Battle of Culiacan: Heirs of the Cartel (2025) s01e01 Episode Script
Black Thursday
[intense music playing]
[reporter 1]
There are reports of gunfights
in various parts of Culiacán, Sinaloa.
[gunshots]
-[gunshots]
-[indistinct shouting]
[Issa] There were hours
of anguish and terror
-[indistinct clamor]
-but also, many hours of uncertainty.
You can't imagine what really happened
during the Culiacanazo.
[gunshots]
-[soldier] Up!
-[gunshots]
JANUARY 9, 2016
SINALOA, MEXICO
[soldier] Get in, get in!
[Anne Milgram in English]
The DEA took down the previous leader
of the Sinaloa Cartel, Chapo Guzmán.
[Fulton in Spanish] Without El Chapo,
cartels keep working
like the big business that they are.
While El Chapo
was the boss on the surface,
El Mayo was the boss in the mountains.
El Chapo's sons took control
of part of the Sinaloa Cartel
-after their father's arrest.
-[camera shutter clicking]
They took their dad. And they started
to look after the family business.
[journalist in English] Fentanyl is
killing tens of thousands of Americans
every year.
[in Spanish] The most powerful drug
that has ever existed in history.
The DEA labels Ovidio
as the King of Fentanyl.
[ex-soldier] Ovidio became very famous
and that's what the US is looking for.
Suddenly, our commander says,
"Stay alert, the operation starts now."
[reporter] The operation
to capture Ovidio Guzmán,
the son of Chapo Guzmán, was unsuccessful.
[soldier 1] Out, out!
-[overlapping chatter]
-[soldier 2] You have a gun on you?
The whole world knew
-about the Culiacanazo.
-[gunshots]
Many times, they're better armed
than the law enforcement themselves.
-Who sold them those weapons?
-Who wanted it to fail?
I ordered to stop the operation.
A cartel can even get
to the presidency, in a way.
El Chapo's sons
began to have too much power.
When I read "Jesús María,"
I realized it was true,
they were after Ovidio.
What happened in Jesús María
was real combat.
[gunshots]
[camera shutter clicking]
[in English]
I don't think AMLO is doing anything
to attack drug trafficking in Mexico.
[camera shutter clicking]
[Marcelo in Spanish] "I need you
to not send more weapons."
It's exactly the same as when you ask me
not to bring fentanyl into the US.
[cartel member] Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada
is the undeniable leader
of the Sinaloa Cartel. He is the founder.
It is incredible that Zambada's son
testified against El Chapo Guzmán.
[camera shutter clicking]
Will Ovidio Guzmán have the ability
to withstand a life sentence?
Mexican drug lord,
Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada,
as well as Joaquín Guzmán Lopez,
Chapo Guzmán's son,
were arrested in El Paso, Texas.
[Ioan] When we got the news
of El Mayo's capture,
I thought, "Well, fuck."
Surely, the war will be the biggest
we have ever experienced in Culiacán.
[music intensifies]
The rules are clear for drug traffickers.
-[music stops]
-Bullets make them so.
[tense music resumes]
-[gunshot]
-[siren wailing]
[theme music playing]
[theme music concludes]
BATTLE OF CULIACAN: HEIRS OF THE CARTEL
-[mellow guitar music playing]
-[birds chirping]
EPISODE ONE
BLACK THURSDAY
[radio host] Good morning, Culiacán,
the heart of Sinaloa.
From the Mexican Northwest,
between the mountains
and the Pacific Ocean,
where we start the day energized.
Traffic is normal
on our main downtown avenues.
The weather today will be pleasant,
with clear skies,
and a perfect temperature
we haven't seen
It was a normal day,
91 degrees Fahrenheit,
which to us is pleasant.
OCTOBER 17, 2019
[Luis] Mothers picking up
their children from school,
others going to buy groceries
He had school,
and then we went to pick him up.
[radio host 1] If you are out
on the street with your families,
we hope you enjoy
this beautiful day in the city.
MEXICAN ARMY HQ
-[tense music playing]
-[water trickling]
[ex-soldier] As it was, we didn't know
what was going to happen.
They just told us, "Go to Culiacán."
We had no instructions
as to who they were exactly.
But on our way there,
when they started giving their orders,
we learned it was Chapo Guzmán's son,
so we realized it was a huge priority.
It was one of the most shocking things
that ever happened
in my career as a police officer.
12:00 P.M.
THE OPERATION STARTS
[siren wailing]
[ex-soldier] Culiacán is a place
very much controlled
by the Sinaloa Cartel.
They've got people watching you
from the moment you enter Culiacán.
-[indistinct chatter over radio]
-[motorcycle engine revving]
[ex-soldier] They're on their bikes,
with radios, and they follow you.
So, there's people watching you
and reporting your movements.
OBJECTIVE - 9TH MILITARY ZONE
ARMY - SICARIOS
So, they were patrolling the streets
where we were rolling,
and that's when things
started to get tense.
[ominous music playing]
Around noon,
the first alerts start coming in,
saying there was a confrontation
in the Tres Ríos area, in Culiacán.
[reporter over radio]
The streets are also blocked.
The population of Culiacán
is being warned, avoid taking your cars.
[Jesús] I grabbed my camera,
and whatever I needed,
because it was my job,
as an independent reporter,
and I headed toward the Tres Ríos area.
When I got there,
I saw some people hiding behind cars.
[siren wailing]
[Jesús] I stopped right behind them,
without realizing, at that moment,
what was happening.
Then, when I came really close,
I saw those people pull out rifles
and start shooting.
[bystander 1] We got some scumbags
down here on the avenue.
-[gunshots]
-[bystander 1] Damn!
[bystander 2] a black one. A Ford Lobo.
-[gunshots]
-[bystander 2] A Mazda-- Jeez!
They're shooting! Let's go!
[foreboding music playing]
We heard a strange noise, really close by.
I turned to look at my husband.
We exchanged looks
and right away he said, "It's fireworks."
I said, "It's not fireworks.
Those are gunshots."
-[gunshots in distance]
-[birds chirping]
-[passerby 1] Run! Run!
-[indistinct clamoring]
[passerby 2] Get in here!
[passerby 3] Help me with the girl!
[gunshots]
[onlooker] In front of Salón 53.
In front of Salón 53.
[Luis] As the attacks started
in different places,
almost at the same time,
quite simultaneously,
since they had ordered
to lock down Culiacán
and to create a bit of chaos
so that no more law enforcement
could get there,
-they parked their cars
-[gunshots]
and started setting cars
and buses on fire
so as to block all access.
[onlooker]
We keep seeing isolated events.
On my way here from Tres Ríos,
we saw two attacks.
[ex-soldier]
At one point we couldn't get through,
because we were already
surrounded by cartel people.
[gunshots]
[ex-soldier]
The sicarios were blocking every street,
as if they owned Culiacán.
[Jesús] I could see people on roofs
shooting down,
young people, trucks,
and people shooting from the other side.
I was scared
that the bullets
would hit me from all directions.
From the sicarios, from the army.
I didn't know by who
because everyone was shooting.
I didn't know it was gunshots.
I'd never heard them before.
[gunshots in distance]
The only thing I could see was my son
screaming, "Everyone get down!"
[tense music playing]
[gunshots]
I was narrating,
talking about the shoot-out,
when behind me
Right now,
there is a heavy gunfight going on.
I saw a white truck, but no people.
