Your Life as Every Mexican Cartel Rank — Transcript

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1. 0:00Level one, the lookout. The plaza boss
2. 0:03needs eyes everywhere. That's you.
3. 0:05You're 15, sitting on a plastic chair
4. 0:07outside a convenience store in Kyakan.
5. 0:09You have a phone, a Coke, and one job.
6. 0:12Watch the road. If you see military
7. 0:14trucks, you text a bird. If you see
8. 0:16black SUVs with tiny windows, you text a
9. 0:19snake. That means rival cartel. You paid
10. 0:21$100 a week. Cash. No questions. The
11. 0:25other guys don't talk to [music] you.
12. 0:26Your furniture. But you're learning. You
13. 0:28see how the system works. The police
14. 0:31drive by twice a day. They [music] wave.
15. 0:33They're on payroll. The real threat is
16. 0:35the Marines. They can't be [music]
17. 0:37bought. One day, a convoy rolls through.
18. 0:40You freeze. You forgot to send the
19. 0:42warning. 30 seconds later, your phone
20. 0:44explodes with messages. [music] Where
21. 0:46were you? You asleep? A man appears next
22. 0:48to you. He doesn't yell. He just looks
23. 0:51at you. Next time, we bury you in the
24. 0:53desert. You don't forget again. Level
25. 0:55two, the transporter. You're 18. A man
26. 0:59approaches you at a gas station. You
27. 1:01know how to drive? Of course you do.
28. 1:03Good. Tomorrow, 6:00 a.m. Warehouse on
29. 1:06the south side. You show up. There's a
30. 1:08white semi-truck. The cargo area is
31. 1:10loaded with watermelons. Hundreds of
32. 1:12them. Underneath the watermelons welded
33. 1:15into the floor are 500 kg of
34. 1:18methamphetamine. Your route? Sinaloa to
35. 1:21Tijuana. 8 hours. If you get stopped,
36. 1:24you are in prison for 20 years. If you
37. 1:27make it, you get 3,000. You drive. Every
38. 1:30time you see headlights in the mirror,
39. 1:31your stomach drops, but you make it. You
40. 1:34park at a warehouse. Men don't know the
41. 1:37truck. One of them hands you an
42. 1:38envelope. You've never held this much
43. 1:40money in your life. You do it again next
44. 1:42week. And the week after, you're making
45. 1:44more in a month than your father made in
46. 1:46a year before the cartel killed him for
47. 1:48refusing to sell his [music] land. Your
48. 1:50work becomes routine. You stop being
49. 1:52scared. That's when people get sloppy.
50. 1:55That's when they get caught. Your cousin
51. 1:56gets arrested at a checkpoint. He's 15
52. 1:59years in Alip Planto. Your cartel
53. 2:01doesn't send lawyers. They just find a
54. 2:03new driver. Level three, the collector.
55. 2:06You've been driving for 2 years. No
56. 2:08arrests, no accidents. You've proven
57. 2:10you're reliable. Now they give you a gun
58. 2:12and a list of addresses. You're a
59. 2:14collector. Business owners in the plaza
60. 2:16pay a monthly tax. It's not optional. A
61. 2:19taco stand pays 500. A pharmacy pays
62. 2:212,000. A nightclub pays 10,000. You go
63. 2:24door to door. You collect the envelopes.
64. 2:27Most people pay without issue. They know
65. 2:29the rules, but there's always someone
66. 2:31who thinks they're smart. A restaurant
67. 2:33owner tells you he can't pay this month.
68. 2:35Business is slow. You nod. You leave.
69. 2:39You come back that night with two other
70. 2:40guys. You smash every window. You break
71. 2:43every table. You beat the owner
72. 2:45unconscious in his own kitchen. The next
73. 2:47month, he pays double. You're making
74. 2:491,500 a week. You buy a used BMW. You
75. 2:53buy your mom a new house. She doesn't
76. 2:55ask where the money comes from. She just
77. 2:56cries and hugs you, but you're also now
78. 2:58a target. Rival cartels want your
79. 3:00territory. The government [music] wants
80. 3:02to make examples. Every time you
81. 3:04collect, you're exposed. Level four, the
82. 3:08cell leader. You're 25. You run a cell.
