The Sinaloa Cartel Is Losing Control Of It's Own Territory

The cartel controls that state, like fully. They're just like killing each other off and no one's doing anything about it. It's constant murders, every fucking 30 minutes on the minute. Anyone's being recruited to take out hits for like around $200 USD. Chapitos have made an alliance with CG&G. CG&G have always been masters of absorption. They make these alliances or they put men in. They know that, okay, if we go in and we offer a helping hand, if these guys fail or if it comes down to the wire, this becomes our territory. The goal is to have complete control over the Sinaloa Cartel. The war for the Sinaloa Cartel is raging and the Chapitos, led by Chapo Guzman's remaining two sons, are facing extinction. Narcojournalist Kat Schulz is the only reporter with the balls to embed herself in the middle of this war zone, and what she witnessed was shocking. But perhaps most interesting is the fact that the CG&G, the Haleesco new generation cartel, who currently have an alliance with the Chapitos, are poised to take over Kuliacan and Sinaloa as soon as the Chapitos capitulate. This is unprecedented in Mexican Narco history. Make sure to follow Kat on all socials and her new YouTube channel. She's doing fantastic work and please hit the like button on this video. It really, really helps us out. All right, you guys, with the inside scoop, as always, it's the great Kat Schulz right here on the connect with Johnny Mitchell. Kuliacan is fucking stressful right now because I was just there. And it's like, I felt like it was worse than when the last time I was there was two years ago, or almost two years ago, like right after El Maya was captured. Right. And I remember I was like, holy fuck, this is really intense. But honestly, this time, it felt heavier. And there was like even more violence because to be completely honest, it's gone to the point where like the cartel controls that state, like fully point blank. And like, you can fucking feel it. And yesterday, a guy was killed on livestream. An influencer was killed on livestream. Yeah, I saw that. And like, who's to say that, I mean, he was obviously, you know, had allegiance to a certain faction. So like, they're going to take him out because that's what all the murders are right now. But isn't that to you, though? To me, that looks like the cartel is losing control because you do have all these senseless retribution killings that don't have anything to do with drug trafficking, right? Like killing that live streamer. He's just like a funny influencer. He's not a criminal. So doesn't that, to me, that says the power of the cartel is breaking down. And that's why there's more chaos. Okay. So in that sense, yes, right? Like, there's that internal war that's going on. And it's like this bid for power. But in the sense of like regular life as a society, like Sinaloa as a state, they control it. Like, there is no, when I say that, I mean, like, authority doesn't control it. Military doesn't, the governor certainly does not. He was just fucking indicted by the U.S. Right. So everything that's going on in that state is going on with either like the permission, so to speak, of the cartel or like with cartel oversight. Right. Okay, okay. This is, I have so many questions. First of all, let's just talk about Ruben Rocha-Moya, the former, the former, I guess he's still the sitting governor. He's still the governor. Specifically. Right. So he's he and a bunch of other high-level politicians from the state of Sinaloa. Like, I think it was two months ago now. We're indicted by the U.S. on collusion with specifically Los Chapitos. Right. The ones, and he has, he goes way back with the Marena political party and with Chapeau himself. Like way back to when Chapeau was at his height. He basically got ran out of town. You know, they shot up his house, the Contras, the Maïtos, you know, live-streamed themselves, you know, shooting up his house and brought daylight and Kulea Khan. What is the situation with that? Why hasn't he been arrested? How has that affected the Chapeitos? Because now their political allies are in trouble. Could you could you go into that? Yeah, okay. This is like a really deep dive here because it's very complicated. So we have all known that like, and when I say we, I mean like everyone in Mexico and particularly anyone who has any knowledge of like Narcos, right? It's always been super obvious that Rubén Rochamoya was, um, you know, aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel and profiting off of the Sinaloa Cartel. And like a lot of the political decisions he would make came directly from that nexus to the Sinaloa Cartel. Like he was not this autonomous figure whatsoever. He was essentially a speaking head for the Cartel. At the same time, he has also been like you said, a longstanding standout member of the Morena Party, the ruling party of Mexico. And so there had been moments where murmurs of him being, you know, a figure head for the Cartel had really come to light. And the president of Mexico herself would come out and say explicitly, Rochamoya is not with the Cartel. And he is a major figure for the Morena Party. And like the standout citizen, um, and so here's the thing. He gets indicted by the US literally for profiting off of drug trafficking or with the Sinaloa Cartel, particularly with the Chupitos, who we know have been cooperating now with the United States government, which is also what led to the kidnapping and capture of El Mayo, which started the whole war in Sinaloa, was because Chupitos set him up, okay, with the US. And they're all making plea deals, you know, family members were allowed to go into the US through Sunny Cedra border crossing. It's like this whole thing where the US is blatantly negotiating with terrorists as they labeled them two years ago. Now, or a year ago, the thing is, um, if President Claudia Shinbaugh, she's basically what she's saying is we need the evidence to extradite him or expel him to the United States. If Claudia Shinbaugh comes out and says, you know what, yeah, the US proved it to us, you know, our Mexican authorities say in their investigation that Rochamoya is a criminal, so to speak, um, that is a huge hit for her politically. Not only for the, not only for herself, but for the entire party. And this is someone who wants to ensure that Modena continues to rule in Mexico for decades to come. And Modena has been the ruling party for the last decade, in fact, her, her latest election or her, her win in this previous election was like one of the largest landslide wins in Mexican election history. She has like this unwavering support. And it seems as though, um, the Secretary of National Security, Omar Gharasiya Harfuch is likely going to run for president and will probably likely win. You know, there's, he's really garnering support. And so for her to come out and say, this individual who she defended, so wholeheartedly is in fact, a criminal with the cartels, the very cartels that are wreaking havoc on the state. It's horrible for her politically, not just like in soft optics, but actually like how her administration is operating as a whole. And who's in that? Right. Right. Yeah, it's, it's fascinating. It's all such a, a chess match because the US is making plea deals with the Chapeitos, but then now they have an indictment against the Chapeitos ally, which are the politicians and seat aloas. So it's, you know, it's, it's all spoken mirrors. It's all political theater from what I can see. So, so let's talk about you because you're literally the only journalist that goes down there at this moment, you know, besides like BBC, you know, guarded people. Global journalists, like there's really, you know what's crazy? Like everyone always tells me, like you have balls, whatever. If a lot of the journalists who are there, like all the time, if they spoke English and like did the same things that I do, like on podcasts, whatever in social media, they would fucking blow me out of the water because they are just like, they have balls of steel and the shit that they're encountering and day in, day out. Absolutely insane. And like, yeah, um, you know, there's like BBC CNN go down and do stories and not to their fault, but I think a lot of the times, like a lot of those stories where they're like going in. I just saw one on YouTube, yesterday. I don't remember. I think it was