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00:06Were you ever in charge?
00:14I did what I did.
00:19Something that I never wanted to do,
00:21but it got into my life and did it and got out and done deal.
00:30What does it take to be the boss?
00:35To be the boss, it means it takes a lot of leadership and smart thinking.
00:43Thinking before you do things.
00:46The way I run things back then, I was pretty controlled.
00:51Like, I wasn't this cold-blooded murderer,
00:55and thank God that I never murdered somebody in my life.
01:01But back in the days, I would have.
01:28My words and my actions were, like, tough.
01:33They were strong back then.
01:35Being in a drug business isn't easy.
01:38It's a tough life.
01:40It was cool.
01:42Why lie?
01:43It was good.
01:46But on the other hand,
01:48sometimes when you get law enforcement on your back,
01:52then you're probably thinking about changing the name.
01:55Then it's not so cool,
01:57because I don't respect you that much.
01:59And then it gets more complicated.
02:06It's a double life.
02:09You live in fear.
02:11Like, you never know what the day is going to end up.
02:15Are you going to get arrested?
02:17Are you going to get killed?
02:19Are you going to make it through the day?
02:21It's really hard to live like that.
02:25And that's why I think a lot of people lose so much control,
02:30because it's so much pressure.
02:32So much pressure on yourself,
02:34and start drinking, start using drugs,
02:38and you can handle it.
02:40We were not those kind of people that were going around,
02:43hurting people, destroying people's lives.
02:46We were more, like,
02:48taking it as a business and helping people out.
02:51I didn't push people around,
02:54but at the same time,
02:56I didn't let me push around either.
02:59Everybody wants a piece of you.
03:02So there's always people that want to take your spot,
03:06and, like, it's tough.
03:10And there was just one point.
03:16I just didn't want to take it anymore.
03:25We've had United States drug agents tell us
03:28that right now, today,
03:29your brother Enrique is in charge of the Mennonite Mafia.
03:33Is that true?
03:35No, it's not true.
03:38He's out of the game.
03:39Like, it's not true.
03:41It's different people running the show
03:44and trying to blame it always on somebody else.
03:49Like, that's what it is, being...
03:52being the harms.
04:05A documentary comes out,
04:07and they're telling all this about, like, father, like son.
04:11It was about my brother Enrique,
04:13and it was a tough one.
04:15Everybody was thinking it was my brother.
04:17But actually, it's not my brother.
04:21There's two different Enrique harms,
04:27which confuses a lot.
04:30Names in the Mennonite community
04:32are extraordinarily confusing,
04:34mostly because there's only about 10 last names.
04:38And for each sex, there's only about 10 male names.
04:41There's only about 10 female names.
04:44Well, what ends up happening is
04:46that there are many, many, many people with the same name.
04:50And so Enrique harms, I'm sure there's, like, 50.
05:03The original Enrique harms,
05:06he stepped out, he's out of the business,
05:10and then came another Enrique harms
05:12leveraging on his name
05:14several years after other cartel members,
05:19producers, traffickers,
05:21thinking that it was the oldest Enrique harms,
05:25which they respected a lot.
05:27The confusion is that
05:28they have the same first name,
05:30same second last name,
05:31which is Enrique harms.
05:33The OG was Enrique harms Peters,
05:35and then the guy next was Enrique harms Groening,
05:38which is two different families.
05:40But that generated a lot of confusion
05:43between who was this Enrique harms,
05:45because everyone thought it was,
05:47okay, the OG is back in business,
05:49and apparently he's back again
05:50in the trafficking industry.
05:52But his face was absolutely different.
05:55Enrique harms was, let's say,
05:57El Chapo for the Mennonites back then.
05:59It's a whole brand.
06:00Everybody knows El Chapo,
06:02so everybody knows how to make business
06:03with El Chapo, right?
06:04If someone comes on behalf of El Chapo,
06:07you'll have a lot of open doors.
06:09And they will lend you money.
06:11They will trust in you.
06:12They will know how to negotiate with you.
06:14So the harms organization,
06:16the Mennonite Mafia,
06:18it evolved,
06:18and it has evolved throughout the years,
06:20just like all the other cartels have evolved, right?
06:23At the time,
06:24the Juarez cartel had control
06:26of basically all of Chihuahua.
06:28Of course,
06:28they had to fall in with the Juarez cartel.
