3 Stages of Cartel Evolution 1 Powerful Corrupt State 2 Cartelization of Mexico 3 Shake Down Everything This essay by Benjamin T. Smith gives great insight into how cartels emerged from Mexican state into more independent groups driving endemic violence↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/cartels-as...

Cocaine Narcos Versus "Uncontacted Tribes" Simeon Tegel went with the Indigenous Guard to the new coca plantations tearing up the Peruvian Amazon for this stellar and important report. It's bows and arrows vs AK-47s. Stoked to publish this in CrashOut↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/cocaine-na...

Ten Big Drug War Stories of 2025 It's been a nuts year in narco politics and all the related madness. Here are ten of the biggest stories, from the designation of cartels as terrorists, to the Chapitos and Mayo plea deals. Read below, it's a freebie:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/ten-big-dr...

Did the U.S. army use opium from Sinaloa to give its troops morphine in World War Two. I dig through the evidence on the the alleged World War II pact between Washington and Culiacán. Read:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/did-the-us...

The DEA Narcos The sting got a former DEA financial chief and former CIA asset on narco terrorism charges, for offering to launder money and get arms for a fake CJNG operative. It opens up a can of worms about how many narcs have become narcos. Read:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/the-dea-na...

Mexico's Worst Narco Massacres Mexico has suffered slaughters like war zones. San Fernando - 72 executed Allende - 400+ murdered or disappeared Agujas - 290 bags of body parts found How should a country reckon with these atrocities? Read free below↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/mexicos-wo...

Truth About "Canadian Chapo" Ryan Wedding It's nice to see them go after an Anglo narco but claims made by US officials, media about Wedding as an Escobar are big exaggerations. Bondi says he runs one of most violent gangs in world. I clear up the BS:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/the-truth-...

Secrets of Noriega and the CIA Panama's dictator led a crazy life as a CIA and DEA asset also working with Medellín Cartel, playing off Washington and Cuba, before US military took him out. His right hand man and enforcer revealed his secrets. Watch: ↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/secrets-of...

Extortion is now so widespread across Mexico’s farmlands that it has pushed up the price of goods including limes and avocados, a phenomenon so widely acknowledged it’s now referred to as narcoinflation. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/o... @ioangrillo.bsky.social

The confession by Joaquín Guzmán López that he kidnapped El Mayo brings that saga towards its end. Yet it's still unclear what role was played by Iván and by US federal agents. And the war it sparked in Sinaloa rages on. Watch the free video report↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/joaquin-gu...

Trump pardoning Honduran pres. Juan Orlando Hernández of his cocaine conviction undermines his own war on drugs. The argument it was a Biden political conviction or it will win election doesn't add up. But follow the money from the lobbying. Read here:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/honduras-a...

Ya lo tengo, @ioangrillo.bsky.social, pero no puedo ir a Guadalajara a que me lo firmes, así que cuando regreses, unas chelas!

El Chapo was the hardest narco to deal with. El Mayo treated him like son. Arturo Beltrán Leyva moved more cocaine than either. El Mencho tried to prove himself with violence. Read the CrashOut story for free on The Chicago Cocaine Twin, J Flores, below↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/interview-...

Estoy muy feliz de estar este año en la FIL de Guadalajara con mi libro "Sangre, Armas y Dinero", y con Jesús Lemus, uno de los mejores periodistas sobre narcotráfico en México. 29 de noviembre, 19:30, Salón 8, Área Nacional, Expo GDL. Ven a saludar!

Cartels Versus Environmentalists De @ioangrillo.bsky.social www.crashoutmedia.com/p/cartels-ve...

Psyched to be at Guadalajara book festival with my book "Sangre Armas y Dinero" about the iron river of guns from the US to cartels in Mexico in this crazy tense moment - I'll be with Jesus Lemus, one of best journos on narcos, and talk is open to all issues. Sat, Nov. 29, 7:30

There's a hell of a lot more to Russia's perception and cognitive outreach in Mexico and Latin America than RT and Sputnik and the main vectors are WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter/X, YouTube, TikTok, and of course Telegram www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/w...

