Julian Dorey Podcast #292

Guest: Ed Calderon – Undercover Cartel Cop on Mass Grave Discovery & Covert US Ops in Mexico

Date: April 11, 2025 | Host: Julian Dorey

Overview

In this gripping discussion, Julian sits down with Ed Calderon, former Mexican police officer turned investigative educator and underworld expert, to explore today’s cartel wars, mass graves, covert US operations in Mexico, and the tangled web of corruption, violence, and government complicity on both sides of the border. Calderon details the grim realities of Mexico’s drug wars, the recent discovery of mass graves, systemic failures in both Mexico and the US, and his personal, harrowing experiences growing up and working on the front lines.

The conversation delves into the rise and evolution of cartel power, US policy and complicity, border security myths, the legacy of CIA and DEA operations, and the profound human cost for ordinary civilians lost in geopolitical games.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Historical Context: US-Mexico Shadow Play

• CIA Entanglement & Complicit Presidents
  • 1960s-70s Mexico: Communist student revolts suppressed with violence, under a president later revealed as a CIA asset. This fostered generational distrust in government. (00:00, 05:38)
  • “...the president that was in charge at that time turned out to be a CIA asset. And that creates a rift... creates feeling within the populace that the government is not my friend.” — Ed Calderon (00:00)
• Contra Affair & Narco Funding
  • CIA trained and armed Contras in Central America with Mexican cartel drug money. The boundaries between cartel power and government operations blur dangerously. (07:05)

2. Cartel Evolution: Militarization & Mass Graves

• Rise of Paramilitary Cartels
  • Zetas (ex-Mexican Special Forces) introduced US-trained guerrilla tactics, psychological operations, armored vehicles, and shock violence (dismemberments, IEDs, propaganda videos) to cartel wars. (16:25, 82:15)
  • “The Zetas changed everything. They implemented tactics, psychological warfare — up the violence to a level Mexico had never seen.” — Ed Calderon (84:02)
• “Mexican Auschwitz” and Forced Recruitment
  • Recent mass grave in Jalisco with over 200 bodies, a cartel training compound where failed recruits were executed or disappeared. Federal authorities previously raided but ignored clues of atrocities, and the truth was unearthed only by “Madres Buscadoras” (mothers of the disappeared). (11:51, 19:13)
  • “The mass grave – it's being called the Mexican Auschwitz. Shoes everywhere... clothing, pictures of people... If I don't come back, I hope you remember me.” — Ed Calderon (20:12)

3. The Inescapable Responsibility of the US

• Border Wall Myths & Drug Routes
  • The wall is a political theater; drugs and people flow regardless, with cartels often making more on human smuggling than narcotics. Corruption and demand fuel the crisis. (05:12, 10:43, 63:04)
  • “The border wall is being sold as a security feature... that's hilarious. Humans and people coming across that border pay their way through... criminal organizations actually make more money off people than drugs.” — Ed Calderon (00:00, 63:04)
• Operation Fast and Furious
  • US-initiated gunwalking put military weapons into cartel hands, with devastating casualties for both Mexican civilians and US law enforcement. Ed describes discovering these weapons after firefights and how betrayed Mexican agents felt. (28:02, 32:59)
  • “They started showing up shooting at us with those guns and nobody warned us... I was a cop in Mexico.” — Ed Calderon (29:39)

4. Government & Cartel: A Symbiotic Nexus

• Corruption at Every Level
  • Direct evidence and personal experience with police, military, politicians bought or controlled by cartels — Sinaloa cartel especially. Entire regions administered, and elections manipulated, by cartel interests. (24:54, 25:41, 175:28, 174:52)
  • “It’s long been known that the army, political class — mayors to presidents — have clear involvement with some of these cartels.” (25:11)
• Politicization of Violence
  • Elected officials, including presidents and governors, routinely pictured with cartel lawyers or associates. Security agencies once hailed as uncorruptible now on trial for major cartel collusion. (36:31, 146:01)
  • “[Federal security chief] Luna was showered with praise by US authorities, meanwhile he was dirty, dirty as hell.” — Ed Calderon (26:47)

5. The Mass Grave Crisis: Who Are the Victims?

• Abducted Recruits, Disappeared Migrants
  • Bodies in mass graves: forcibly recruited, civilian collateral, migrants who couldn't pay trafficking debts, and women/girls used and discarded as victims of sexual violence or targeted killings. (15:11, 64:08, 170:05)
  • “There is slavery going on right now. Some people can't pay for the crossing... sexual slavery as well. I've been in some weird hotel rooms in the Midwest that would freak you out.” — Ed Calderon (63:54, 64:08)

6. Current Cartel Warfare & Economic Webs

• Cartel Wars Over Everyday Goods
  • New Generation Cartel (CJNG): hyper-militarized, expansionist, fighting La Familia Michoacana with drones and IEDs over avocado region control; violence intertwined with everyday US life (e.g., avocados at Chipotle linked to cartel extortion). (17:21, 17:53)
• Transnational Influence & Proxy Power
  • Detailed stories of Mexican government playing off US tariff threats; extraditing cartel figures as bargaining chips, yet corruption prevents real solutions. (08:25, 28:17, 130:44)
  • “There has been a relationship there for years and decades. The Sinaloa cartel dwarfed every other organization out there.” (34:22, 35:10)

