Hey! This is the first monthly correspondence dispatch where every 15th of the month I open up my ‘ask a question’ box on Instagram (click here to go to my IG) and find your answers three days later here, on the Correspondence section. I enjoyed this first exercise of keeping in touch with you and excited of the amount of questions I got! I tried to group all of the similar questions the best I could, and if I left yours out it was probably because I couldn’t understand it.
Hope you enjoy our correspondence!
Best,
Luis
El Paso, TX, Feb.15 2024
Is El Mencho dead or is he just low key so he doesn’t get captured?
Probably the biggest rumor of ‘Mencho’s’ death came in 2022 when it was widely shared on social media that he had died from a respiratory infection at a private hospital in Guadalajara. One of his best man ‘La Vaca’ ordered several narco-banners installed around Michoacán to announce ‘Mencho’s’ death. Of that we will always have our doubts. But a couple of things to note: The CJNG declared war against ‘La Vaca’ for trying to take over, hinting ‘El Mencho’ was not yet ready to give up his throne. Also: there is an annual celebration at a known small village in Jalisco where dozens of singers, actors, businessman, go to perform. ‘El Mencho’ hosts this party as a private event, although it is for the people. He is never physically present, some say for his own safety, others allegue he is ill. The truth is that he collects greetings from the famous and footage from the party to virtually attend his celebration. Only two things could come out of that to hint Mencho is dead: a massive killing event during the next celebrations, or the end of it for lack of resources. None of that has happened yet.
Best tacos in El Paso and best tacos in Juárez?
During the worst of the violence in Juarez a food critique from the New York Times came to the border to try to find what was the difference in prices, flavor and quality in tacos across the border. I recall that his biggest discovery was that in Juarez the taqueros would reuse the old and burnt oil for days and never clean the griddle, something unthinkable in any US establishment. This gave any Juarez tacos a superior flavor compared to El Paso’s clean tacos.
Saying that, in Juarez I would always go for ‘Mary’s’, an old and dirty taco stand by the Juarez avenue. The experience of being wasted and probably high on something you got at the Yankees bar adds to the taco’s enjoyment. In El Paso I would probably choose Taconeta. Please restrain from even mentioning Chico’s.
What do you think will happen on August when Osiel Cárdenas is out of jail?
Being the founder of ‘Los Zetas’ and his high profile in Mexico, he is probably looking into Mexico’s judicial system to learn what else does the government has on him. He is reaching out to attorneys, spending the last penny to find out if could be a free man if sent back. The thing is I doubt he will. As has happened before with other major players with cartels in demise and used as pawns in the political chess, he will stay on the U.S. side of the border. Doing what exactly? Who knows…he will probably join the ranks of former cartel bosses on TikTok, YouTube or singing for a living.
Were the reports true Ivan escaped an attempt to capture him recently?
As things are around Culiacán alliances are being broken and paranoid minds are on the loose. This means a lot of shootouts, chasing, arrests will ensue. But an operation against Ivan would have to come as a surgical operation. The rumors are it is more likely now to have Alfredo arrested than Ivan. But what authorities are trying to do is Ivan turn himself over.
Had you had any talks with Vicente about maybe an episode like with Mini Lic?
I have not. I reached out to family members. They shared good stories, they even praised my work as a journalist. But nothing on an interview with Vicente. I guess he said most of what he could say on Anabel’s ‘El Traidor’.
Ocran is saying El Flaquito is an informant. Thoughts?
For now I would take everything Ocran say with a grain of salt. We don’t really know who he is. He can suspect, we can guess, but do we know? Thus the agenda behind his sayings are still a mystery, let alone the truth of it all.
What cartels operate in Ciudad de México?
Almost every major cartel in Mexico has operations in Mexico City for the same reason almost every single major company has an office there: the concentration of political and economic power.
Some of them -even though authorities refuse to call them cartels- are Union Tepito, Fuerza Anti-Unión, Cártel de Tlahuac. Also, CJNG, Sinaloa Cartel and La Familia Michoacana.
Although there are many more considered local criminal groups like Los Malcriados, El Güero Fresa, Gota a Gota, Tanzania’s, Los Rodolfos, Nuevo Imperio, Los Rorros, Los Maceros and Don Agus, amongst some few other smaller groups or factions.
Have you kept in touch with Mini Lic?