06:31There was a time
06:32when they actually fell in with the Salazaras,
06:34which was a faction of the Sinaloa cartel,
06:36when the Sinaloa cartel
06:37was starting to gain ground.
06:39But just like anything,
06:40you know, the power shifts,
06:41and so they're very smart
06:42in the way that they align themselves
06:44because they align themselves
06:45to whoever is going to have the power
06:47and is going to align their interests.
06:50The second Enrique Harms,
06:52the new Enrique Harms,
06:53he had to pick sides.
06:55And of course,
06:55he picked the Juarez cartel,
06:56La Línea side,
06:57because they were the main operators
06:59in Cuauhtémoc at the time.
07:00So he was working for them,
07:02with them,
07:03and not as an independent operator
07:06trafficking drugs.
07:07So his links to La Línea
07:09and to the Juarez cartel
07:10are strong links.
07:15Do you know Enrique Harms-Broning?
07:17Do you know who this is?
07:18I know who he is.
07:21Grew up in the same community.
07:22I know who he is,
07:24but both in the same business.
07:26And I believe my brother,
07:29by that time,
07:29he was out of the business.
07:31He was completely retired.
07:33And then it got so messed up,
07:37and it was such a nightmare
07:39for my brother
07:41that somebody else
07:42was exactly with the same name
07:44doing a lot of things.
07:48And everything
07:49came to fall on him.
07:52The Mennonite Mafia
07:53ever stopped?
07:57I don't think so.
08:21El Bolas showed up,
08:23and this was the head
08:24of the first time we heard
08:26the Mennonite cartel,
08:27and said,
08:28okay,
08:29this is what we're gonna do now.
08:30We're gonna organize.
08:32We're gonna work
08:33under the Juarez cartel,
08:35and you guys are gonna work
08:36for me
08:36and under my leadership.
08:38And every single other guy
08:40who was working
08:41or trying to work independently,
08:42he was brutally murder,
08:44threatened,
08:45and violence started picking up
08:46in Kultemuk
08:48under the leadership
08:49of El Bolas.
09:19The Mennonite Mafia
09:32The Triangle of Dolado is a serrano region
09:35that covers the states of Sinaloa, Sonora and Chihuahua,
09:43where the people in the region
09:46are being cultivated in many years,
09:52since the 1960s to the date.
09:54They are by the criminal groups of that region.
09:58All that has always been planted and collected
10:03to be transported to the United States
10:07through the different routes that exist.
10:11And these routes are controlled by the cartels.
10:15That's why it becomes the city of Cuauhtémoc.
10:21And that's where the situation begins
10:25between organized crime and Menonitas.
10:40In late 80s, when there was the Sinaloa Federation,
10:44they started moving marijuana to the United States
10:47and getting some fee from the Colombians
10:51to traffic cocaine into the U.S.
10:53until they said, well, we probably don't need the Colombians anymore.
10:57We can move our own stuff and have them as our suppliers.
11:01That's when they became huge in the drug trafficking industry.
11:05This exploded and became a huge operation.
11:09They decided to split turf.
11:11That's where the Juarez Cartel was born in the 90s, late 80s.
11:23With Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the Lord of the Skies,
11:26they were basically paying every single politician,
11:30every single cop in the state of Chihuahua.
11:31The organization still exists.
11:33It's called La Linea now.
11:35La Linea is a gang that forms in the drug world of northern Chihuahua.
11:40Their main function is as enforcers.
11:42Enforcers for the Juarez Cartel
11:45until they became their own cartel.
12:02I was working on robes and crimes and crimes,
12:07but there were some investigations in crime.
12:10The Menonita community was very reserved.
12:13They always had a low profile.
12:15So, although we always had a low profile,
12:19they never knew them.
12:21They took their bodies
12:23to not be identified by the police.
12:30Why did they do it?
12:31It was simply to not be identified as a criminal group.
12:38I tell you,
12:40when they arrived to investigate
12:41or to interview someone
12:42at the chief of the Menonita family,
12:45they really, literally,
12:48the women,
12:49they were hiding them
12:50so they could not have access to them
12:54to be able to see them
12:55or to react to them.
12:58But they were only
13:00the person or the chief of the family.
13:03They were the only ones
13:03who allowed them to see.
13:06However,
13:06it was difficult to get information
13:08and effective information
13:10information.
