Justice Then, Justice Now
This podcast explores the American criminal justice system from all angles, including perspectives from: law enforcement, prosecution, inmates, fugitives and everything in between.
Justice Then, Justice Now
Ep 20: Robert Almonte - Policing Border Challenges and Combating Cartels
This episode we welcome the esteemed Robert Almonte, a veteran with decades under his belt and a wealth of experience to share. From his beginnings at the El Paso Police Department to his impactful tenure as the U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas, Robert offers a riveting exploration of the highs and lows of a career dedicated to community safety. Prepare to be inspired by his journey from patrol officer to deputy chief, and eventually leading the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, where his leadership made a profound difference.
Dive into the intricate realities of policing in border towns like El Paso, where unique challenges shape the landscape. Robert provides a candid look at issues faced by officers due to proximity to the Mexican border, including the pressures of shift work and the complexities of undercover operations. He sheds light on the rise of gangs like the Tren de Aragua and their connections to Mexican cartels, emphasizing the urgent need for effective training to combat these threats. Through stories of both peril and progress, this episode unpacks the multifaceted nature of law enforcement.
Join us as we also discuss Robert's reflections on the broader implications of drug trafficking, corruption, and the evolving gang landscape in America. From the influence of notorious figures like Pablo Escobar to the heroic story of Kiki Camarena, we explore the far-reaching impact of these elements on law enforcement. Stay tuned for insights into upcoming events like the International Summit for Mexican Cartels and Gangs, where experts are coming together to arm officers with the knowledge they need to face modern-day challenges.
Produced by: Citrustream, LLC
Today we have another session of Justice, then Justice. Now I'm honored to have today's guest on with a very, very distinguished law enforcement career and his expertise on crime and a current focus that he's teaching across the country to all federal agents and local police and he's in real demand. So I'm honored to have him on here, robert Almonte. Robert is a distinguished expert, like I said on this. He also served as the United States Marshal, which is my first federal agency that I work for, and as I joke around with everybody, I couldn't keep a job, so I kept ahead of my five-year background with the Marshals, customs, ice, consulting with ATF and Secret Service. So what I'd like to do is start out by Robert giving his background in law enforcement. He's worked all levels and I think that our listeners and our viewers will be very interested as this is hot topics and also working in the past and experiences the best teacher in law enforcement. Thank you, robert, for coming on.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Toby. It's an honor to be on your podcast. Thank you for thinking of me and inviting me. It truly is an honor. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Can you start out and tell us what I always ask the first person what got you interested in law enforcement with your background? Well you know to be honest with you.
Speaker 2:I became interested in becoming a police officer ever since I was in high school. That was just something I wanted to pursue. I mean, the draft had just ended while I was in high school and of course you know, had I been called there's no doubt I would have served, but I just wanted to become a police officer there with the El Paso Police Department and serve my community. So as soon as I was eligible I took the exam and, by the grace God passed the exam and became a police officer and I was very fortunate and blessed to have served 25 years with the El Paso Police Department Just a great time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sure you got a lot of stories and anxious to hear that, and so can you talk a little bit about that, what you did with the El Paso Police Department, and we'll start with that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I actually joined in 1978, a long time ago and I guess that explains this.
Speaker 1:Why I looked away. Way that I look. I joined in 76, so you know, you don't have the white hair like I do.
Speaker 2:but you know, I think that those are I do have some, but it's on the side there, but I think that's more genetic than anything else. But yeah, well, of course I joined the police department, went straight to patrol, central patrol, which is right there by the border, el Paso water border. So I like to say that I grew up in the El Paso Police Department. I really did. I mean you had no choice. I mean I had culture shock, didn't know what to. I knew what to expect, but I just didn't think it would be what it really was. I mean handling or responding to murders and getting in fights and all kinds of things, burglary. So anyway, again I like to say I grew up in the El Paso Police Department. I was actually born in El Paso and I was raised just four blocks away from the El Paso-Juarez border.
Speaker 2:So anyway, I worked patrol and then, as soon as I could, I put in to go to a specialized unit called the tactical unit where they did everything. They did a lot of plain-souled operations focusing on in-progress crimes. So we did a lot of stakeouts at convenience store, catching robbers. We followed burglars around, catching them in the act. We were also the dignitary protection team. So we worked with Secret Service a lot.