DW. I don't remember. And I'm not trying to like, shit on anyone whatsoever. But I think a lot of them are misled by like shitty fixers and connections that are taking them to like this fentanyl lab or like with this high level cinema cartel narco. And a lot of that is just like, really not. Yeah, that's a way for like local people in queerly economy to make money is to tell like shitheads like us who are trying to get content like, "Hey, I pay me and I'll take you to where you can film." And it's like some dudes with like, they're just wearing balaclavas and they're actually nobody's. And they just have like, they're like showing you their lab, but it's just like bleach and some cooking flour like they're making rice on the plot. It's crazy too because like a lot of my, so a lot of my contacts over there that are obviously actually heavily involved in the courtelles will actually sometimes will send me this stuff or they'll like reach out to me and they're like, "This is bullshit." Like nobody knows what this is, like this is not us. And it's not like a propaganda thing. It's like they just actually find it amusing in a way. Most of these people, especially in Sinaloa right now, who are like high up in it and like very deep in it, they will not meet with even with me in person, even though we've spent years chatting, we know each other like there's trust and it honestly comes down to a safety thing. I wanted to go to one region while I was there this summer. That's like a big hotspot and I don't want to say where it is because there's still like a chance that I might be able to go. And I reached out to some contacts who could definitely grant me access. And one of them was like, you do know that there's like bonds dropping from drones right there right now. I don't want you to come and then we get blamed because you fucking got knocked out. And I was like, but that's how you know that's a real fucking source. That's not bullshitting, right? And so sometimes there's a lot of shit that I encounter, I can't even show it. Yeah, I mean, but I've just seen from your social media like you're at the sites of fresh murder scenes and there's people getting killed every day in the city of Kool-Aid Khan. So can you talk about that a little bit and just just talk about some of these stories and who is winning in the battle of Kool-Aid Khan right now for the city because that's been traditionally controlled by the Chappitos. So yeah, please update us. So I don't answer that because it can get me killed, especially if I go back to Kool-Aid Khan. I'm not fair enough. I think, you know, yeah, so we're just not even going to get into that. But who knows anyways, right? That's all objective. It's constantly changing to, you know, one day it could be one group, another day it could be another group. But at the end of the day, no one wins because like it's literally hell, like it's burning the fuck down. And the main difference that I noticed from two years ago was that like two years ago when I went, there were these like really performative brazen murders where like the city would wake up and there would be five people laid out dead naked with like either a pizza box or the white hat, depending on which faction they belong to and who's trying to send the message. Whereas now it's almost like they're just doing the work. So like when I was there and you saw on the social media, it was like homicide after homicide after homicide. But you know, they're typically not being left with like messaging anymore. And it's not like this huge show because right now it's a matter of just like killing everyone off that they possibly can and sending or internal messages as opposed to like public messages. So one of the first murders that I attended when I got there was at this was at a Walmart parking lot. This guy was murdered. And like as we were driving to the scene, I noticed like all of my sources were posting about this murder. So I immediately clocked that like he was a Volteado, he switched. He was with the chapitos faction and he switched to my dos flacos faction, which is why he was killed. And they like a lot of people were boasting about it on social media. And so that's also like a worrisome situation when we're going to that because it's not just like, okay, they killed this guy who owed a debt or said something wrong. And like they just shot him and he's dead. This is like we're going to the scene where there are still going to be lookouts looking who comes to the scene. What's going on? Who are the investigators that is how is this reported? You know, they want to know which journalists are there so that they can watch our reports after to see what kind of shit that we're saying. So that's like very stressful. But this is kind of the reality now where it's constant murders, every fucking 30 minutes on the minute. That's literally how it felt. And there it's it's not, you know, this big showcase. It's just, okay, boom, we killed him onto the next kill him now kill him. And when I spoke with authorities, like the same notion kept being repeated. They're not there to prevent these killings. They're just there to attend. Like they are at the point. And I guess this is kind of what the US wanted is they're just letting them kill each other off. Right. They're just the military is kind of just there to make sure it doesn't spill into civilian every day life, I guess, right? Like even then that's not even a priority. I think the priority is just like, all right, show face, write the report, pick up the body. Same thing. Open up again. You know, there aren't these like checkpoints of do you have guns in your vehicle? Or like even looking, you know, for like right, you know, typically like in any place, like in the States or in Canada, someone gets murdered. There's like this man hunt, like who killed this guy? Like we're searching for these plates and this guy that we with this description, that's not happening at all. Like they're not even taking statements from people who were around during the yeah. So so like the majority of these homicides go unsolved. Yeah. And there doesn't even seem to be incentive to to solve them because it's so much bigger than just the the cicadio right, of course. Of course. So yeah. And then since it's business as usual in Mexico, because I don't know, like I was down in Mexico City for the World Cup, like Mexico's Mexico's image culturally, like putting inside the narco shit, culturally Mexico's like winning right now. You know, like they're helping out Cuba, like this awful blockade. We're doing to the Cubans. They're speaking out against what's going on in Gaza, although they're buying a ton of weapons from the Israelis. That's the dirty little secret. But in general, secret, well, right, I know it's it's something that they they try not to talk about though. Shame bomb tries to talk about, right? And it's but but but culturally they're kind of the darling of the West while the United States is like the bad guy and there's a lot of merit to that. But seen a loa is. So yeah. So part of me I'm down there and I'm like Mexico really is like turning, turning a corner for the better, you know. To be fair, I feel like Mexico has always been this like cultural hero because it has such a vibrant culture. Like I talked about this all the time also because I feel like sometimes I have to say this because people are like, she's like a fucking racist who just wants to show the bad side. Incorrect. Like any any critical thinking skills that's like a very obviously not true. But like the world cup here was so insane and like people were living their best lives. Like actually it was unlike anything I've ever seen in Mexico City and it was super cool and very safe. I must say. Yeah. But then it's like that dark underbelly, right? Of like the crime that's going on and also to be like right before the world cup everyone was asking me like, Oh my God, are we going to be safe going down there? Are you going to, I'm like, this is probably the safest fucking time in Mexico because there is going to be so much money from tourists and people going to the world cup that like cartels are going to make a fucking bank like an air business is going to make bank. So that's always been this like unspoken agreement. Just don't fuck with the tourists because they make us money, right? Yeah. Yeah. But that's why Mexico is so fascinated to report on is because on the