13:38You can find it that you don't think
13:41small community about 240 miles south east of el paso the mexican town south of presidio is
13:48a town called ojinaga la línea which is a spin-off of the juarez cartel a spin-off of the
13:56sinaloa
13:57cartel has now moved in and they are in a turf war for this plaza the plaza of ojinaga la
14:05plaza
14:05es el lugar donde el cartel va a recibir un impuesto o un pago por dejar operar todo lo que
14:15sea ilegal
14:16the plaza is the location where the heart of the cartel operates if they can control ojinaga they
14:26can control the movement of all their products in and out of the united states because this is the
14:34only port of entry or they can cross their merchandise within 240 miles east and west
14:40it's a really lucrative spot and both cartels are in a battle to keep that territory
15:04so
15:14el brazo como brazo armado de un cartel la línea ese grupo es un grupo super super super
15:24peligroso muy violento que va a hacer todo lo necesario para poder lograr subjetivo
15:32the cartels they used and are abusing for mennonites so many mennonites have have been doing prison has
15:40been killed or killed himself or whatever just because they got in big problems with cartels we started
15:49seeing a lot of killings a lot of shootouts a lot of people hanging from bridges they left a body
15:54with
15:54a pig's head on their face
15:59depending on who you ask they'll tell you well the singaloans are winning or the juarez cartels
16:04winning who's not winning is the people less than three months ago there were 17 or 18 individuals that
16:12were killed in okinaga those individuals belonged to that spinoff of the sinaloa cartel and they were
16:20killed by members of juarez cartel the majority of their bodies were all dumped together on a side
16:27street kind of like the one we're driving on in front of a house and there was a large sign
16:33that had been
16:34written across their bodies as a warning to the sinaloa cartel hey if you keep this up we're gonna keep
16:42killing your people ah bueno va a ser con violencia es gana el que tenga más fuerza
17:11so
17:15so
17:17so
17:46I'm from the state of Chihuahua, I grew up in Cuauhtémoc.
17:51I've been seven years old in the Cerezo number one, Aquiles, Cerdán.
17:56I came from the qualified homicide.
17:59It was a very difficult life,
18:01and that's why I came from that.
18:07It was difficult because I grew up with my grandparents,
18:10and my parents, since I was little,
18:12they left me.
18:12At 10 years, I started to look for them,
18:17to remind me of those people
18:20for a future.
18:22My job was to install drains in the streets,
18:27and I started to work,
18:30punteando,
18:32in the streets,
18:34cuidando the government.
18:35It was my job.
18:36When someone passed,
18:38I told them to go there.
18:41and then,
18:42then,
18:45I went to sicarii,
18:49people,
18:49because I was a pistoler.
18:54I started working with the line.
18:59When we divided,
19:01When we moved,
19:01I went to the car,
19:03I was a man.
19:12I was a man.
19:14When we moved,
19:15I was a man.
19:20When he came to the car,
19:29I went to the car.
19:31That's how I got my house."
19:35Fue a lot of money.
19:39Well, I think that's how I got my family.
19:44I've had a lot of money to play in my family.
19:46I have been working there, I've got a-
19:48I've had a gun.
19:50I just took a break,
19:53I've got an army for that day,
19:56I've got it that way.
19:57So easy.
19:59What group did you join?
20:01I joined the new people, the Tigre.
20:09I'm from Cuauhtémoc, close to Cuauhtémoc.
20:14As I said, they're in dispute, they're in war,
20:18for control.
20:20In Cuauhtémoc, they're disputing the plaza,
20:23they don't have the owner, they don't know what's going on.
20:28They're disputing the line and the chapels.
20:31They're in the plaza in Cuauhtémoc, the people of Tigre.
20:34And the war that's right now is because the line
20:36wants to return the command of that plaza,
20:39but no, even now it doesn't have to be achieved.
20:44They're allied with the line,
20:47menonitas.
20:48They're those who recruit people,
20:51they recruit men.
20:53They're, they can say,
20:55the line.
20:58Most of them are the main contributors,
21:03they can say.
21:04They're talking about weapons,
21:06computers,
21:07they provide money.
21:09Well, I think that a 30% of them are involved in drugs, in trafficking, and a 70% of
21:18them work with rights as it is.
21:21Well, now they are the ones who raise people, they cobrate, they are involved in the washing of money and
21:30all that.
