1 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:13,080 ♪ ♪ 2 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:44,840 (gunshots) 3 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:56,760 (gunshots) 4 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:26,600 (rapid gunfire) 5 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:47,640 ♪ ♪ 6 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,520 MAN (over TV): Shake this square world and blast off for Kicksville. 7 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,920 NIXON (over TV): Public enemy number one is drug abuse. 8 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,080 NANCY (over TV): Just say, "No." 9 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:01,240 REAGAN (over TV): Solving the drug problem in America 10 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,000 is like carrying water in a sieve. 11 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:07,160 BUSH (over TV): Take my word for it, 12 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:09,520 this scourge will stop. 13 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:11,960 WOMAN: There's now an understanding that the war on 14 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,600 drugs was an abject failure. 15 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,080 MAN: You have to stop and ask yourself, 16 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,000 'How did we get here?' 17 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,960 TRUMP (over TV): We will build a wall. 18 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:36,680 ♪ ♪ 19 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,960 MAN (over TV): Mexico's drug cartels have turned roads into 20 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:51,920 the US into super‐highways for their narcotics. 21 00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:54,200 MAN (over TV): It occurred last month in downtown 22 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:55,840 Matamoros, Mexico. 23 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:59,040 An FBI and a DEA Agent were riding with an informant when 24 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:01,080 they noticed they were being followed. 25 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:03,040 After a pickup truck blocked their path, 26 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,720 15 armed men emerged and ordered the agents and 27 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:07,760 informant out of the car. 28 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:09,800 As one of the gunmen leveled an AK‐47, 29 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,280 the Agents flashed their badges and pleaded for their lives. 30 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:14,680 DANIEL: My name is Daniel Fuentes, 31 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,120 and I was that FBI Agent. 32 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,600 ♪ ♪ 33 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:32,480 In 1999, this individual assisting us there in Matamoros, 34 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,200 he was showing us some residences that were 35 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,920 associated with members of the Gulf Cartel, 36 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:41,160 including the house of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén. 37 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,360 Osiel Cárdenas Guillén started off his career, 38 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,960 believe it or not, helping out a local law enforcement 39 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:49,920 agency in Matamoros. 40 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:56,520 He rose to sole leader of the Gulf Cartel right around July 3rd of 1999, 41 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,760 when it is said that he murdered his partner, 42 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:01,600 Chava Gómez. 43 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,360 As we're driving through these neighborhoods, 44 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:16,040 my partner thinks that we may be followed by a dark colored pickup. 45 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:23,680 We're seeing multiple cars joining. 46 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,280 One particular vehicle, there's an AK‐47 weapon 47 00:04:27,280 --> 00:04:30,920 sitting on the bench of his truck right next to him. 48 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:33,880 We're realizing that, that things are about to start going bad. 49 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:40,440 I start collecting all of my ammunition, 50 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:43,720 and the informant told us, you know, "Here comes Osiel." 51 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,080 He recognized his vehicle. 52 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:49,240 We're boxed in, we're completely surrounded, 53 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,400 and that's when we were forced off the road. 54 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:55,320 They start exiting their vehicles. 55 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:57,800 They're completely in uniform, in tactical gear, 56 00:04:57,800 --> 00:04:59,960 like soldiers. 57 00:04:59,960 --> 00:05:02,960 They're all heavily armed with high‐caliber weapons. 58 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,320 Osiel comes over to my window. 59 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,560 And he proceeds to point his gold‐plated AK‐47, 60 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:13,400 cussing up a storm, demanding who it is that we are. 61 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,440 So, I show him my Diplomatic Passport saying we're 62 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:19,440 diplomats from the US Consulate in Monterrey. 63 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:21,320 You know, 'Who are you?' 64 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,600 And I could see Osiel kinda grinning. 65 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:27,240 He said, "I don't give a (bleep) who you are. 66 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:28,760 You're gonna die. I'm gonna kill you." 67 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:38,600 He sticks his head into the car, 68 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:40,280 and he looks to the backseat, and he says, 69 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:43,440 "Ah, so it's you. You're with the FBI, huh?" 70 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:44,960 The guns go up, total chaos. 71 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:46,840 He wants this guy really badly. 72 00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:48,840 He says, "You give him to me, and I'll let you go." 73 00:05:48,840 --> 00:05:50,840 And we said, "No, no‐one's getting out of the car." 74 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,240 We were literally in a Mexican standoff. 