All language subtitles for Narco Wars 1x03 - The Battle for the Border (English)

~subtitles ripped and corrected by~
Rapunzel@addic7ed.com

Shake this square world
and blast off for kicksville.

Public enemy
number one is drug abuse.

Just say no.

Halting
the drug problem in america

Is like carrying water
in a sieve.

Take my word
for it, this scourge will stop.

There's now an understanding

That the war on drugs
was an abject failure.

You have to stop and ask
yourself, how did we get here?

We will build a wall.

First border wall was put up

Back in the days of the cowboys.

No-man's-land, as they call it.

I don't like it.

It's not gonna stop the drugs,

The lawlessness that
takes place out here

And the shootings and
bandits crossing the border

And cutting your fences and
transporting the dope through.

My name is Terry Kirkpatrick.

My nickname's the Grumpy Gringo.

I was a customs agent
for 28 years.

And I used to tell the new guys
that would come on board,

I says, "this is the most fun
you'll ever have on a job

With your pants on."

Primarily we worked narcotics,
gun smuggling.

It was cat and mouse;

You're chasing them,
they're chasing you.

And then all of a sudden,
you get in trouble,

You get a death threat.

People are trying to kill you.

Well, this ain't
the ghostbusters,

You can't call anybody,
what are you gonna do now?

Well, our guys call you up
and say, "pack one suitcase,"

And you'll hide out
for 30 days, six months.

Well, I wasn't the smartest
johnny in the classroom,

I was still that little kid
in the back raising my hand,

Saying, "I'll go back,
I'll go back."

And so, finally, after
six months of investigation,

We raided the place,
and as I wandered around,

A worker picked up a water hose

And started pouring water
into the big drains.

No one would think that
it was anything other

Than just a water main
underneath.

Watch your fingers there.

Once we took out
the lower drain,

There was a 8-by-10 room
down there.

One by one, we descended
into the dark pit of neverland,

Not knowing what was
at the bottom.

Wow, what did these guys do?

This tunnel was
so sophisticated,

It wasn't a fly-by-night group
that did it,

These guys had studied mining
engineering and stuff like that.

We're probably
well over 30 feet down,

And it goes like this for
about 150 yards into Mexico,

Up to another house.

On the Mexican side

There was a family room
with a pool table in it,

And below that, was another room

Where they could
store drugs there,

That's where the air ventilation
pumps were, the water pumps.

Just when you think
us as narcotics agents,

We've seen it all,
it was, like, shocking.

We didn't know where we were
going next with this.

What have we opened up,
a Pandora's box here.

It was, find everybody involved,
find 'em now.

We knew there was an
individual that was responsible

For all the logistical movement
of marijuana and then cocaine,

But we weren't sure who he was.

So we raided
house after house after house.

One name pops up,
and it continued to pop up:

Chapo Guzm�n.

People called him
"Chapo," which is "Shorty."

He was 5-foot-6 guy,

Who started out as
a little kid selling oranges

On the side of the road
down in Sinaloa.

At that time, he was well down
the ranks in the Sinaloa cartel.

He was a border rat.

He knew virtually
every corner of the border,

Where it was, the most
highly patrolled area;

Where were desolate areas;

Where was the most
valuable part of it

In terms of cocaine trafficking.

Cartel bosses recognize

That he was extremely smart.

He was years ahead
of anybody else

That ever came into
the drug smuggling scene.

The flipside to that is

He was also a ruthless,
cold, calculated killer.

30 guys were used
to dig this tunnel,

Night and day
for months and months.

They kept 'em locked up
in a house,

And the cartel wanted
to keep it secret so bad,

And they were worried that
somebody would talk about it,

So, they executed 'em all
and dumped 'em into a well.

So, basically,
all the tunnel diggers

Dug their own grave
for the cartel.

It was a gold mine for 'em.

Kilo of cocaine, back in those
days, about $24,000 a kilo,

This tunnel probably
would have ran, who knows?

One truck a day.

Two trucks a day.

Three, maybe.

Chapo went from the little guy
over here in Douglas

To captain in the cartel.

He was such a rising star.

El Chapo was
nicknamed by the Colombians

As el rapido, because he was
so fast in moving the cocaine.

He didn't share his methods
of transportation,

But he was a genius
and troublemaker.