one hand, you have this extremely modern developed country, you know, you know, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterey. But then when you go to Sinaloa, it still is like the 1970s. It's I mean, that's what it sounds like. I have been there a lot. Honestly, like going from Mexico City to Kulliacán back to Mexico City, it's like going to two different fucking planets. Yeah. So that hasn't changed like in terms of the cartel stranglehold on the region and on the city of Kulliacán. There's still lookouts everywhere, information everywhere. Do you think there's police corruption still? Like do you think the cops are planned? Laying. Yes. Right. Entirely. That's right. Are innocent people, you know, we saw that streamer yesterday. We were just talking about get shot to death on streaming. Are innocent people targets? I wouldn't group him in with like innocent civilians because he was very active on social media about his sort of allegiance with my to flaco's faction of the Sinaloa cartel. You know, he was even wearing the white hat, which in Kulliacán, you just do not wear that because you and I know that that can sound very pathetic because it's like really like of all things. But that is what people are using to show their allegiance. So you that it's you just don't do that. Um, but innocent people are typically like in terms of actually being murdered, innocent people are kept out of it. But when I went to that Walmart shootout where that man was killed, a 25 year old girl was shot three times. She survived, but she was like an innocent bystander. She got caught in the crossfire. Right. So that's that's of course happening. But innocent people aren't the targets. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. So what are they fighting for? What are that what is the goal? The goal is to take over the drug spots in Kulea Khan to take over the fentanyl cooks like what is economically the strategic goal of all this killing in Kulea Khan? The goal is to have complete control over this in aloa cartel. So either the chapitos win and they kill everyone or end the mitos faction or vice versa. Um, MF kills the chapitos, weakens them and kills their faction and they have complete control. Um, and like, obviously there is like this, their desperation because chapitos have made an alliance. It's like a year old now with CJNG for like increased manpower, weapons, resources, you know, all of it. And then MF is also going hard. So there's basically it's they're vying for control. They because they both feel betrayed at this point. And so because El Chapo and El Mayo had this alliance, you know, they were in a partnership for a very long time. But as soon as El Mayo ended up on that small aircraft in the United States and was taken into custody, all hell broke out because it is said that El Chapo sons, the chapitos set El Mayo up, right? And one of his sons was with him on that plane gave himself up to authorities. And they were actually supposedly on their way to a meeting with Rochamoya. Right. What governor is like taking a meeting with heads of cartel. Um, and then saying he's innocent. Right. So yeah, that that was like the ultimate betrayal, which is what sparked the war. So you don't see this war ending is like, okay, now we have two cartels and see hello. We have the MF, my eight of flakos and the chapitos. You think it's gotta be decapitation. And one group has to regain total control in order for there to be more peace. Is that kind of it? I really don't see that with them both existing and buying for power that there will be peace. Like, I don't think they will come to this like agreement. Um, it's too far gone. So it will, unfortunately, have to just like end up with someone having complete control. But this is like a war with no end in sight because I don't think anyone will like, I just don't see this happening where like someone will, you know, throw on the towel. Right. Right. It's not that organized. It's not like, you know, trying to come up with an MOU with Iran. Like it's, you know, it's, it doesn't really work like that. Now, speaking of the CJNG and their alliance with the chapitos, what has Mencho's death done to that? This is a great question because, you know, I think that the whole point of applying the Kingpin strategy with CJNG was to engage exactly what happened in Sinaloa, except that didn't happen. CJNG did not fracture internally. I mean, I have been told, and I have not been able to report on it yet because some confirmation, whatever, that there have been some kind of disputes with some high-level people in CJNG, some disagreements, but certainly nothing that has led to like this fracture of CJNG. It was like, he died 24 hours later. We all knew that Cedro Thres, Elemental Stepson was now the leader of CJNG and it kind, and it just like kept going businesses as usual. However, what I do know is that when Elemental was killed, all of the CJNG reinforcements that were sent to Sinaloa to back up the chapitos faction, they all retreated and they all went back to Michoacán into Halisco and then time went on and that kind of the flow continued and it was as usual. So it seems for the most part of its business as usual. However, like that could obviously change at any point in time, right? For the most part, CJNG is fighting against Mexican authorities and military, like they're maintaining their stronghold. They seem to still be strong with a lot of like their smaller alliances across Mexico and like certain territories that they've sort of absorbed in a way. But yeah, I don't think the entire goal of the Kingpin strategy was fulfilled with CJNG, which like from a human perspective is good because you do not want a fractured CJNG that will literally be war across the entire country. Yeah, Ed Calderone thinks that it's possible down the line because the CJNG is so strong and so militarized and so well-funded and so disciplined. It can almost turn into like a guerrilla army the way that you know the FARC in Colombia for years was fighting against the government like with a political ideology. It's possible. Yeah. So Cero Trace is the new guy. Wow, that's fucking crazy. He's like basically a resurgence of the millennial cartel, right? Because he's a Valencia. And so like at this point, I mean CJNG was essentially always backed by like Valencia's and you know, it came from kind of the millennial cartel in a sense. But now this is just millennial cartel 2.0. So for people who don't know, the millennial cartel was the predecessor to the Haleesco cartel. It was one of the first cartels in Mexico. And it started with the Valencia family. They were from Michoacán. They were agriculture exporters. And then obviously because they already had the roots, they transitioned into cocaine with all the Colombian cartels and started making a shit ton of money that way. And in fact, a lot of those like original Valencia women were in have been in charge for money-wondering for CJNG. Right. And Mencho worked security for the bosses in that cartel while I think he was just getting out of the Haleesco state police where he was flipping all these cops and absorbing them into the cartel. And so this guy Cero Trace, who famously, if you follow the internet, he was born in California. He's from Orange County. But he's connected to the family, the Valencia. He's by blood. Yeah. He's Rosalinda's son with El Mencho, or sorry, not with El Mencho. El Mencho is the stepfather. But Rosalinda Valencia, you know, she's one of the OGs of what Malenio is of what the Valencia family. They're like the Kennedys of Mexico is the best way to put it. That's crazy. Now, do you think he's in Mexico, Cero Trace? Or do you think he's hiding abroad? I think he would have to be in Mexico, especially at least since February for sure. Yeah. But it's also hard to keep in mind that most of the high-ups within CJNG, which differs from a lot of other cartels, they have their own loyal followings. Right. So like if El Sapo, for example, wanted to like branch off and kind of start his own cartel, he has that loyal manpower to, in a sense, do it. But I think that they know, and because there's been so much money flow in CJNG, they know that staying united is what keeps the money coming. And that organization helps them. Definitely. So turning back to Cinaloa, where you were, did you go out into the countryside at all? Yeah, a little bit. It was like very obvious