Meth and Madness in Mexico Stacey Dooley Investigates

This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.

All over the world, hundreds of thousands of people are fighting a hidden war.

The outcome of which could affect us all. It is the war against drugs.

Despite a worldwide crackdown, drug use continues to rise.

So I am travelling across three continents

to investigate the newest drugs on the market.

Who is really behind the narcotics trade?

And what are the authorities doing to stamp it out?

In South Africa, I uncover a new, stronger strain of cannabis being smuggled to Britain.

This is going to E16, East London.

I know exactly where that is.

-And in Cambodia...

-Welcome to the caravans.

..I go on the trail of the production of ecstasy.

There's someone there!

Tonight I travel to the world's largest producer of crystal meth, Mexico.

You see how many huge bags we've got here.

Gives you an indication of how many people would get very high off of this.

I witness first hand the most dangerous and terrifying drug war on the planet.

am like a nervous wreck here, I am literally like a nervous wreck, I hate it.

Where brutal cartels are now murdering children and babies.

Why did you come here? Mexico is very dangerous.

I reveal a country where drug barons are now more powerful than the police.

We don't have the resources they have. We don't have the money

that they have.

And entire regions are being thrown into violent chaos.

It's for protecting my family.

You don't know what's going on here, it's civil war, basically.

In the heart of Los Angeles,

I've joined an undercover police operation.

We're on the trail of a narco trafficker.

OK, so the seller pulled up alongside the guy posing to be the buyer.

Then both have driven off, so we're just chasing the cars now.

The suspect is believed to be carrying a dangerous drug,

global seizures of which have just reached a record high.

Methamphetamine.

He's getting pulled over right now, I can see the police.

They said I can have a quick look at all the gear.

20lbs of meth and a bit of coke. They weren't even expecting the coke.

Oh, my gosh.

I am not allowed to touch the box, because it's evidence, presumably,

but there are countless bags full of crystal meth.

That's an astonishing amount.

The trafficker is arrested.

He's carrying drugs with a street value of around £60,000.

Is that a regular bust for you or pretty standard?

When it goes down as planned like that, it's a regular day.

We have the 20lbs and he's in custody now and the dope's off the street

and so it was a successful day.

They've just seized 100,000 worth of meth and he didn't even seem particularly shocked.

He was saying they could have just as big a seizure tomorrow. It's everywhere.

Most of us back home only know crystal meth from the TV series Breaking Bad.

But in LA, so much meth has flooded the city in the last two years

that prices have halved.

I've come here to America's meth trafficking capital

to investigate why more and more of this drug

is pouring on to the world's streets.

To find out why meth is so addictive,

my next stop is the Californian desert.

It is estimated over 10 million Americans have taken meth.

This region is one of the worst affected.

Out here, many places are known as "meth towns."

I do feel like I need to have a conversation with some users myself,

so I've come to this small town, I'm a couple of hours away from LA.

I'm told there's a lot of addicts who live here, just by the side of the freeway.

Hi.

-How's it going?

-Hi, how are you?

-What's your name?

-Jack.

-Jack, I'm Stacey.

Very nice to meet you.

-What's your name?

-Carlito.

-Carlito.

-How do you do? Hi. How's things?

-Ray-Ray.

-Ray-Ray.

Nice to meet you all.

So what's the story, what are you guys up to?

We're sitting here getting high.

Sitting here getting high.

So how often do you boys smoke meth?

I do it every, every chance I get! Ha-ha!

Yeah? Every day?

-Yeah.

-How long have you been smoking for?

Since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

Probably for, like...

-..off and on for, like, 16 years.

-What age are you, Ray-Ray?

-25.

-25?

Why are so many young people drawn to meth?

Because it's like the new weed, the new drug.

Back in the '80s, '70s, it was crack.

Now it's speed.

How does it make you feel?

Meth, it's not a physical high at all.

It's all, it's a mental high.

Some, your sex drive, some, it makes you want to steal,

some, it makes people hear voices,

see things. I mean, if you've been up for, like, weeks on end.

