for the black market to shrink and everything.
Yeah.
So, yeah, man, deaths like that, like that's one of the worst deaths I've suffered recently.
He was like my brother.
He was only like eight years older than me.
And it's tragic because he never, you know, I mean, he did his time and everything, but right now he was just a working man, a family man, staying away from shit and everything.
And shit happened, man.
And I mean, I could ask my friends, you know, I could be like, hey, who did this, who did it, but I'm not trying to get it back into that.
If I'm going to ask, it's because I'm planning on doing something about it, you know?
And many of my friends were like, hey, just tell me who it was.
Tell me what we need to do.
We'll do it.
You know, we got you and all this stuff.
But on my mind, I was like, if I do this, that's just pulling me back in.
I mean, I know my uncle would probably like that for me, but I got to look out for my own path, you know, whatever I want for my future.
And I had already, I was moving out to San Diego and like getting away from stuff.
But when that happened, I, Like, I still had a little bit like the weed thing and stuff, or like the guns and stuff.
But once that happened, that was it.
That was it for me.
Because if I go out looking for the guys that did it, if I know I'm going to find them, it's a small place in Tija.
I know I'm going to find it and I know I could do whatever I want to do to them.
But, but, but yeah, man, it was just that was just the end.
That was just, I was like, yeah, that's this is it, man.
It's either now or never.
Podcasting as Creative Escape00:05:00
Are there a lot of guys like you who have podcasts in Mexico?
Are there a lot of like, Spanish podcasts, like you were mentioning that, like a chicken little listens to a lot of podcasts.
How many podcasts are there that are like deep into narco culture?
Deep into narco, not really many, but in Culiacan, there's a few podcasts that have been popping up.
Really?
Yeah.
And it's funny because they don't care about it, it's like they're recording for their own people, but they don't know that all these people from all over the world are looking at it.
So they're just telling stories about tablazos getting tabladed out.
They're just telling stories about people I used to work for, for whoever.
The podcast became popular with the COVID.
I mean, I've been listening to podcasts since satellite radio, like Patrice O'Neill and all that.
I've always loved to listen to all that shit.
And I always thought, man, they should do this in Mexico.
But nobody really cared about it.
Just listening to long ass conversations of people you don't know, it didn't seem attractive.
But once COVID hit, it's like a couple of podcasts.
One of them is one of the most famous ones.
It's called Creativo in English, Creative.
And he became, he kind of took the Joe Rogan vibe.
And he's very intellectual.
He's very smart.
Creativo?
Yeah, creative in Spanish.
Creativo.
And where's he based?
Uh, Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, in Monterrey, yeah, Monterrey.
Monterrey has a few podcasts pretty good right now, uh, for comedians.
He's not a comedian, but I think he's trying to be.
He's one of them.
And uh, Adrian Marcelo, he's one of my really good friends.
Shout out to him again.
You should check him out.
His pocket, he's a comedian, he's really funny.
It's all Spanish, but he's he's really funny, dude, man.
And um, but yeah, in Culiacan, a couple podcasts started coming up too.
And one is called, I think one is called, I want to say Los Alucines, which is basically the.
What do you call this?
Not the wannabes, but like the kind of, you know, just this person that talks like he that talks about like shit that's been through but exaggerates.
Oh, you know, kind of like that's what that's the name of the show.
And I think they have like lookouts, they interview like lookouts and stuff like that.
And they have really funny, like, you know, like pieces.
And that's the kind of shows that the guy we're talking about watch, you know.
And I'm pretty sure he watches a bunch of different because now the algorithm.
Yeah.
Now they put you all together.
What kind of people do you have on your podcast?
I started with singers, artists.
Okay.
Because since I know many of them and famous, and like there's a really big music scene in Tijuana.
So that's kind of like where I'm starting.
But I'm taking cartel members.
Some of my cartel members are willing to start.
Are you going to like put masks on them and change the rules?
I asked them.
One of them said no.
One of the ones I shouted out that he was in, that he did like 11 years.
I think he said he'd be down to do.
Just do it, and I and like I tell him, like, hey, bro, don't say anything that will get you in trouble.