After he left the Los Angeles hotel where we met for the interview, I asked Mini Lic and his escort to drop me off at a bar. I wanted to have enough time to figure out what was next for the interview. During the 15/20 minutes drive we agreed to stop all communication. A couple of weeks after the interview came out I received an anonymous message to one of my socials saying that he could be facing deportation back to Mexico. I will probably never know if that was him, his people, the DEA or just a random 15-year-old kid with access to the internet. I know that he also reached out to other journalists.
Is Mini Lic Ocran Leaks?
From over 90 questions I got this time on my Instagram this was the most repeated question by far. I get paid to be sure of what I write. Or to write that I don’t know and make a balance of the information available. That is what journalism is about. Not for guessing. I’m inclined to think he is only by the type of access to the information he shares. But the voice, the attitude, the architecture of his thoughts makes me think otherwise. I guess we will know whenever Ocran wants us to know.
What do you think about the TV show ‘El Señor de Los Cielos’?
If by the ‘show’ you mean the whole story behind his death during a plastic surgery, I think it was good for the 90’s but definitely a bad show for these times. The actors, the narrative and the locations are just not enough for me. I can’t say it was entertaining while it was on. It had all the elements: a face-changing surgery gone wrong, the doctors melted in acid, the fake death certificate…but wait. That’s the show we are talking about, right?
Are there cartels operating in Oaxaca City?
Probably the main criminal organization is the Cártel de Oaxaca or Cártel del Istmo, managed by the Díaz Parada family. Although the last of the brothers was arrested in 2007 and authorities call this organization as ‘inactive’, locals say the organization still operates as an ally of the Sinaloa Cartel. Also in 2023 CJNG announced a ‘clean up’ in Oaxaca city against rival cartels like Sinaloa, Guerreros Unidos and what was left from the Gulf Cartel.
Do you think ‘El Mayo’ will ever be caught?
Just today the US Department of Justice announced a fifth superseding indictment against ‘El Mayo’ and extended his operations of fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking to January this year. Basically saying he is still operating to this day. This was a bold move by US authorities to say they are still after him, unlike what people think. But this is just the talk. Will they walk the talk?
‘El Mayo’ serves a major purpose and for all we know could have switched the drug business for a major role in politics a while back. More than a mythical trafficker, ‘El Mayo’ is a negotiation: the middle man between active, newest factions of the super powerful Sinaloa Cartel and the Mexican authorities. He is the voice of consciousness for several drug lords, known and unknown. But also he is the US ears in no-mans land. Without ‘El Mayo’ the whole narrative of the war against drug cartels falls off…until they build a new figure big enough to live up after ‘El Mayo’…and if I had to guess, that figure is almost completed and it even begins with the same big ‘M’.
I’m in Canada, have heard for years about the Mennonite connections to the cartels in Chihuahua.
The big community of Mennonites living in Chihuahua, in Cuauhtemoc came originally from Canada, so I guess the family links are still standing strong. There has been some proven connections before between Chihuahua’s Mennonites and Canadians trafficking cocaine for the most part. I just think that the group is not big enough to pin our attention on their illegal activities other than the rest of the Mexican criminal organizations partnering with the Asian criminal community in Canada. A case I followed for a bit back then and probably worth a google search is Orson Black. You could probably find my story for The Guardian from back then for context.
What do you think will happen when Miguel Ángel Gallardo comes out of prison?
He would be near 80 when he leaves prison. He is in bad shape and I think the chances of him getting out alive are scarce. Although, if he manages to step outside jail even for a few years, I think he will receive more than one huge floral arrangement from the big capos out there as a show of respect. No more than that.
It would be awesome for you to make a podcast/video with Ed Calderón and Anabel Hernández.
Let’s hit up Ed and try to make it happen. Not quite sure about Anabel tho. She seems to be very skeptical of speaking with other colleagues and after that interview with Julio Astillero where she came off as childish, she probably won’t be around much to speak with other journos.
Have you tried to interview any of Los Chapitos?
I have. I’ve reached out through sources. Sent messages through people I know they know. I’ve said it out loud on my stories, that I would like to hear them out. On my end that is all I could do.
Try to interview ‘El Rey’ Zambada.
‘Pepe’ Garza did an awesome job at his interview! He stayed clear from trying to be a carte-journalist but probably did a best job than most. I’ll ask him if he could do me a solid and get me an in with ‘El Rey’.
How do you establish a source and keep yourself safe at the same time? Or do you just risk it?