Longest I've ever stayed up was, uh...

32 days.

-A month?

-A month, yeah, I was up 32 days

and I ended up in a psych ward for about six months afterwards.

I want to stress to anybody and everybody to just avoid meth

like the plague, because I'll tell you what, I've done some pretty awful things.

Give me an idea of the kind of things you're doing.

Home invasion, robberies, where I've kicked in people's doors,

pulled guns on 'em, tied 'em up, kidnapped,

yeah, I've got very vicious crimes.

With meth being such a devastating drug,

I want to know why it's now easier than ever to get hold of.

One key reason is that making meth is simpler than producing crack or heroin.

Meth cooks are crucial to the trade, and I've managed to get access to one, deep in the desert.

Wow.

So I've come to what feels like the middle of nowhere.

SHE LAUGHS

I mean, I have been told that he has to move locations all the while,

so he doesn't get caught by the police.

I think... I think this is where he is today.

'The cook says he's been making meth for 20 years

'and only talks to me on the condition his identity is concealed.

'As he makes his next batch,

'I discover crystal meth can be made from everyday household products.'

The main ingredients for meth are cold decongestants,

and is that sink unblocker?

-This one here?

-Yeah.

It's caustic soda.

Wow. So that's really kicking off now.

-Eurgh, it smells quite strong, doesn't it?

-Oh, yeah.

This will rust everything in your house if you do it in the house.

-Jesus.

-Really bad.

And then people smoke it,

put it inside them.

Where did you learn all of this?

The school of hard knocks.

Long before there was Breaking Bad.

-I know, that's how we all know it now, isn't it, Breaking Bad?

-Yeah.

'It takes just a few days to produce a batch of meth,

'a big attraction to traffickers and users.'

-There we go. See that?

-Yeah.

This is how you reduce it.

'The big challenge for this cook is producing meth

'on a big enough scale to meet the huge demands.'

So, how much of the meth that's consumed here

is made in America?

10-20%, maybe.

The government has made it so difficult to get the ingredients.

People have to know somebody to get them. It's very difficult now.

It's not like it used to be.

You used to be able to buy bottles that were 1,000 pills.

The majority of it comes from Mexico now,

cos they don't have laws like we do.

They just...

do whatever they do and it's OK.

So this is what all the fuss is about?

That's all the fuss.

Wow.

Now, I understand the government here are really trying

to clamp down on the production, but that just means, inevitably,

the supply chain's going to move. It's not going to stop.

And he was saying the vast majority is now in Mexico.

'Along parts of California's border with Mexico,

'seizures of meth have increased 60% in the last year.'

'To get to the bottom of why so much meth is getting through,

'I follow the trail into Mexico.'

'Sinaloa, in the north west of the country,

'is one of the main meth producing states.'

This morning, I'm with the army,

and these guys are on the front line, really,

of trying to fight meth production here.

And part of their job involves going on patrol

and trying to search for meth labs,

and they've agreed that I can come along today.

Hello.

Wish me luck.

'Our convoy drives for hours out into the wilderness.'

'Meth production in this region is controlled by the most infamous

'drug trafficking organisation in the world -

'the Sinaloa Cartel.

'The sheer size and inaccessibility of this state

'makes it the perfect place to hide their activities.'

They've hidden it very well.

HE LAUGHS

'Lieutenant Colonel Torrez takes me to a recently captured meth lab.'

'After a long trek in searing heat,

'we find the first signs of the lab,

'a dump of chemicals.'

-All right, there are a lot of ingredients.

-Jeez...

-For, to make meth.

-I can go a bit closer?

-Yeah.

-Of course.

-Oh, my goodness.

-You weren't kidding when you said it's an enormous amount!

-Yeah.

How many people would be living here to look after the meth?

Maybe 10

or 15 people...

-Wow.

-..to work here.

So this is home, effectively?

Two months...

they must be here.

Jeez.

'Further on, we reach the heart of this meth operation.'

-This is the lab?

-Yeah.

Unbelievable.

-I have never seen anything quite like this in my life.