Like, say that you already did your time for, you know, say stuff that you're cool because as long as I want that view or the views, I don't want to get you in trouble, you know what I mean?
I'm not no snitch, I'm not no fucking black TV, you know, they fucking blame me for shit.
So, I always tell him this, but yeah, I mean, El Gordo Villarreal, I have his interview now recording everything, but he recorded with a you're recording from prison, yeah, and contraband cell phone.
So, he's like, just wait till they move me to another prison and then you can follow this, you know what I mean.
So we're waiting for that.
Wow, bro.
And then there's this other guy that just got out.
I don't know if I should mention his name because it was national news.
Him and his brother just got out and they were the size of like Ramon Ariano.
They worked side to side with him.
Really?
And their case became really, really in the news because the United States let them stay here with work permits and everything.
They did like 20 some years or more.
But apparently, what the guy was telling me, I'm going to interview him.
He just like.
Getting comfortable, but he said yes.
But he told me that his attorney got the judge to approve them to stay here because they put this thing where, like, they said if they were sent back to Mexico, they could suffer torture and stuff like that.
And there's a right against that in America.
So the judge gave it to him.
And now they're living here with permits to work and live here.
And people were in Mexico bitching about, like, oh, these killers, they have charges, they haven't done time in Mexico, but they were extradited from Mexico.
But it's just this never ending of people wanting.
People to do time forever, right?
You know what I mean?
Like, because I have friends where I'm like, you know, people change, right?
You know, like, there's people that come out of jail and don't want to go back.
What's the point of keeping them there 30 years if, with 15, it was enough?
You know what I mean?
And I mean, I get it.
Like, there's the other side of the coin where there's people that did 20 plus years and they just come out and they're like, yeah, I'm cartel 100%.
Yeah, I know people like that.
And it's crazy to me because I'm like, damn, like, really?
Artists Singing for Cartels00:05:25
Like, I love that shit too, but I'm willing to, you know, but.
Everyone's different, man.
Yeah, man.
I think it's going to take some sort of like evolution of culture to change this and, you know, seeing people like yourself trying to like rise out of this shit.
You know what I mean?
Like rise out of this.
I think you see more people like me as the time is coming.
I think it's all this podcasting and all this creative stuff that just came in hand for people like us.
I mean, I've always liked music, drawing, and everything, but I never took the time to go to school, you know, and all that, which I would have if I would have learned how to do all this shit.
I'll probably be like, my podcast would be doing good.
Or maybe not even a podcast, maybe something else.
But I mean, with all these opportunities that you see and people like me setting up for younger kids, you know, like I was posting that I was coming here, you know.
I've been posting my little journey.
What's your podcast called?
You can pull it up.
El Bordo.
El Bordo.
Yeah.
On YouTube?
Yeah, on YouTube.
And yeah, I mean, I know people from all like reporters, really interested, like Luis, people from his level.
I know writers, I know cartel members, I know sports people, UFC people, artists, comedians.
Like I was telling you, I've just been, I don't know, man.
Like I'm not famous, but I meet famous people and they like me.
We become friends, yeah.
We just become like every time they come to TJ, they hit me up.
It's you, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's me, Bordo Entertainment.
There it is.
My uh, the logo is the highway and TJ next to the border, but it's a very well site.
So, like, it once I published the logo, everybody was like, oh man, that's cool, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's dope.
Yeah, I only have like four episodes because the guy that was recording me, it was his equipment and he moved.
So, right now, I had to like uh make some legal money, which is took me a double amount of time.
So, now I bought my mics.
I bought my camera.
I bought two cameras.
I bought my mix cast.
Yeah, I'm shooting now.
I actually shot my first, well, with my equipment, I shot my first podcast last week, which should be, actually, I haven't checked, but I should have posted it today that it was coming out tomorrow.
Okay.
So, yeah, and this one's going to get views because of the artist that I have.
It's a real, real, how do you say, like, in Spanish, it's polemico.
I don't know how you say it in English, like, very problematic.
Not problematic, but he has, he.