that, you know, doing that right now was like obviously not the best idea. Why? What happened? It's just like, it's just cartel everywhere. And it's just look out everywhere. Like they clock you no matter where you go. And especially because like, you have to get out of the car and film and stuff. And then you're immediately clocked. And I like right before Cinaloa, I had an assignment where it went wrong. And we got clocked by like the wrong people. They tried to run me off the highway and they pointed a gun at us. And I was like, fuck my life. Like I don't want this to happen again. But when you're kind of like going off the beaten path, I mean, even on the beaten path, it's not ideal. But off the beaten path, you are like so exposed and it's very obvious like who controls a lot of the pueblos outside of Gulecan and there's a lot of violence and there is just like really a lack of law enforcement it's it's that's why when I tell you like oh who controls the state like it's the cartel because you're not driving by like police and military you're driving by lookouts and cicareos and did you see any con boys of what of cartel cicareo con boys yeah you know like back of the back of the truck or in big you know throw because million dollars right yeah yeah armor vehicles yeah when you see like the guys that look that could be mistaken for military but they're wearing like fucking like year max you're like yeah okay my god and they're in broad daylight they're still carevanting like they cannot give a shit and like when I went to um elementary house or like the cabins in in how you spoke that's all I saw were those con boys and and then when they're fucking driving behind you on a windy one-way fucking mountainous highway you're like please just pass me like to go around whatever you see the kids with the hats pulled low you're like stay in the fuck away from them do in a long arm rifle and you're oh my god because like all the so those guys are fucking trigger happy a lot of them so I'm just like please go around like everyone cameras down and like and dude like I'm with some you know with a shooting team stop looking through the fucking the the side mirrors like you do not need to be looking at these people we do not need to have them see us clock them just act like it's business as usual because I don't want to make anyone paranoid you know right but that's also why I drive everywhere because oh this bitch driving like the obviously it's fine right like if they were if they were serious like they'd make a man drive so like for sure for sure at least they know about content the at least they know that this is a thing gringoes do is they come trying to get content because the world's fascinated by it so it's not like it is a little more you're not gonna have a lot of mistakes I don't think um because you know I've hung around with some of these guys and even though their their soul has been kind of depleted from having to kill a lot of them are really nice guys and they just don't know any different well yeah I always tell people that I'm like you know they're they're obviously there's like a level of like sociopaths and just like people who they just you're so you become so jaded that you you can't feel or see humanity but at the end of the day it's still a person like they still have like certain music that they like and like that's why people are like how do you talk to these people and it's like it's really no different than like talking to anyone else I mean how many sociopaths do you think that you encounter on a daily basis without even knowing you know yeah oh yeah coming from show business trust me there's more sociopaths in Hollywood um but yeah I don't think these kids are sociopaths I think they're they're like child soldiers in Africa it's almost the same shit dude if when you come up like that I mean I think some of the bosses are sociopaths for sure but I think the kids just they have a rifle in their hands by the time they're 12 13 14 years old they kill somebody by the time they're 16 they're snort and coke to try to forget it and and so by the time they're 22 23 it looks like a sociopath but it's really just a person who's been brainwashed and and broken business as usual and yeah been witnessing this violence their whole lives so it's super normalized super super if I had kids and brought them up in Kulia gang I don't think they would give a shit about death or murders you know obviously like they're I'm being dramatic with that but it's the way you're processing it is very different than someone who has never you know you you're not walking to school and seeing just murdered bodies on your group right now how old are most of these people getting killed in the cities all ages okay all ages young and old any any women getting killed I didn't see any when I was there um there are women getting killed but it is few and far in between uh there's you know some cicadas that get murdered um and then of course like there was that that very famous case of valedian markis the tiktokker who was murdered on live stream last year yeah and they just Mexico just announced that like who they think the suspect is right but that's with halisco it seems like halisco's more ruthless when it comes to murdering like kids and women because they recruit they have more diversity it seems like in in sena Loa it's old school like I'm sure there are some cicadas but it's mostly men you know what I mean and it's also because if you keep in mind and you consider who the cartel bosses were of sena Loa like it was very much an old school style and even right now like there's a lot of rhetoric about how like and Maya was like the last old school kingpin because of the way he was very under the radar and the way he operated business um so that that could be a part of it but it is predominantly men okay so are they making any money they got to be hurt and for cash because you know people are constantly getting killed they have to bring up new manpower it's incredibly expensive to to run a cartel even in peacetime so in wartime it's like you know I mean I the overheads got to be millions of dollars a month tell us did you see any fentanyl labs did you see any meth labs like what are they focusing their their efforts on on the business side had they diversified at all I think right now in terms of business it's booming for cocaine I mean US and Canada are completely losing the war on cocaine because so much um effort has been diverted into stopping fentanyl which means cocaine is coming in at like really like unprecedented rates and I was actually just told by a source the other day that Canada is stopping massive shipments of cocaine and not putting out press releases and like not telling the public which is really interesting because typically that's like a oh big win type of thing right but I think because of how much cocaine is coming in and how profitable cocaine has always been and still is that they don't want to make it seem like there's a loss like in both Canada and US right now though in terms of like Sinaloa cartel a lot of resources are going into this war um and I think like obviously that alliance between chapitos and cg and g like it speaks for itself um I would also under the impression that you know the cartel as a whole the Sinaloa cartel is in terms of secarios they're really hiring like anyone at this point and when I say like hiring I don't mean like you know they're not like putting in a fucking resume and shit it's just like anyone's being recruited to take out hits for like around two hundred dollars USD so yeah it's like five thousand pesos so obviously when you have anyone working for you or like taking out these hits that becomes very dangerous because this is someone who's like not experienced also like a lot of the secarios I'm told that a lot of the secarios are even like not doing it for money they're doing it for a fix so like they're just being supplied with drugs or like they're like paying off their debt they're taking out hits I believe it I totally believe it um so it seems like you know the cjng is expanding all over the place still they're still trying to fight and gain territory in michael con there as far east as veta cruis right they're in mexico city try to take you know tepito that neighborhood which you and i should go film in by the way I got some contacts hall after after the podcast um but it seems like seen