Speaker 2:We were also the riot team for the El Paso police department. So we did a lot of different things and I really enjoyed it. And then I took the detective exam and passed that and became a detective and I was very fortunate to go straight to narcotics right off the whip, which really doesn't happen very often. And then there it was a lot of OJT, you know, learning how to buy drugs, and my senior partner had gotten there like two weeks before I did, so we were teaching each other and you know I had a lot of fun, actually had a lot of fun working narcotic, working undercover, and then promoted to sergeant and with the El Paso Police Department.
Speaker 2:When you promote you got to go back to patrol. That's just the way it is. You go back to patrol. I went back to patrol. I was uh working a patrol and the sergeant in a in a shift uh down in the uh in the valley station and then after about a year the captain recruited me to to oversee what he called the impact team and I guess he liked my experience in the tactical unit and working narcotics so he wanted me to form a unit that would also focus on in-progress crime. So we caught a lot of burglars in the act and there's not a better feeling than catching them in the act. And then anyway I was able to go back to the sergeant.
Speaker 2:I oversaw or the street crime unit, then the major crime unit, then I promoted to lieutenant and went back to patrol for 13 months and then they uh were. Then they sent me back to narcotics as a commander for the narcotics unit and I did that for seven years and promoted to captain, didn't have to go back to patrol. I oversaw special investigation which included the gang unit, narcotics unit, homicide crime scene, auto theft, repeat offender program. And then the last three years of my career. I was a deputy chief and I basically oversaw the major crime bureau, which is basically all the investigators. I had about 300 people in my bureau. So it didn't seem like 25 years, to be honest with you, and I think the reason for that is because I worked with a bunch of great, great people that did a great job and the supervisor, the administrator, administrator they made me look good, they did all. They did all the work. So I'm very, very, very blessed to be a part of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when you work with great people and you love what you're doing from a young age it's it makes a difference. And you know, and everybody sees it, they know. They know the guys that said, oh, I'm going to do my 20 and retire and play pickleball and I always make fun of the guys. I mean they're friends, but I'm not ready for pickleball and gardening.
Speaker 1:I mean I will be but, you know what that's like, it's in your blood and that. What were the changes in El Paso Police Department when you started to when you retired and even now? Now I've been to El Paso a couple times. I was down there. I worked for a company that had a contract with the National Firearms and Tactical Training Unit for Homeland Security and I got to go down there and see the BORTEC operation for the Border Patrol, which was amazing to me. I mean it was great. We hired the gunsmiths for them. We hired, you know, everybody that was supporting the firearms program. So I really really liked it and that was my trip down there. But how has it changed? I mean, the department, obviously you have more personnel, but what was the difference since 1970?
Speaker 2:I think from the time I got there to the time I left, I would say the biggest difference would be the technology, the change in technology. I would say the biggest difference would be the technology, the change in technology, things that we just didn't have when I was there. I mean we the first unit I drove around had a radio console, but it didn't. I didn't have a portable radio. So you falling out in pursuit or something going down, you had to do it real quick. Falling out in pursuit or something going down, you had to do it real quick, drop the radio, and then you're in pursuit with no radio, hoping that your backup gets there.
Speaker 2:And then after a while then we got the pop-out radio, which was very good. You can pop them out and carry those with us and then you have the mic up here now. So that changed. But one of the bigger changes to technology was computers, because in my early days we would write out our police report in the police car. We would write them out or, after a shift, type them in a manual typewriter. As far as the copy, we would use carbon paper.
Speaker 2:I remember those yep and then, and then white out. You know you had to have that white out all the plenty of white out.
Speaker 1:The young police officers think that's nail polish. Now but go ahead oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So you, you know what I'm talking about. And then, uh, and then I, we thought it was a big deal when they got us some electric typewriters. That was a big deal compared to the manual writer. And then, uh, the big change came with the computer system where now we're making the reports and going in directly into the uh computer called I believe it was called back then the rms system, uh, and then, uh, that's evolved now, but I mean that that's what was there when I was there.
