Borderland: Narcosis with Vincent 'Rocco' Vargas

Today's guest is Will Grant.

He is the BBC's Mexico, Central America and Cuba correspondent, based in Mexico City.

Borderland: Narcosis is an IRONCLAD Original.

Chapters

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:02:24) Bukele vs. Haiti's Gangs

(00:07:14) Can Mexico Copy El Salvador's Crackdown?

(00:12:11) On the Ground After El Mencho's Death

(00:20:43) From Cop to Cartel Boss

(00:26:57) Will CJNG Fracture?

(00:31:21) The Intel Behind the El Mencho Operation

(00:37:03) What Americans Get Wrong About Mexico

(00:44:40) Daily Life in Cartel Territory

(00:49:20) Reporting in One of the World's Deadliest Places

(00:52:53) Do Cartels Shape Media Coverage?

(00:56:48) Populism and the Strongman Appeal

(01:02:33) Where to Find Will

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Hels Apffel is an investigative correspondent, Florida State Guard Public Affairs Sergeant, journalist who works with groups including The GOAT Initiative, an organization that tracks smuggling and security threats on the southern border, and is the Editorial Producer at America Now.

Change Agents is an IRONCLAD Original

Chapters

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:01:03) How the GoTo Initiative Collects Intel at the Border

(00:02:48) Special Interest Aliens

(00:04:14) Agencies That Passed on the Intel

(00:08:13) The Gap Between Federal Agencies

(00:13:29) Cartels and Smuggling Fees

(00:15:08) Illegal Marijuana Grows in California

(00:23:16) JVR Energy Park Near San Diego

(00:26:08) Missing Migrant Children

(00:33:17) Outro

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Katarina Szulc joins Vince 'Rocco' Vargas to discuss her latest investigation into foreign fighters in Ukraine, cartel paramilitary groups, the state of trafficking, and the law enforcement wars on cartels.

Borderland: Narcosis is an IRONCLAD Original

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Cartels Recruiting Foreign Fighters From Ukraine

(00:07:45) Are Cartels Really Threatening to Kidnap Federal Agents?

(00:13:21) Colombian Mercenaries & the Los Zetas Playbook

(00:21:41) US Drones & Lethal Boat Strikes in Latin America

(00:31:00) How Cocaine Moves Now: Ports, Shipping Containers & Tunnels

(00:35:50) Shield of the Americas & Latin American Autonomy

(00:38:45) What's Next

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Stephen Dudley is the co-founder and co-director of InSight Crime, a think tank focused on organized crime in the Americas.

Borderland: Narcosis is an IRONCLAD Original.

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Brazil's Organized Crime Landscape: PCC and Red Command

(00:07:15) Marcola, the PCC's Leadership, and the 2006 São Paulo Shutdown

(00:10:41) How the PCC Compares to Mexican Cartels

(00:15:05) PCC's Global Partners, U.S. Presence, and $1B Crypto Laundering

(00:20:05) Red Command, the Amazon Cocaine Corridor, and Tren de Aragua in Brazil

(00:26:10) Ideology, Criminal Governance, and the U.S. Terrorist Designations

(00:35:40) CJNG After El Mencho and Why the Kingpin Strategy Fails

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Pierre Rausini is an author, former Los Angeles trafficking kingpin, and cartel expert.

To learn more about Pierre's drug case and arrest, check out: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/drug-kingpin-who-ordered-slayings-gets-40-year-2759011.php?cmpid=gsa-sfgate-result

To learn more about Pierre's story, check out: Devil Exposed: A Twisted Tale of Drug Trafficking, Corruption & Murder in the City of Angels.

Borderland: Narcosis is an IRONCLAD Original.

Chapters:

(00:00:00) The $25M Reward and the Failure of the Kingpin Strategy

(00:02:54) Juan Carlos Valencia: Family Lineage and Rise to Power

(00:09:41) CJNG Money Laundering and Why Jalisco Is Different from Sinaloa

(00:16:17) Paramilitary Wings and the U.S.-Directed Mexican Special Forces

(00:23:49) Billionaire Financiers, La Plaza System and CIA Operations in Mexico

(00:30:05) Sinaloa Civil War and Who Comes Out on Top

(00:35:08) How to Actually Take Down the Cartels: Protection Networks, Finances, Choke Points

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Scott McGregor is a former Canadian military intelligence operator, intelligence advisor to federal law enforcement, former Senior Intelligence Officer, policy analyst under a provincial Attorney General, and a Senior Fellow and Security Advisor to the Council on Countering Hybrid Warfare.