7. US “Terrorist” Designation and Its Implications

• Cartels Now Officially Terrorist Groups
  • The US recently designated Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations. Notably, many with US-based operations remain untouched. Ed draws comparisons to post-9/11 overreactions and asks why “cartel-funded” pop stars and companies aren’t targeted if the US were serious. (121:20, 123:21)
  • “If this is a serious attempt by the United States to go after these organizations, why aren't we hearing anything on this side?” (123:17)

8. Human Cost and Personal Stories

• Compartmentalization and Trauma
  • Ed shares raw stories about friends lost to the violence (including a boyhood friend dragged into cartel ranks and killed), and the normalization of mass death in a society with “no safety net”. (107:40, 108:34)
  • “He tried to escape under a car. His face was gone... How can I dehumanize him? These are kids... These are kids shooting at each other for what? Allegiance to a cartel? To supply the US with a substance?” (110:27, 112:34)

9. US, China, and International Proxy Conflict

• Foreign Influence via Ports & Technology
  • Chinese chemicals, criminal organizations, and supply lines keep cartel operations resilient. Chinese nationals seen crossing the border in organized groups—possible intelligence players using the chaos created by US policies. (132:32, 135:48, 135:54, 136:41)
  • Technological warfare: Chinese-made jammers, Israeli training for cartels, American-origin IED skills cross-pollinating among criminal, military, and political actors. (140:17, 91:10, 93:32)

10. The Cycle of Policy Failure & Shared Responsibility

• Failed Policies, Expansion of Criminal Power
  • Legalization of weed in US did not cripple cartels; instead, it gave them cash business fronts and they shifted to harder drugs and human trafficking. Attempts to toughen Mexican gun laws only disarm ordinary people, not criminals. (134:43, 166:46)
  • “You can't put a flashlight on your gun to use to defend your home in Mexico... it augments its capabilities. So why would a federal government do constitutional amendments to get people from, from not being armed unless they're getting ready for a revolt?” (167:43)

11. Political Theater & the Limits of Reform

• Candidate Assassinations & Cartel Politics
  • Over 30 candidates killed last election cycle; federal government proposes making judges elected officials, opening judiciary even wider to cartel manipulation. (171:56, 173:07)
  • “What makes anybody think it's a good idea to make judges politically elected in Mexico with this story... it's crazy.” (175:30, 174:52)

Notable Quotes & Powerful Moments

• On Corruption’s Ubiquity:
  “It's a farce... videos on my Instagram of federal forces saying hi to cartel guys and just kind of moving off.” (78:25)
• On Border Wall Efficacy:
  “The border wall has been up in a lot of the places where most of the drugs go across. That’s pretty funny.” (63:04)
• On US-Mexico Interdependence:
  “Mexico is so far from God but close to the United States.” (60:31)
• On Human Trafficking Crisis:
  “During the Biden administration, many minors came across that border with wristbands — they were to be used. A lot were being utilized and are still being utilized.” (64:21)
• On Policy and Economic Realities:
  “Illegal immigration in the United States is essential for the economy.” (151:02)
• On Mass Murder and Normalization:
  “There were more bodies in Mexico in the first three days of the Ukrainian war than in Ukraine, and somehow there's no war going on?” (113:42)
• On the Limits of Change:
  “How many times have you heard of a Mexican president being arrested on cartel and corruption charges? How can you cause an immediate change from the top down? You chop the head off a king.” (145:01)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• US historical meddling in Mexico, cartel-government overlap: (00:00 - 07:41)
• Fast & Furious, weapon flow to cartels: (28:02 - 33:58)
• Mass grave discovery & Jalisco “Auschwitz”: (15:08 - 22:17)
• Cartel violence over avocados and everyday goods: (17:21 - 18:29)
• How cartels recruit, train, and brutalize new members: (15:25 - 16:25, 85:34 - 86:35)
• Mechanics of cartel/government collusion (Guacamaya Leaks): (89:08 - 90:10)
• Chinese involvement & international proxy war: (132:24 - 139:00)
• Personal story: Ed’s friend lost to cartel violence: (107:40 - 110:34)
• Border security realities, human smuggling economics, slavery: (62:39 - 64:56)
• Why mass cartel arrests don’t impact US drug supply: (163:07 - 164:47)
• Gun restrictions disarm only ordinary Mexicans: (166:46 - 167:43)
• Making judges popular elected officials—new cartel opportunity: (173:07 - 175:30)

Tone and Closing Thoughts

This episode interweaves horror, cynicism, and painful pragmatism, softened only by Ed’s dark wit and personal compassion. Calderon consistently pushes the audience to confront uncomfortable truths — not to demonize Mexico or absolve the US, but to recognize mutual complicity and the profound human consequences that follow when societies treat neighbors like expendable resources or scapegoats.

As Julian and Ed concur, there are “less enemies to freedom” in America, but freedom’s survival depends on recognizing how interconnected both countries are, in blood, economics, and corruption. True border security or reform, they argue, means seeing clearly across that line.

End of Part 1. For more on Ed Calderon's story and further geopolitical deep-dives into the Mexican-American narco wars, watch for Part 2 scheduled next week.