-Yes.

-It's almost unbelievable.

-It's amazing.

'Despite being in the middle of nowhere,

'there is everything required to make meth

'on an industrial scale.'

Gas masks...

..lab coats,

tool box...

Fire extinguisher...

..air conditioning...

..everything you need for a serious factory.

Unbelievable.

'Finally, I want to know how much money

'a lab like this would generate.'

Here is the meth.

Maybe, in this place, there are half a tonne...

-Sat here in front of us?

-Yes.

Maybe in California,

it's equal to 6 million.

And the lab...

have one tonne, maybe more.

So, maybe 12 million, wholesale price.

For all lab, yes.

-Can I see? Is it possible?

-Yes, of course.

I mean, you see how many huge bags we've got here.

It gives you an indication of how many people would get

-very high off of this.

-Yes.

'Keeping on top of meth production in this vast wilderness

'seems almost impossible.'

TRANSLATION:

Does it worry you that you didn't find this place

because you had intelligence,

you just stumbled across it?

Does that make you think that there just must be tonnes and tonnes

and tonnes of this stuff all over your area?

The idea that they found it because they were doing a regular

foot patrol does suggest that it could just be

the tip of the iceberg, and he sort of confirmed that himself.

He said this is a huge amount,

but for sure, there's tonnes more out there

that they have no idea about.

'Mexico is now the world's largest producer of meth.

'But are the Mexican authorities faring any better

'at stopping the trafficking of this drug out of their country?'

'The border city of Tijuana

'is both the busiest meth smuggling route into the US

'and on the planet.'

'I want to see what the state police here are doing to combat the trade.'

-KNOCKS ON DOOR

-Hola.

-Como estas?

-Muy bien.

-Stacey.

-Francisco.

-Very nice to meet you, Francisco.

I'm with you today?

'News comes through of an incident in town.'

SIRENS BLARE

So, we've al just had to jump in the car very, very quickly.

Francisco's men just received the call to join the other

officers on the scene.

'Francisco's unit are tasked with fighting

'both international meth traffickers

'and local street dealers, like this man.'

'This is a tough challenge, as I discover back at the station.'

Some people will say it is fairly easy for police, erm,

to seize small amounts and to capture the younger boys,

at the lower end of the pyramid.

What is necessary is the big guys with the big amounts.

OK. Let me see.

Show me, Francisco.

So, March this year.

So, these are all seizures from March.

So you are going for the big guys as well. How much here?

It sounds like you are having to tackle two very difficult

problems - the meth here, in Tijuana, Mexico,

but also the meth that is destined for the States, to cross the border.

'It's clear Francisco's unit is overstretched.'

-Do they have the upper hand, the criminals, the cartels?

-Yes.

-Really?

-Yes.

-That's a frightening thought, that you believe the criminals

and the cartels have more power than the officials.

'Surprised by Francisco's openness,

'I want to find out why Mexican drug cartels are so powerful.

'I arrange to speak to a journalist in Sinaloa who has covered

'the cartel here for many years.'

Hello. How do you do?

-Very nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Thank you so much for allowing me to come with you.

'The Sinaloa Cartel is the wealthiest criminal organisation

'in the world.'

I want to show you something that is going to give you

an idea of the ostentation of the narcos.

Even in their death, this ostentation has to be shown.

'We drive into a graveyard where hundreds of cartel

'members are buried.'

This is a very particular cemetery. You can see the mausoleums.

-So, hang on, these are the graves?

-Yes, these are the graves.

Really, they are houses.

It's luxury.

-Some of these have electricity inside.

-Yes, and air conditioners.

They have air conditioning in the graves?!

Yes, because the families come here and make some kind of parties.

Honestly, I have never seen anything on this scale.

It's unbelievable to think that these aren't houses,

they are graves.

Yes, this is a recent phenomena.

'While not all the graves belong to drug traffickers,

'the cemetery is a shocking symbol of cartel power.'

It's crazy.

That graveyard has floored me.

-I have never seen anything quite like it.