I just saw a flash of light
from the top of the truck,
and they started shooting,
and I could hear the gunshots.
[Ernesto] There is a heavy gunfight
in the Universitarios Ave. area.
[gunshots in distance]
When I heard that, I sped up,
but I never stopped recording.
I turned at a gas station,
about 50 yards away.
And I went into the gas station.
I got down of the vehicle
and took shelter behind the engine.
[rapid gunshots]
[Ernesto] There's a shoot-out,
a very heavy gunfight right now.
And then
We don't know how many are dead.
I kept narrating
until, suddenly, I lost my signal.
We have
[ominous music playing]
[Jesús] When I looked outside,
I saw they were stopping
a bus full of passengers,
and started getting the people off it
so as to block the street.
[indistinct chatter]
[Jesús] When that happened,
people started running away,
and I seized that moment
to get out of my car
and run in the same direction
to try and take cover
and keep myself safe.
DORADOS STADIUM
OBJECTIVE - TRES RÍOS
[Jesús] We were in a stadium,
a soccer stadium, when all of a sudden,
they said they were going to put people
in the locker rooms,
and that they were going to lock them up
to keep us safe.
I decided to go to one of the boxes,
and from there, I started recording.
[rapid gunfire in distance]
[Jesús] The sicarios were young.
I could count more than 100.
They said they were shooting
at the leader of the operation,
and that all available units
should go to the location
near the DA's office.
OBJECTIVE
DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
[Miguel] Upon arrival,
we saw about five or six trucks
that were blocking all traffic.
[weapons clattering]
[Miguel] The moment they spotted us
We were caught by the surprise
when we found the road blocked
by the trucks I mentioned.
-[gunshot]
-..they attacked us.
It was a direct assault.
That was when I was hit
for the first time.
[gunshots]
And when I tried to take cover,
I got shot three more times in my legs.
[Eddie A] I was in my truck.
I remember I was going down
one of the main avenues,
and the first thing I noticed
out of the ordinary
was a police car
signaling me to pull over,
-but in a very persistent way.
-[siren wailing]
I barely went 50 yards
when I felt a bullet hit me in my leg.
I tried to start the truck,
but it wouldn't go.
So, I became worried because we needed
to get out of the truck.
I ran down the street
and heard that whiz of death,
that whizzing sound
when a bullet flies past you.
[bullets whizzing, ricocheting]
And I realized
there was blood on my chest.
I thought, or felt,
that because of the adrenaline,
I didn't know
how many bullets had hit me.
-[child] We can't get up? [sobs]
-[man] No, sweetie.
You stay here. [inhales sharply]
-On the ground.
-[child] Why on the ground?
[man] Because
Are they gone? Let's go.
I saw many civilians
in the same state as me,
with that anguish and terror
of hearing the shots so close.
I saw some running without shoes on.
I saw them leave their cars open.
At one point, we turned down an alley,
and someone led us into a supermarket.
[indistinct clamor]
When I entered the supermarket,
there was total panic.
People couldn't believe
what was happening
because there was a lot.
There were too many shots heard.
We could hear some type of bazookas.
I mean, the calibers of the guns
they were using were too much.
[customer 1] Stay down, stay down.
Some 40 minutes went by,
or maybe about an hour
-[customer 1] The girl?
-[customer 2] She's here with me.
[customer 1] Let us pray. Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven
when some police officers knock
on the rollers that were shut.
[customers shouting indistinctly]
[Eddie A] They wanted to take me
to a hospital, but I didn't want to leave
because all the people at the supermarket
were watching the videos
that were already on social media,
and you could see
there were police trucks burnt out.
So, the police themselves
were being targeted.
[radio host] Attention, Culiacán.
We are asking everyone to stay home.
There are reports of gunfights
in different parts of town.
Please, stay safe.
[pensive music playing]
I felt so much desperate,
so powerless. I was on my own.
I thought, "This is it."
Honestly, "I'm going to bleed out here."
-I think they presumed we were dead.
-I kept on recording.
[Ernesto] There are kids.
There are kids right now.
We don't know how many people are dead.
There's been a major shoot-out.
I could hear people screaming everywhere,
and there were dead people,
wounded people crying out for help,
and army personnel badly injured.
[soldier 1] Wait.
Give me something for the injured.
[soldier 2] Listen, put it here.
We didn't know what it was about.
OBJECTIVE
ARMY
[suspenseful music playing]
[reporter] There are videos circulating
on social media
about a major operation
in the Tres Ríos area,
here in Culiacán. Avoid this area.
Stay informed and watch for updates.
[helicopter blades whirring]
[music intensifies, concludes]
[distant gunshots]
[soldier 1] Keep going, keep going.
[Peniley] The army are doing their thing,
but, at the same time,
they are handling it with respect
because they know it is
an important figure they're arresting.
So, it is a very tense moment, everywhere.
[indistinct chatter]
-[soldier 1] Hey, hey, hey.
-[soldier 2] Come on!
Get out! Get out!
[soldier 1] Get out, get out, Ovidio.
[indistinct shouting]
[soldier 1] Come on out. Come on out.
Calm down, calm down, ma'am.
Show me your hands, show me your hands!
Show us your hands, brother.
Move, ma'am.
[Luis] Ovidio is there
with his mother-in-law,
a couple of friends,
and also a relative of his wife's.
[soldier 1] Step out, please.
Step out now, the three of you.
Okay, easy, calm down.
-You have a gun on you?
-[Ovidio] No, I don't.
[Luis] No one is armed.
There were no armed men
inside with Ovidio.
[soldier 1] Yes, yes.
[Ovidio] Wait!
[Luis] But outside, all around them,
you can hear the shoot-outs,
you can hear the sound of the gunshots.
[Peniley] The authorities,
the police officers who were involved,
knew that Ovidio was in that house,
that he had
a reduced security team with him,
and that his wife and daughters
were with him.
[soldier 1] Okay.
-[soldier 2] Everything will be okay.
-[soldier 1] Calm down, ma'am.
[Peniley] It was a moment
of unusual vulnerability for him.
[woman] There are kids in there!
[Luis] They weren't expecting it.
He was always disobeying orders
about having lots of armed people
at his disposal.
That says a lot about Ovidio,
about how he felt in that city.
[Issa] Ovidio Guzmán has been arrested.
There were hours of anguish and terror,
but also, many hours of uncertainty.
[reporter] Ovidio Guzmán, son of El Chapo,
has been arrested.
This represents a heavy blow
for the Sinaloa Cartel.
[tense music playing]
[Luis] Ovidio had three siblings
from the same mother,
who were Joaquín, Edgar,
and their sister Griselda.
They were all very close,
but he was particularly close with Edgar,
because Edgar also had
a very different way of being.
He was less wild,
very calm, and more friendly.
The opposite of Iván Archivaldo.
[Ernesto] Iván Archivaldo
is Ovidio Guzmán's half-brother.
Iván is El Chapo's first son,
from his first marriage,
and he's got a stronger personality,
he's more violent.
[Peniley] They were raised
not as half-brothers, but as brothers.
And these brothers grew up
in a criminal environment.
[music continues]
[Mike] Ovidio Guzmán,
and his other siblings
were influenced by Chapo Guzmán
simply because of the money.
-[car engine revving]
-[dramatic music playing]
Luxury cars, gold-plated guns.
They got used to, from a young age,
having everything.