83. 3:1110 men. Your job is simple. Move product
84. 3:14and protect territory. The cartel
85. 3:16supplies you with 100 kilos of cocaine
86. 3:18every month. You break it down. You sell
87. 3:21it to distributors. You send the money
88. 3:23up the chain. You keep 10%. That's
89. 3:25$50,000 to $100,000 a month in your
90. 3:28pocket. You're also responsible for
91. 3:30security. If CJNJ decides to try to move
92. 3:33into your plaza, you respond with
93. 3:35violence. You don't wait for orders, you
94. 3:37handle it. A rival crew kills one of
95. 3:39your lookouts. You find where they
96. 3:41operate. You send six guys with AK-47s.
97. 3:44They walk into a bar and open fire. Then
98. 3:4612 people die. Five of them were the
99. 3:48civilians. It makes the news. The
100. 3:50government promises justice, but the
101. 3:53governor is on payroll. Nothing happens.
102. 3:55You're living well. You have a house
103. 3:57with a pool. You have a girlfriend who
104. 3:59thinks you own a construction company.
105. 4:01You have respect, but you're also
106. 4:03managing chaos. Your men are young and
107. 4:05stupid. [music] They get high on their
108. 4:06own supply. They start fights. They
109. 4:09attract attention. You have to
110. 4:10discipline them. Sometimes that means a
111. 4:12beating. Sometimes that just means a
112. 4:14bullet. And the pressure from above is
113. 4:16constant. The regional boss wants more
114. 4:18money. Always more. If you don't
115. 4:20deliver, you're replaced. And
116. 4:22replacement is permanent. Level five,
117. 4:25the regional operator. You control a
118. 4:27city now. Maybe it's Reosa or Novo. You
119. 4:31have five cell leaders reporting to you.
120. 4:33You manage a supply, the distribution,
121. 4:36and the violence. Your meetings are in a
122. 4:38safe house that change every week. You
123. 4:40arrive in armored SUVs. You have
124. 4:42bodyguards. You carry a gold-plated
125. 4:45pistol you've never actually fired. Your
126. 4:47job is to think strategically. The plaza
127. 4:49boss wants to expand into a neighborhood
128. 4:51state. You plan the operation. You
129. 4:54identify the weak points in the warville
130. 4:55cartel's territory. You bribe local
131. 4:57police to stand down. You coordinate the
132. 4:59assault. 30 of your men roll into the
133. 5:01town at 3:00 a.m. They kill the rival
134. 5:03cell leader and his crew. They hang
135. 5:05bodies from a bridge with a message.
136. 5:07This plaza belongs to Sinaloa. You also
137. 5:10manage the money. Millions of dollars
138. 5:11flow through your hands every month. You
139. 5:13can't deposit in the bank. You launder
140. 5:15it. You buy restaurants, car washes,
141. 5:18construction companies, legitimate
142. 5:20businesses that hide
143. 5:21>> [music]
144. 5:21>> illegal profits. You're making $200,000
145. 5:24a month. You have properties in three
146. 5:26states. You have a wife and kids who
147. 5:28live separately from your work life. You
148. 5:29tell them you're an import expert guy.
149. 5:32They don't ask questions, but the walls
150. 5:34are closing in. The DEA has your phone
151. 5:36tapped. You know this because your
152. 5:38lawyer told you. So, you communicate
153. 5:40through messengers. You meet in person.
154. 5:42You speak in code. You're also fighting
155. 5:44a two-front war. The government wants
156. 5:46you arrested. Rival cartels want you
157. 5:48dead. And ambitious men in your own
158. 5:50organization want your position. You
159. 5:52sleep 4 hours a night. You trust no one
160. 5:55completely, not even your brother. Level
161. 5:57six, the plaza boss. You run the state.
162. 6:01Every drug shipment, every murder, every
163. 6:03bribe goes through you. You have 500 men
164. 6:05working under you. You generate $20
165. 6:08million a month for the cartel. But
166. 6:10you're a ghost. The public doesn't know
167. 6:12your face. You don't do interviews. You
168. 6:15don't appear in photos. You live in a
169. 6:17compound in the mountains, 20ft [music]
170. 6:19walls, armed guards, attack dogs. Your
171. 6:22work is politics. You negotiate with
172. 6:25other cartels to avoid unnecessary wars.
173. 6:28You meet with governors and generals.
174. 6:29[music] You don't threaten them, you
175. 6:31make them offers. A suitcase with $2
176. 6:34million, a share of the profits, a piece
177. 6:36of the empire. Most of them take it. The
178. 6:39ones who don't, they get exposed. Photos
179. 6:42of them with mistresses, evidence of
180. 6:44corruption. Their careers are destroyed.