Speaker 2:But I got to tell you a lot of us were like man, we don't want to do this, we want to go, we liked it the way it was. Why are you changing it? You know how that is. But anyway, I got to tell you once everybody started getting used to the new computer system and then when they would shut down and they would tell, okay, shut down, you got to write your computer by hand and everybody was complaining. So you know you get used to that technology and how it helps you and how it actually makes it easier for you. And then now when I left, or actually I guess as a lieutenant in patrol or captain I should say that's when we started getting the terminals in the car and you get dispatched by the terminal and you could respond by doing that. So those were the biggest changes. That was the biggest thing I saw. Change from the time I started in 1978 to the time I left was technology by far.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, 1978, the time I left was technology by far. Okay, all right, what was the most challenging assignment you had? You were, like I said, it's very, very common in the police department, like when I started up in Massachusetts. Guys would kid me and they'd say, oh, you're on midnights, you're not going to see days for 20 years, and that was one of the reasons that I left and I went to the marshals, you know, as I would have been you know a patrolman. We had a limited number of detectives.
Speaker 2:Well, I got to tell you and this is something that changed also because I talked to you know, as you mentioned, I trained police officers throughout the United States and I'm always talking to them about all kinds of different things and we're talking about shifts. You know, working your shift, as you mentioned, you work midnights and I don't blame you, I would have left also and I got to tell you I could never handle a midnight shift. I just could never handle even the young officer. I just could not sleep during the day and just get a few minutes here, a few minutes there and I hated that. But the other big difference now is the way the shifts are set up. Your shifts are either we have the 410 in a lot of departments, the 410 schedule, which we didn't have, uh, we had that when, when I left, when I was still there, we had that, but at the patrol officer we didn't have that. But we our shift changed with, we changed, uh, we changed shifts every 28 days. That was rough because you know, right, when you're getting used to uh the hours, then you're changing shifts again, and I'll mention that to some officers. Matter of fact, last week I did a class at the uh, california highway patrol headquarters in sacramento. We were talking about that and they were commenting man, I don't know how you did that, I go. Well, we did it because we had to and and we didn't. You know, things change, things change, but that was a big challenge. Is the shift change for me?
Speaker 2:As far as assignments, you know, I have to say that all of them had challenges, they all had challenges. But I would say that working narcotics, working undercover, was challenging and especially that a lot of that, we had to teach ourselves how to do that. And then working with informants, because you're walking a narrow line there when you're working undercover, and then you're dealing with informants that are not altar boys and you're dealing with female informants. It's very. And then you're dealing with drugs. I mean, you're carrying drugs with you because you just bought them. So that was challenging for me, the undercover work, but also the supervisor, you know, ensuring that I wasn't micromanaging my detective but at the same time just not letting them go out there and run around and I'm not aware of what they're doing. And I think that's how a lot of officers or departments get in trouble when a supervisor goes into a unit and sees that this unit is doing great. I mean, they're kicking butt, they're making all kinds of arrests, seizing dope and everything. So you've got a supervisor, comes in and says, well, everything's running fine, I'm just going to leave it alone. That's a big mistake, you got to make sure.
Speaker 2:The reason I bring that up because there was actually an incident down in Mission, texas, a few years ago involving a narcotics unit they call themselves the Panama unit and they were really making a lot of a great arrest, feeding large amounts of drugs and money. However, at the same time, they were doing home invasions, they were stealing drugs, stealing money. They were even escorting loads of drugs for the cartel and I have to say that lack of supervision or inadequate supervision was a contributing factor. So that's what I tell officers in my travels. I talk about everything. I try to give them advice to. You know, not make the mistakes I did or other people made, and I give this message to officers, detectives and supervisors. So it is challenging when you're working a covert unit, when you're working undercover. There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's a. It's different when you're in management and you know, I went from being a fugitive street guy and then I yeah, it was my favorite thing in the marshal service when I joined and being a supervisor is totally different because you know you get a lot of latitude and same thing, same thing with customs. I managed an undercover operation and initiated it and you're dealing with the informants. I think those are those are the most problematic thing to deal with, because, especially if you like the informant, but he is what or she is they are a source of information and they get paid for it, or they're working off of beef.
Speaker 1:You know that's the reality of it. It's one of two things they're in it for the money or they're in it to work off of beef that they have. Yeah, what specific law enforcement issues did you have in el paso?