aloha like are they trying to take more territory or are they just all just fighting for for their state they're fighting for their state and like the territories within the state are kind of like constantly changing like one day I'm told so and so controls this area and then like two days later nope it switched and like that's just status quo across the entire state um yeah okay now the god the ivan archivaldo and his brother the ones who are still what's his name Jesus Alfredo right um do you hear anything from your contacts about you know they're involvement like are you know they're super low right now like I'm assuming they're hiding out in the mountains uh and and not keeping not popping their heads out uh what is there yeah what's up with them like are they gonna surrender that's what I think you think they're gonna surrender they must right like I think they're probably already like that those talks are are probably already happening 100 and they will go together. together. If Iván goes, his will go. So, and they're, you're talking about that with the DEA, turning themselves into the Americans. To the Americans. Yeah. I have a feeling that they will surrender to the Americans. It'll probably, it could be like a Ryan Wedding situation again. But who knows? I mean, it'll all, it all comes down to like what the US feels like their value, both for like whatever information. And if they can, you know, supply that and then give themselves up, I just, it's, it's beyond me how they have been able to evade capture, like, elemental, but captured and killed before them. But my fucking mind. Well, that's why I think it's because Bencho was out in the open and he got caught up in the politics of trying to clean Mexico up before the World Cup. And I feel like Mexico needed a good PR. They needed a good headline. I think that was part of it. And then he was betrayed. He's in a photo of a mental dead. No, I have it. Exactly. Is he not dead? Is he alive? No, I don't know. You know, I always bring that up because there's like a part. You know, it's so crazy because when you, this is going to sound weird. But when you report on someone for so long, and you are trying to learn about every inner working of their life and their business in a way, it's like this weird pair of social relationship. Okay. And I'm not that bitch. Like, I don't give a fuck about Taylor Swift. I don't give him like, I'm not, that's not me, right? But and I always was like, I would kill to get not literally, but I would love to get an interview with a mental or like as close as possible. And so when the news broke that he was killed in a capture operation, I was like, what the fuck? Because there's no point in killing mental. Like the whole point would be to get him. And like, he had probably more information than fucking anybody, especially when it came to the Mexican government. Now, he was the Epstein. He was the Mexican Epstein. He had dirt on all these other fruckers. Yes, actually. So then that makes sense why they would kill him. In my opinion, no, I was going to say like who carried out the operation, the Mexicans. But and like, obviously, then it, you know, this is like, this becomes very nuanced in a way of like how bilateral operations work between US and Mexico in terms of like kingpin stuff and the war on drugs. This is like so murky. But the fact that he was killed is like, I'm like, I was like, what the hell really? And so, but but anyways, the fact that he was killed in capture and I don't think it had anything to do with him being out in the open or the world copper, anything like that. I think whatever it was is like so beyond any individuals comprehension who reads about this a lot. There's a lot of things that I could get into. But it's just really the only people that know what really happened there is probably El Mencho and the National Guard. Yeah. Maybe not. I mean, I think it's safe to say that he was killed because he knew too much. And in my opinion, if we're just going to take it at somewhat phase value, the Americans are we're putting a ton of pressure on the Mexican government. And I think the generals who control the country, the generals are the ones who really benefit the most from the relationship with the cartel. I think they had to shut them up. If we can just accept that for a minute and then Mexico needed a win because there's been so much pressure from the US. And I honestly think because the US has been giving Mexico a list, right? Of people that they want gone for like the since January of last year, Mexico wasn't fulfilling this list every every month. And so they just needed like a one and done. Give us grace type of thing. Right. So seeing that, and then you're like, then you look at the two sons, Choppo's sons, the only ones left running the cartel. You're like, what could what value? Everybody's gone. Now all the Choppo's literally, all the Guzman Loetas are all that everybody ratted and Choppo's at ADX. So like, what could they offer the DEA? What can they offer the DEA that would get them out of like a life sentence? And also tell us what's going on with Ovidio Guzman and Choppo. Does he have any action on maybe turning over some information that he has of the government to try to get out? Just go into all that. I think Choppo was like, they used him as an example, right? And that allows the US to say like, we don't negotiate with terrorists while they're still in talks with all of his kids and like other family members because it's like, it's different, right? Because Choppo was like globally notorious in a way. I think that whatever Ivan and Hissos have to offer, it's certainly political. And that's clearly the direction that we're seeing the US go in, right? They are kind of like, the King pins are kind of like ran through at this point. What they want is to be able to like tackle Morena and have control of Mexico's inter-political workings from within. And the best way to do that is to get this leverage from the very guys who Mexican politicians should not be in collusion with. And so if they have this like hard evidence, which obviously like with Ruchamonia, they did where it's like, yeah, he was being handed begs of cash. You know, they have something like that all the way high up into the Morena administration. That's therein. Then who's to say that, you know, the US doesn't have their say and who runs for president and shit like that? Right. And then every time I feel like it's that same threat of, do you want butch on the ground? Oh, okay, do this then, you know, because that's like a big thing for Mexico is to maintain their autonomy as a state, to not allow the US to put butch on the ground in Mexico. And I do like for the record, I want to say, I don't want to see American boots on the ground in Mexico. I think all hell would break loose. It would be fucking horrible. But I also don't think it would happen if it were to happen or if it isn't already. It wouldn't happen in the sense of like like an Afghanistan, you know, it wouldn't be like this blatant thing. It would be like what we saw happen in Juarez a few months ago. Oh, two CIA agents dressed in Mexican police, you know, forms died in the car accident. That type of boots on the ground. So yeah. So it's political. So maybe the the choppo kids were still running the chapitos. Maybe if they can get if they can arrest Rocha Moia and his, you know, party of political political politicians and they extradite them. Maybe they turn themselves in and say, hey, we'll testify against them in in US court or something like that. Totally. Yeah. I got you. Okay. That's obviously been the MO for like all the chapitos lately. They were like, fuck the old school. What do you want to know? Pro our dad was telling, you know, his, all his kids were telling, I'm telling. I'm jumping up forward, dude. Just put me up in a nice house in Ohio afterwards. Right. New passwords. Right. Exactly. Okay. So do you think check this out for this theory? If if his two kids turn themselves in, who's going to run the cartel? Don't you think the CJ NG will use that opportunity to move in and literally take Cinaloa? Right. Yeah. That's the whole point. Like this, the alliance, they both had like different incentives for the chapitos. It was like, fuck, okay, we need the man power for CG and G. It was like, all right, we're going to fucking absorb this shit. They've got to know that they've, they're, they're