75 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:02,160 If I fire a shot, we're all dead, 76 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:04,160 because everyone's gonna start shooting, 77 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:09,440 and so Osiel continues to point his AK‐47 in my head. 78 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:13,000 I start getting what's referred to as "tunnel vision." 79 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,400 I can't see beyond this hole that's in front of me. 80 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:18,160 Everything else is black. 81 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:25,240 Although you resign yourself to the fact that you're going to die, 82 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:27,280 your training kicks in. 83 00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:28,840 My partner tells him, 84 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:30,520 "You better think about what you're doing here, 85 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:31,800 because if you kill us, 86 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:34,760 you're gonna have 30,000 enemies from the US that 87 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:36,600 are coming out here looking for you. 88 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,920 They're gonna hunt you down like a dog." 89 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,960 And it seems like something clicked in his mind, 90 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:44,080 and he realized, 91 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:45,360 "They're gonna find me, 92 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:47,800 and it's going to affect my operation here." 93 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,600 So, Osiel says, "I'm gonna let you go. 94 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,360 And you in the backseat, I'm gonna deal with you later, 95 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:55,560 and I don't want you guys to ever come back here, 96 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:57,600 cause if you do come back, I'm gonna kill you." 97 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:06,200 We later learned that amongst those individuals were some 98 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,840 former Special Forces Mexican soldiers. 99 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,400 ♪ ♪ 100 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:29,720 IOAN: The Zetas were created by the Gulf Cartel 101 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:32,440 in a corner of northeast Mexico on the border with Texas. 102 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:39,320 The Gulf Cartel controlled key towns from the Gulf of Mexico 103 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,720 right up to the city of Nuevo Laredo, 104 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:44,480 and the hub of their operations is the border 105 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:48,480 crossing between Nuevo Laredo and Mexico, and Laredo, Texas. 106 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,200 ♪ ♪ 107 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:01,200 ARTURO: My name is Art, Arturo Fontes. 108 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,440 I was an FBI Agent for approximately 28 years. 109 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:08,400 People laugh at me because I left sunny San Diego, 110 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:10,760 with beaches and everything, and nice big house, 111 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:13,400 to be in a small town in Laredo. 112 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:14,960 They call it the "armpit of Texas." 113 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:16,200 (laughing) 114 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,800 ♪ ♪ 115 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:34,040 It takes you all the way to Dallas, 116 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,280 and it even goes all the way to the north in the US. 117 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:42,920 IOAN: Now, this is an area where there was the biggest 118 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:45,760 number of trucks crossing the whole border. 119 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:47,880 It was a very important route. 120 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,480 The Gulf Cartel was shifting marijuana, cocaine, 121 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:57,360 and heroin through Texas to across the United States. 122 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:00,320 The Gulf Cartel was on to a good thing, 123 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,640 but it was about to get a whole lot better with the 124 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:05,400 North American Free Trade Agreement. 125 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,920 CLINTON (over TV): After we tear down trade barriers between our three nations, 126 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,760 it will create the world's largest trade zone. 127 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,720 Today we have the chance to do what our parents did before us. 128 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:20,240 We have the opportunity to remake the world. 129 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:28,080 (applause) 130 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:34,120 ♪ ♪ 131 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:41,560 ARTURO: Nuevo Laredo is more important than 132 00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:43,600 almost any other area in Mexico, 133 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:45,120 and that's why it's a battle ground. 134 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,200 It's the crown jewel for drug trafficking. 135 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:48,200 Everybody wants that. 136 00:09:55,560 --> 00:09:58,560 ♪ ♪ 137 00:10:40,560 --> 00:10:44,720 MIKE: Osiel was a genius at being able to read people and 138 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:46,440 manipulate them. 139 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:49,680 He was brilliant at influencing people to do 140 00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:51,960 things that they shouldn't be doing. 141 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:13,400 IOAN: In the Special Forces, they had radio code with the 142 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,160 "Z" letter, so they would have, like... 143 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:17,920 (speaking native language) 144 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,320 Would be, like, you know, "Zed Two, I'm on alert." 