CrashOut went to France's crime capital to talk to the activist whose second brother was just murdered. This report breaks down France's new gang wars - and the DZ Mafia and Yoda. Read here:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/gang-murde...

Cartels Versus Environmentalists - Gangsters in Mexico kills those who stand in their way to fell timber, run wild cat mines, or clear forests to run meth labs. But mining companies who pay off cartels are also nervous. Read the report:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/cartels-ve...

Here is my full video report on the protests and riots yesterday in Mexico City - looking at who was behind them, how they escalated, what the response was, what the implications are. Click here below to watch it free on my Stack↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/inside-the...

The use of a 17 year old sicario to assassinate Mayor Carlos Manzo shows the urgent need for a real prevention campaign to stop kids as young as 12 being recruited into cartels in Mexico. About 40% of them will be murdered, a study estimates. Read here (free)↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/applied-ma...

My Reader, “The Punisher” Duterte I sat down twice with the Philippine president during his war on drugs that has put him before the ICC. It was one of the most challenging situations I've had as a journalist and I only now tell the story. Read it here: ↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/my-reader-...

@ioangrillo.bsky.social me acaba de derrumbar un viejo mito: "ver quemar cannabis no produce ningún efecto psicoactivo; no se ha secado y el humo asciende directamente a las nubes". Yo juraba que los milis se ponían unos pasones históricos (envidia, sí). Aquí su reportaje.

US marijuana legalization smashed Mexico's weed exports north (controlled by cartels) as intended. Marijuana seizures on the border fell by 97.5% between 2013 and 2023. But I was wrong. It didn't, as many of us hoped, weaken cartels. (Link to story below↓) www.crashoutmedia.com/p/us-marijua...

Mexico: Time for heroes? Michoacán has long commemorated its martyrs and with murders of mayor Carlos Manzo and defender of lime farmers Bernardo Bravo, it seems to bequeath new martyrs in the fight against cartels. Will their deaths spark something. Story: www.crashoutmedia.com/p/mexico-tim...

The new Trump doctrine to missile boats that are allegedly carrying dope opens up a whole new phase in the war on drugs. But it is also entwined with a different conflict: the attempt to get regime change in Venezuela...

Mexican Watchdogs (Journalists) Under Fire De @ioangrillo.bsky.social www.crashoutmedia.com/p/mexican-wa...

Since Calderón launched an army offensive on cartels in 2006 the total homicide count in Mexico has now topped 500,000! An intel unit estimated 60% of deaths were by cartels or security forces "fighting them." How can we frame this hybrid armed conflict↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/what-are-t...

The murder of Bernardo Bravo Manríquez, a lime farmer leader in Michoacán who stood up to extortionists is a true tragedy. But it reflects how deeply cartels have gotten into extorting so much of the Mexican economy and causing "narco-inflation." Read:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/mexicos-so...

Carlos sold top end single-edition Swiss watches (for $100,000s to $1 million+) to narcos for 8 years. The Swiss companies loved him. "They fucking love you. You have no idea. You are making their budgets. You become a hero” Read how cartels wash cash↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/narco-blin...

Chalino Sánchez, father of narco corridos and icon in Sinaloa and LA He avenged his sister at 15, went to prison in Tijuana for a shooting, then in the US for drugs. The attack on him in Coachella was likely a hit. Read full true story of Chalino here:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/chalino-ki...

Did you ever hear about the time a splinter from the Tijuana Cartel dissolved bodies in acid in California and carried out a series of murders in the U.S. as far away as Kansas City, Missouri? Thought not. So be informed by reading the full story here:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/when-los-p...

Ayotzinapa’s Narco Witnesses - The Mexican government gave dubious benefits to major narcos, incuding delaying extradition of El Cuini, to help on the case of the 43 disappeared students. But what did they give in return? Read special report: www.crashoutmedia.com/p/cuini-and-...

Will Trump “Regime-Change” Venezuela? I go through the war gaming of the operation against Maduro and possible scenarios including: - Pressure to foment a coup - Special forces rendition - Full invasion - Pure Trump bluff Read here: www.crashoutmedia.com/p/will-trump...