too smart. And CG and G have always been masters of absorption. They're super friendly and they're helpful. Okay. I'm using like very casual language. But like corporate language. They're super friendly and that's like not the case. I mean, in terms of like cartel, right? Right. Right. No, but they, but they are more, they're as shrewd as they are violent. You're right about that. Yeah. And so, and they're really good with business in a way. So good. So they know that, okay, if we go in and we offer a helping hand, if these guys fail, or if it comes down to the wire, this is, this becomes our territory. Right. And I wouldn't be surprised if, if that were to happen, like looking ahead, right? Hypothetically, if CG and G were to absorb chapitos territory, they would just make an alliance with MF and be like, all right, let's run it together, like back in the day. And it's a fresh start. That's honestly the ideal situation is, you know, and it'd be very ideal for people in Sinaloa because like the war needs to fucking end. Like socks. Yeah. I mean, day to day, you know, you can't imagine the kind of stress that causes on normal people. And their economy. Their economy is shit. And Sinaloa had such a booming economy because of their culture, their music, Masatlan, the food, everything, right? Like Sinaloa's culture was a standout in Mexico. Still is, right? Like there's so many unique things. Their economy is like non-existent. It's because businesses are shutting down because nobody wants to go out. That kind of thing. Is there still like a curfew in the city? Not right now. Right. But just it's, people just go out after a certain time, probably because it's like. Everything closes at dark. You get in bars. Yeah. Like in my, I posted a YouTube video, spend 48 hours of me in Gulyacán, where we're going from like murder to murder to murder. And then we just go back to the hotel bar with like, it's people commented. They're like, are you the only one in there? And there was like, three people, and we're doing karaoke. And that's, but that's like the extent of it. Right. Yeah. Yeah. It feels like a ghost town. I'm like, because the plan is still very vibrant, but obviously it's like a tourist hotspot, but there's also still like a shit ton of violence happening in Masatlan. Because that was Mayo's turf, right? No. Or it was back in the day. But what are they? What is Masatlan offer a cartel? Do you know what I'm saying? Like, why is that strategic? Okay. They have access to the Pacific. So anywhere like Puerto Vallarta, Masatlan, in Baja California, these are, you have access to the ocean, you have access to the world. True. Now, what about places like TJ? I don't know if you know anybody or have contacts in Tijuana. Well, that's my next video, because I literally went to TJ right after. Oh, shit. Okay. Talk about TJ. I love TJ. One of my favorite cities because I'm a Californian. So I love anything, you know, it makes me miss home. What is happening in Tijuana? Because that's been notoriously difficult. That's always been contested. It's like, you can't control that city. What is, what is going on there now? It's fascinating. It's so funny when you're like, I love TJ because anytime I hear a man say that, I'm like, you're nasty. I've never been to Hong Kong. I've never, I drove by it and I, Ed was like, do you want to go in and have some lunch? And I looked at it. I was like, not on your fucking life. Not even at my scummyest when I go in there. You've never been to, even I've been to Hong Kong. I know it kind of like, I'm kind of lame for that, right? But no, I don't like going in because it just feels like, I feel like a typical, I feel like, okay, I'm better than these exactly and I'm better than these motherfuckers. So I, I have been to but he still know Che, though, and Ensenada. And I can't sing that that place is praises enough. It's like a turn down version of Hong Kong. Very nice. And you don't feel like you're going to get kidnapped. I'll leave, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. So I went to TJ because I was doing a human trafficking story, like a sex trafficking story. Right. Obviously like all roads lead to TJ with that stuff, especially when you're covering it in Mexico. And so, I mean, TJ is like, same shit, right? But while I was there, there were like two murders, I think. I don't remember the exact details of it, but it was something kind of sick. One of them was pretty significant. I ended up going to Tecate because one of the human traffickers I wanted to meet with was like, let's do the interview here. So we go to Tecate and like, I got there very early in the morning and I was with a local journalist and he covers like the notarochat, like the breaking news. So we, I ended up accompanying it went, it was like, basically fucking Juliakan 2.0 because we ended up just going to like all the murders all day long. The differences, the murders in Tecate, a lot of them were distractions. So there's like this older man, it was actually very sad. Okay. And I know like all murders are sad, but when I'm in Juliakan and I go to the murders, it's, this is going to sound bad, but you have to understand with the context of my job, you get to a point where you're not fucking internalizing everything, right? You're going to these murders in Juliakan and then you're getting the context of like, well, this person was involved in this and but it just becomes work. In TJ, some of the people being murdered are just like innocent and they are distractions. Disruption from what? What do you mean? Distractions from, so this guy, older man was shot up, dude, 15 fucking rounds in this like old guy walking home, like pulling like this, this thing with all his shit on it and they unload 15 rounds into him. He's dead. So all the police go there later that evening we find out at the same time, huge fucking drug shipment was being moved. Right. Right. So that's that's what they're doing or like they're crossing a ton of people or they're crossing a ton of drugs. Yeah. But they kill someone so that all the authorities and all eyes are on that while something is happening, right? What do you call that like a false flag? No, I don't know. I think a false flag is more like 9/11, right? You create a massive vent in order to scream, right? It's a smoke screen, right? I'm so bad with idioms. It's like a throwoff method. You know what I mean? They used to do that in the hood in America back in the day. You get a guy to like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and all the cops swoop down. At least the cops come, unlike in Juliakan, at least the cops in TJ. And I think that's because it is a border city and there's more gringos. I don't know why, but this wasn't thick out there, but which is, but we're right on like those major crossing hot spots, right? Right. Right. Because most people aren't crossing like illegally, like from TJ. So that was that was problematic. Okay, so I want to talk of, okay, I want to talk about the human trafficking. But first, let me ask you about some a little little lighter. No, this isn't even lighter. This is just as heavy. I've heard that they're kidnapping people. And I want to ask you if this is true because you, nobody's embedded like you. Are they kidnapping, meaning the organizations force recruiting people to either be cicadeos or be, be mulas, drug, drug mules. Yes, but they typically have some leverage. So it's not just like someone's walking down the street and they pick them up. It's like someone who they know like has a debt or is like a potential victim of extortion or someone who has responded to this fake job offer. So they're kind of like, they're being lured in a way. You know, you're not just getting picked up in a, pulled into a white then walking down the street, buying cicados. Like it's a process to it. But yes, that is happening. There is forced recruitment. And when I really became sure of that was when we found out about the Ranchuise Guillere, what was that? Like two or three years ago now, the ranch, uh, 58 kilometers outside of Guadalajara, the extra ranch, right. A lot of those people were victims of that. And a lot of these people are being sent to like Puerto Vallarta for training. And when I say training, a lot of them are just like, it's like, okay, fight to the death and who survives makes it to the next level. It's like very gruesome. Yes. Yeah. So is that kind