145 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:22,880 They quickly became called the "Zetas," 146 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,600 or the "Zeds" after that radio code. 147 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:33,120 MIKE: Osiel saw in them a discipline that your regular 148 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:38,760 trafficker did not have, and that was a militarized discipline. 149 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:42,640 A respect for chain of command, loyalty, 150 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,600 the willing to attack the hill when told, 151 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:48,280 regardless of the outcome. 152 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:57,760 (sirens) 153 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,240 We saw that the Zetas were becoming a threat. 154 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,680 There was definitely a foreboding of things to come 155 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:11,320 as the Zetas began to grow and become stronger, 156 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:14,160 and they were learning the drug trade from the Gulf Cartel. 157 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:20,240 ♪ ♪ 158 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:27,480 DANIEL: Osiel is definitely in the crosshairs 159 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:29,600 of, of the FBI and DEA. 160 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:31,240 He is public enemy number one. 161 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:36,240 (speaking native language) 162 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,000 (speaking native language) 163 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:53,240 DANIEL: The arrest was like a scene out of Afghanistan, Iraq. 164 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,280 (speaking native language) 165 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:00,280 (gunshots) 166 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:02,080 DANIEL: The Mexican military, I believe, 167 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:03,920 may have lost one or two soldiers during the course of 168 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:05,320 that gun battle. 169 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:06,720 (speaking native language) 170 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,320 (gunshots) 171 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:11,760 DANIEL: Osiel survived. 172 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,760 He was apprehended, but it was quite the shootout. 173 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:28,240 ♪ ♪ 174 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:41,560 ♪ ♪ 175 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:53,160 MIKE: After Osiel was out of the picture, 176 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:56,760 what we didn't anticipate was how strong the Zetas 177 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:58,000 were going to become. 178 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:00,040 (speaking native language) 179 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:02,280 MIKE: They were outta control. 180 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:03,880 (speaking native language) 181 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:05,480 (gunshots) 182 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,640 MIKE: They turned Mexico into one giant war zone. 183 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:10,600 (speaking native language) 184 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,640 ♪ ♪ 185 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:24,800 MAN (over TV): Good evening! 186 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:27,200 Suddenly guns are back in the middle of the Presidential campaign, 187 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:29,280 triggered by what happened today, 188 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:33,360 a ten‐year ban on 19 kinds of military assault weapons ran out. 189 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:35,560 MAN (over TV): Gun manufacturers are already 190 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:39,680 preparing for what some predict will be a gun buying frenzy. 191 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:48,080 ♪ ♪ 192 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:57,280 ♪ ♪ 193 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:02,160 IOAN: You have the Sinaloa Cartel going in to try 194 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:06,360 and take the city of Nuevo Laredo from the Zetas. 195 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:07,800 But they did not understand the Zetas. 196 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:09,560 They underestimated the Zetas. 197 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,320 ARTURO: Nuevo Laredo was on fire. 198 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:18,880 There were shootouts in the streets, 199 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:20,960 grenades being launched in the house. 200 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:23,440 It was just extremely violent. 201 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:25,440 They had commando hit squads operating. 202 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:26,960 It was brutal. 203 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:28,960 (gunshots) 204 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,160 The Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, they have the help of fire 205 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,320 power to actually counter any threat, and they did. 206 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:35,880 They kicked ass. 207 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:39,160 IOAN: This was the beginning of the Mexican drug war 208 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:40,240 as we know it. 209 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:44,600 (gunshots) 210 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,120 When you talk to people who live this, 211 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:57,600 who fight in this conflict, and who do see themselves as 212 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:00,080 being soldiers and, you know, like, 213 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:01,920 they might not live till they're 25. 214 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:04,880 (speaking native language) 215 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:20,680 ♪ ♪ 216 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,240 ♪ ♪ 217 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,160 IOAN: Now, the Zetas became so powerful the Gulf Cartel 218 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:32,720 could not contain them. 219 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:36,440 So, you had the Zetas breaking away from the Gulf Cartel. 220 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:47,720 ♪ ♪ 221 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:52,520 So, suddenly it wasn't only northeast Mexico. 