[Peniley] So, they have
a much more financially lavish life
than their parents ever had,
because their parents were still,
let's say, building up the business.
They were "narco babies,"
who, with their parents' money,
could buy anything they wanted,
but they never got their hands dirty
with cartel business.
[somber music playing]
[Ernesto] Chapo Guzmán
had a special fondness for Ovidio.
He was one of his favorite children,
because they say Ovidio
was very affectionate with him.
He always liked to dress like ranchers do,
with a hat, and a plaid shirt.
[Luis] But El Chapo's exact top favorite
was Edgar,
who was murdered in 2008,
Ovidio Guzmán's brother.
[reporter 1]
Edgar Guzmán, the son of El Chapo,
made headlines in May, 2008,
when he was murdered
alongside three young people,
at a mall parking lot
located in northern Tres Ríos.
Edgar's death was very bloody.
[reporter 1] His wife,
mother of a two-year old girl,
had to identify his body.
[Luis] A group of sicarios appeared,
and they shot
and killed him inside his truck.
[reporter 2] At the parking lot,
local police have found
more than 500 bullet shells.
[Luis] He was very beloved.
Everyone loved Edgar.
There is not one bad reference
about Edgar.
So, Ovidio saw in his brother
a way of saying,
"Yes, there is a different way
of living inside the cartel."
-[car engine revving]
-[dramatic music playing]
Ovidio, when Edgar was killed,
was 18 years old.
So, it had
a big emotional impact on him.
That was the first time
Ovidio became aware
that in drug trafficking,
there are two paths.
Prison or death.
[tense music playing]
So, he had to make a decision,
whether to stay in that business
or get out.
But Ovidio was already used
to having so much money,
and money attracted women,
bought cars,
bought mansions.
-So, he decided to stay on the path
-[gun cocks]
his father had shown him.
[gunshot]
[ominous music playing]
But then came the time
his dad was captured for the last time,
and extradited to the U.S.
JANUARY 9, 2016
SINALOA, MEXICO
-[soldier] Upstairs! Upstairs!
-[gunshots]
[marine officer] It was around dawn,
when intelligence confirmed
where the leader of Sinaloa was.
[indistinct chatter]
[soldier 1] Careful, careful.
-Careful.
-[soldier 2] Come on!
Throw it!
-[soldier 3] Grenade!
-[soldier 2] Grenade!
Throw another one. Throw it.
[grenades exploding]
[soldier 1] Easy, calm down.
[gunshots]
[soldier 3] It didn't work.
[marine officer]
The first thing you feel is fear.
[gunshots]
[soldier 1] I'm going to do it.
[soldier 2] Be careful.
[marine officer]
But the moment you take action,
the adrenaline starts pumping,
and that's when
your body becomes better prepared.
-[soldier 2] We are coming in!
-[gunshots]
[soldier 2] Get that door! That door!
-[soldier 1] Come on!
-[soldier 2] To the ground!
Who is it?
[sirens wailing]
Today, federal forces
succeeded in capturing
Joaquín Guzmán Loera,
the most wanted fugitive in the world.
Proving, once more,
that no criminal
is beyond the reach
of the Mexican government.
CHAPO GUZMÁN, CAPTURED
ARRESTED IN LOS MOCHIS, SINALOA
[tense music playing]
Los Chapitos took control
of part of the Sinaloa Cartel
after their father's arrest,
extradition and trial.
And, at present, the main heads
of the Sinaloa Cartel were
Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada on one side,
and on the other, Los Chapitos,
who started to have
a larger presence in Culiacán.
SINALOA CARTEL
If Los Chapitos wanted
to ultimately take over the territory
that is controlled
by Ismael "Mayo" Zambada,
there would be a brutal war.
[reporter 1] The fighting continues.
An entire family has been murdered.
Fourteen shots to the chest,
and ten to the head.
[reporter 2] There are rumors that
the group known as Los Chapitos
is behind this.
Los Chapitos consists of four brothers.
[Peniley] Iván, Alfredo,
Ovidio, and Joaquín.
Led, not by Ovidio,
but by the eldest brother, Iván Guzmán.
He played a major role
in the Culiacanazo.
He needed to act,
to go out and defend his brother,
because that is
what his dad would have done.
OCTOBER 17, 2019
3:17 P.M.
-[indistinct clamor]
-[soldier 1] Stay alert.
[Peniley] There was a moment,
in the midst of all the chaos,
there was a moment of confusion
where they had captured him,
but still hadn't gotten him
out of the house,
when the army men brought him a phone,
and he talked to his brother.
[indistinct chatter]
[soldier 2]
How many people do you have inside?
No one. Only my daughters.
-[soldier 1] Tell them to stop everything.
-[soldier 2] That's it?
[overlapping chatter]
During that call, Ovidio told his brother
to calm things down.
[Ovidio] Just stop everything,
I've already surrendered.
Stop everything.
Just stop, calm down, there's no point.
-[soldier 1] Calm down.
-[Ovidio] Tell them to go away.
Basically, what he was saying was,
"I've already been captured, it's done."
But his brother said, "No."
[indistinct shouting]
[Ovidio] No, tell them
I don't want any more trouble.
I don't want any more rampaging.
"That's not going to happen,
we won't let them take you."
-[soldier 1] Ovidio, tell him to stop.
-I don't want any more trouble, please!
"You won't be arrested.
Don't worry, we'll take care of it."
[dramatic music playing]
The sicarios started planning
a well-directed strategy.
Their aim was to prevent two things.
Ovidio being taken
from the Tres Ríos area,
and the military,
state and federal forces
arriving as back-up.
OBJECTIVE - CARTEL ROADBLOCKS
ARMY - TRES RÍOS
So, what did they start doing?
[cartel member over phone]
We have no fear. We are ready too.
People started coming from Cosalá,
then people
from the highlands of Culiacán,
people from the surrounding towns,
from everywhere.
[Luis] When the time came
to defend the Sinaloa Cartel,
all their families got together,
and we're talking dozens
of thousands of armed men.
All the bands of sicarios
from all the different factions
that operate in Sinaloa.
AGUARUTO PENITENTIARY CENTER
OF THE CITY OF CULIACÁN
[Jesús] When they saw this was growing
and that back-up could be arriving,
they went to the Culiacán penitentiary.
AGUARUTO PENITENTIARY
[gunshots in distance]
[Jesús]
They went in through the main gate.
They threatened and intimidated
the guards,
and took everyone they wanted with them.
A group of prisoners have escaped
from the Aguaruto Penitentiary,
also located in Culiacán, Sinaloa.
[onlooker] They are getting away.
[Jesús] That day,
more than 50 inmates escaped.
And you can see in some of the videos
recorded by people in the vicinity,
how they started stealing vehicles,
but it's wasn't to make their getaway.
OVIDIO'S HOME
AGUARUTO PENITENTIARY
[Jesús] It was to go to
where the showdown was taking place,
and join the Sinaloa Cartel men,
and start fighting,
with the sole goal of setting Ovidio free.
[onlooker] Look how they're arriving
with rifles, attacking that car!
[Eddie A]
They were recruiting any civilian
who'd want to join the armed group.
They say they were offering money
to join the sicarios.
[indistinct chatter]
They'd give them a gun,
and a vehicle to join the fight.
And they started congregating
in the state's capital.
-[tense music playing]
-[indistinct chatter]
[Jesús] It was like a command center
where they gathered
to give out their instructions,
and lead all the men
that were taking part in the shoot-out.
