0:00
Mexico City 2011. A warehouse filled
0:05
and ammunition sits unguarded. Mexican
0:08
cartel members load the weapons into
0:10
trucks heading for the border. But these
0:12
aren't stolen guns. They were sold by
0:15
the United States government. And the
0:17
cartel members, they're being watched by
0:20
CIA satellites. Their every move tracked
0:23
and recorded. This is Operation Fast and
0:27
Furious, and it's about to become the
0:29
biggest scandal in modern intelligence
0:31
history. How does the world's most
0:33
powerful intelligence agency end up
0:35
arming the same cartels it claims to be
0:38
fighting? How do 2,000 militarygrade
0:41
weapons walk across the border with full
0:44
government knowledge only to be used in
0:46
over 150 murders, including a US Border
0:49
Patrol agent? Between 2006 and 2011,
0:54
multiple US agencies ran operations that
0:57
supplied weapons to Mexican drug cartels
1:00
worth over $1.50 million. That's $2.2
1:05
million in today's money. But here's
1:08
what the official reports don't tell
1:09
you. Declassified documents from 2024
1:14
reveal this wasn't the first time. For
1:17
decades, the CIA has maintained complex
1:20
relationships with drug cartels, using
1:23
them as assets, informants, and even
1:25
partners in covert operations. The war
1:28
on drugs, sometimes it was more like a
1:31
business merger. So, get ready to dive
1:34
into the explosive truth about how
1:37
America's intelligence agencies played
1:39
both sides of the drug war and why some
1:42
investigators believe they're still
1:44
doing it today. Act one, the Cold War
1:48
connection. The truth is, we don't know
1:51
much about the CIA's earliest cartel
1:54
operations because most documents remain
1:56
classified or were destroyed. But what
2:00
we do know begins in the 1980s during
2:03
the height of the Cold War when fighting
2:05
communism justified almost anything. The
2:09
story starts with the Nicaraguan
2:11
Contras, anti-communist rebels fighting
2:14
the Sandinista government. Congress had
2:17
banned US funding for the Contras
2:20
through the Boland Amendment, but the
2:22
Reagan administration was determined to
2:24
support them. Enter Oliver North, the
2:27
CIA, and a plan that would forever blur
2:31
the lines between intelligence
2:33
operations and drug trafficking.
2:36
According to declassified documents and
2:38
congressional testimony, the CIA turned
2:42
a blind eye as Contra supporters
2:44
trafficked cocaine into the United
2:46
States to fund their war. Planes that
2:50
delivered weapons to Nicaragua returned
2:53
loaded with cocaine. The drugs flowed
2:56
through Mexico where cartels like the
2:59
Guadalajara organization led by Miguel
3:01
Angel Felix Gallardo served as
3:04
middlemen. But there was a problem. DEA
3:08
agent Enrique Kiki Camarina was getting
3:11
too close to uncovering the CIA cartel
3:14
connection. On February 7th, 1985,
3:18
Camarina was kidnapped in Guadalajara.
3:21
He was tortured for 30 hours. his skull
3:24
crushed, his body dumped on a ranch. The
3:28
official story blamed the cartels, but
3:31
declassified documents suggest CIA
3:34
assets were present during his
3:37
Desperate to know what he had learned
3:39
about their operations.
3:41
The murder created a crisis. The DEA
3:44
wanted revenge. The CIA wanted cover.
3:48
The solution? blame everything on the
3:51
cartels while protecting the
3:53
intelligence assets embedded within
3:54
them. Key cartel figures with CIA
3:58
connections received light sentences or
4:01
mysterious escapes. Others who knew too
4:05
much died in suspicious circumstances,
4:08
yet something was missing from the
4:10
official narrative. Why were certain
4:13
trafficking routes never disrupted? Why
4:16
did specific cartel leaders seem to have
4:18
advanced warning of raids? The answer
4:21
lay in a strategy that would define US
4:24
cartel relations for decades, controlled
4:27
chaos. As long as the drugs flowed
4:30
predictably, the CIA could monitor and
4:33
manipulate the trade for intelligence
4:35
purposes. Act two, the partnership
4:38
deepens. By the 1990s, the Cold War was
4:42
over, but the CIA's cartel relationships
4:45
had evolved into something more complex.
4:48
The agency now justified these
4:51
connections as necessary for the war on
4:54
terror and maintaining regional
4:56
stability. Cartels weren't just drug
4:59
traffickers. They were intelligence
5:01
assets who could provide information on
5:04
everything from arms dealers to
5:07
potential terrorists. The Sinaloa cartel
5:10
led by Hain El Chapo Guzman became
5:13
particularly valuable. According to
5:14
court documents unsealed in 2014, the
5:17
DEA and CIA allowed the Sinaloa cartel
5:20
to traffic tons of cocaine into the
5:22
United States between 2000 and 2012 in
5:25
exchange for information about rival
5:26
cartels. The deal was simple. immunity
5:29
for intelligence. Viciente Zambada
5:32
Nabla, son of Seneloa leader Ismael
5:36
Elmeo Zambada, testified in federal
5:39
court that he was a US government asset.