222 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,560 They started spreading all the way down the Gulf of Mexico. 223 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:03,000 And then across, penetrating into these States on the west coast, as well. 224 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:11,000 They were going to new towns and villages and start 225 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,640 recruiting or saying, you know, to local criminals, 226 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:15,960 "You either work for us or we're gonna kill you." 227 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:22,960 The Zetas were really starting to pioneer these tactics, 228 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,120 controlling a territory through fear. 229 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:29,400 The Zetas started hanging bodies up. 230 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:30,800 It wasn't enough just to kill somebody. 231 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,120 You wanna hang their body up. 232 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:36,240 So suddenly you start to see bodies hanging from bridges, 233 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,720 so people, kids, families who are there, 234 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,720 see hung up bodies when they wake up in the morning, 235 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:44,840 when they're going to school, and they put messages, 236 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:46,400 big banners saying, 237 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:49,000 "If you inform on us, this is gonna happen to you." 238 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:51,280 And this propaganda of fear, 239 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,240 propaganda of terror, started to spread around Mexico. 240 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:02,680 So, as violence increased in Mexico, 241 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:05,560 the United States didn't know how to react, 242 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:08,680 and didn't even know what to call this thing that was happening. 243 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,680 JOEL: The Zetas changed the entire game in the drug world. 244 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:23,840 My name's Joel Saldaña. 245 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,000 I'm a retired DEA Agent. 246 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:30,640 I was assigned to Monterrey, Mexico, from 2003 to 2009. 247 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:37,160 In October of 2008, Zeta members threw a hand grenade 248 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:40,240 and an M67 grenade at the US Consulate. 249 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:45,200 They had gotten approval from El Treviño. 250 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:56,600 And I'm, like, 'I think we should retaliate. 251 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:58,720 We need to hit 'em back and show 'em that we're not weak.' 252 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,640 (sirens) 253 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:14,600 (sirens) 254 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,600 JOEL: We decide to go with an operation. 255 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:23,960 We have this warehouse we wanna hit, 256 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:28,680 so that night we found 18 tons of marijuana, 257 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,040 we found a room full of ammo, five gallon buckets of 258 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,960 .40 caliber, 9mm, .223. 259 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:43,200 We also found 26 grenades, and of those grenades, 260 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,200 two or three of 'em had the same lot number of the one 261 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,520 that had been thrown at the US Consulate. 262 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:53,720 We arrested one guy at the place, and he told us, 263 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:55,800 he said, "Hey, they just left, like, ten, 15 minutes ago. 264 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:58,320 If you're still here, they're gonna show up in ten, 265 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:00,760 15, 20 vehicles, .50 calibers used. 266 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:03,760 They're gonna kill all you guys. It's gonna get messy." 267 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:05,920 We're, like, "We need to call the military." 268 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,240 So, it's three in the morning, so I called the General up. 269 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:12,200 (phone ringing) 270 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:13,520 His aide answers. 271 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:16,560 I tell the aide, I said, "I need to speak to the General." 272 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:18,200 He says, "Well, the General's asleep." 273 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:19,680 I said, 274 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:21,400 "Look, I'm a DEA Agent and we're in a world of (bleep). 275 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:23,760 If you don't wanna spend the rest of your career washing cars, 276 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:25,080 you better wake him up now." 277 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:27,480 (phone ringing) 278 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:29,000 General answers the phone. 279 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:30,960 I said, "Look, General, this is what we got." 280 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:32,600 He says, "What do you need from me?" 281 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:34,400 I said, "I need manpower." 282 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:36,320 (phone ringing) 283 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:38,360 Within ten minutes, Lieutenant Colonel calls me to say, 284 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:41,120 "We're mobilizing 100 troops." 285 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:44,760 So, they showed up. 286 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:46,840 As soon as they arrive, they get into a big 287 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:48,480 shootout with the Zetas. 