-This is ridiculous.

The excess of luxury is the stamp from the narco here.

Phenomenal.

Yes, phenomenal, but you have to demonstrate the power

with this luxury.

It's a demonstration of power.

Patty, how much of the money that exists here in Sinaloa is

-connected to the narco?

-At least 60%, according to some research.

That's crazy.

That's crazy, because the money of the narco appears in every

part of the city.

The money can buy anything,

and the corruption that exists in politicians,

and people from the world of business is the glue for this power.

There is no corruption, there is no power of the cartels.

They cannot work alone.

Totally fascinating spending time with Patty.

Not only are the cartel here making an obscene amount of money,

they are then using that money to control the state.

It sounds like they feed off one another.

So this is a process that's just set to continue.

'The cartel's influence doesn't only come from buying off

'people in power.

'Around a third of Mexico's population survives on less

'than five dollars a day.

'Support for the cartel is strongest in some of these poor communities.

'I'm heading to one in Sinaloa to find out why.'

-Como estas?

-Bien.

-Your casa?

-Si.

I can see? Muchas gracias.

So this is your kitchen.

Tell me who this is.

So there is a narco saint!

'These ladies have strong views about the Sinaloa Cartel

'and its recently arrested leader, a man known as El Chapo.'

Tell me honestly what you think of the cartel.

El Chapo, is he a good man?

Do you recognise that they do bad things as well?

Tell me what you think about the government here.

THEY LAUGH

She doesn't need to say anything, her face says it all!

So it sounds like you guys have more faith in the cartel here

and the Chapo than your own government. Is that true?

It's amazing to hear the exact opposite of what you were

expecting when you are having a conversation about a brutal,

notorious cartel, and I think it's quite simple.

The reason they feel like that is because they believe

they can offer them more.

They are more charitable and more helpful than the government are.

'Drug cartels offer more than hand-outs here.

'The growing multibillion-pound meth business offers jobs to

'thousands of poor Mexicans.

'And I'm going to meet one with

'experience on the inside of the trade.'

'Augustine is serving a ten-year prison sentence for trafficking.

'Before he was caught, he was a truck driver paid to smuggle

'meth shipments up to the US border.'

How much were you trafficking?

So you were just putting it alongside the legitimate cargo?

And how much were you paid per trip?

And how many trips did you do before you were caught?

Serious money. You made over 100,000.

Fantastic money.

And how much would you have earned just driving the lorry?

Your regular job?

So per week driving the lorry, just over 100.

Per trip transporting the crystal meth, 27,000.

Have you spoken to your wife since you've been in here?

The reality is,

he's pretty insignificant in comparison to the bigger picture.

The meth will always be trafficked,

there will always be people willing to do what he's done.

Because in comparison to the money you can make from holding

down a regular job, it's always going to be attractive.

'There is another line of work these criminal organisations offer

'poor Mexicans, one that is crucial to maintaining cartel power.

'Committing murder.

'Mexico is home to the world's bloodiest drug war.

'By some estimates,

'over 100,000 lives have been lost in the last ten years.'

Through local contacts on the ground,

I've arranged to meet with a hit man.

They are called sicarios here, and understandably

he said he's only willing to talk if he's completely unidentifiable.

How many people have you killed?

And ordinarily who are you sent to kill?

And how do you feel?

When you kill somebody, what's going on in your mind?

How much do you receive to kill somebody?

So they pay you a couple of grand a month?

If it ever gets to a point where you don't want to continue doing

this, are you able to just leave?

It's really hard... to sort of articulate...

..what you feel when you interview somebody like that,

because, without question, I totally believed every single thing

that came out of his mouth, and he was just so matter of fact

and just so blase about the whole thing.

And that gives you an indication of how normalised

that kind of behaviour is in this society.

'I want to get to the bottom of why Mexico's drug war is the most

'dangerous on the planet.

'So I head to one of the worst affected regions,

'the state of Michoacan in the west of the country.'

This place is pretty unbelievable.

The minute you approach this square you see heavily armed police,

the Marines, the Army.