5:42
He claimed DEA and CIA handlers gave him
5:46
cart blanch to traffic drugs as long as
5:49
he provided information. When arrested
5:51
in 2009, he had documents proving his
5:56
The government fought to keep these
5:58
documents sealed, claiming national
6:00
security. But the most explosive
6:02
operation was yet to come. In 2009, the
6:07
ATF with CIA coordination launched
6:11
Operation Fast and Furious. The official
6:14
goal, track weapons to cartel leaders.
6:17
The method, allow gun stores to sell
6:19
militarygrade weapons to known cartel
6:22
buyers, then follow the guns to their
6:26
Between 2009 and 2011, over 2,000
6:30
weapons walked across the border.
6:36
caliber rifles, pistols, enough to arm a
6:40
small army. ATF agents were ordered to
6:43
stand down when they could have made
6:45
arrests. Gun store owners who reported
6:48
suspicious sales were told to complete
6:51
them anyway. The weapons were supposed
6:53
to be tracked, but the tracking devices
6:56
were removed or disabled. Therefore, the
6:59
cartels received a steady supply of
7:02
American weapons with de facto
7:04
government approval. The CIA monitored
7:07
the weapons movement through satellite
7:10
surveillance and human intelligence.
7:13
They knew which cartels received which
7:15
weapons, who used them, where they were
7:18
stored. It was the perfect intelligence
7:21
operation until it wasn't. On December
7:24
14th, 2010, Border Patrol agent Brian
7:28
Terry was killed in a firefight with
7:31
cartel members near Ngalas, Arizona. Two
7:35
Fast and Furious weapons were found at
7:38
the scene. The operation unraveled.
7:41
Whistleblowers came forward. Congress
7:44
launched investigations.
7:46
But even as officials testified,
7:48
claiming Fast and Furious was a failed
7:51
ATF operation, classified CIA documents
7:56
told a different story. The weapons
7:58
weren't just being tracked, they were
8:00
being directed. Certain cartels received
8:04
better weapons than others. The Sinaloa
8:07
cartel, America's unofficial partner,
8:10
received the lion's share. Their rivals
8:13
like Losettas and the Huarez cartel were
8:17
targeted for destruction. The CIA was
8:20
picking winners and losers in Mexico's
8:23
drug war. Nevertheless, the strategy had
8:26
logic. A controlled drug trade was
8:29
preferable to chaos. One powerful cartel
8:33
was easier to monitor than many small
8:35
ones. If drugs were going to flow
8:38
anyway, better to have them flow through
8:40
channels the CIA could watch and
8:43
occasionally manipulate. But this cold
8:46
calculation ignored the human cost. Over
8:50
150,000 deaths in Mexico's drug war,
8:54
many killed with American weapons.
8:57
Internal emails released through FOIA SA
9:01
requests revealed the depth of
9:04
CIA analysts tracked cartel territories
9:07
like military campaigns. They had
9:10
organizational charts more detailed than
9:13
the cartel's own records. They knew
9:15
where leaders slept, where drugs were
9:18
processed, where money was counted. Yet,
9:21
raids only happened when politically
9:23
necessary, or when a cartel stepped out
9:26
of line. However, the most damning
9:29
evidence came from Mexico. In 2011,
9:34
Mexican federal police captured an
9:37
entire Zetus training camp. Among the
9:40
weapons, Fast and Furious guns. Among
9:44
the trainers, men later identified as
9:47
former US special forces working as
9:51
The Mexican government's investigation
9:54
was shut down after US pressure. The
9:57
findings classified. Act three, the
9:59
cover up continues. By 2012, Fast and
10:03
Furious had become a political scandal.
10:06
Attorney General Eric Holder was held in
10:08
contempt of Congress for refusing to
10:11
release documents. President Obama
10:14
invoked executive privilege to protect
10:16
CIA files. The official investigation
10:20
concluded it was a botched operation by
10:23
overzealous ATF agents. But the real
10:26
story was buried in classification.
10:30
Whistleblowers who tried to expose the
10:32
CIA connection faced retaliation. ATF
10:35
agent John Dodson, who first revealed
10:37
Fast and Furious, was demoted and
10:39
transferred. Other agents were
10:41
threatened with prosecution for leaking
10:42
classified information. The message was
10:45
clear. The drug wars dirty secrets must
10:47
remain secret, but evidence kept
10:49
surfacing. In 2014, a Mexican newspaper
10:53
published documents showing CIA payments
10:56
to cartel informants totaling millions
10:59
of dollars. In 2017, El Chapo's son
11:02
released phone recordings of DEA agents
11:05
negotiating drug shipments. In 2019, the
11:09
trial of Hinaro Garcia Luna, Mexico's
11:12
former security minister, revealed he
11:15
had taken bribes from cartels while
11:18
simultaneously working with US
11:20
intelligence. The pattern was always the
11:22
same. US agencies claimed to be fighting
11:26
cartels while secretly managing them.
