Confronting the Cartels Our World

Mexico's brutal drug war has claimed the lives of 160,000 people, at

least 30,000 others are missing. With witless assassins on their

payroll and an annual turnover of $30 million, the cartels have the

nation under siege, traumatised by extreme violence. Family people have

you killed? Hundreds. We have our brand, and our brand is death. But

this newly elected state governor says he won't be intimidated. El

Bronco, the rebel, says he is taking them on.

I have come to Mexico to find out if El Bronco can succeed.

On New Year's Day 2016, a small town just 100 commenters from the

capital, less then 24 hours later, she was shot dead. Mexico is a

violent city. It lies on an important drug route and has become

a hotbed for cartel activity. Too dangerous for us to visit, so her

parents met us in the nearby state capital.

I can see you have security now, but did your daughter have any security?

No. Gisela has joined a growing number

of murdered mayors. 40 have been killed in the past eight years.

Intimidation, threats and assassination attempts are part of

daily life for politicians in Mexico. Criminal groups have

infiltrated the police, and there is little protection for those who

challenge the drug lords. Enter El Bronco, the newly elected governor

of the state of Nuevo Leon. El Bronco has been a politician for

more than 30 years. A few months ago in a bold move he resigned from one

of Mexico's main political parties and stood as an independent. With

his unique popular style, he re-engaged many disillusioned

voters, tired of corrupt party politics, and one in a landslide. --

and he won. El Bronco's powerbase is the city of

Monterrey, the capital of Mexico's wealthy state, a few hours' drive

from the US border. Governor, how you? Nice to see you. -- how are

you? How many security guards did you

have? Are all of these people watching out

for you? The cleaners, the local shopkeepers?

You can defend yourself against guns? You are not armed?

At the heart of El Bronco's operation is his social media team.

Yes, but since 2006, 100 politicians have been killed since the election

you run four, seven politicians have been killed. Another male was killed

just in the last few weeks. -- mayor. These facts, the ignored. --

can't be ignored. I wasn't entirely convinced by El

Bronco's apparent confidence, and when the governor travels beyond the

centre of the city, we notice it is in a convoy of armed vehicles. When

you leave Monterey, you feel much less safe. What is quite incredible

about all of this is we are so close to the US border, about 100

kilometres, and yet this feels like nomen's land. I keep being told the

cartels are operating out of here. These are the areas that the

governor told us was completely under the control of the

authorities. But the feeling we get is that that is not the case. A man

who knows this very well they do not want to be identified was our guide.

This village once had a population of about 14,000. When the cartels

moved in the people left. A situation hundreds of thousands of

Mexicans face across this country. When the cartels came here, they

started to kill people and push them out of their homes. The police have

regained control now of this area, but they're still afraid and very

concerned. In fact, that is supposed to be the police station and has no

sign. Nothing to indicate that they're operating out of there.

The locals are the cartel is regarded as the most ruthless in

Mexico. -- Zetas cartel. Many of the members are former soldiers, trained

to kill. They dominated the state until they got caught up in a turf

war with a rival cartel. A war which is still going on. This is the

biggest Mexican national corporation now. They have enough resources,

they have armies, they have access to the most sophisticated weapons

because in the US you can buy very easily sophisticated weapons. That's

why they are the epicentre of organised crime in the world.

There's something about the murkiness of the drug wars in Mexico

that makes reporting from here very difficult. It's hard to know who to

trust. But while we are here we are offered an interview with the man

who claims to be in charge of local operations for the Zetas cartel.

TRANSLATION: Iambic head of the area, I am the head of this

territory here. We show no mercy. We are ruthless. Have you beheaded

people? Yes. Assassinations? Yes. Executions? Yes. Extortion? Yes. How

many people have you killed? I don't know an exact number, but many.

Hundreds? Thousands? Hundreds. Any innocent civilians? Yes. We regret

that? No. Do you feel responsible for the violence in Mexico? No. We

all have a boss. Tell me about the relationship it when the police and

the military. What's relationship of your cartel group with them? I won't

answer that. What you think of the Governor? It could be him or another

one, they are all the same. Do you think he works closely with the

cartels? He must be. To politicians, in order to survive in this

country, worked closely with groups like yours? I won't talk about the

government. -- work closely. Tell me about the state and this area. Is it

still being controlled by cartels? 100%. Right now we are fighting to

control this turf. We have our brand and our brand is death.

His men say they want their boss to leave.

I was shocked that this man, who claims to be a Zetas cartel boss,

had the confidence to come here, around the corner of the tell me he

was still in charge. In stark contrast to everything I was told

previously. So who is really running this place? I went to see El Bronco

again, this time at home on his Ranch. You understand how the

politics of this country works. Tell me about the negotiations that

politicians strike with the cartels and criminal gangs?

There are some people who speculate that perhaps you have come to some

kind of deal with the cartels in order to ensure peace in this state

and also your own survival? What about a series of attacks that

happened in this state, in fact in Monterey, just several months ago?

Toadie two people killed in three separate incidents and there are all

linked according to the authorities to drug trafficking and criminal

gangs? The US government has issued a

warning against travel in certain states in Mexico, including yours.

This is clearly personal. He has survived two Acehnese and events --

assassination event at his daughter was briefly kidnapped.

Organised crime was created by politicians in power. In a side

business they started the traffic drugs. Then in the 1930s, 40s and

50s, a lot of that activity created this extraordinary power over the

most powerful world criminal organisations in the history of

mankind. If you are in the town, you will be approached and told to name

people who are ahead of police and transit and we will give you that

much money. If you don't accept you will be killed. You, your family,

your wife, your children. El Bronco is an example of the relationship we

have with the elites. They are corrupt, selfish, inefficient and

very expensive. They are useless for the common good. We'll El Bronco be

a solution? I don't know, it is an experiment. I felt like when I met

El Bronco that he was perhaps in denial. They have to deny that

organised crime exists because they don't know how to handle it. Then

you have the next psychological state, which is the acceptance. El

Bronco is just the beginning. El Bronco has been in power for just a

few months. For a state politician in Mexico that's a long time to be

alive when you vowed to defeat the cartels. The rest of Mexico is

closely watching El Bronco's governorship, hoping for signs of

success. But just days after we left, if the prisoners died in

Monterey Jail in cartel related violence. -- 50 prisoners. The

battle for control is not over and El Bronco has a very long way to go

to fulfil his promises.