181. 6:47And if they still refuse, they
182. 6:49disappear. You're also a CEO. You manage
183. 6:52logistics on a massive scale. Cocaine
184. 6:54from Colombia, precursor chemicals from
185. 6:57China, marijuana from the mountains,
186. 6:59heroin from poppy fields. You coordinate
187. 7:02shipments across continents. You manage
188. 7:04tunnels under the border. You manage
189. 7:05[music] submarines. You manage drones.
190. 7:08You're making $1 million a month
191. 7:10personally, but money is just a number
192. 7:11on the screen. You have everything you
193. 7:13could want and nothing you actually
194. 7:14need. You can't go to your daughter's
195. 7:16kinsetta. That's too dangerous. You
196. 7:18can't visit your mother's grave. Snipers
197. 7:20might be waiting. You live in a golden
198. 7:22cage and the paranoia is eating you
199. 7:24alive. Your head of security might be
200. 7:26working for the DEA. Your accountant
201. 7:28might be skimming. Your right-hand man
202. 7:30might be planning a coupe. You execute
203. 7:31two of your men based off suspicion
204. 7:33alone. Better be safe than sorry. Level
205. 7:36seven, the cartel leader. You built
206. 7:38this. Maybe you inherited it from your
207. 7:40father or your uncle. Maybe you killed
208. 7:43your way to the top. Either way, you're
209. 7:45the boss now. Your organization moves
210. 7:47100 tons of cocaine a year. You have
211. 7:50cells in 15 countries. You have
212. 7:52politicians in six states under your
213. 7:53control. You're worth $3 billion, but
214. 7:57your name is on every wander list in the
215. 7:58world. The US has 10 million bounty on
216. 8:01you. The Mexican government has special
217. 8:03forces hunting you. You move between
218. 8:04safe houses every 3 days. You
219. 8:07communicate through encrypted messages
220. 8:08that are destroyed after being read.
221. 8:10You've had plastic surgery twice. Your
222. 8:13own children don't even recognize you.
223. 8:14You meet with the leaders of other
224. 8:16cartels. You divide Mexico not like a
225. 8:18business deal. You get Sinaloa and
226. 8:20Sonora. They get Tammy Lupas and Vera
227. 8:23[music] Cruz. Everyone makes money.
228. 8:25Everyone stays alive, but it never
229. 8:27lasts. Someone always gets greedy. War
230. 8:29breaks [clears throat] out. Hundreds
231. 8:30die. Towns become battlefields. and you
232. 8:33can't stop. If you try to retire, your
233. 8:35own people will kill you. You know too
234. 8:37much. [music] You're too dangerous to be
235. 8:39left alive. You're the most powerful
236. 8:40criminal in the Western Hemisphere.
237. 8:42You're also the most hunted man on
238. 8:44Earth. Level eight. Supermax. They got
239. 8:47you. Maybe it was a raid. Maybe it was a
240. 8:50betrayal. But you're in the cell of ADX
241. 8:52Florence, Colorado. 23 hours a day in
242. 8:55isolation. Concrete walls, steel door,
243. 8:57[music]
244. 8:58no windows. You'll die here. There's no
245. 9:00escape, no bribery works, no army can
246. 9:03break you out. El Chapo drive twice.
247. 9:06He's in the cell next to yours now. You
248. 9:08had billions. You had an empire. Now you
249. 9:10have four concrete walls in the rest of
250. 9:12your life to think about every person
251. 9:13you killed to get there.
252. 9:15Level 9, the successor. But the cartel
253. 9:18doesn't die with you. Your nephew takes
254. 9:20over or your son or your lieutenant.
255. 9:23Someone always steps up. The drugs keep
256. 9:25flowing. The money keeps moving. The
257. 9:28bodies keep piling up. The cycle never
258. 9:30ends. You were the king. Now you're a
259. 9:32legend. A cautionary tale. A ghost story
260. 9:35that parents tell their kids. This is
261. 9:37what happens when you get too greedy.
262. 9:38[music] When you think you're
263. 9:39untouchable, but there's always another
264. 9:41kid in Kolyakan sitting outside a
265. 9:43convenience store watching the road,
266. 9:45waiting for his chance. This is the
267. 9:47cartel, not a gang. A business. A
268. 9:50billion dollar empire built on blood and
269. 9:52corruption. And it's still running.