He is the Founder and Principle Commentator at HybridWar.ca and is the co-author of the book, “The Mosaic Effect: How the Chinese Communist Party Started a Hybrid War in America's Backyard.”

Borderland: Narcosis is an IRONCLAD Original.

Chapters

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:00:58) Scott McGregor's Background

(00:04:08) China Named a Major Drug Producing Country

(00:09:26) The Scope of China's Network in North America

(00:14:16) How Precursors Enter Canada

(00:17:09) Inside Canada's Domestic Super Labs

(00:19:37) Indian Transnational Crime Networks

(00:23:00) Iran, Hezbollah, and Organized Crime in Canada

(00:26:55) Canada's Limited Law Enforcement Capacity

(00:30:15) How Cartels Launder Money Through China

(00:35:47) China's Long-Term Goal for Canada and the U.S.

(00:38:49) Outro

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Joe Hefferon, a former New Jersey police captain with 25 years experience in law enforcement. Is a writer and investigative reporter, who recently published an incredible deep-dive piece on the arrest of El Mayo and what really happened.

You can check out his piece on his Substack : https://substack.com/home/post/p-213457916

Borderland: Narcosis is an IRONCLAD Original.

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Cold Open

(00:05:11) Cartel Torture Tactics

(00:07:06) The El Mayo Extraction: How It Happened

(00:18:20) Did the FBI Know? The Cover-Up Questions

(00:22:29) Why Joaquin Set Up the Kidnapping

(00:26:05) The Pilot's Fate and Extradition

(00:36:48) Aftermath: Civil War and 4,000 Dead

(00:44:46) Cartels Expanding North and Abroad

(00:48:16) Joe's Next Investigation

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Today's guest is Kim Bolan. Kim is an award-winning investigative reporter for the Vancouver Sun, where she has covered gangs and organized crime for over four decades, including the Air India bombing, the Robert Pickton case, and the Surrey Six gangland slaying. She runs the anti-gang blog The Real Scoop and is the author of Loss of Faith: How the Air India Bombers Got Away with Murder. She recently reported on the FBI's Operation Hardball investigation into transnational gangs operating out of Canada.

Borderland: Narcosis is an IRONCLAD Original.

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:00:40) Operation Hardball the Bishnoi gang investigation

(00:02:16) The assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar

(00:05:11) The extortion campaign targeting the South Asian community

(00:12:48) Ryan Wedding: Olympian turned major trafficker

(00:20:10) Rural drug labs, BC Bud, and the meth/fentanyl economy

(00:26:41) Why Canada isn't the "Next Mexico" yet

(00:30:11) Port corruption and Hells Angels on the docks

(00:34:21) Creative smuggling border crossings and hidden compartments

(00:40:11) Closing thoughts

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The Uprising:

Only in theaters this Thursday. Get tickets.

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Vince “Rocco” Vargas sits down with Katarina Szulc to discuss her recent investigation in Tlaxcala, Mexico (which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rXThHW2xeg), an uptick in violence in Zacatecas, cartels operating Canada and more.

Borderland: Narcosis is an IRONCLAD Original.

Chapters

(00:00:37) Being chased on camera while reporting in Mexico

(00:04:09) The cartel's PR angle and the FTO designation debate

(00:06:33) Claudia Sheinbaum's stress and Mexican political intrigue

(00:12:38) Car bombings and cartel war in Zacatecas

(00:17:10) Hells Angels' role in Canada's drug trade

(00:21:23) Why prosecution fails in Canada

(00:26:42) Record-low border seizures vs. ongoing drug flow

(00:29:22) How smuggling methods have shifted — tunnels, aircraft

(00:37:16) What's next for Katarina

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Today's guest is Sean Williams. Sean is an investigative report whose work has apeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, Rolling Stone, GQ, The Daily Beast, The New Republic, Wired, The Economist, The Guardian, Sports Illustrated and many more.

He host The Underworld Podcast, a weekly show investigating global organized crime with journalist Danny Gold.

He recently spent 4 weeks in Havana investigating the situation there.

Borderland: Narcosis is an IRONCLAD Original.

Sponsors:

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Marek Health:

The Uprising:

Now-8/26: Only in theaters September 10. Watch The Trailer.

8/27-9/6: Only in theaters September 10. Get tickets.

*9/7-9/9: Only in theaters this Thursday. Get tickets.

9/10-on: Now playing only in theaters. Get tickets.

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