[indistinct clamor]
[Jesús] So, there were more
and more bullets flying,
and more armed people coming.
[distant gunshots]
The city was completely under siege.
Culiacán was taken hostage that day.
Culiacán was taken by those armed men.
-[gunshots echoing]
-[music intensifying]
[pensive music playing]
[Luis] Social media,
in respect to the Culiacanazo,
was absolutely crucial
because, without social media,
it would have been hard to grasp
the magnitude of the problem
of the Culiacanazo.
[Norma] The only thing that was able
to satisfy that void of information
was the communication
we had through our phones.
But we didn't know what it was about.
And even more so, we didn't know
what the state's response would be.
[reporter]
Culiacán has been burning for hours,
and there is still no official
statement from the government.
This silence is only heightening
people's bewilderment.
[Eddie A]
The president didn't show his face.
He should have been the one to tell us
what was really going on.
We didn't know where the president was.
The president had just started a tour
around the state if Oaxaca.
It seemed very odd to us
that President López Obrador
decided not to change his schedule.
[intense music playing]
It would have been very easy,
being at the Mexico City airport,
to take a flight to Mazatlán,
Culiacán, Los Mochis,
any nearby city,
and then come over to Culiacán.
What happened at the airport
was very puzzling,
and made us think
that something was wrong,
and it must have been something
extremely serious
for the president to not choose
proximity with his people,
which to him had always been
so valuable and recurrent.
-[López Obrador] Long live Mexico!
-[crowd] Hurrah!
-[López Obrador] Long live Mexico!
-[crowd] Hurrah!
-[López Obrador] Long live Mexico!
-[crowd] Hurrah! [cheering, applauding]
There was an attempt to interview him.
We pulled an "ambush" interview,
we followed him around to try
and get the president to say something.
Later on, the Security Cabinet
will give a report.
They've currently gathered,
and they will give a report.
[Arturo] But he didn't say anything.
He was mostly evasive
and said he would give
some information later on.
But nothing really happened.
-[journalist] Just a quick statement?
-You'll be briefed later on.
And the president
kept quiet about it for a long time.
What's more, the decision
to withhold all that information,
and guard it
as a matter of national security,
only generated more doubts.
When he arrived at the Oaxaca airport,
we didn't get much information
about it then either.
Everything that was happening
was still in progress in Culiacán,
and maybe the president himself
didn't know exactly what was going on.
The sicarios' main goal
under the command of Los Chapitos
was mainly to defeat the Mexican army.
[ex-soldier]
There wasn't good coordination
from SEDENA or the Armed Forces,
and everything spiraled out of control.
[soldier] Hey, get going.
All of you, spread out!
But don't stay out in the open.
Take cover and stay alert!
Hey, move, run! To the back, to the gate!
Hey!
[Peniley] What the drug traffickers did
was to surround this place,
surround the military facilities,
and then warn the soldiers
that they were going
to start killing them one by one,
and that they were willing to negotiate.
They started looking for ways
to make a deal with the government.
[cartel member over phone]
You let the boss go,
and we'll let go all the men
and the women we have here.
We'll start killing them one by one.
It's your call.
We have the best disposition
to work things out.
And this disposition to negotiate
was, "If you let the boss go,"
meaning if they let Ovidio go,
they would not be killing people.
But, if they didn't let him go,
they would start killing the soldiers
and their families.
It was a strategy that had appeared
to have come from a sociopath.
Splashing the homes
of the soldiers' families with gasoline
as a threat to say,
"If you don't let him go,
we'll blow the families apart."
[cartel member over phone]
We're being very clear.
Let him go, and go in peace,
and nothing will happen to you.
If you don't, we'll get you.
It's a tremendous level of cruelty,
and they let them know they're surrounded.
[cartel member over phone] Every soldier,
you send them up, we get their IDs,
and we're going after their families
with everything we got.
Go get our boss and hand him over.
Such a direct threat
to the soldiers and their families,
that had never been heard of before.
In that confusing,
stressful, scary situation,
the army made many mistakes.
-One of them being to confuse
-[gunshot]
civilians for armed groups.
SOLDIERS KILL TWO CARPENTERS
"BY MISTAKE"
IT'S BEING INVESTIGATED
IF IT WAS AN ACCIDEN
And all this-- You wonder,
how is it possible to reach that point?
It's because of the delay.
-No, the thing here is that
-[soldier] Calm down, ma'am.
Ovidio's transport
was delayed for too long.
When you lose those vital minutes
to get him out of there fast,
well, it's all doomed to fail.
[tense music playing]
They want to arrest Ovidio Guzmán,
but why don't they transfer him?
Because basically, they couldn't.
His arrest and detention was illegal.
There is an error in the procedure
that leads to such an important operation,
and the search warrant
that would allow them
to enter the house is not there.
Meaning, the search warrant
has very serious consequences
in everything that's happening,
because an operation like this
needs to be extremely swift.
Why wasn't the search warrant there?
-[indistinct clamor]
-[soldier] Ovidio, over here.
This inevitably speaks about two things,
ineptitude or negligence.
And when you talk about negligence,
you're inevitably
talking about corruption.
[ex-colonel] I think that from the moment
the Armed Forces went in
to the moment they left,
about two hours elapsed.
[César] Why wasn't it carried out?
Why was the operation delayed?
[reflective music playing]
The troops withdrew
at about 5:30 p.m. in the afternoon.
Ovidio Guzmán was arrested,
and then set free to protect lives.
[Ernesto] Ovidio was set free
-and handed over to an armed group.
-[gun cocks]
[Ernesto] And right away,
some soldiers were set free too,
to make the exchange.
BREAKING NEWS:
OVIDIO GUZMÁN WAS RELEASED
THE PRESIDENT COMMITS A CRIME
ACCORDING TO PENAL CODE
[Peniley] The big question here
is whether that grave mistake
in such an important operation
has to do with negligence
or if the DA's Office
is looking the other way
in such a relevant moment.
I had never seen anything like it.
[tense music playing]
[Jorge] It's very strange for it
to have been delayed so many hours,
because arrest warrants
usually don't take that long.
[phone ringing]
The different federal forces
don't trust each other.
The National Defense Secretary
spoke with the President,
and he asks, "General, what would be
the cost of carrying out the operation
of transporting Ovidio Guzmán
to Mexico City,
and execute the arrest warrant?"
SECRETARY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE
And General Sandoval
estimates around 200 deaths.
[reporter] The Sinaloa Cartel forced
the federal government's hand.
[Issa] The operation
to capture Ovidio Guzmán,
son of Chapo Guzmán, was unsuccessful,
deficient and improvised.
[indistinct chatter]
[pensive music playing]
[López Obrador] Good morning.
We're late because
we've discussed many matters
at the security meeting.
Since 06:00 a.m.
we've been working in collaboration
to evaluate this subject
of public safety.
I ordered to stop the operation,
and let the alleged criminal go
They let him go.
It's like the world upside down, right?
That day, he handed them an entire city.
What is going on?
We did the right thing.
[hesitates]
[ominous music playing]
It was all a lie.
They were certain
they would not take Ovidio.
It was the right thing.
THE SINALOA CARTEL THANKS AMLO
FOR THE RELEASE OF OVIDIO GUZMÁN
Above everything are human lives.
They created this whole campaign,
this whole strategy,
to hide what they know really happened.
