When Ghaleb Krame was working in the security department in Tamaulipas, he arranged to go for a breakfast in a prestigious restaurant in state capital Ciudad Victoria. However, he canceled at the last minute, which was lucky as gunmen came and sprayed it up. He soon learned he had a price on his head.

This is only one of many intense incidents in Krame’s crazy life that spirals through security, intelligence, academia and consulting, not only in his homeland of Mexico, but in Europe and the Middle East, where his family hails from. He went as a teenager to Lebanon and learned to shoot with the Syrian army and after September 11 was a valuable asset in the UK.

His unorthodox life contributes to making him one of the most interesting and outspoken former officials on Mexican security. While many here in Mexico understandably try to avoid the subject of cartels and crime, Krame digs deep into it. He recognized the cartel use of drones early and now foresees the development of AI drone swarms. He analyzes how sicarios operate as irregular armed forces.

Like with any guest, I don’t agree with everything Krame says, and may disagree strongly on certain points, but he is a fascinating thinker and in this episode we get into a range of subjects including the death of El Mencho (or is he really dead, Krame asks), the CIA agents (or officers!) in Chihuahua, the shooting at Teotihuacán, a divided country under Morena (he is a big critic), and hope for a less violent Mexico. I recommend listening through as the convo gets more intense as we go on.

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