He's a character that people want to listen to him because I was telling you, he's really into like the he really sung to the Tijuana cartel only, kind of like it seemed like he was part of the cartel, like he was their children, you know.
So, like, people, many people, uh, he grabbed many people's attention because at first he started singing with his face mask with a face mask, he wouldn't sing, you know, because he was singing just so, uh, his lyrics were so, um, he wasn't playing around with his words, you know, sometimes you play around with words so you don't say directly.
He was saying controversial, he was saying, yeah, he was very controversial, that's the word.
He's very controversial.
And we actually helped him, me and my friend from Coliseado.
Well, mostly him.
He got him to do a duet with him, like a feature.
And my friend is already in the commercial level.
So he was a real good underground artist with like millions of views.
The guy I'm talking about, that guy interview.
Yeah.
So once my friend opened the door for him, everybody was like, hey, I've heard your music, but I didn't know how to approach you because you give this vibe that you're cartooning.
You know, like you're more of a cartel than a singer, so not many people wanted to, like, you know, work with them.
People in the industry, the music industry, but now that he came with us and like we opened all these doors, everybody was like, Yeah, like I've heard you, and he was all psyched up about it.
He's like, Yeah, man, like I've been trying to go commercial, but people think I'm cartel because I only stick to them.
But they're the only guys asking me for corridos, like, I don't see seeing a lot of people asking, but now they are asking him.
But at first, there was no other people asking him to make songs about him, and he can't make a song about somebody without their authorization, you know what I mean?
So, um.
So, yeah, so I interviewed him, and since he has cartel friends and I have cartel friends, he's never been able to talk about that in other podcasts.
So, with me, we mention names, we talk about.
And that's dropping tomorrow?
Yeah, that should be dropping tomorrow.
Hopefully, if my editors got up to the.
Sorry, you got time.
This won't come out until next Monday.
So we got time.
You got it.
Okay.
It'll be out by the time this goes up.
It'll be in Spanish, but I'm pretty sure some of you.
I'll put links to your podcast.
Oh, thanks, man.
I don't know how to find it.
I know.
It's 2 a.m.
I'm fucking.
I haven't been up this late in a long time.
Really?
Really?
Probably because of the flight tonight.
Like I said, I slept the whole flight.
So I know.
And I'm bitching, but you traveled all day.
Yeah.
San Diego.
But yeah, man.
I mean, We missed out on a lot of stories like the famous rapper stories out there in Mexico, you know, being escorted by the cartel.
That was a great story.
We can't tell that guy's name, though.
Nah, man.
But you saw both of them, and they're both famous and they're both relevant the artist and the guy that was protecting them.
But yeah, man, I mean, some of these rappers and artists they have to.
So that rapper was doing a show in Tijuana and.
No, not in Tijuana.
Not in Tijuana.
Some other place in Mexico.
Oh, some other place in Mexico.
And when they got there, They realized that, oh shit, these people that are escorting us are cartel.
Yeah.
Exciting Stories from Mexico00:01:12
And, and boy, yeah, yeah.
As soon as they got there, like as soon as the, yeah, man, I wish I could give you a little bit of detail, but, uh, but, uh, yeah, it was.
Hopefully we can do, maybe we can do this on another episode.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We can just tell who the rapper is.
And I'll give you the, yeah.
This will be a great cliffhanger.
Yeah, it is, man.
And, uh, yeah.
Cool, man.
We'll save it for next time.
I appreciate you, uh, coming on here and sharing your perspective.
I think it's, uh, gonna be extremely eye opening for a lot of people.
Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, I don't do this for people who want to get into the life.
Hopefully, try to keep it from them.
You know, there's other stuff better to do with your life.
I mean, this sounds exciting.
This sounds like a movie type thing and everything.
But I mean, right now, I was just saying you the cool parts.
I mean, I'm not telling you all the times I've cried for my friends.
I'm not telling you all the people I have doing life in prison.
My friends that call me and they get motivated by me because what I'm doing now.
And they're like, yeah, man, when I get out, like, I'm going to do some positive shit too.
You know what I mean?
And that's the message I hope I spread with these stories.