Speaker 2:uh, you know, as far as unique to the police department there, Well, I think, because of our proximity to the border, actually we're right on the border. We're right on the border with Juarez, mexico, so, and then we also have Fort Bliss military base there. So when you talk about the population of El Paso, it doesn't take into consideration the population of Fort Bliss. It also doesn't take into consideration the increase in the population in El Paso. We have all these people from Juarez that are coming to El Paso for business or to buy things. It doesn't take that into consideration. So our population, our numbers, are actually much higher than what the number says and what the number says.
Speaker 2:So we dealt with, whether we wanted to or not, we dealt with immigration issues. And what I'm talking about is that, as we were the riot team, I remember being in the tactical unit we had chili pickers from waters that were up on the top of the international port of entry and they were blocking the uh, the bridges. They were blocking traffic, which is, you know, horrible because that impacts commerce on both sides of the border. Uh, so we went out there to to deal with that. Uh, so we're dealing with international incidents that most other departments never have to deal with. So that that comes to mind and I remember also because they're being right on the border. We had a big problem with auto theft, a lot of cars being stolen, taken and they go straight to Juarez.
Speaker 2:So you get these even if you see them stealing cars you get these pursuits and they go into Mexico and it's over. That was another thing. And then also a lot of home burglaries there. We had a lot of these people from waters, especially younger kids, coming across and breaking into homes. So there's no doubt that us being on the border did impact the crime situation in our city, no doubt.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, that's what I was getting at the car chases. You know you got to stop. You can't continue with it and the same thing with people crossing back and forth and that. One of the things I want to ask you is did you get into the marshal service a little bit? How that happened.
Speaker 2:Actually, I didn't see that coming Toby. That was the furthest thing from my mind, it wasn't on my radar. And I remember I retired from the El Paso Police Department, I was already teaching and I was on my way to, I believe, Seattle to teach a class in Seattle. And I stopped in Phoenix, checked my messages and I get a voice message from the chief of staff, or deputy chief of staff or Congressman, Sylvester Reyes, who was the congressman for the 16th congressional district. So I call him back and he says hey, the congressman wants to recommend you to President Obama to become the marshal for the Western District of Texas.
Speaker 2:And just out of the blue, like that, and I'm thinking well, that sounds pretty good, but it's not a joke, right? And he goes no, not a joke, he wants you to be the next Marshall. And I said well, I'm definitely interested. Tell the congressman. Thank you very much for thinking of me. And you know, I know, I know it is not an easy thing to happen, and if it happens I'll be very happy, and if it doesn't, I'm just honored that he thought of me. And then the chief of staff said no, Robert, you don't understand.
Speaker 2:We uh we are going to get you in there. Next thing, I know uh, they did get me in there and I was honored to serve uh six years there, uh the us marshal or the western uh district of texas that's wonderful.
Speaker 1:What a way to cap that out. Um, I know, when I I went to washington and, uh, my boss, the uS Marshal, was 37 years old and I was 29. And I said to the Marshal Service you do realize that you have, you have were younger than probably three-quarters of the office, which you know is a large office. And I know it was a shock to me because I was working in Los Angeles fugitives. And then I get the phone call hey, we want you to be the chief deputy in Washington. And I said, well, I applied for the job and they're like no, so I ended up moving to another time zone. So what did you find with the marshal service? Did you like it? I loved it, I thought it was great. I wasn't the go-to guy with the judges.
Speaker 2:That was my boss, yeah yeah, and that basically was my role. But I have to tell you overall, yes, I loved it. I wouldn't trade that in for anything, but I got to tell you it was different because, you know, having been a police officer, a powerful police department, for 25 years and then going federal, it was different. I could see that there was a difference, a big difference. So I had to get used to that and that took me a time to get used to that, including, you know, disciplinary issues and just different things like that. So there were some things that I didn't like that much, but I really, overall, I liked it. I wouldn't trade that in for the world.
Speaker 2:I worked with a lot of great people. I really did, and I'm real proud of our Fugitive Task Force, lone Star Fugitive Task Force, because they really went after the worst of the worst. So I was involved and this is one thing I did is I did push them to do a lot of roundup operations, going after these bad guys that got warned to keep them off the street. Because it was my belief and I'm sure you'll agree with it, and studies have shown that a lot of these people that are dangerous and they're wanted out there while they're out there they're committing other crimes. So let's get them off the streets and let's put them in jail. That'll have an impact on crime.