21:31Well, in general, it's all. Sicarians, extorsioners, cobro de piso,
21:40they are the ones who raise people in the corridor, the ones who patrol the corridor,
21:44they put their retenes, they could say.
21:47They cobran piso for the business.
21:49The two, both Mexicans and Menonitas, they don't care, they cobran piso.
21:59They are the ones who call the soldier, they are all the way around.
22:04The soldier, between the entire community, is the ones who are still hearing more.
22:12For example, the body of Bolas is where I have a knowledge of,
22:16Well, it's the head of all the community, the one who submits, the one who obliges to work or just
22:26the one who sends that area there.
22:30The Menonitas are the only ones that are, as well as members of the line, they could say.
22:37They are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are good from there.
22:43They are the ones that make money, they rob people, they're the ones that are the ones that are the
22:50ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that do.
22:53No, with them I didn't work.
22:56But the boss, when I worked with the chiefs, they had some kind of business, just one time.
23:02And that's where I was, I was able to see them, just in certain occasions, but no, and to speak
23:08with them, no.
23:25Bolas is the big head from the Mennonites.
23:28He was a powerful man, he was a violent man, but not just because he wanted, he got the
23:34power because Mexicans gave it to him, because Mexicans told him, you have to do this, you
23:38have to do that, you have to do anything.
23:43We start seeing a bunch of killings around the Sierra de Chihuahua, the woodlands and
23:49in Cuauhtémoc.
23:50Last time what I hear that he has been doing, he has been violent, violento.
23:59Local journalists reports started pointing at this guy, which was very strange to see
24:04because he was a white guy, Mennonite, full on, dubbed El Bolas.
24:10What does El Bolas mean?
24:12El Bolas, well, the balls.
24:16They were working full on for the Cuauhtémoc Cartel.
24:19In 2019, there was a news that I killed three girls and two guys and that I hung them up
24:26on a bridge by Pampas.
24:28Pampas killing.
24:29It was a bridge in Cuauhtémoc.
24:31After that, they burned two young guys in a pickup.
24:36And it goes, it has done David Giesbrecht, whose nickname is Bolas.
24:41He blamed David the fake Bolas.
24:44I was in prison, come on.
24:47When I first heard the nickname Bolas, which was one of the main operators, I actually had
24:52a wrong name.
24:53The name that was put out of the press and fed to journalists was David Giesbrecht Furr.
25:00But everybody knows I'm not Bolas.
25:06I think that you know that, right?
25:10The real Bolas has a very different name.
25:13It is Peter Furr, actually.
25:15I've seen pictures of David Giesbrecht Furr before, and he doesn't look at all like the
25:21real Bolas.
25:22Very different kind of man.
25:24El Bolas, he looks like a white man, like several other Mennonites, but his face is
25:29really hard, serious, almost like a sociopathic look on his eyes.
25:36Very different from other Mennonites, even working for the cartel, working for him, and
25:41definitely more scary.
25:43He has a sight that you can feel the violence and the way he lives.
25:54Eventually, we learned that this guy David, he was working with the Mennonites for El Bolas.
25:59And I think it was the actual Bolas who tried to buy the name and the face of one of
26:08his
26:08workers, workers, workers of David.
26:10And he put it up in the press as El Bolas Peter Furr, the real Bolas.
26:16He was absolutely ruthless.
26:17And that was a message for everyone who was trying to either go independent or go against
26:23him.
26:23And he didn't care to blame one of his own people, which was David.
26:41Abraham Harms Jr. was part of the OG Harms organization, the original Ricky Harms brother.
26:49And of course, he was in the game for several years.
26:51And then afterwards, he started just laundering his money, I guess.
26:55He established a legal juice company, established in El Paso, Texas.
27:00And he became a Mennonite businessman, a very successful one.
27:04And the word was out that he had legal money when the Mennonite mob needed money.
27:11I said, this was from the Orms boys, from Lof Orm, that's what I'm saying.
27:18The Marijuana Orms, the dumb Orms boys.
27:22That's from work, yeah.
27:49I was in Georgia, and once I saw him on TV.
27:52He was outside at the restaurant, La Huerta.
27:55It's one kilometer off from a shop.
27:58This was during the time that I was the agent in charge of the HSI Juarez office.
28:03He got kidnapped as he was going to a restaurant.
28:07My brother, he has a meeting with his accountant.
28:09They're going to have breakfast in a restaurant.
