CrashOut Podcast

This is an interview I conducted in 2019 with former Mexican President Felipe Calderón for my book Blood Gun Money: How America Arms Gangs and Cartel.  I am releasing the audio of the interview today to coincide with the release of the book, which you can find from all good booksellers, in print, kindle or as an audio book. 

I interviewed former President Calderón, who ruled Mexico from 2006 to 2012, especially to ask about his attempts to fight firearms trafficking from the United States, and how much he knew about Fast and Furious - a botched operation by the ATF to follow firearms being smuggled by the cartels. 

However, the interview also goes into detail about former President Calderón's crackdown on drug cartels, the accusations of corruption, the death of his Interior Secretary in a mysterious plane crash and much more. 

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This is a debate with my friend and fellow writer Malcolm Beith, author The Last Narco, about whether the War on Drugs, which turns 50 last year, will change under Biden-Harris. I argue that there is hope and opportunity for a deescalation. He argues they will ramp it up.

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Following the arrest of ex Mexican defense minister General Cienfuegos, I have a very late night chat with Mike Vigil, who served decades in the DEA, going undercover with traffickers. He was the longest serving agent in Mexico and also went to Central America and Colombia and arrested major traffickers. He reveals fascinating details about arrest of Cienfuegos and his time working with the Mexican security forces.

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I talk with legendary Mexican journalist Temoris Grecko about his new book Killing The Story, looking at the incessant attacks on Mexican journalists. More than 150 journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000, putting it alongside Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan as the most perilous countries in the world for the trade. We talk about the impunity, journalists fighting on, solutions, fears and hope. The book can be found at: 

https://www.amazon.com.mx/Killing-Story-Journalists-Risking-Uncover/dp/1620975025

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There's a crazy story of what could be the biggest boxing fight in history, with a purse of $200 million per fight, of Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua for 2021 and the involvement of an Irish crime family linked to trafficking cocaine and heroin into Europe. I talk to Nicola Tallant, crime editor of Ireland's Sunday World who has been following Irish gangsters for two decades.
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Thanks to Leon Ricciardi and Jazzology for beats.

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