Speaker 2:So yeah, you know, six years was great. I had some pretty good. Well, most of my chief deputies were pretty good. Of course, you know, I wasn't able to really choose all of them the way I wanted to, so that has something to do with it also, but it was just different than being, let's say, a deputy chief for the El Paso Police Department. I could make things happen a lot easier there as a deputy chief than I could as a marshal.
Speaker 2:But anyway, having said all of that because I'm not going to come out and say oh yeah, nothing. You know, the best time of my year and actually, in all honesty, the best time of my law enforcement career was with the El Paso Police Department. But I was there 25 years, involved in so many different things, but I would not grade in those six years a United States Marshal. I mean, I got my commission signed by the President of the United States and I'll always honor that, cherish that and again I can't thank Congressman Sylvester Reyes for thinking of me and recommending me. And not only that. To be honest with you, I got to thank his brother, Jesus Reyes Shuey Reyes, who's a good friend of mine, and actually how my name came up was that the congressman was having I don't know coffee with his chief of staff and with his brother, jesus Chuy Reyes, and I don't know who else was there, and they were throwing names around for different positions to send to Obama and different names came up. Mine wasn't the first name that came up, and then Jesus Reyes Chuy Reyes, the congressman's brother, said what about Robert Almonte? And the congressman looked at him and everybody looked and they hadn't thought about it. And then Chewy mentioned he's worked hard. He's done a good job. He'll do a good job as marshal and he deserves it. So the congressman tells the chief of staff call him and see if he wants it. So you know that's how that happened.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was just how things happen. You know, god puts certain people in front of you. I really believe, plants things in people's minds, gets people to say things, and I truly believe that you know there are angels here that are among us, that are helping us and guiding us to do things. Again. I never saw this coming at you at Marshall, but I mean, we made a lot of arrests. I don't know if they're doing a lot of these roundup operations, but we took a lot of bad people off the street. My guy did. And then also, there's nothing like having our state and local officers as part of the task force. You know I do that we would not be a task force without our state and local officer to help go after these bad guys. So my hat goes off to not just the deputy marshal that I work with, but also all the state and local officers that were part of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean I was a child of the fist operations. I mean that we had starting out, you know, in LA and in Florida and you know I think there were eight of them all over and that was the camaraderie was unbelievable among the state, local and federal. And also the rapport where you wanted to get things done. Like the detectives that I had when I worked on it were tremendous they had. They knew the area because a lot of us came into these operations and we're not from the area and the locals rule and I always resented the federal agents that felt that they were a tier above You're not. You're not Because I'll tell you right now, if you get in a shooting or whatever, the people you're going to rely on are the street cops to come out and save your ass. That's just how it is.
Speaker 2:You know, you're exactly right, toby, and I saw that when I was in the police department, where I would have I remember having DEA agent coming to my office hey, Lieutenant, I'm here, I'm new in El Paso, but I want to work and I think your guys could help me learn a lot. I mean to me right when he said that I go, this guy knows what he's talking about. This guy's got a bright future. He became a great asset to our unit and then I had an IRS criminal investigator. Same thing came into my office hey, lt, I'm new in town, I want to work, come on.
Speaker 2:And actually he helped us out tremendously. He became part of our stash house interdiction task force and when we would hit a house, take down a stash house, the dopers were more afraid of him than they were of us, because I mean he went after their assets like a pit bull, because I mean he went after their assets like a pit bull. So any good federal agent is going to know the value of working with the state and the locals, especially the locals, working with them and not talk down to them and, you know, treat them as their equals. And that's something I tried to convey also when I became the marshal, because you know, I remember where I came from and fortunately that climate was already there, where they were working really well with our, with our local partner yeah, I mean I.
Speaker 1:I was a supervisor of asset forfeiture for customs and and ice when I retired in Miami, and one of the blessings that I had was the asset forfeiture fund, like when we'd seize things asset sharing. It was great to see a detective rewarded with his chief of police, whatever, and handing a check over a ceremonial check from the.
Speaker 2:SAC.
Speaker 1:I mean, that's just a great feeling for everybody, you know. It's bad guys that earned this, and now it's going to enhance the law enforcement programs. You know it was amazing. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Toby. There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Let me ask you about the gangs, because I know that you're educating all the Haidas For the viewers. That's the high-intensity drug test force that's been created now probably for 30, more than that, because I remember when it first came out and you're giving a unique perspective. You have excellent speakers. I'm glad we scheduled this week because I know you're doing one next week, so I appreciate that. But if you could explain, I'd like to go into this issue with what is the gang problem today?