Chapo's ambition
was to get Tijuana.

Tijuana is an important city.

It's a door for drugs
to cross the United States.

They were known as the most
vicious crew in Mexico.

They had no qualms about making
an example out of somebody.

They have a reputation for being
the most violent and bloody,

And they were responsible
for thousands of murders,

More than 10,000 murders.

To me, to tell this story

Of Benjam�n Arellano F�lix
and his brothers

Is a way to tell
the story of Tijuana.

Tijuana was always a
very important piece of the cake

For the drug business,

And it's an easy place to move
drugs to the United States.

But to control that city, you
have to kill a lot of people.

Narcos in Mexico,
like El Chapo Guzm�n,

Are campesinos, peasants,

That live in the mountains
and wear hats and cowboy boots.

In Tijuana,
narcos were different.

Imagine fashionista narcos

That enjoyed listening to
joy division, for example.

They're wearing suits,
designer sneakers

With huge mink jacket

And a medallion, pure gold.

Everybody wanted
to be like them.

My name is Juan Carlos Reyna,

I'm an author, I was born
and raised in Tijuana.

While growing up in Tijuana,
the Arellano F�lix organization,

The Tijuana cartel,
were like a living myth;

Both fascinating and terrifying.

Benjam�n Arellano F�lix
was the leader and founder

Of the Tijuana cartel.

He was a very charismatic
character.

And the younger brother, Ram�n,
was the muscle.

He was a very
unattractive person,

With a high-pitched,
annoying voice,

And a complete psychopath,

That assumed the position
in the cartel as an enforcer

And to naturally embrace
his thirst for killing people.

Benjam�n and Ram�n,
especially,

They don't even think twice
to order killing of anyone

Involved in their business.

They wanted to be the only ones
in Tijuana.

The kings of Tijuana

And the kings of
the US market in California.

Benjam�n Arellano F�lix
was a pioneer.

He opened the Tijuana route
into California and Los Angeles,

Creating an international
enterprise of drug trafficking

In such a perfect way.

The Arellanos
had an idea of,

Well, let's find rich kids

Who were attracted by
the easy, big money and glamour

And recruit them.

Because if you have somebody
who is educated,

Who can speak english,

Who has connections
in the United States,

They could smuggle drugs
into the United States.

Connections and ideas
about business,

About moving the money,
that can be useful,

Rather than just having some guy
who's from the mountains,

Who can barely read or write.

They began calling
themselves the narco juniors.

Belonging to a cartel

Became part of the party vibe
in Tijuana.

The Arellano F�lix family
provided 70% or more

Of the cocaine consumed
in the United States.

At the time, it was the most
powerful criminal organization

In the north hemisphere.

Rich and ruthless,
US drug enforcement officials

Say the Arellano F�lix family
has amassed a dirty fortune

In the billions of dollars.

Among Mexican drug lords,
everybody became jealous,

Especially El Chapo Guzm�n,

Who wanted what
benjam�n built up,

This highly successful,

Million-dollar operation
in Tijuana.

Chapo's ambition was
to eliminate those brothers,

To have Tijuana
for his own purposes.

He wanted 'em dead.

That's the fundamental issue
in narco trafficking:

No one's ever happy,
everyone wants more.

And greed and guns
lead to a lot of death.

Benjam�n Arellano F�lix
throws a huge party.

It was attended by El Chapo's
best friend and compadre,

El Rayo Lopez.

El Rayo Lopez had kidnapped

One of the Arellano F�lix
sisters years before,

And that was something that
the Arellano F�lix brothers

Could not forget or forgive.

As soon as
El Rayo Lopez appears,

Ram�n, he picks up his gun,

Points it at el rayo's head

And blew his brains off.

That moment was a pretext
for El Chapo engaging in a war

With benjam�n Arellano F�lix
and his brothers.

The start of the war

Between Chapo and
Arellano F�lix brothers

Was pure, pure massacre
of people in Mexico.

Even children were killed.

Killing is a party
for the Arellanos.

They laugh after a murder
as if it were nothing,

Show no remorse,

And go off and have
a lobster dinner in rosarito.

The Arellano F�lix
brothers were convinced

That it was the end of
Chapo's adventures in Tijuana.

But they underestimate
Chapo's ambition.

Chapo found out that
the Arellano F�lix brothers

Were having a party
in Puerto Vallarta.