288 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:51,080 (gunshots) 289 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,160 (speaking native language) 290 00:23:57,800 --> 00:23:59,360 JOEL: They start taking heavy fire. 291 00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:01,240 (speaking native language) 292 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:04,040 JOEL: Two soldiers were wounded and one of our FEDA guys, 293 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:05,960 a Mexican Federal Agent, was also shot. 294 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:07,840 (speaking native language) 295 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:09,920 (gunshots) 296 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:11,640 JOEL: They end up getting away. 297 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:12,960 (speaking native language) 298 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:14,800 JOEL: It was a long night. It was a long night. 299 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,600 The Zeta started putting surveillance at the military camp 300 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,280 and what they would do, they'd pick up soldiers, 301 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:34,440 kidnap 'em, torture 'em and then kill 'em. 302 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:39,880 So, within eight days they killed nine soldiers because 303 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,360 of, of this little operation. 304 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:47,480 They were between 18 and 20. 305 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:54,600 I think the outcome has always weighed heavy on me, 306 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,400 knowing uh, what happened to those soldiers. 307 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:00,800 The retaliation for this operation. 308 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:06,920 I guess hindsight, if I would've know this would've happened, 309 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,160 I prob, probably would've never have gone through with it, 310 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:12,360 since I kinda feel spearheaded it. 311 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:26,360 HILLARY (over TV): Drug cartels are now taking on the attributes of a 312 00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:30,120 lot of the insurgent and terrorist groups that we see 313 00:25:30,120 --> 00:25:32,640 elsewhere around the world. 314 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:36,560 You see them being much more organized in a kind of 315 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:38,400 paramilitary way. 316 00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:42,520 In fact, one of the most violent of the drug gangs are former 317 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:47,080 Special Forces members from the Mexican Army who went over 318 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:48,880 to the dark side. 319 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:53,480 So, this is a, this is a struggle that has a huge consequence 320 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:54,880 for the United States. 321 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,320 ERNEST: We had reports that they were killing 150, 322 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,320 200 people in one month. 323 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:08,920 That they would dismember people, 324 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:10,880 that they would behead people. 325 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:15,160 The goal that we had, I believe, 326 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:16,720 was an admirable goal. 327 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,520 The goal was to try to get these guys captured and 328 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:21,840 arrested so that the killings would stop. 329 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:33,760 ♪ ♪ 330 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:44,800 There were some individuals that we interviewed who were 331 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:48,360 the original founding members of the Zeta Cartel, 332 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:52,480 and even they were amazed at the amount of brutality that 333 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,000 Miguel Treviño had brought to the organization. 334 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,600 There were some that were willing to cooperate because of that, 335 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:02,680 who wanted out of the organization. 336 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:05,960 They indicated, "We got into this business to make money. 337 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:10,520 We didn't get in this business to kill hundreds of people at a time." 338 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,720 I mean, I, I personally felt the impact that these 339 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:18,000 individuals were having on the innocent people of Mexico. 340 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,800 As a human being, as a prosecutor, 341 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:22,320 you wanna see justice done. 342 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:24,800 ♪ ♪ 343 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:41,920 ♪ ♪ 344 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:53,480 ♪ ♪ 345 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,200 ERNEST: Treviño never slept in the same place. 346 00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,800 They had hidden tunnels that they would hide from. 347 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,280 They were very shrewd, and they had the structure 348 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:06,280 where they had evaded capture for a very, very long time. 349 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:19,840 ♪ ♪ 350 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:52,760 ♪ ♪ 351 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:04,360 ERNEST: Obviously, we could use the information on the 352 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:09,280 cell phones to track those individuals and find their locations. 353 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:22,920 ♪ ♪ 354 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:29,480 That information is leaked. 355 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,080 The Zetas are tipped off that someone in their organization 356 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,640 has provided us that information, 357 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:38,280 and that unleashes the furor of Treviño. 358 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:48,440 ♪ ♪ 359 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:19,800 ♪ ♪ 360 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:31,400 ♪ ♪ 361 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:20,680 ♪ ♪ 362 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:36,240 ♪ ♪ 363 00:34:33,240 --> 00:34:38,240 ♪ ♪ 364 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:48,800 ERNEST: Now we know that it was because of the leak of information. 365 00:34:50,080 --> 00:34:54,200 We know that it was Miguel Treviño trying to get some 366 00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:58,360 retribution for the lack of allegiance from some of their members. 