28:11And when my brother drives up, and as soon as he gets out of the pickup, there comes this
28:18guy and walks up to him.
28:19My brother, he starts running, and he runs after him and hits him with a gun in the back
28:25of his head.
28:26He falls down, and a couple of individuals had kidnapped him at gunpoint, and had taken
28:34his vehicle, which was a luxury GMC vehicle, and put him in the vehicle and drove off with
28:39him.
28:40Official word from the Mexican authorities was that he was kidnapped for a ransom.
28:45And that a legitimate member of the Mennonite organization, which was an accountant that,
28:49you know, handled a lot of the businesses that the Mennonites owned, that individual had
28:54provided intel to his brother so that they could kidnap him and extort money from the family.
29:01I definitely believe that the accountant was involved.
29:05But at the same time, I can't prove it 100%.
29:08Why?
29:09I have no idea.
29:11Many people says because it was the contador, somebody else goes like he didn't pay piso,
29:18somebody else goes like he worked again with the drug dealers.
29:22I don't think that.
29:23They're terrible in Mexico.
29:25Like, if you have to do something with them, they kill you.
29:27But if you don't do what they say, or if you don't pay what you have to pay, or if
29:32you run away from them just because you don't work with them, they kill you.
29:38We're waiting and waiting, and no phone call, no nothing.
29:42And then just days after, I found him dead on the street.
29:49So they never called, and they were never asking for money.
29:53There was no ransom demand because, as far as I understand, it was not the plan to kill him.
29:59It was kidnapping, ask for a amount of money, and release him.
30:05But something went terribly wrong because they hit him in the back of his head.
30:10His skull wasn't, wasn't that strong because he had been in a car accident before.
30:18And since they hit him in that part, like what I've heard, like he was bleeding a lot.
30:27And the hit that they gave him on his head, he had no survival.
30:34First they blamed El Contador, the accountant.
30:38But the investigation shows that it was actually El Bolas who had Abraham Harms Jr. kidnapped.
30:46And this shows you that El Bolas doesn't really care if you're from the OG Harms family, if you're out
30:54of the game, if you're illegal now.
30:55He needed money, and he went after one of the original harms to get money out of his kidnapping.
31:02A lot of people ask, like, why are Mexican authorities very hesitant in really targeting the Mennonites?
31:09A lot of people don't realize that the Mexican government actually invited these individuals into Mexico.
31:14So it was something that was established even back in the 20s due to the fact that Mexico had been
31:20involved in the Civil War for so long.
31:23All those areas were very desolate.
31:25So the Mexican government actually saw that these Mennonites were, number one, Bible-thumping.
31:31They were good people and that they were very good at what they did because they saw their farmlands
31:36and they heard of how good they were in making desert into fruitful farming area.
31:41And so even since then, from the hierarchy of the Mexican government, it was pretty much hands-off on them.
31:49That was engraved in Mexican law enforcement from those times.
31:52They threatened to leave in 2014 because of dryness of the land.
31:57And the Mexican government basically threw money at them saying, do whatever, explode wells, illegal wells.
32:04I don't care, just stay here because 80% of our revenue from farming comes from you guys.
32:10The revenue that Mennonites are making for the state of Chihuahua, it's over $3 billion every year.
32:16So now they're basically protected by the state of Chihuahua and also by the Mexican government because of the amount
32:23they're bringing in.
32:24And that's where, strangely enough, the Juarez Cartel set their office.
32:30That's what they called Cuauhtémoc.
32:31La oficina, that's headquarters, where you keep the papers, where you keep the money, where you keep the heads.
32:38That's when they send shit-tons of people to fight to protect Cuauhtémoc.
32:43They are very useful for cartels to launder money because you can mix millions of U.S. dollars in between
32:51all of the money they're making legally.
32:54And Cuauhtémoc is widely cash-based because it's very, very lucrative for cartels, very lucrative for the Chihuahua state,
33:02very lucrative for all those related, including the Mennonites, producing shit-tons of money and working hard to hold Cuauhtémoc
33:10as a stronghold of the Juarez Cartel.
33:14I think the Mennonite Cartel story hasn't been done because imagine that amount of money every year coming into Chihuahua
33:22and the leverage these guys have.
33:23In the state, they, of course, have straight links, and if they pick up a phone, they can call the
33:30governor, they can call the chief of police of Chihuahua,
33:33they can call whoever they want to fix their stuff because they represent money.