One of the craziest interviews I've ever done was recently meeting Carlos Lehder, the partner of Pablo Escobar who owned a private island to move blow, was portrayed as a Nazi narco on Netflix and testified against General Noriega of Panama. Here is the story... www.crashoutmedia.com/p/carlos-leh...

Mexico's Marines In Hot Water A scandal is growing in Mexico's elite SEMAR which US agents work with to take down kingpins. In Manzanillo where SEMAR controls customs, a broker told me you could get a container with drugs through for 800,000 pesos. Read↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/mexicos-ma...

The Power of Independent Media There's a great energy and possibilities in independent media, which allows you to move fast, think outside the box, and connect directly with readers. In my quarterly shout to readers, I look at independent vs mainstream↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/the-power-...

The U.S. Military Missiles Venezuelan Boat, Killing 11 Is this just an escalation of the war on drugs or also a step to regime change in Caracas? Was it really a drug boat? Were the Tren de Aragua definitely on board? I break it all down in this video:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/us-militar...

How Much Money Do Cartels Make and Where Is It? Are narco kingpins really billionaires? What's the annual cartel economy worth? Will the US government get the $15 billion that Mayo has promised to deliver. Read here on the twisted world of narco-nomics↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/how-much-m...

HISTORIC: Mayo Zambada just plead guilty and could credibly be the biggest drug trafficker Mexico ever saw, moving dope for 55 years. The US wants $15 billion assets and he could give up some money for better conditions. Lawyer still denies he will sing. Read: www.crashoutmedia.com/p/mayo-plead...

The Truth About Date Murders In Colombia Does the "Devil's Breath" drug really turn you into a pliable zombie?How dark is the sex industry? On a trip to Colombia, I look deeper into murders of Americans and other foreigners who met women on dating apps↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/date-murde...

Can a Mayos Victory End the Sinaloa War? The year-long bloodbath is one of the worst cartel battles in history. But now there's a clear advance of Mayos and a new map of Sinaloa Cartel being drawn. CrashOut reports from the ground in Sinaloa. Read at:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/can-a-mayo...

Mexico Expels 26 More Narco Prisoners To US Amid Trade Talks and Military Threat This isn't theater as there are genuine big figures in transfer like Cuini, financial brain of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Will it be enough to placate Trump? Read:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/mexico-exp...

MEGA EXCLUSIVE - I went to Colombia to talk to Carlos Lehder, founder of the Medellin Cartel. We discuss: - How the cartel really worked - Was he a Nazi? - Terror attacks in Colombia - Cartel working with Noriega + Contras - Deal with FARC Watch here↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/exclusive-...

On Gringo-fiction and Gringo-phobia... My reflections on the anti-gringo protests in Mexico City, and on gentrification and xenophobia (as a Brit living in CDMX since 2000, or as a friend says "anglo-Chilango...") Read it here, it's a freebie:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/on-gringo-...

The Dark Truth of Mexico's "Pimp City" That Traffics Girls to New York The Tenancingo to USA prostitution pipeline is genuinely horrific. Yet there's a lot of smoke, mirrors and bad numbers around such an abhorrent crime as "sex slavery." Read here:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/the-dark-t...

Ovidio has been transferred to a secure location to kick-start his cooperation with US government that could reduce his sentence from life to 10 years. He says he will help get $80 million in assets. But who could he finger: a governor or higher? Read:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/ovidio-kic...

In Singapore, you get hanged for 15g of heroin, 30g of cocaine or half kilo of cannabis. It also has one of lowest murder rates in the world with 10 murders (Mexico had 145x more per capita; US 35x) I went to "Lion City" and looked at zero tolerance:↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/singapore-...

humor desde culiacán por "Bobadilla", vía www.crashoutmedia.com/p/alivio-com... de @ioangrillo.bsky.social

Revolution to synthetic drugs, like fentanyl, has side effect - it decimated Mexico's opium farmers. I went to mountains of Guerrero, where kilo of opium gum dropped from 33K pesos at peak to 4K pesos. They have Afghan opium they call "Talibana." Read↓ www.crashoutmedia.com/p/fentanyl-k...