[intense music playing]
[music concludes]
[reporter 1]
There are reports of gunfights
in various parts of Culiacán, Sinaloa.
[gunshots]
-[gunshots]
-[indistinct shouting]
[Issa] There were hours
of anguish and terror
-[indistinct clamor]
-but also, many hours of uncertainty.
You can't imagine what really happened
during the Culiacanazo.
[gunshots]
-[soldier] Up!
-[gunshots]
JANUARY 9, 2016
SINALOA, MEXICO
[soldier] Get in, get in!
[Anne Milgram in English]
The DEA took down the previous leader
of the Sinaloa Cartel, Chapo Guzmán.
[Fulton in Spanish] Without El Chapo,
cartels keep working
like the big business that they are.
While El Chapo
was the boss on the surface,
El Mayo was the boss in the mountains.
El Chapo's sons took control
of part of the Sinaloa Cartel
-after their father's arrest.
-[camera shutter clicking]
They took their dad. And they started
to look after the family business.
[journalist in English] Fentanyl is
killing tens of thousands of Americans
every year.
[in Spanish] The most powerful drug
that has ever existed in history.
The DEA labels Ovidio
as the King of Fentanyl.
[ex-soldier] Ovidio became very famous
and that's what the US is looking for.
Suddenly, our commander says,
"Stay alert, the operation starts now."
[reporter] The operation
to capture Ovidio Guzmán,
the son of Chapo Guzmán, was unsuccessful.
[soldier 1] Out, out!
-[overlapping chatter]
-[soldier 2] You have a gun on you?
The whole world knew
-about the Culiacanazo.
-[gunshots]
Many times, they're better armed
than the law enforcement themselves.
-Who sold them those weapons?
-Who wanted it to fail?
I ordered to stop the operation.
A cartel can even get
to the presidency, in a way.
El Chapo's sons
began to have too much power.
When I read "Jesús María,"
I realized it was true,
they were after Ovidio.
What happened in Jesús María
was real combat.
[gunshots]
[camera shutter clicking]
[in English]
I don't think AMLO is doing anything
to attack drug trafficking in Mexico.
[camera shutter clicking]
[Marcelo in Spanish] "I need you
to not send more weapons."
It's exactly the same as when you ask me
not to bring fentanyl into the US.
[cartel member] Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada
is the undeniable leader
of the Sinaloa Cartel. He is the founder.
It is incredible that Zambada's son
testified against El Chapo Guzmán.
[camera shutter clicking]
Will Ovidio Guzmán have the ability
to withstand a life sentence?
Mexican drug lord,
Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada,
as well as Joaquín Guzmán Lopez,
Chapo Guzmán's son,
were arrested in El Paso, Texas.
[Ioan] When we got the news
of El Mayo's capture,
I thought, "Well, fuck."
Surely, the war will be the biggest
we have ever experienced in Culiacán.
[music intensifies]
The rules are clear for drug traffickers.
-[music stops]
-Bullets make them so.
[tense music resumes]
-[gunshot]
-[siren wailing]
[theme music playing]
[theme music concludes]
BATTLE OF CULIACAN: HEIRS OF THE CARTEL
-[mellow guitar music playing]
-[birds chirping]
EPISODE ONE
BLACK THURSDAY
[radio host] Good morning, Culiacán,
the heart of Sinaloa.
From the Mexican Northwest,
between the mountains
and the Pacific Ocean,
where we start the day energized.
Traffic is normal
on our main downtown avenues.
The weather today will be pleasant,
with clear skies,
and a perfect temperature
we haven't seen
It was a normal day,
91 degrees Fahrenheit,
which to us is pleasant.
OCTOBER 17, 2019
[Luis] Mothers picking up
their children from school,
others going to buy groceries
He had school,
and then we went to pick him up.
[radio host 1] If you are out
on the street with your families,
we hope you enjoy
this beautiful day in the city.
MEXICAN ARMY HQ
-[tense music playing]
-[water trickling]
[ex-soldier] As it was, we didn't know
what was going to happen.
They just told us, "Go to Culiacán."
We had no instructions
as to who they were exactly.
But on our way there,
when they started giving their orders,
we learned it was Chapo Guzmán's son,
so we realized it was a huge priority.
It was one of the most shocking things
that ever happened
in my career as a police officer.
12:00 P.M.
THE OPERATION STARTS
[siren wailing]
[ex-soldier] Culiacán is a place
very much controlled
by the Sinaloa Cartel.
They've got people watching you
from the moment you enter Culiacán.
-[indistinct chatter over radio]
-[motorcycle engine revving]
[ex-soldier] They're on their bikes,
with radios, and they follow you.
So, there's people watching you
and reporting your movements.
OBJECTIVE - 9TH MILITARY ZONE
ARMY - SICARIOS
So, they were patrolling the streets
where we were rolling,
and that's when things
started to get tense.
[ominous music playing]
Around noon,
the first alerts start coming in,
saying there was a confrontation
in the Tres Ríos area, in Culiacán.
[reporter over radio]
The streets are also blocked.
The population of Culiacán
is being warned, avoid taking your cars.
[Jesús] I grabbed my camera,
and whatever I needed,
because it was my job,
as an independent reporter,
and I headed toward the Tres Ríos area.
When I got there,
I saw some people hiding behind cars.
[siren wailing]
[Jesús] I stopped right behind them,
without realizing, at that moment,
what was happening.
Then, when I came really close,
I saw those people pull out rifles
and start shooting.
[bystander 1] We got some scumbags
down here on the avenue.
-[gunshots]
-[bystander 1] Damn!
[bystander 2] a black one. A Ford Lobo.
-[gunshots]
-[bystander 2] A Mazda-- Jeez!
They're shooting! Let's go!
[foreboding music playing]
We heard a strange noise, really close by.
I turned to look at my husband.
We exchanged looks
and right away he said, "It's fireworks."
I said, "It's not fireworks.
Those are gunshots."
-[gunshots in distance]
-[birds chirping]
-[passerby 1] Run! Run!
-[indistinct clamoring]
[passerby 2] Get in here!
[passerby 3] Help me with the girl!
[gunshots]
[onlooker] In front of Salón 53.
In front of Salón 53.
[Luis] As the attacks started
in different places,
almost at the same time,
quite simultaneously,
since they had ordered
to lock down Culiacán
and to create a bit of chaos
so that no more law enforcement
could get there,
-they parked their cars
-[gunshots]
and started setting cars
and buses on fire
so as to block all access.
[onlooker]
We keep seeing isolated events.
On my way here from Tres Ríos,
we saw two attacks.
[ex-soldier]
At one point we couldn't get through,
because we were already
surrounded by cartel people.
[gunshots]
[ex-soldier]
The sicarios were blocking every street,
as if they owned Culiacán.
[Jesús] I could see people on roofs
shooting down,
young people, trucks,
and people shooting from the other side.
I was scared
that the bullets
would hit me from all directions.
From the sicarios, from the army.
I didn't know by who
because everyone was shooting.
I didn't know it was gunshots.
I'd never heard them before.
[gunshots in distance]
The only thing I could see was my son
screaming, "Everyone get down!"
[tense music playing]
[gunshots]
I was narrating,
talking about the shoot-out,
when behind me
Right now,
there is a heavy gunfight going on.
I saw a white truck, but no people.
I just saw a flash of light
from the top of the truck,
and they started shooting,
and I could hear the gunshots.