And he always had a second plan.

My name's Martin Corona.

I was a hitman for
the Arellano F�lix cartel.

I was sent out to do
their dirty deeds.

Emotions you go through
when you take a life,

Of actually looking
in that person's eyes

And watching their life
leave their bodies,

You're not happy about it,
you're nervous, you're scared,

It weighs heavy
on your conscience,

But you dealt with
your emotions inside.

When I was recruited by
the Arellano F�lix cartel,

I had already had a history
of violence, gangbanging,

Being in prison, doing hits
in prison, stabbing people,

And so, when it was time
to actually take that life,

I was already prepped
for this moment.

I did a triple homicide.

These were the guys that were
the gunners for Chapo Guzm�n,

At the Christine's Nightclub,

The night that they ambushed
the Arellano F�lix brothers.

As I was shooting the guy
and he's pleading for his life,

I told him, "This is for Ram�n."

The Arellano F�lix
family were very visible.

It was like the Miami Vice
of the cartels.

My name's Steve Duncan,
I'm a retired special agent

From the California
Department of Justice.

They would have private parties,
just your typical family event,

But with people
in very bright clothing,

Trying to show off
their wealth, their jewelry,

Their expensive clothing.

And they looked like
an idyllic family.

But what you don't see
is the dysfunction.

They killed anybody
that would get in their way.

They ruled by fear.

From the time they went
to war with Chapo,

They started policing Tijuana.

If somebody was driving a car
with Sinaloa plates,

They get pulled over,
because that's the enemy.

That guy would be taken
to a safe house

And interrogated, tortured.

And they would either
force him into service with them

Or they would kill him.

I've done 'em
with knives,

I've done 'em
with a sledgehammer,

I've done a lot
of gruesome things.

They wanted people hanged,
chopped up.

They wanted heads cut off,

They wanted people disappearing
in vats of acid.

Anybody associated
with the enemies

Of the Arellano F�lix
organization,

In particular, Chapo Guzm�n,
would be hunted down and killed.

There was
no hiding from us.

It's dominance,
it's greatness, it's power.

In 1993, most narcos
in Mexico drove Grand Marquis,

The cars of the businessmen
and the politicians.

The Arellanos had
information that Chapo

Was gonna be at the airport
in a white Grand Marquis.

They send a killer
unit to assassinate him.

Everybody's celebrating
'cause they've killed Chapo.

It was just an accident,
and it wasn't intentional.

Nobody meant to kill
the cardinal.

We were after Chapo Guzm�n;
wrong place at the wrong time.

The whole of Mexico
wanted justice.

That cardinal was seen as
a martyr of the war on drugs.

The Arellano F�lix brothers
went to hide

And El Chapo left Mexico
and hide in Guatemala.

So both sides feel the fire.

Benjam�n made
a personal visit

With the government of Mexico

And discussed how we could
get this heat off of us.

Their hands reach far.

Presidents, generals,
police officials,

How far does the corruption go?

If you've got that
kind of power, dude,

I mean, your head's
gonna be this big.

You think you're invincible.

The Arellanos'
enforcement squads were sent

On missions throughout
the United States and Mexico

To kill anybody associated
with Chapo Guzm�n.

The US
State Department is offering

A $2 million reward
for information

Leading to the capture and
conviction of cartel leader

And muscle man
Ram�n Arellano F�lix.

We were very desperate
to find Ram�n,

To find the other
Arellano F�lix members,

But we haven't
seen them in years

And we don't have really
good photos of anybody.

All it takes is for somebody
to tell us where Ram�n is,

And they have $2 million.

And then we received a VHS tape.

And here he is walking down
hollywood boulevard,

The land of the stars,
in this ridiculous disguise.

It was a shock
and it was amazing.

My partner
was given a video

Of the David Letterman show
in Los Angeles,

By a family member
of two brothers

That had worked
for the Arellanos,

That were killed
by the Arellanos,

And on it was
David Letterman's cameraman,

Harassing this long-haired,
large hispanic man

With a Michael Jordan jersey.

Excuse me, excuse me.

Are you Michael Jordan?

Are, are you Michael Jordan?

Huh?

Oh, he speaks spanish.

Oh.

This gentleman,

Who was Ram�n Arellano F�lix
in disguise,

Was trying to avoid
the cameraman.