Speaker 1:I mean, we all know what it is. We watch the news. We see the Venezuelan gangs coming out of. You know the crimes and that they're coming here. I'm familiar with Venezuela. In my afterlife I worked with many CIs down in Venezuela. As a matter of fact, I'm not allowed in the country for obvious reasons, but you know now the gangs are coming. Before it was the chavistas or the politicians and the to launder money and that, but now we're getting street crime. So can you, can you talk about the gangs and how they've increased and what they're all about, that they're well organized?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, certainly I will, but you know, I think the first thing I need to mention is that your street gangs there's more of them now they're pretty powerful and a lot of them are doing business with the Mexican cartel. Whether the gangs are out in the street or if the gang members are in prison, they're calling the shot, so they're selling drugs for the cartel. They're also moving drugs for the cartel. They're also arranging to send the drug money back to Mexico, as well as the firearms back to Mexico, so they're involved in security for the cartel. That's been going on for a while.
Speaker 2:The gang that concerned me the most well, let me finish saying that the gang that concerned me the most is the Grande Aragua, that's the gang from Venezuela that you mentioned. They're here and they're extremely dangerous. They basically had taken over a prison there in Venezuela. And let me explain to your viewers and listeners. First of all, cren is the Spanish word for train, de is from or of. Aragua is the name of a state in Venezuela, that's Fren de Aragua, and they're an extremely dangerous gang when they were in Venezuela and they're still there. They're involved in all types of crime murder, sex trafficking, human trafficking, drug trafficking you name it. And then they have spread to Colombia, ecuador and Peru and now they're here in the United States. Confirmed members are here in the United States. Matter of fact, just a week or so ago they shot one of the Fren de Aragua gang members shot the two police officers NYPD officers in New York City. In January, a group of the Fren de Aragua gang members jumped some NYPD officers and assaulted them. They've also been involved in assaulting and almost killing a passenger on a train in Chicago. They've been involved in a sex trafficking case in Louisiana. They committed a murder in Miami murder in Miami.
Speaker 2:So I talk about my training is specifically about the Mexican cartel, but I talk about the gangs and what concerned me is that a lot of police officers don't know who this gang is. They don't know what this gang is about. So I give them a presentation on that gang just to bring their awareness level up up, because this is all about officer safety. As a matter of fact, on July 11th I'm hosting a two-hour webinar just on the Fren de Aragua. This is for law enforcement only. So if you have any law enforcement viewers or listeners, they can go to my website, mexicanquartelorg, and they can register. It's a two-hour block and it's going to be.
Speaker 2:I'm going to be talking about the history of Zendaya, their migration to the United States, their criminal activities in the United States. I'm also going to go over their tattoos as well as their hand gang signs. The deal is that they're actually also in Chihuahua in Mexico, which tells me they're there, and they're working hand in hand with the Mexican cartel. They're involved in human trafficking. Now, to do human smuggling from Mexico, you have to be doing that with the cartels, or at least with the permission of the cartels, and paying them money. That's how it operates. So that's the gang that concerns me the most. They are extremely, extremely dangerous.
Speaker 2:Now the other gang that's been here for a while is going to be the Mexican Mafia and based out of California. We have a Mexican Mafia in Texas, but they're basically different than California. The one in California is more powerful. They've been around a lot longer, started as a prison gang, and then the subgroup of Mexican Mafia is going to be the Sureños, and they're really spreading. I mean there's cases of them out on the east coast in Georgia. They're spreading, they're all over the United States. But the bottom line is that the cartels and the gangs are working together, but which gang concerns me the most? Without a doubt, it's going to be the Frenzy Ararua TDA.
Speaker 1:Okay, and what do you think is accounting for the rise of them here? I mean, what just connections in Mexico and the ability for violent crime? Obviously they're shooting police officers and I know that that happens in Venezuela all the time. There's no respect for law enforcement. They have a huge corruption problem in Venezuela with that and they call it, I think, in Spanish, colectivos and they call it, I think, in Spanish, colectivos.