It's very clear this place right now is really unstable.

'Tonight, I'm following a man whose line of work I can scarcely believe.

'For over 20 years, Jaime's job has been to photograph crime

'and bloodshed for a local paper.

'I quickly get a window into his world.'

So he just received a call, I'm not entirely sure exactly what's gone

on because it's all quite frantic, but my understanding is somebody's

been found, so he's rushing, he's trying to get to the scene

now to try to take these pictures that the newspaper will need.

I've no idea what we're going to come across,

I don't know how dangerous or hostile it's going to be.

Here we go. Here we go. We're approaching the scene now.

The police have arrived, the ambulance are here.

Oh, jeez. Jesus, Jesus.

Tell me what happened.

Muchas, muchas gracias, senor. Muchas gracias.

Thank you for your time. Thank you.

I'm not entirely sure what went on, but what it does do is give

you an idea of the level of violence that exists here.

He's getting calls like this all of the time.

'As we're leaving, a local shop assistant comes to warn me

'about the scale of the drug violence here.'

So this is something you see all the time.

-Why you come here? Mexico is very dangerous.

-It's dangerous.

-Yes.

-You see many people like me here?

-No.

-No.

It's relentless.

MAN SHOUTS

I'm like a nervous wreck here, I'm literally a nervous wreck.

I hate it. It's so...frightening.

'Back at Jaime's studio, he shows me graphic evidence

'of how drug-related murders are carried out.'

This one, senor.

Some of these pictures are utterly horrific

and what's even more upsetting is there seems to be thousands

and thousands and thousands of them. And this is how they publish them.

They don't censor anything,

it goes straight into the Mexican newspaper like that.

Never in one million years would you see these kinds of images back home.

No way.

'He explains why the cartel's killings are so brutal.'

Have you gone to a crime scene and seen bodies decapitated?

My understanding is that different actions have different

messages behind them.

'Jaime's newspaper prints the photos

'but never dares report on the people behind the violence.'

Tell me what would happen if you were completely open

and you published everything.

So if things continue the way they're going now,

people will just continue to get murdered

and no-one will be held accountable?

The cartels will continue to run the show here.

SIRENS WAIL

In Mexico, less than 2% of murders resulted in convictions in 2012.

This failure of justice leads to a vicious cycle of violence.

Gunfire is a daily sound,

as I witness right outside my hotel room.

I just heard this, like, blood chilling...

..screaming, like total carnage, total chaos.

And I heard bang, bang, bang.

I looked out and there were loads of cars and it was just so...

It was totally mad. It was total chaos.

So many people here have guns and so many people are willing to use them.

I suspect that's because

so much of the crime here goes completely unpunished.

My later efforts to find out more about this incident drew a blank.

The main cartel in this part of Mexico has been

one of the biggest traffickers of meth to America in recent years.

But it's also been one of the most ruthless,

murdering innocent locals refusing to pay protection money,

or just anyone in the wrong place at the wrong time.

13 members of this family went missing in August

and the bodies weren't found until December.

And five of the bodies still haven't been

given back by the authorities yet.

Three of them are kids and one of them is a baby.

So the family are just in the process of popping these

posters up in the square.

'I want to know more about this atrocity

'so I pay a visit to the victims' surviving relatives.'

Hola. Thank you for having me.

'They tell me the bodies were found in a mass grave on a farm.'

'The family say their relatives were simply innocent farm workers

'who never had any dealings with the cartel.'

So everything indicates that your family

had nothing to do with the drug business or the cartel members?

'Like thousands of others here, Jorge and his wife, Luisa,

'may never get a proper explanation

'for the murders of their daughter and grandson.'

How old was your daughter?

Did she have a baby?

Erm...

I can understand, to a certain extent...

..why or how...

..the cartels can justify to themselves that it's OK

to kill other men, you know, over money or power or drugs.

I sort of get that.

You know, the idea that they've gone in there

and brutally murdered these babies, these kids,

just gives you...

..an idea of how revolting and how monstrous

and how brutal this particular cartel is.