[Ernesto] There is a heavy gunfight
in the Universitarios Ave. area.
[gunshots in distance]
When I heard that, I sped up,
but I never stopped recording.
I turned at a gas station,
about 50 yards away.
And I went into the gas station.
I got down of the vehicle
and took shelter behind the engine.
[rapid gunshots]
[Ernesto] There's a shoot-out,
a very heavy gunfight right now.
And then
We don't know how many are dead.
I kept narrating
until, suddenly, I lost my signal.
We have
[ominous music playing]
[Jesús] When I looked outside,
I saw they were stopping
a bus full of passengers,
and started getting the people off it
so as to block the street.
[indistinct chatter]
[Jesús] When that happened,
people started running away,
and I seized that moment
to get out of my car
and run in the same direction
to try and take cover
and keep myself safe.
DORADOS STADIUM
OBJECTIVE - TRES RÍOS
[Jesús] We were in a stadium,
a soccer stadium, when all of a sudden,
they said they were going to put people
in the locker rooms,
and that they were going to lock them up
to keep us safe.
I decided to go to one of the boxes,
and from there, I started recording.
[rapid gunfire in distance]
[Jesús] The sicarios were young.
I could count more than 100.
They said they were shooting
at the leader of the operation,
and that all available units
should go to the location
near the DA's office.
OBJECTIVE
DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
[Miguel] Upon arrival,
we saw about five or six trucks
that were blocking all traffic.
[weapons clattering]
[Miguel] The moment they spotted us
We were caught by the surprise
when we found the road blocked
by the trucks I mentioned.
-[gunshot]
-..they attacked us.
It was a direct assault.
That was when I was hit
for the first time.
[gunshots]
And when I tried to take cover,
I got shot three more times in my legs.
[Eddie A] I was in my truck.
I remember I was going down
one of the main avenues,
and the first thing I noticed
out of the ordinary
was a police car
signaling me to pull over,
-but in a very persistent way.
-[siren wailing]
I barely went 50 yards
when I felt a bullet hit me in my leg.
I tried to start the truck,
but it wouldn't go.
So, I became worried because we needed
to get out of the truck.
I ran down the street
and heard that whiz of death,
that whizzing sound
when a bullet flies past you.
[bullets whizzing, ricocheting]
And I realized
there was blood on my chest.
I thought, or felt,
that because of the adrenaline,
I didn't know
how many bullets had hit me.
-[child] We can't get up? [sobs]
-[man] No, sweetie.
You stay here. [inhales sharply]
-On the ground.
-[child] Why on the ground?
[man] Because
Are they gone? Let's go.
I saw many civilians
in the same state as me,
with that anguish and terror
of hearing the shots so close.
I saw some running without shoes on.
I saw them leave their cars open.
At one point, we turned down an alley,
and someone led us into a supermarket.
[indistinct clamor]
When I entered the supermarket,
there was total panic.
People couldn't believe
what was happening
because there was a lot.
There were too many shots heard.
We could hear some type of bazookas.
I mean, the calibers of the guns
they were using were too much.
[customer 1] Stay down, stay down.
Some 40 minutes went by,
or maybe about an hour
-[customer 1] The girl?
-[customer 2] She's here with me.
[customer 1] Let us pray. Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven
when some police officers knock
on the rollers that were shut.
[customers shouting indistinctly]
[Eddie A] They wanted to take me
to a hospital, but I didn't want to leave
because all the people at the supermarket
were watching the videos
that were already on social media,
and you could see
there were police trucks burnt out.
So, the police themselves
were being targeted.
[radio host] Attention, Culiacán.
We are asking everyone to stay home.
There are reports of gunfights
in different parts of town.
Please, stay safe.
[pensive music playing]
I felt so much desperate,
so powerless. I was on my own.
I thought, "This is it."
Honestly, "I'm going to bleed out here."
-I think they presumed we were dead.
-I kept on recording.
[Ernesto] There are kids.
There are kids right now.
We don't know how many people are dead.
There's been a major shoot-out.
I could hear people screaming everywhere,
and there were dead people,
wounded people crying out for help,
and army personnel badly injured.
[soldier 1] Wait.
Give me something for the injured.
[soldier 2] Listen, put it here.
We didn't know what it was about.
OBJECTIVE
ARMY
[suspenseful music playing]
[reporter] There are videos circulating
on social media
about a major operation
in the Tres Ríos area,
here in Culiacán. Avoid this area.
Stay informed and watch for updates.
[helicopter blades whirring]
[music intensifies, concludes]
[distant gunshots]
[soldier 1] Keep going, keep going.
[Peniley] The army are doing their thing,
but, at the same time,
they are handling it with respect
because they know it is
an important figure they're arresting.
So, it is a very tense moment, everywhere.
[indistinct chatter]
-[soldier 1] Hey, hey, hey.
-[soldier 2] Come on!
Get out! Get out!
[soldier 1] Get out, get out, Ovidio.
[indistinct shouting]
[soldier 1] Come on out. Come on out.
Calm down, calm down, ma'am.
Show me your hands, show me your hands!
Show us your hands, brother.
Move, ma'am.
[Luis] Ovidio is there
with his mother-in-law,
a couple of friends,
and also a relative of his wife's.
[soldier 1] Step out, please.
Step out now, the three of you.
Okay, easy, calm down.
-You have a gun on you?
-[Ovidio] No, I don't.
[Luis] No one is armed.
There were no armed men
inside with Ovidio.
[soldier 1] Yes, yes.
[Ovidio] Wait!
[Luis] But outside, all around them,
you can hear the shoot-outs,
you can hear the sound of the gunshots.
[Peniley] The authorities,
the police officers who were involved,
knew that Ovidio was in that house,
that he had
a reduced security team with him,
and that his wife and daughters
were with him.
[soldier 1] Okay.
-[soldier 2] Everything will be okay.
-[soldier 1] Calm down, ma'am.
[Peniley] It was a moment
of unusual vulnerability for him.
[woman] There are kids in there!
[Luis] They weren't expecting it.
He was always disobeying orders
about having lots of armed people
at his disposal.
That says a lot about Ovidio,
about how he felt in that city.
[Issa] Ovidio Guzmán has been arrested.
There were hours of anguish and terror,
but also, many hours of uncertainty.
[reporter] Ovidio Guzmán, son of El Chapo,
has been arrested.
This represents a heavy blow
for the Sinaloa Cartel.
[tense music playing]
[Luis] Ovidio had three siblings
from the same mother,
who were Joaquín, Edgar,
and their sister Griselda.
They were all very close,
but he was particularly close with Edgar,
because Edgar also had
a very different way of being.
He was less wild,
very calm, and more friendly.
The opposite of Iván Archivaldo.
[Ernesto] Iván Archivaldo
is Ovidio Guzmán's half-brother.
Iván is El Chapo's first son,
from his first marriage,
and he's got a stronger personality,
he's more violent.
[Peniley] They were raised
not as half-brothers, but as brothers.
And these brothers grew up
in a criminal environment.
[music continues]
[Mike] Ovidio Guzmán,
and his other siblings
were influenced by Chapo Guzmán
simply because of the money.
-[car engine revving]
-[dramatic music playing]
Luxury cars, gold-plated guns.
They got used to, from a young age,
having everything.
[Peniley] So, they have
a much more financially lavish life
than their parents ever had,
because their parents were still,
let's say, building up the business.
