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The kidnapping of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada on July 25, 2024, and his rendition to New Mexico, where he was handed into U.S. agents, is one of the craziest events in decades of crazy cartel wars in Mexico. It has huge implications, sparking a Sinaloa Cartel civil war, that has seen more than 3,800 murders, 4,400 kidnappings and 211 people shot dead by soldiers in the state in two years. Yet there is still much we need to learn about the incident, and especially the role of U.S. agents. Joe Hefferon, a former New Jersey police captain, conducted an excellent investigation, which I discuss with him on this episode of the CrashOut podcast, and you can also read here. He discovers fascinating info that point to a wider role of U.S. federal agents in what they have already said was called “Operation Air Kings.” The most important findings include - The tail number of the Beechcraft King Air that transported Mayo was cloned from a New Mexico company but also used in another plane in Brazil. This suggests use of the number in federal government operations. A military plane landed in the Doña Ana County airfield shortly before the landing of Mayo. Wording of a U.S. government message about “a highly complex, secretive, and daring arrest” suggests a much bigger role than simply arresting Mayo off the plane. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This morning at 11 am New York time, Judge Brian Cogan, who also sentenced Mayo’s partner El Chapo and corrupt security chief Genaro García Luna, handed Mayo a life sentence. The aging godfather received the sentence after limping into the court room in an orange jumpsuit, and reportedly exclaimed an “hay c****n!” (or a “damn, man!”) to show his difficulty getting up, according to reporters in the gallery. He apologized for his crimes and gave a short sermon about needing to end the cartel wars in Mexico. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I talk to top crime journalist David Matthews about the truth of gangs, robbery and drugs in London and across the UK. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I look at the bombshell indictment of governor Rubén Rocha on drug trafficking charges. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

CrashOut talks to Danny Gold and Sean Williams at The Underworld podcast about the five dumbest ever crime stories. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I look at the case of the CIA agents who died on Sunday in Mexico. For more info, go to: www.crashoutmedia.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I talk with Ángel Hernández about the many narco trials he is covering in the U.S., including Rafael Caro Quintero, Nicolás Maduro and Ryan Wedding. For more info and to support, go to www.crashoutmedia.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gustavo Grav has spent years documenting the cholos of the Mexico City urban area and brings us great photos and video.  See a full photo essay and more info at: www.crashoutmedia.com  See more of Gustavo's work at: www.gustavograf.com and on   / gustavograf_   Support the show Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

While El Mencho has been buried in a golden casket, we are yet to see a photo of his corpse (those that have been circulated have been found to be fake). When I went to the cabins where Mencho’s was captured I found some curious details that didn’t add up, including .50 caliber shells inside a room with no visible damage to the walls or windows. There could of course be a non-nefarious explanation. But without a real disclosure of what happened, there are many questions around “the last stand of El Mencho.”  For more info, go to: www.ioangrillo.com Support the show Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In huge news, the Mexican army with U.S. intelligence killed El Mencho, boss of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the operatives unleashed terror across Mexico.  For more info, go to: www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Those who follow Venezuela will remember news of the militias that took to the streets in the days following the U.S. operation to nab Nicolás Maduro, raising fears of a Beirut-like situation of armed neighborhoods. While these militias, known as colectivos, returned to their bunkers as Delcy Rodríguez consolidated power, they remain a wild card in the volatile Venezuela situation.  The fleeting news reports only scratched the surface and gave little info about how powerful these Chavista colectivos are and where that might stand in post-Maduro Venezuela. But a friend of CrashOut, Martín “Marty” Markovits, spent years filming with crews in Caracas, producing an incredible documentary about them. In this convo, I talk with Marty about the history of the colectivos, who gave them their guns and how difficult it would be to disarm them. He also describes a scene which his main character didn’t want in the film about a meeting between colectivos and ELN guerillas.  For more info and to support the podcast, go to www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Osiel Cárdenas, head of the Gulf Cartel, has eyes like the devil, former DEA Agent Mike Chavarria says, describing when he debriefed him after his extradition. “Looking in his eyes was like looking into a dark abyss,” he says. Osiel’s rival Armando “Maradona” Valencia, meanwhile, is an intellectual. He was always looking slick when Mike met the narco in safe locations and he began negotiations for a potential surrender. Azul is widely believed to be dead but Mike has heard info he could have escaped to the Seychelles.  I have talked to many current and former DEA agents over the years but Mike is one of the most fascinating. He was not only at the center of a dozen crazy cases, especially in a violent crazy period in Mexico, but he joins the dots to chronicle the bloody cartel history and has been using this knowledge to pen books, including “Junior: A Son of the Gulf Cartel,” which you can find here.  On this episode of the CrashOut Podcast, Mike breaks down how he went undercover to bust dope, his secret meetings with narcos, suspecting Mexican security chief Genaro García Luna before his conviction for cocaine trafficking, and Trump’s new war on drugs. It’s a nuts ride through a painful era.  Support the show Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Reports have come out alleging that Venezuelan vice president Delcy Rodríguez coordinated with Washington before the special force attack on Caracas to seize President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3. The result is a strange hybrid of Venezuela’s socialist government still in place and now working with (or rather under) President Donald Trump.  It’s not the only curious and confusing feature of the “regime decapitation.” The CIA is now openly praising working with Rodríguez and it leaked a report saying that opposition leader María Corina Machado didn’t have the support (before she gave her Nobel peace prize to Trump). Can the Chavista government stay in power or is this a temporary situation? What really motivated Trump to take out Maduro and when did he make the call?  I get deep into the historic events with great journalist and friend Juan David Rojas, “our man in Miami,” (or close by in South Florida) in this latest episode of the CrashOut Podcast. You can find more of Juan’s work in various outlets, including Compact Magazine, at his own Substack, Social Democracy With Populist Characteristics, or on X at @rojasrjuand. To find out more, go to  www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The growth of the National Liberation Army or ELN, a sprawling guerilla force of 6,500 combatants shifting between Venezuela and Colombia, has hardly got any attention in the United States. Yet it’s just one of various explosive stories from the Colombia-Venezuela border, where spies, gangs, and insurgents are adjusting to the new political situation after U.S. special forces took out Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.  Here I cut together video from a week reporting in Cúcuta and in the countryside north of the city, so you can see with your own eyes the dirt smuggling paths, border barrio of Venezuelan refugees, Colombian armored vehicles, contraband gasoline and more colorful scenes. It’s a CrashOut guerrilla podcast, but while it has a jagged edge style we go deeper than in the snappy cable news lives.  Check out more at: www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.