They are the most ruthless...

kind of people I've ever, ever heard of.

The cartel in this region is known as the Knights Templar.

'To show me how they became

'one of the most sinister gangs in the world,

'a local priest has agreed to take me

'to one of their former strongholds.'

'Padre Salvador has risked his life speaking out against the cartels.'

This place is outrageous.

'He tells me shocking initiation ceremonies were carried out here

'to brainwash recruits into committing violence.'

'I discovered this barbaric behaviour stemmed from the madness

'of the cartel's recently killed leader, nicknamed The Craziest One.'

So, where are we now? What is this shrine for?

He saw himself as a saint?

HE LAUGHS

This place is totally nuts.

It does feel a bit like an abandoned theme park.

He had a huge bar area over here,

he had this great, big dance floor,

the cockfighting pit is just to the other side.

I mean, to be greedy is one thing

but, you know, having a chat with the father,

it does feel like this guy was a deluded, evil psychopath

and the way he ran his cartel was a bit like a religious cult.

The atrocities of the cartel here got so out of hand that eventually

many locals decided to take the law into their own hands.

Since February 2013,

they've set up armed vigilante groups called autodefensas

to take on the cartel and drive it out of the state.

Now these armed civilians guard the streets in many towns.

You can see lots of different checkpoints that have been put up

by the vigilante movement.

There's a couple of men on each one, manning them.

So I wouldn't mind just trying to have a chat with a couple

of these guys, see what they're like and what they've got to say.

Hola.

-Como estas?

-Bien.

-Yeah?

Hello, how do you do? Hi.

'These men are adamant they are armed with good reason.'

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So...so I am clear, you are saying these guns,

all of these weapons are just for defence.

-You're not shooting to kill?

-No.

You're only shooting if the cartels come back to take their land.

So you're saying you have done more in one year as a vigilante

movement then your government has done for you in 12 years.

That's correct. That's correct. That's correct.

Vigilantes also patrol the streets.

What do you guys do when you're patrolling?

Are you actively looking for cartel members?

If we hear a report of somewhere they're at,

we invite our local police to come along with the searches.

They're pretty good friends of ours as well.

They get credit and we help them along as well.

Do you not worry that some of the locals are going to look at you,

how you guys are going about now with guns, and think,

"What's to stop them becoming the new cartel,

"the new Knights Templar?"

Well, I wouldn't compare us to the Templars

because we don't go after small businesses. We respect people.

We don't disrespect anybody in any way.

Everybody's equal.

We're not like them.

They shoot at us and they have shot at us before,

but we don't tend to kill them. We want them alive.

Although I can totally understand...

..how they've got to this point,

seeing them in action does make you worry that...

..this could all end in tears and I just really hope,

I really pray that they don't start to adopt

the behaviour that they say they despise.

This heavily-armed and volatile civilian movement is now so powerful

the Mexican government has been forced to work alongside it

against the cartel.

Hola, senor. I can go in? Gracias.

Muchas gracias.

Today the army are registering and testing the vigilantes' weapons

to try and assert some control.

This is incredible. This is utterly insane.

They take your thumbprint, they take your picture

and they take a bullet from the gun that was fired.

And then they can trace back which gun was shot

if there's any future violence.

For the vigilantes, the deal is they are now

recognised by the government as an official rural defence force.

There are a lot of guys here. And there are a lot of...

-GUNSHOT

-..guns.

At the end of all of this,

they're all going to be legitimately holding these guns,

asserting their authority, and a lot of them - perhaps all of them -

might not have had any form of training.

It's a risky alliance for the Mexican government.

And I don't have to look hard to find vigilantes

who already distrust it.

They're saying that the only reason they're registering is

so that they can give you guys more power.

You think they're going to come and take all your guns.

What's worrying is it looks like the main thing

holding this fragile alliance together

is fear of the cartel's return.

You think the cartels are going to come back?

I think that's what they're waiting for.

For our arms to be taken away from us.

So they can just come in an swipe 'em.

Whatever's free. It's an everyday thing here.