33:37And a huge part of the Mennonite community is using illegal money.
33:42And a lot of this money that is staying within the state of Chihuahua, the Mexican officials are very proud
33:51of this money.
33:52It is illegal money, so it is a huge problem, not only for Chihuahua, but also for Mexico in general.
33:58Exposing the Mennonites in bed with cartels, it's problematic.
34:19So there's a whole myth around Bola's death. No one has ever found his body.
34:26It was said on the present by Mexican investigators that he was killed, but again, they're not even sure.
34:34I recently reached out to one of the investigators, and he said, well, for me, I think it's dead, but
34:39we don't have a body.
34:40So I can't tell you with full evidence that he's dead. I asked him, so he might be around.
34:46It's like very unlikely. I'm pretty sure he's dead. But again, we have no evidence of the death of Bola's.
34:54So it's still a mystery. We still don't really know where he's buried or if it was what.
35:00It doesn't exist anymore, and that's it. That's how they do it. That's why I'm telling you they set all
35:07this stuff up to clean his name.
35:09I don't know if he's dead or not. I have no idea. But what I believe, they made all this
35:16up, he disappeared.
35:18Now he's dead. Nobody's looking for him. That's what I think. But I have no idea.
35:25Do you think El Bolas is dead?
35:44There wasn't so much violence back in the 90s. It was more peaceful.
35:51It wasn't so out of hand as it is today, and it's sad the way it is today.
36:00A DEA agent, he was sending me a lot of information regarding the local police in Ciudad Juarez
36:06and how they were in bed with the Juarez cartel.
36:09I published a story. My editor back then asked me, hey man, this is probably dangerous.
36:14Are you aware? Are you going to probably face threats and stuff? Do you want us to keep your name?
36:20But of course, I was naive, excited, and egocentric.
36:23So I was like, no man, put my name out there. It's a huge story.
36:30One night after three weeks of the publication, local police stopped me, full geared, very aggressive,
36:37pulled me out of my car, started kicking me.
36:39They told me that my family was going to find me as cattle on the back of my car on
36:44the trunk.
36:45I was absolutely confused, so I was like, hey man, I'm a journalist.
36:48I think you're probably taking it for someone else.
36:50They confirmed on the radio, they had codes that I had because of my sources of the police.
36:56They said like, yeah, this is the 27.
36:5827 was code for journalists.
37:02So I'm like, okay, shit, so they're after me.
37:04And I'm like, dude, whatever you need, take my car.
37:06They tied my feet and arms, put me on the back of a pickup truck on the floor.
37:12And I remember it was like really cool.
37:14It was like in February, they drove to an empty road, to a hallway.
37:19They stopped there. It was in the middle of the night.
37:21These guys were dealing on how they were going to kill me if I was going to be kneeled down
37:26or if they're going to ask me to run and shoot me in the back
37:29or if they're just going to cut my head.
37:31And they were like discussing not even with me.
37:33They were discussing amongst them.
37:38They asked me to kneel down.
37:40And I said no, because I knew that I was going to be executed.
37:44So I'm not kneeling down, sorry guys, but I'll just take everything I need to go.
37:49Then one of them told me, well, then, do you have money?
37:53And I'm like, yes, I have my two credit cards so I can bring you some money.
37:57They said, okay, just run, go get the money.
37:59And I'm like, I know what's going to happen.
38:01You're going to shoot me in the back.
38:02I'm listening to everything.
38:04He's like, no, man, I'm going to give you my word.
38:06And I'm like, I don't, I don't trust your word.
38:08Then he took pictures of my whole documents.
38:12And he's like, look, look, you go get whatever money you can.
38:15And I'll give you two hours.
38:16That's my word.
38:17We have every single document on you.
38:19We know where you leave, your parents.
38:21So if you don't get back, we're going to go after everyone.
38:25I went, found an ATM, gave them that money, told them that they could take my car or whatever.
38:31They said, no, we're going to find you again.
38:33Two hours.
38:33This is just like for us.
38:35They let me go.
38:36I got across into El Paso, never went back.
38:40A source called me that afternoon, told me, hey man, I left you a gift.
38:45I turned the TV on at 7pm.
38:47The newscast turned on the TV and there were two policemen killed in the police car,
38:53right in the same place where I was kidnapped.
38:55I call him, say like, hey dude, this is on you, this is not on me.
38:59Don't ever fucking call me again.
