[0:02]Culiacan, Mexico, the stronghold of one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the world, the Sinaloa cartel. Its forte, international drug trafficking. He was a poor man from Tierra Blanca, who had nothing to eat. One day, he was offered drugs. He began to sell it. And he became very rich in no time at all.
[0:35]El Guero and his colleague have been working for the cartel for several years. They are sicarios, hitmen. When was your last victim? When was it? Good question. It's been a few days. It was a 'one for three'.
[0:56]His boss had asked him to kill one person, but when it came to it, he had to kill three. No questions asked. We are asked to do it, so we do it. Whether there are 1, 2 or 3. Whether they want them alive or dead. We just obey. The two men always have their weapons on hand. At any moment, they could be called for a job.
[1:36]For good luck, they often stop by and pray to Santa Muerte, the Goddess of Death, in this little chapel by the side of the road.
[1:48]Give me faith.
[1:52]The two sicarios prepare an offering for her. There is a name on this bullet. Because it is meant for someone in particular.
[2:03]This one is for someone else and this one is for someone else. On this one it's marked 'etc, etc.' because it's for anyone.
[2:24]We ask her to protect us. To take care of us, to go home safe and sound. At least if she wants to. She can also take us with her. Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow... whenever she wants. Our soul belongs to her. She is the queen of queens, the patroness of patronesses.
[2:48]El Guero and his accomplice must leave. They have a meeting with their boss.
[2:55]Sometime in the night, one of our contacts informs us that a murder has just been reported to the authorities.
[3:07]Upon our arrival, the forensic medics are already on location.
[3:17]Start time? We arrived at 8:11 pm, we will put in 8:15 pm.
[3:25]For the purposes of the investigation, the crime scene is analyzed and photographed from all angles. The forensic specialist has few doubts that this is a new victim of the cartels. He's around 25-30 years old. He has marks all over his body. It's common to find bodies like this? Yes, every day. Why? It's due to the violence in the state. Many of these murders are the consequence... of the score settling of organized crime. In Mexico, many corpses show signs of torture. It's a way to scare people.
[4:09]They want to dissuade other groups from coming to their territory. Every day we find young people in this state with marks of torture. In Mexico, this drug war between rival cartels kills almost 25,000 people every year.
[4:30]Beautiful beaches popular amongst tourists, almost uninhabited mountains, peaceful countryside as far as the eye can see. Sinaloa hides its dark side well. 9,000 kilometers from Paris, on the Pacific coast of Mexico, its capital, Culiacan, is considered a hub of global drug trafficking, primarily to the United States.
[5:00]Opium, cocaine, cannabis and fentanyl. The Sinaloa Cartel can pocket anywhere from 3 to 12 billion dollars each year. I have to give them 40 or 50,000 dollars. In an effort to launder the money, the traffickers invest heavily into the local economy, buying villas and even shopping malls. More than 200,000 people are said to work directly or indirectly for the narcos, even pharmacists, who import the products needed to manufacture synthetic drugs. It is the best quality. Every week they manage to produce up to 100,000 tablets. Sometimes more. In poor neighborhoods, the business of drug traffickers attracts much attention. Many young women strive to seduce a rich criminal. Have you spotted any boys you like? Yes, many! However, in 15 years, this drug war has already led to the death of more than 230,000 people in Mexico. There are approximately 5 violent deaths per day. Since 2006, the Mexican state, with the help of the United States, has been trying to eradicate the cartels, but without success, despite a couple of famed arrests, like the capture of the renowned El Chapo in 2016. A legendary boss of the Sinaloa Cartel and ranking as the 701st richest person in the world, according to Forbes. The current leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel are still extremely powerful. They have an army of 100,000 men, the famous sicarios. Even the government doesn't have these weapons! But within the cartel, rivalries are common. I'm listening to you! Three clans are fighting for control over the territory. Torture, burn, dismember. I've done it all.
[7:03]Several groups in the cartel have exceptionally opened their doors to us. We gained access to secret drug laboratories and an important cartel boss agreed to meet with us. We turn risk into dollars.
[7:22]Exclusive access into this violent world where money is power, corruption is rampant, and murder is daily.
[7:44]Our investigation into the Sinaloa Cartel begins here, a 5-hour drive from Culiacan.
[7:54]Cannabis trafficking began in these mountains in the 60s, and then the following opium boom in the early 2000s.
[8:11]A man who worked several years for the El Chapo clan agreed to meet us. He is still a drug trafficker.
[8:21]El Chapo helped him get into business. We were neighbors, I was with him all the time. One day he asked me if I wanted to plant. He gave me, as they say, enough to cover my expenses. Then I started working for him.
[8:45]He was a really nice guy. When you asked him for a favor, when you had problems... Whether you were a family member or not. He always gave you his support. Here, he is considered a bit like a president. He was a very good person.
[9:16]Manuel owns a poppy field, a plant with which heroin is made.
[9:29]Hi, my friend. How are you doing? I'm fine. We should water there. Yes, that would be good.
[9:38]With his men every morning, he harvests opium gum, a brown, viscous material obtained by making an incision in the capsule. A kilo of this substance is worth 600 euros in Sinaloa, and much more once it reaches American soil. There, prices can triple. You can earn three times as much. Planting is a business. The goal is to direct the production to the United States. His field earns him about 6,000 euros net per year, double the average salary in Mexico, but a third less than in El Chapo's time. There are new drugs now that are much stronger. Opium gum is no longer as successful as it used to be. But it is natural! It is not a synthetic drug. For us, it comes from a plant that grows in the ground, it's organic.