of shit happening at the in Baja California too? Or that's more that's more mula. That's more like they need runners. They need people driving over the border, you know, with drugs. But I wouldn't be surprised. Like this is, you know, I'm not like an expert on like TG recruitment, but I wouldn't be surprised. Obviously people in Baja obviously are being recruited and lured. But it's more common throughout like central Mexico. Right. Yeah, because you've got to figure, like, I know they have a lot of kids in Culea con and it's you know, like they're old school Mexican. Like everybody has like four kids by the time they're 22. But like, I know wouldn't it be nice? I don't know. Life's pretty good with no kids. But it's at a certain point, they're going to kill everybody off. And I know that sounds real cold. But like, you know, I think that's why they have to draw from like mercenaries from Colombia. They have to fool people. That's why a lot of women are joining. Yeah, they have to force a lot of people because a lot of people are also more scared now. I noticed that when I was there, there's enhanced fear before it was like very normal. And people were like, well, yeah, the cartels exist. And yeah, this shit's happening like kind of blase. But now people seem to be more afraid, which is really sad. Like that was that really stood out to me because, and I know it doesn't sound like the most jarring thing. But when you see it, when you're living it and you see a society that's just like sad, like scared, it's not a nice thing to witness. It's very jarring. Yeah. To see such a large amount of people just living in fear. It was like Ukraine because I went to Ukraine in January. And it was like everyone's so scared. I mean, in Ukraine, there's also this level of like frustration. And like, let's just fuck up the the Russians because it's more like a a textbook war, but in, in, in Sinaloa, it's like, people are just like, they're drained. It's not nice to see at all. And like, people who are living horrific things and they're just like numb. That's how you get PTSD. For sure, for sure. And people are afraid to like associate with certain people because they might be from the contras and terrified. Like when I went to the Mulverda Chapel, it was, I, because I hadn't been in two years. And I love Goliagan, which sucks. Like, it's, I, I really like it and it, it's such a cute little city. Well, it's kind of a shenhold, but like, it's just nice. Like, you know what? The people there, like, some of the best people I know are in Goliagan, like, just so such great people. And it just fucking sucks to see their lives are destroyed. Well, not destroyed, it's living in shit. Yeah. When I went to Mulverda, the chapel, I noticed they stopped selling any of like the narco memorabilia because like, when I went two years ago, you know, everybody knew you could buy, not only Mulverda, they sent them what the stuff, but you could buy like, chapel stuff and all of like the cartel stuff. That's, they don't sell that anymore. They're like, they're too scared. Like, we don't want to, we don't want to take sides with anybody. A lot of bodies and heads were left outside of the chapel. And then I asked the guy who was selling the stuff. I'm like, why don't you go sell it anymore? And he said, because of the conflict, we just don't, we don't do that. Yeah. Yeah. It's not, it's not cool anymore. Like, I see, that's the difference. It's not cool anymore. Yeah. Because Bay out back in the day, even 10 years ago, it was a kind of, it was a thing that even Mexicans glamorize with gorillas and all that. And now, but now that everybody is really living it, they're like, this is terrible. This sucks. This is no, this is no way to live. Okay. So talk about, I guess we'll just end it with on a high note, talk about the sex trafficking that you, you and witnessed or it were embedded around. That's the lowest fucking note. This is probably, I know. I say this every time, but it just seems to get worse and worse. This is the worst thing that I covered. I've been having nightmares about it. Oh, damn. Sorry. This would be therapy. I went on Julian's podcast, talked about it, but it was like so fresh that I was like, you know, just like getting into it. And then it like hit me like a fucking train afterwards. Yeah. A lot of women are being lured from central Mexico, you know, the lover boy method. And then under fake pretenses, they're taken to TJ Houston, New York, San Diego, where they are, they're literally sex slaves. Like, there's no other way that I can put it. And their lives are being destroyed. And a lot of them are virgins too. Dude, it's fucking horrible. I interviewed one woman who was a victim of this exact textbook method. And she said she had to give service to up to 30 men every night for 10 years. And that was in Mexico or that was on the US side. No, that was arch in Mexico. So she was working in TJ. And she was from central Mexico, where a lot of these women are from because they're very innocent. They're growing up in small towns, very religious, you know, they meet this guy. First boyfriend, he woozed her, he brings her flowers that it unbeknownst to them. He is a sex trafficker. That's not your boyfriend. And he doesn't love you. He loves the money that he could get out of you and your vulnerability. Right. Okay. So, so totally brutal. It's like the worst thing you can think about in life. It's literally the worst crime, right? And okay, but I don't correct me from wrong. I don't think the cartels are directly involved in that, right? So most of these cases that I was covering and the people that I were talking to, it's family networks. So they are not like the cartel. Obviously, there's like a profit that's going to them in order to operate in blah, blah, blah. But the people running these operations, they are generations of families who have always done human trafficking. Think about that evil, and it's just a business to them. It's just a business to them. Like, yeah, I know my grandfather started this prostitution/human trafficking business in the 60s. We're like, especially in this region that I was in, like the boys are growing up being like, yeah, when I grew up, I'm going to be a sex trafficker like my dad. I'm going to be a trafficker. I'm going to be a father of the father of the father of the father of the way. What do you want to be when you grow up father of the to the point where when I interviewed this woman, I was like, she has a son with a, with her trafficker. I said, he's like eight. And I was like, are you worried that he's going to follow the same path? And she was like, I'm going to have to cross that bridge when we get there. I'm like, jeez. So it's almost like pimping, you know, like traditional pimping in America, but it's to a whole nother level of kind of brutality. And what in the organization and trafficking is the same thing. And I had a pimped try to tell me like, I got indicted on traffic human trafficking charges, but like, I was pimping. And it's like, the fuck is the same thing. We could go down that rabbit hole because I've talked to a lot of like old school black American pimps where that is not the case. Because you agreed to disagree. But to me is one in the same. I mean, it's completely vile morally, no matter how you look at it. And everybody is a victim of this, this evil. But I do think in Mexico, it's just there's levels to drug dealing and there's levels to drug trafficking for the car cell. I think there's levels to pimping. And then there's levels to this kidnapping, racketeering child abuse. Like for sure. That's all I'm saying. There's I agree. There's levels to the shit. But I'm like, also after I was doing this story, it changes the way you look at any of this and any of the sex work. Um, and we'll answer your to answer your question. That's why I don't go to a place like Hong Kong because I've heard about this stuff. And I'm like, even if I was a degenerate, it's like, just know that these are our broken women and victims. Yeah. And just know that like you American men watching, if you go to TJ for a weekend to fuck like that girl likely does not want to be there or was not expecting to ever see her life turn out like that. Right. And okay. So so TJ is obviously and the and Baja California of the North, that's the hotspot for for where these traffic women go. Um, right, right. Like wear it like Houston, right? Yeah. These