It's civil war basically.

This place is an unsafe, unstable state.

You know, you've got a determined, armed vigilante movement here.

You've got the army, you've got the marines,

you've got the federal police.

You've got members of the cartel supposedly floating around.

But my concern is when the federal authorities leave,

things could get even worse than they are at the moment.

Most of the chaos here can be traced back to the meth trade

and the power it's given the cartel to abuse locals.

It's an issue I'm keen to raise with the recently appointed chief

of the local Justice Department.

In your opinion,

how has meth production here been allowed to become so out of control?

TRANSLATION:

Isn't the fact that there is...

this vigilante movement proof that the government

failed their people?

When do you believe Michoacan

will be a peaceful place to live for everybody?

Do you think that day will ever come?

I think it's unrealistic to suggest that it already is.

Somebody has been killed just in the time that I've been here

and it's great that you have such optimism,

but unfortunately, it is going to be too little too late

for a lot of families who have lost a lot of loved ones.

The Mexican government claims it's getting on top

of both the meth trade and the drug cartels.

But after spending time here,

it's clear these problems are deeply embedded.

-Hola.

-Hola.

-Como estas?

Drug cartels are so much part of Mexican society,

there's even a style of music that celebrates their culture -

narcocorridos.

HE SINGS

The Mexican government has banned narcocorridos from mainstream media,

but the music remains popular.

This up-coming band, Los Bukanas De Culiacan, is fronted by Edgar.

Uno, dos, tres.

THEY SPEAK SIMULTANEOUSLY

Tell me about you music, cos I'd never ever heard of narcocorridos.

It's something that doesn't exist in the UK.

Basically, it's like a Johnny Cash style

in Spanish. You know, like... Have you heard of Johnny Cash?

I know Johnny Cash.

But he didn't sing about chopping people's heads off.

Well, he did sing about "I shot a guy

-"and I sniffed a line of coke."

-Yeah.

-Same thing.

-So it's just a bit more severe?

-It's just now...

Culture now is just more specific. It's more graphic.

I'm just interested in knowing whether or not you think

you encourage the bad behaviour on the streets.

I don't encourage it,

because that bad behaviour was here before my music was out there.

Bukanas is just the reality of the picture.

You know, you can't hang the messenger.

Have you, yourself, got a relationship with the cartels?

Is it right that they ring you and say,

-"I want you to sing about X, Y and Z."?

-Erm...

I don't know if they've been directly from the cartel,

but I've had people call me, yes.

-"Sing this, sing that."

-What do they say?

-And...

Well, mostly people want to hear their names

and they want to hear their stories in a song.

They want to hear, like...

They want to be able to pop open a beer and tell their friends,

"Yeah, he's singing about me."

It's just, like, a way to show off.

You don't necessarily have to be a narco to have a narcocorrido.

You know, people that have normal day jobs and are students, you know.

Maybe they want to be a narco for a day and they next day,

go back to their regular life.

-So escapism?

-Escapism. Something like that.

-HE LAUGHS

-You're teaching me something today, Stacey.

-I don't know.

Musicians glamorising the gangster lifestyle really isn't anything new.

That's existed for years.

But what I do think this does show is how ingrained the narco culture

seems to be here in Mexico and it is almost like a pop culture.

You know, it's a lifestyle to aspire to.

For the foreseeable future,

the Mexican cartels look likely to remain the most powerful

and notorious drug traffickers on the planet.

In a country suffering from widespread poverty,

they thrive on the huge profits to be made

from shipping vast quantities of meth to the US.

And while this sensational appetite for meth remains,

hundreds of thousands more lives will be destroyed

on both sides of the border.

'Next time, I'm on the trail of the world's bestselling party drug,

'ecstasy.

'I meet those making big money.'

So seven to ten...thousand?

'And with the police as they take down an illegal lab.'

When they take over warehouses, they're big.

'And on the streets,

'I see the effects of these deadly new cocktails.'

-Do you know what he's taken?

-No-one knows.

-It's crazy. It's like crazy.