This is never an easy task. But after over 15 years meeting up with complex sources from all arrays of life, I found that there are only two things that could keep me somewhat safe: respect for my job, my pen and my guts; and respect for the human life in front of me.
The hardest part is to bet the source and the information. But people are easy to read. It takes a call or a video conference to learn a lot about that person. To see why they are really willing to give you something. And also we, humans, are very basic, our agendas are almost the same every time. It really depends on each journalist to go with it or not.
Where do you see drug trafficking business in 10-20 years?
I think we will start seeing more and more business happening outside the US. The market is moving to Canada and Europe as the US keeps getting tighter. In Mexico we will definitely see an atomizations of criminal organizations before new big alliances. Also fentanyl and other opioids will grow in other countries as the drug doesn’t have an entry ban, it can be produced anywhere in the world with access to the chemicals needed. And lastly and probably most importantly, I think drug trafficking will remain as just one part of a diverse criminal portfolio by groups and independent criminals.
One narco you haven’t but would love to interview one on one?
I’ve said it before on other podcasts: IAG. I think as being born from El Chapo, being the oldest known, Iván could bring a story and a new perspective to what really is a criminal organization of that importance. What’s the sacrifices and the golden times. What’s the real revenue.
What happens to the cartel cash when found by the cops?
Most of the time it gets seized and it goes to one of the 60 warehouse owned by the Mexican government along with other goods like vehicles or planes. Only five percent of all the goods seized goes to a fund used to keep fighting against Mexican drug cartels.
In 2022 Mexican government proposed to use 100 per cent of that money towards the war against drug cartels, not a shy number with over 644 million dollars, according to official figures. The proposal stalled on Congress tho.
Will there be a coup ever in Mexico or a revolution?
Highly doubt it. Most of past social movements have happened with a strong political discomfort against the defacto power and not really by the people on their own. Right now the political class in Mexico altho its polarized, it is not critic of the system as a whole, no major reforms are being pushed, no major systematic changes are being proposed. This doesn’t mean people are not fed up, particularly with how security is handled in the country.
Hermano pa’ cuándo tus videos en Español?
Bien pronto compadre. Andamos trabajando en ello. Inicié mi contenido en inglés como una estrategia de seguridad y una decisión financiera también de aprovechar un mercado que tenía un espacio para el tipo de periodismo que hago, pero creo que ahora es buen momento de hacerlo también en español.
What is your thoughts on the safety in El Valle de Mexicali?
El Valle de Mexicali is getting hotter by the second. The groups operating the region like Los Rusos, Los Omega and the rival gangs operating for Los Chapitos are breaking old alliances and there is a lot of instability amongst them. I’m hearing rumors of treason within the same cartels, the recent arrest of ‘El Ruso’s’ sister and Los Omegas new alliances will try to dismantle Los Rusos, a known powerful organization even now they don’t have ‘El Mayo’s’ back up.
Is there a figure similar to El Salvador’s president raising through the political system in Mexico?
I don’t see anyone like Bukele in Mexico. The young hard-handed figure of Bukele would be difficult to replicate in a place like Mexico given how people perceive a politicians rhetoric against criminality. Even though most would say they are for going harder against criminals, a paralyzing crackdown like the one El Salvador has put in place would not only not survive in Mexico but it probably would end up with a president resignation.
Will US military forces attack Mexican cartels in Mexico?
The idea of a military action from US forces in Mexico has worked well at the republicans electoral rhetoric, but in reality it does not have structure. ‘Cartel’ is widely used at the conversation of a military attack in Mexico, but again, it is never detailed: by cartel what do they mean? Sicarios? The young adolescent kids? Or the financial structure making violence possible? Or taking over the Congress where most of the politicians are not only allowing but in business with criminal gangs? The existence of a judicial system in most part of the world allows us to avoid to commit war crimes and make sure that the people a government will act against are actually responsible for the said harm. Without it, there is no rule of law. It would be criminals against criminals.
What are you most proud of?
Im mostly proud of having lasted so long as a journalist. Not only for the safety risks Ive survived, but also because of the environment and the industry. Im proud of not only keeping but making my morals stronger, and pushing through stories with it like a sword. Proud of where honesty and transparency has gotten me and the fact that by doing what I’ve ever loved the most is allowing me to serve a community that many times feel helpless. Im proud of supporting my family through my honest work.