Michael, hey, michael.

Here you go,
tickets to showgirls.

It's funny that
he was in disguise,

But he was so noticeable
because of his disguise.

You sure?

So, it was
a hilarious thing.

Hey, everybody, it's
Michael Jordan, look, everybody.

Hey, everybody,
Michael Jordan, look.

He was a character,
but he was ruthless,

I can tell you first-hand that
he didn't have a conscience.

Everybody knew he'd kill you
from just looking at him wrong.

He was a stone-cold killer.

It was a shock to us
that he would have the nerve

To be on our soil,
right in front of us,

And very frustrating
that we didn't get him.

It was essentially
a refuge for Chapo,

Because he was safe
from his rivals,

And he basically
turns the prison

Into his business headquarters,
and life is good.

He gradually managed
to bribe his way

To a lot of influence
in the prison.

He could still continue
to run operations,

Continue to deal and still
have access to lawyers

And to visitors and
get words out and make calls.

Apparently he had quite
a rampant sex life.

Prostitutes coming
into the prison.

At the time, talk of him
also getting viagra smuggled

Into the prison as well.

The safety of
the prison at that time

Actually enhanced his ability
to grow his organization.

He chipped away
at people around them,

And he tried to dominate
the market at the time, too,

So he took customers from them.

He alienated some of the people
that afo needed.

I've been told that
I got out at the right time.

When it came time
to kill a woman,

And they asked me
to kill a female,

That was something
I was truly against.

But we're told,

"Listen, you're gonna do
what we tell you to do."

When you're told that,
what's the alternative?

I was sent to San Diego.

And I shot her,

And there was a little girl
in the backseat,

And I heard her scream,

And I seen that, it just, it
freaked me out and I backed out.

And it came out on the news,

And when they said
the girl was pregnant,

My wife was pregnant at the time
with my first child,

It bothered me a lot.

I didn't want my child born into
a world of me being a murderer.

To this day, when I talk to her
and I tell her,

"Baby, the day you came home
from the hospital,

Was the day I walked away
from the Arellano F�lix cartel."

I've been told that after 2000,

The Arellano F�lix started
to lose their foothold.

They started
to lose their power,

They started to lose their grip.

I don't think anybody
in law enforcement

Or in the Mexican government
saw what was going to happen

When Chapo was in prison.

You start to see
the rise of Chapo Guzm�n

And the Sinaloa cartel,

And his story does not end there
by any means.

There's a lot of folklore
around it, how he escaped.

Everybody said, "oh, he just
went in a laundry basket."

But he was the highest ranking
cartel member

In custody in Mexico, so I think
he just got up one morning,

Put a guard's uniform on
that he had bought

And he walked right
out the front door

And got in a police car
and drove away.

It was not
a huge embarrassment

For the Mexican government,
because when he escaped,

Chapo was not well-known

As one of the biggest
narco traffickers.

So he was not the main target
of Mexican and US authorities.

The Arellano F�lix
were the main target.

The Sinaloa cartel used Mazatl�n
as a trap for Ram�n.

They let him know,
by informants,

That El Chapo was
supposed to have dinner

In one of the restaurants
of the place.

So he was preparing to kill
Chapo in that restaurant.

But he didn't know
the Sinaloa cartel

Tip off the Mexican authorities
about where he was.

There were several
federal police officers

Working with the Sinaloa cartel

Attacking Ram�n Arellano F�lix
that day.

Witnesses say Ram�n
was forced to his knees

By crooked state police
and executed on the spot.

After the death of Ram�n,

The Sinaloa cartel knew the love
the brothers had for each other

Will force Benjam�n
to the funeral of his brother,

And that information was given
to the Mexican authorities

And the dea by members
of the Sinaloa cartel.

Chapo himself
is helping us

Through the messengers
that they sent to us.

You're playing with the devil,

It's dirty, it's ugly,
but it worked for us.

This morning
I am pleased to announce

That at approximately 1:00 am,
Mexican government authorities

Captured
Benjam�n Arellano F�lix.

Chapo orchestrated
much of the downfall

Of Arellano F�lix brothers
while he was in jail.

It may have also contributed to
when he was gonna leave jail,

Because he knew that they were
not the threat they were before,

And it was his time
to ascend to the throne,

And that's what he did.