guys that these guys that are linked to central Mexico are directly moving women to Houston. Okay. And so and then where when they're in Houston. So they're smuggled across the border illegally, right? Like with a poillette or something. Yeah. And they're working as prostitutes in Houston. Like okay. And so where like in these little like, are they like little mostly Mexican? Like, like, uh, what do you call them? I don't know. And if I'm being completely honest, call me a bad journalist. I didn't dive that deep because I just was worried about my safety. Okay. Okay. Fair enough. I'm assuming that it's a lot of like little cantinas where Mexican people go, like, that's what I'm going to assume because I've heard before that like in places like LA, it's their strip clubs, but they're not legal. They're not legal strip clubs. That's what I'm told is happening also in Houston. Okay. Like the strip club, but it's actually like a brothel basically. Right. And it's usually under the radar. And it's usually like not for sure, for sure. So so when people get traffic to TJ, I'm assuming because I'll place like Hong Kong because it's so on the map. I'm assuming that that kind of thing doesn't go like a traffic woman is not going to get a job at Hong Kong. Is that correct? Of like the girls that I'm talking about are like the girls who are standing outside, like in the lingerie, you know, like yeah, they call them Las Paralitas, like the one standing. Right. Um, of course in some of the strip clubs, some of the girls are like kind of lured into that. But then there's just a lot of girls too who just go and like we'll dance for the weekend to make money. And they're from right parts, but it's not like they're not being like forced to like fuck guys and have to like give all their money up to a pin. Right. And so these banaditos, uh, they're the traffic ones. That market is like lower figure, right? Like that's like cheaper. Bro, like 300 pesos for full service, like 15 minutes, whatever you want. Let's go. 300 pesos in USD is like what? Like $15. Maybe that's a conversion. No, it probably is a sandwich. Yeah, I think I paid $20 for a sandwich. Fucking it's crazy, dude. Oh my God. Okay. So in terms of TJ, like what is what is the presence of the cartels and their trafficking activities? Like does it even happen in TJ anymore? Or is it just drug traffickers getting it off? What I can tell in TJ, it's like there's like a lot of independence. So it's not like you can't be like, Oh, this cartel controls TJ. There's a lot of different and independent things and illegal activity going on. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. And there's a lot of drug money in TJ. Of course. Yeah. Yeah. Tons of people are buying. So, uh, fuck and A man, after talking to you, it's like, I got to go out in the sun after this and just take a walk. >> Living with my mind, day in, day out, it's like it will drive you fucking up the wall. >> But do you think this is kind of an addiction that you have to chase in the story? >> It never starts out like that, but it does get to that point where that you, yeah, there's a level of nothing makes you feel like this. >> Wow. So you're like, that was so fucked up, I gotta go back. >> I'm fucking traumatized, let's do it again. >> Right, right, wow, that's a pretty hopeless cycle unless you can figure out a way to. >> That's why I do yoga. >> Yeah, yeah, you got to, you got to, man. It doesn't do shit. >> Yeah, I mean, you're flexible though, that's good, it's probably good for your back. >> It's good if I need to run away. >> Yeah, no shit, but I see you, you're out there in these videos at a crime scene in Kulia Khan in flip flops. >> I know, dude, I've always gotten shit for what I wear. I think it's also because I'm a girl, so people notice what you wear as a woman. >> Right. >> But I'm always just like comfort is key, so I wear the same fucking pair of jeans and flip-ups everywhere I go, but it's just a matter of like, this is, yeah. >> Yeah, maybe put on some runners. >> I do, I do I switch it up, but sometimes I like to let the dogs breathe. I have to very aggressive athletes, but it needs to be out with the oxygen. >> Yeah, fair enough, holy shit. Well, I want to go back to Kulia Khan now. >> Love you. >> Okay, yeah, we'll do. Well, I'm really proud of you, I've watched your journey and it's like, I just think the content just keeps getting better and better, the journalism. So I'm excited to see this new piece that comes out, excited is a weird word, but it is. >> But I am, too, because I'm hoping that in some way, because this is also quite under reported, especially how deep I got into it, that it can provoke some level of change. Or there is some organization or something that can maybe step in and somehow kind of like stop or prevent a level of this, that there's more awareness amongst the women who can follow victim to this. That's always the goal. >> Yeah. >> And I think that with something like this, that could be a beauty, because it's just like what the fuck? >> For sure, and I think it's really hard to convince people to not do drugs, like it's hard for them when somebody, it's impossible. When somebody buys a bag of Coke and L.A. in Hollywood, they're not thinking of like the people that got murdered in Columbia, trying to stir it up and make it. The people that got bombed by the Trump administration as they were trying to move it across the sea. The people that got there forced recruited in Kulia Khan all the way up. But the sex trafficking, that's something you could tell, hey guys, I know it's like a funny joke and ha, TJ, and I was young once, you know what I mean? >> Really, nobody is not so fucking funny. >> No, no, so that's what I think is good too, is you're promoting awareness and I commend you for that. >> Yeah, because once you get that eight ball, you snort it, what's been done is already done. When you are paying this woman to like use her body, that's a whole different ball game. >> 100%, 100%. Do you think, do you think Mexico, I think Mexico is ascended, certainly culturally, but do you think that the worst of it is behind the country? And if you think this guy, Harfouj, who famously is now going after cartels, like, do you think it's getting better in terms of less corruption, less narco money, more law and order? >> I think it's more out in the open, but I don't think it's gotten better. >> Okay. >> It's just more visible, that's it. >> And it's more contained to certain areas, right? Because you do have so many gringos and international people, when you go to Los Cabos, my parents go there, right, and they don't see anything, they just love the golf courses and the ocean. It's much more, it's like in America, right? The cities are mostly cleaned up. All the ghettos are now out in these hidden unseen little towns. I think Mexico is kind of, I think it's kind of like that in Mexico, personally. >> Yeah, could be. >> So where are you putting your full length videos on the iron clad, or where can people find you? >> Going on, so I just started my own YouTube channel, so you can see a ton of behind-the-scenes stuff. >> Oh, great. >> People seem to be really enjoying it, because there's really bare editing, and it's really just real life of what I do. And I felt like I had to show people that, because also I get so much shit for no reason. So my YouTube channel, Katerina Schultz, and then I still have the podcast with ironclad borderline dispatches, and then I do a lot of deep dives and hot takes and breaking news and exclusive stuff on my substack, also Katerina Schultz. So yeah. That's what's going on. >> Great. So for my audience, head over. I want them to hit your new YouTube channel. So go subscribe to our YouTube and check out all that content that I'm too scared and lazy to make. That's where you come in. You're the best at it. >> Thank you. >> You're killing it. >> I really, really appreciate it, and then obviously she's all in socials, you killing it. And yeah, we'll have you back soon, and maybe we'll do like a collab on something down in Mexico. That'd be sick. >> Yeah, man, this fucking D.A. looking at us. Not good. >> Okay. >> They know me. They know them. They've seen the channels. They know them all. They know them on their side. >> Okay. Thanks for having me. >> All right, Katerina. Appreciate you. Katerina Schultz. And we'll see you next time. Peace out. [MUSIC]