367 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:04,080 I don't think I've ever seen anything like that, 368 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:07,280 and I've been investigating or, or prosecuting these types of cases 369 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:10,520 for 25 years, and this is the worst 370 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:12,440 of the worst that I've ever seen. 371 00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:18,480 ♪ ♪ 372 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:44,400 ♪ ♪ 373 00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:50,840 (gunshots) 374 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:57,360 (speaking native language) 375 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:07,360 MIKE: I cannot compare Zetas' violence to anything that had 376 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:10,520 ever been witnessed in Mexico from any cartel. 377 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:15,000 Just beyond the imagination of what a human could 378 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:16,600 do to another human. 379 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:19,640 The Zetas brought violence to a whole new level. 380 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:27,720 JOEL: And it's fun for them just killing people. 381 00:37:27,720 --> 00:37:29,400 They have to be deranged. 382 00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:31,800 I, I, I can't see how some of these guys could sleep at night 383 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:34,400 knowing the crimes, the atrocities they've committed. 384 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:36,640 I mean, how can you sleep? 385 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:02,200 IOAN: There's a quote from a Zeta, 386 00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:05,280 "We use drugs to finance the war." 387 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:07,800 The drugs almost become, like, 388 00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:10,080 "OK, we'll keep on turning that so we can keep on financing, 389 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:13,160 and buying more guns, and killing more people, 390 00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:15,680 and taking more territory, and then sell some more drugs." 391 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:19,520 It becomes this circle and what really is the objective? 392 00:38:23,720 --> 00:38:28,080 These attacks really brought the wrath of the United States. 393 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:30,280 They said, "We have to stop the Zetas. 394 00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:33,560 We have to get the Zetas. This is too bad." 395 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:42,000 ERNEST: It was a part of the pattern that 396 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,960 Miguel Treviño had somehow developed that they were going 397 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:50,080 to stay in power, but his thirst for power is going to 398 00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:51,960 cause him to be less careful. 399 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:54,600 It's gonna cause him to come out into the open. 400 00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,400 ♪ ♪ 401 00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:17,520 ♪ ♪ 402 00:39:23,640 --> 00:39:26,640 ♪ ♪ 403 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:36,960 ♪ ♪ 404 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:47,760 ERNEST: I wanted to keep going, 405 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:51,440 I wanted to, to, to try to achieve the goal that we had set out. 406 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:57,400 (radio chatter) 407 00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:00,440 ERNEST: We continued to work the case, 408 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:03,720 we continued to cultivate information from co‐operators and informants. 409 00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:07,760 (radio chatter) 410 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:11,520 ERNEST: Information has strong value in any kind of investigation, 411 00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:12,800 and especially in this one. 412 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:23,920 (radio chatter) 413 00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:29,520 (radio chatter) 414 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:06,960 ♪ ♪ 415 00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:43,840 MAN (over TV): This is yet another advance by the people of 416 00:41:43,840 --> 00:41:45,840 Mexico in dismantling organized crime, 417 00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:48,800 so we really commend our Mexican partners in this regard. 418 00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:21,160 ♪ ♪ 419 00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:52,480 ♪ ♪ 420 00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:02,520 (sobbing) 421 00:43:03,640 --> 00:43:04,800 ARTURO: It takes a toll on you. 422 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:05,880 It's toxic. 423 00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:07,480 You know, it's not healthy. 424 00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:12,200 Seeing and, and, and hearing and, and talking to the families 425 00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:14,840 and feeling the, feeling the heat and the, and the sorrow and the, 426 00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:18,600 and the, and the hurt, and, it, it really takes a toll on you. 427 00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:24,480 JOEL: It, it's a really tough assignment, it really is. 428 00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:26,920 If someone tells you it isn't, they're, they're lying. 429 00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:32,520 MIKE: DEA, in my personal opinion, 430 00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:37,400 is that we're like gardeners, and we have no choice but to 431 00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:39,840 keep cutting the grass, because if we don't keep 432 00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:42,840 cutting the grass, we're gonna have a jungle of weeds, 433 00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:44,520 and then we won't be able to control it. 434 00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:52,240 ERNEST: Now it's other cartels here, you know, the Sinaloa, 435 00:43:52,240 --> 00:43:55,560 you have Juárez Cartel, you have the Knights Templar. 436 00:43:56,880 --> 00:43:59,240 It's still a country under siege by these cartels because 437 00:43:59,240 --> 00:44:01,920 there's money to be made and there's power to be had. 438 00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:07,760 Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.