They were "narco babies,"
who, with their parents' money,
could buy anything they wanted,
but they never got their hands dirty
with cartel business.
[somber music playing]
[Ernesto] Chapo Guzmán
had a special fondness for Ovidio.
He was one of his favorite children,
because they say Ovidio
was very affectionate with him.
He always liked to dress like ranchers do,
with a hat, and a plaid shirt.
[Luis] But El Chapo's exact top favorite
was Edgar,
who was murdered in 2008,
Ovidio Guzmán's brother.
[reporter 1]
Edgar Guzmán, the son of El Chapo,
made headlines in May, 2008,
when he was murdered
alongside three young people,
at a mall parking lot
located in northern Tres Ríos.
Edgar's death was very bloody.
[reporter 1] His wife,
mother of a two-year old girl,
had to identify his body.
[Luis] A group of sicarios appeared,
and they shot
and killed him inside his truck.
[reporter 2] At the parking lot,
local police have found
more than 500 bullet shells.
[Luis] He was very beloved.
Everyone loved Edgar.
There is not one bad reference
about Edgar.
So, Ovidio saw in his brother
a way of saying,
"Yes, there is a different way
of living inside the cartel."
-[car engine revving]
-[dramatic music playing]
Ovidio, when Edgar was killed,
was 18 years old.
So, it had
a big emotional impact on him.
That was the first time
Ovidio became aware
that in drug trafficking,
there are two paths.
Prison or death.
[tense music playing]
So, he had to make a decision,
whether to stay in that business
or get out.
But Ovidio was already used
to having so much money,
and money attracted women,
bought cars,
bought mansions.
-So, he decided to stay on the path
-[gun cocks]
his father had shown him.
[gunshot]
[ominous music playing]
But then came the time
his dad was captured for the last time,
and extradited to the U.S.
JANUARY 9, 2016
SINALOA, MEXICO
-[soldier] Upstairs! Upstairs!
-[gunshots]
[marine officer] It was around dawn,
when intelligence confirmed
where the leader of Sinaloa was.
[indistinct chatter]
[soldier 1] Careful, careful.
-Careful.
-[soldier 2] Come on!
Throw it!
-[soldier 3] Grenade!
-[soldier 2] Grenade!
Throw another one. Throw it.
[grenades exploding]
[soldier 1] Easy, calm down.
[gunshots]
[soldier 3] It didn't work.
[marine officer]
The first thing you feel is fear.
[gunshots]
[soldier 1] I'm going to do it.
[soldier 2] Be careful.
[marine officer]
But the moment you take action,
the adrenaline starts pumping,
and that's when
your body becomes better prepared.
-[soldier 2] We are coming in!
-[gunshots]
[soldier 2] Get that door! That door!
-[soldier 1] Come on!
-[soldier 2] To the ground!
Who is it?
[sirens wailing]
Today, federal forces
succeeded in capturing
Joaquín Guzmán Loera,
the most wanted fugitive in the world.
Proving, once more,
that no criminal
is beyond the reach
of the Mexican government.
CHAPO GUZMÁN, CAPTURED
ARRESTED IN LOS MOCHIS, SINALOA
[tense music playing]
Los Chapitos took control
of part of the Sinaloa Cartel
after their father's arrest,
extradition and trial.
And, at present, the main heads
of the Sinaloa Cartel were
Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada on one side,
and on the other, Los Chapitos,
who started to have
a larger presence in Culiacán.
SINALOA CARTEL
If Los Chapitos wanted
to ultimately take over the territory
that is controlled
by Ismael "Mayo" Zambada,
there would be a brutal war.
[reporter 1] The fighting continues.
An entire family has been murdered.
Fourteen shots to the chest,
and ten to the head.
[reporter 2] There are rumors that
the group known as Los Chapitos
is behind this.
Los Chapitos consists of four brothers.
[Peniley] Iván, Alfredo,
Ovidio, and Joaquín.
Led, not by Ovidio,
but by the eldest brother, Iván Guzmán.
He played a major role
in the Culiacanazo.
He needed to act,
to go out and defend his brother,
because that is
what his dad would have done.
OCTOBER 17, 2019
3:17 P.M.
-[indistinct clamor]
-[soldier 1] Stay alert.
[Peniley] There was a moment,
in the midst of all the chaos,
there was a moment of confusion
where they had captured him,
but still hadn't gotten him
out of the house,
when the army men brought him a phone,
and he talked to his brother.
[indistinct chatter]
[soldier 2]
How many people do you have inside?
No one. Only my daughters.
-[soldier 1] Tell them to stop everything.
-[soldier 2] That's it?
[overlapping chatter]
During that call, Ovidio told his brother
to calm things down.
[Ovidio] Just stop everything,
I've already surrendered.
Stop everything.
Just stop, calm down, there's no point.
-[soldier 1] Calm down.
-[Ovidio] Tell them to go away.
Basically, what he was saying was,
"I've already been captured, it's done."
But his brother said, "No."
[indistinct shouting]
[Ovidio] No, tell them
I don't want any more trouble.
I don't want any more rampaging.
"That's not going to happen,
we won't let them take you."
-[soldier 1] Ovidio, tell him to stop.
-I don't want any more trouble, please!
"You won't be arrested.
Don't worry, we'll take care of it."
[dramatic music playing]
The sicarios started planning
a well-directed strategy.
Their aim was to prevent two things.
Ovidio being taken
from the Tres Ríos area,
and the military,
state and federal forces
arriving as back-up.
OBJECTIVE - CARTEL ROADBLOCKS
ARMY - TRES RÍOS
So, what did they start doing?
[cartel member over phone]
We have no fear. We are ready too.
People started coming from Cosalá,
then people
from the highlands of Culiacán,
people from the surrounding towns,
from everywhere.
[Luis] When the time came
to defend the Sinaloa Cartel,
all their families got together,
and we're talking dozens
of thousands of armed men.
All the bands of sicarios
from all the different factions
that operate in Sinaloa.
AGUARUTO PENITENTIARY CENTER
OF THE CITY OF CULIACÁN
[Jesús] When they saw this was growing
and that back-up could be arriving,
they went to the Culiacán penitentiary.
AGUARUTO PENITENTIARY
[gunshots in distance]
[Jesús]
They went in through the main gate.
They threatened and intimidated
the guards,
and took everyone they wanted with them.
A group of prisoners have escaped
from the Aguaruto Penitentiary,
also located in Culiacán, Sinaloa.
[onlooker] They are getting away.
[Jesús] That day,
more than 50 inmates escaped.
And you can see in some of the videos
recorded by people in the vicinity,
how they started stealing vehicles,
but it's wasn't to make their getaway.
OVIDIO'S HOME
AGUARUTO PENITENTIARY
[Jesús] It was to go to
where the showdown was taking place,
and join the Sinaloa Cartel men,
and start fighting,
with the sole goal of setting Ovidio free.
[onlooker] Look how they're arriving
with rifles, attacking that car!
[Eddie A]
They were recruiting any civilian
who'd want to join the armed group.
They say they were offering money
to join the sicarios.
[indistinct chatter]
They'd give them a gun,
and a vehicle to join the fight.
And they started congregating
in the state's capital.
-[tense music playing]
-[indistinct chatter]
[Jesús] It was like a command center
where they gathered
to give out their instructions,
and lead all the men
that were taking part in the shoot-out.