39:03You're never completely out of the game.
39:07Government is the most corruption thing we got in Mexico.
39:14Government is working for cartels.
39:16Yeah, that's how it works.
39:21Do you feel safe in Cuauhtémac now?
39:23Never.
39:25Why not?
39:26I'm scared.
39:28Only my son, my wife knows that I'm here.
39:30Everybody thinks that I'm in Mexico City by a doctor.
39:33Oh, I think it's pretty dangerous on Cuauhtémac.
39:36I mean, it's just scary to think about how many they're watching, what's going on.
39:41I think when the Mennonites are getting involved with it,
39:44and you know, if you have not your own money, what you have made with your own hand,
39:50the easy money is just melting away like nothing.
39:53And they want more and more, and that doesn't do any good.
39:57I met Helen in a trailer park in Oklahoma.
40:00I remember Helen showing me a hope chest.
40:03And in the hope chest, she kept all of her Mennonite dresses.
40:07I believe that she was nostalgic.
40:11She wanted to keep these tokens of her past life, but that she recognized that she could no longer return.
40:17She made a decision, took risks, to save herself, to save her children, and to save her self-respect and
40:28dignity.
40:29Helen Wiebe is a decent and good human being.
40:33Why do you think so many Mennonites get involved in drug trafficking?
40:38Everybody wants money, huh?
40:40Everybody sees the money as easy.
40:42I don't think that it is easy.
40:44I can see how people have been killed and dying just because of trying to get money.
40:51You said I'm a Mennonite.
40:52Do you still consider yourself a Mennonite?
40:54Well, no.
40:56Not really.
40:57I'm an American.
40:59And I'm proud to be here.
41:01And I just look at myself every day like I'm living an American dream.
41:07And you would never, you never had that feeling in Mexico.
41:11If you see a preacher, you start running.
41:14I mean, he was so mean.
41:22I'm just so glad I'm not there anymore.
41:26Yes, there are many Mennonites who remain faithful and true to the ideals and the beliefs.
41:31of the community.
41:32God, hard work, the land, generosity, peace, shunning the trappings of modern life to live a God-fearing life.
41:43But the Mennonite community has to recognize that this infection is spreading inside the community.
41:49And it is spreading for a variety of reasons.
41:52The land cannot sustain all of these people.
41:56Most of the Mennonites in that old colony are not drug traffickers.
42:03They are folks trying to make a living and having a difficult time doing it.
42:08I think that religious leaders of those areas are doing their best not to really know how big a problem
42:17this was.
42:18And one guy told me,
42:21You can't wash your overalls, but you can wash all this behavior, narcotics, alcoholism, incest.
42:29The longer you deal, the more your chances of getting caught.
42:34The same goes for us.
42:35The longer we're in town, the more chance we're going to get narc'd.
42:40Drug trafficking.
42:41I don't think it will ever stop.
42:44Hard a walk away from easy money, which they say it's easy money, but believe you me, it's not easy
42:51money.
42:52It's a different story to get that money.
42:57It's not easy.
42:59It's not an easy life.
43:00It's not an easy life.
43:03Of course, I received more threats.
43:05I had this road trip to Disneyland in LA.
43:09I put my hand on the jacket I had, and I had a bullet on my left pocket.
43:15And I was like, this is weird.
43:17I never pick any bullet.
43:19I don't touch bullets or arms that I remember.
43:22So I was like, it's probably someone put it in my pocket.
43:26I don't know who.
43:27I called a friend I have on ATF, send him a photo.
43:31And he's like, that's a Mexican police bullet.
43:34So that was definitely a message.
43:36I've tried to quit journalism three times now.
43:40It's impossible.
43:41And I feel that I was born to do what I do and to expose these rats and cockroaches.
43:52Can somebody be a drug dealer and be right with God?
43:56That's the question.
43:58The Bible says it so clearly that you get consequences one way or another way.
44:05And you have to live with it.
44:07Sometimes you have to live a lifetime with it.
44:13No.
44:14Of course not.
44:16Why?
44:17Because I don't think that God would like to see somebody fall in an addiction.
44:25No, that doesn't work.
44:29You can't have two buses.
44:31You can't serve God inside and serve the devil.
44:34You have to serve one.
44:36There's no middle.
44:39Yeah, you can be right with God.
45:04You can be right with God.
45:15Transcription by CastingWords
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