11:29
They destroyed some trafficking routes
11:31
while protecting others. They arrested
11:34
low-level dealers while ensuring
11:36
kingpins received warnings. They seized
11:40
enough drugs for headlines while
11:42
allowing far more to reach American
11:45
streets. Yet, the most disturbing
11:47
revelation came in 2024.
11:50
Newly declassified documents revealed
11:53
Operation Reciprocity, a CIA program
11:57
running from 2015 to 2020. The operation
12:01
used cartel networks to monitor
12:04
terrorist financing in Latin America. In
12:07
exchange, certain trafficking routes
12:10
were deprioritized for enforcement. The
12:14
war on terror had officially merged with
12:16
the war on drugs and both were being
12:20
Mexican journalists who investigated
12:23
these connections faced assassination.
12:26
Between 2000 and 2024, over 150
12:30
journalists were murdered in Mexico.
12:33
Many while investigating government
12:36
cartel collusion. American journalists
12:39
were pressured to ignore the story.
12:41
National security letters gagged
12:43
potential sources. The truth was treated
12:46
as more dangerous than the crimes it
12:48
exposed. But why did it continue? Former
12:52
CIA officers speaking anonymously
12:54
provided answers. The cartel
12:57
relationships generated intelligence on
13:00
everything from arms trafficking to
13:02
migrant smuggling. They provided early
13:05
warning of instability in Latin America.
13:08
They offered deniable assets for
13:10
operations Congress would never approve.
13:13
Most importantly, they gave the illusion
13:16
of control over an uncontrollable
13:18
problem. The human cost was staggering.
13:23
Hundreds of thousands dead in Mexico.
13:26
American communities devastated by
13:29
drugs. Billions spent on a war that was
13:32
being deliberately prolonged. But for
13:34
intelligence agencies, these were
13:37
acceptable losses in a larger game. As
13:40
one former officer put it, "We're not in
13:43
the business of stopping drugs. We're in
13:46
the business of managing chaos." Today,
13:49
the operations continue under new names
13:53
with new justifications.
13:55
The cartels have evolved, become more
13:58
sophisticated, learned from their CIA
14:01
contacts. They use encrypted
14:03
communications taught by intelligence
14:05
agencies. They employ counter
14:08
surveillance techniques developed for
14:09
special operations. They've become in
14:12
effect paramilitary intelligence
14:14
organizations themselves.
14:17
The Mexican government caught between US
14:19
pressure and cartel power plays along.
14:23
They arrest whoever the Americans
14:25
designate while protecting whoever the
14:28
Americans ignore. They fight the war on
14:30
drugs for cameras while knowing their
14:32
allies are supplying both sides. They've
14:35
learned that in this game, survival
14:38
means accepting the unacceptable.
14:41
Recent revelations suggest the
14:43
relationship has evolved again. Cyber
14:46
warfare, cryptocurrency, and artificial
14:49
intelligence have created new
14:51
opportunities for collaboration.
14:54
Cartels provide human intelligence
14:57
networks. Agencies provide technical
15:01
The partnership that began with guns and
15:04
drugs now encompasses the full spectrum
15:08
of 21st century threats. But perhaps the
15:11
most chilling aspect is how normalized
15:14
it's become. New agents are trained to
15:18
work with criminal informants without
15:20
questioning why those informants never
15:22
face justice. Politicians speak of
15:26
fighting cartels while authorizing
15:28
programs that strengthen them. The
15:31
public demands action while remaining
15:34
unaware that the government is playing
15:36
both sides. The documents declassified
15:40
in 2024 are just the beginning.
15:43
Investigators believe thousands more
15:45
files remain hidden, detailing
15:48
operations that would shock even cynical
15:50
observers. But classification periods
15:54
extend 50 years or more. By the time the
15:57
full truth emerges, everyone involved
16:00
will be dead, their crimes buried with
16:02
them. So, what do you think? Is the CIA
16:05
still arming and protecting certain
16:08
cartels while pretending to fight them?
16:11
Are these operations necessary evils in
16:14
a complex world or unforgivable
16:17
betrayals of public trust? How many more
16:20
fast and furious scandals remain hidden
16:23
in classified files? Drop your theory in
16:26
the comments. I read every single one.
16:29
And if you want more explosive
16:31
revelations about government operations
16:34
they don't want you to know about, hit
16:36
subscribe and ring that notification
16:39
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