[indistinct clamor]
[Jesús] So, there were more
and more bullets flying,
and more armed people coming.
[distant gunshots]
The city was completely under siege.
Culiacán was taken hostage that day.
Culiacán was taken by those armed men.
-[gunshots echoing]
-[music intensifying]
[pensive music playing]
[Luis] Social media,
in respect to the Culiacanazo,
was absolutely crucial
because, without social media,
it would have been hard to grasp
the magnitude of the problem
of the Culiacanazo.
[Norma] The only thing that was able
to satisfy that void of information
was the communication
we had through our phones.
But we didn't know what it was about.
And even more so, we didn't know
what the state's response would be.
[reporter]
Culiacán has been burning for hours,
and there is still no official
statement from the government.
This silence is only heightening
people's bewilderment.
[Eddie A]
The president didn't show his face.
He should have been the one to tell us
what was really going on.
We didn't know where the president was.
The president had just started a tour
around the state if Oaxaca.
It seemed very odd to us
that President López Obrador
decided not to change his schedule.
[intense music playing]
It would have been very easy,
being at the Mexico City airport,
to take a flight to Mazatlán,
Culiacán, Los Mochis,
any nearby city,
and then come over to Culiacán.
What happened at the airport
was very puzzling,
and made us think
that something was wrong,
and it must have been something
extremely serious
for the president to not choose
proximity with his people,
which to him had always been
so valuable and recurrent.
-[López Obrador] Long live Mexico!
-[crowd] Hurrah!
-[López Obrador] Long live Mexico!
-[crowd] Hurrah!
-[López Obrador] Long live Mexico!
-[crowd] Hurrah! [cheering, applauding]
There was an attempt to interview him.
We pulled an "ambush" interview,
we followed him around to try
and get the president to say something.
Later on, the Security Cabinet
will give a report.
They've currently gathered,
and they will give a report.
[Arturo] But he didn't say anything.
He was mostly evasive
and said he would give
some information later on.
But nothing really happened.
-[journalist] Just a quick statement?
-You'll be briefed later on.
And the president
kept quiet about it for a long time.
What's more, the decision
to withhold all that information,
and guard it
as a matter of national security,
only generated more doubts.
When he arrived at the Oaxaca airport,
we didn't get much information
about it then either.
Everything that was happening
was still in progress in Culiacán,
and maybe the president himself
didn't know exactly what was going on.
The sicarios' main goal
under the command of Los Chapitos
was mainly to defeat the Mexican army.
[ex-soldier]
There wasn't good coordination
from SEDENA or the Armed Forces,
and everything spiraled out of control.
[soldier] Hey, get going.
All of you, spread out!
But don't stay out in the open.
Take cover and stay alert!
Hey, move, run! To the back, to the gate!
Hey!
[Peniley] What the drug traffickers did
was to surround this place,
surround the military facilities,
and then warn the soldiers
that they were going
to start killing them one by one,
and that they were willing to negotiate.
They started looking for ways
to make a deal with the government.
[cartel member over phone]
You let the boss go,
and we'll let go all the men
and the women we have here.
We'll start killing them one by one.
It's your call.
We have the best disposition
to work things out.
And this disposition to negotiate
was, "If you let the boss go,"
meaning if they let Ovidio go,
they would not be killing people.
But, if they didn't let him go,
they would start killing the soldiers
and their families.
It was a strategy that had appeared
to have come from a sociopath.
Splashing the homes
of the soldiers' families with gasoline
as a threat to say,
"If you don't let him go,
we'll blow the families apart."
[cartel member over phone]
We're being very clear.
Let him go, and go in peace,
and nothing will happen to you.
If you don't, we'll get you.
It's a tremendous level of cruelty,
and they let them know they're surrounded.
[cartel member over phone] Every soldier,
you send them up, we get their IDs,
and we're going after their families
with everything we got.
Go get our boss and hand him over.
Such a direct threat
to the soldiers and their families,
that had never been heard of before.
In that confusing,
stressful, scary situation,
the army made many mistakes.
-One of them being to confuse
-[gunshot]
civilians for armed groups.
SOLDIERS KILL TWO CARPENTERS
"BY MISTAKE"
IT'S BEING INVESTIGATED
IF IT WAS AN ACCIDEN
And all this-- You wonder,
how is it possible to reach that point?
It's because of the delay.
-No, the thing here is that
-[soldier] Calm down, ma'am.
Ovidio's transport
was delayed for too long.
When you lose those vital minutes
to get him out of there fast,
well, it's all doomed to fail.
[tense music playing]
They want to arrest Ovidio Guzmán,
but why don't they transfer him?
Because basically, they couldn't.
His arrest and detention was illegal.
There is an error in the procedure
that leads to such an important operation,
and the search warrant
that would allow them
to enter the house is not there.
Meaning, the search warrant
has very serious consequences
in everything that's happening,
because an operation like this
needs to be extremely swift.
Why wasn't the search warrant there?
-[indistinct clamor]
-[soldier] Ovidio, over here.
This inevitably speaks about two things,
ineptitude or negligence.
And when you talk about negligence,
you're inevitably
talking about corruption.
[ex-colonel] I think that from the moment
the Armed Forces went in
to the moment they left,
about two hours elapsed.
[César] Why wasn't it carried out?
Why was the operation delayed?
[reflective music playing]
The troops withdrew
at about 5:30 p.m. in the afternoon.
Ovidio Guzmán was arrested,
and then set free to protect lives.
[Ernesto] Ovidio was set free
-and handed over to an armed group.
-[gun cocks]
[Ernesto] And right away,
some soldiers were set free too,
to make the exchange.
BREAKING NEWS:
OVIDIO GUZMÁN WAS RELEASED
THE PRESIDENT COMMITS A CRIME
ACCORDING TO PENAL CODE
[Peniley] The big question here
is whether that grave mistake
in such an important operation
has to do with negligence
or if the DA's Office
is looking the other way
in such a relevant moment.
I had never seen anything like it.
[tense music playing]
[Jorge] It's very strange for it
to have been delayed so many hours,
because arrest warrants
usually don't take that long.
[phone ringing]
The different federal forces
don't trust each other.
The National Defense Secretary
spoke with the President,
and he asks, "General, what would be
the cost of carrying out the operation
of transporting Ovidio Guzmán
to Mexico City,
and execute the arrest warrant?"
SECRETARY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE
And General Sandoval
estimates around 200 deaths.
[reporter] The Sinaloa Cartel forced
the federal government's hand.
[Issa] The operation
to capture Ovidio Guzmán,
son of Chapo Guzmán, was unsuccessful,
deficient and improvised.
[indistinct chatter]
[pensive music playing]
[López Obrador] Good morning.
We're late because
we've discussed many matters
at the security meeting.
Since 06:00 a.m.
we've been working in collaboration
to evaluate this subject
of public safety.
I ordered to stop the operation,
and let the alleged criminal go
They let him go.
It's like the world upside down, right?
That day, he handed them an entire city.
What is going on?
We did the right thing.
[hesitates]
[ominous music playing]
It was all a lie.
They were certain
they would not take Ovidio.
It was the right thing.
THE SINALOA CARTEL THANKS AMLO
FOR THE RELEASE OF OVIDIO GUZMÁN
Above everything are human lives.
They created this whole campaign,
this whole strategy,
to hide what they know really happened.
[intense music playing]
[music concludes]