Speaker 2:Colectivos of individuals who run the barrios down there. Yeah, that's the same culture you just described in Venezuela, exactly the same culture in Mexico. It's the same thing. And when I train police officers, I remind them that these dangerous cartel or gang members that are coming over here and they have a history of extreme violence in their country, whether it's Venezuela or Mexico, any other country If they're beheading people or whether they're torturing people, cutting parts out, which is what they're doing when they come to the United States, they don't change personality.
Speaker 2:We have them, they're here and they're extremely dangerous as far as what caused them to come to the United States, quite frankly, is going to be the surge in the migration. They're taking advantage of that. They took advantage of that. So they come in, they blend in with everybody else. They tell them they're from Venezuela. You know they're not really doing a great job of vetting these people and, quite frankly, what's happening? Because of politics, Border Patrol has their hand tied, so you know, they issue a piece of paper to that person and said OK, you need to report back here to court in a year or two years. Well, they're not going to do that.
Speaker 2:So they came in mixed with all these migrants coming in.
Speaker 2:I got to tell you just in the months of last September we had more migrants coming from Venezuela through Juarez, Mexico and El Paso than we did from any other country, including Juarez. So there's thousands and thousands of them here and unfortunately, some of of them, many of them are going to be the dangerous gang member. So they cut. That's how they got came here. Why did they want to come here? Because they see the united states as the land of opportunity and they're not smart, they do their homework, they talk to other people. They want to do crime in in new york because they know that, even if they get arrested, they're not going to be jail in jail very long to get released. And that's exactly what happened those migrants from Venezuela that brutally assaulted those police officers in Times Square in January. They were released from jail right away and then they headed to California. Why? Because they know California is the same type of environment where, even if they do get arrested, the criminal justice system in those states is going to go easier on them as well.
Speaker 1:Do you think that you know that Maduro has emptied his jails much like Castro did with the Marietta boat lift, that this is what's happening too? Is that they're? I mean, I don't know the answer. It certainly looks like it. It certainly looks like that Toby.
Speaker 2:He'd rather have them go into other countries, and they're in a lot of other countries, not just the United States. And they're in Mexico A confirmed report that they actually a big group of them staying in the state of Chihuahua there in Mexico. They're in Colombia, peru, ecuador. They're here in the United States. We don't know how many are here.
Speaker 2:And as far as the border security, I'm going to talk about that a little bit, but unfortunately we got a lot of dangerous people that have been let into our country because of this migrant surge and because of us basically allowing them to come in here. And I know recently President Biden enacted an order to kind of limit the numbers of people coming in here and, to be honest with you, that formula is very confusing. I heard somebody like DOJ and I couldn't even understand it, but the bottom line is the numbers are still there, people are still coming in regardless. So that order did not stop anything and unfortunately this is my opinion. Unfortunately, even if we were to shut down that border today and say, ok, you can't come in, we got to make sure you know you're who you say you are. You're not wanted. We're going to make sure you're not a gang member. Even if we were to do that today, in my opinion, I think it'd be too little, too late.
Speaker 2:Because, the damage is done. So our, our country is going to be facing the consequences of the border surge, the insecure border, for many, many years to come. Unfortunately, our local police officers are going to be the ones that are handling this situation when they get called to the shootings and the fights and the stabbings and the murders and the gang fights. That's the sad thing. So what I would hope happens is that we already know Frendi Arawa here. They're extremely dangerous. I'm hoping and they may even be working on it already, but I'm hoping that, like maybe the FBI, hsi, get together with state and local and put a program together to number one, try to identify and locate all these, confirm gang member, round them up, arrest them for whatever activities they've been involved in and then deport them. Unfortunately, we don't have the United States, doesn't have a relationship with the country of Venezuela, but we need to do something before it gets worse, because there's no doubt in my mind, friende Aragua, they're going to be committing a lot more murder before it's over.
Speaker 1:Especially with the backing of the Mexican cartel that you just mentioned.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, and there's no doubt. There's no doubt about that. They just want a piece of the pie. I've heard some reports come out that the concern is the Rendi Arawa hooking up with MS-13. Quite frankly, I don't see that. Two completely different gangs, two completely different countries. I don't see that. I don't think either gang needs each other. I think they're going to continue to run independently. That's my opinion.
Speaker 1:Well, you're the professional and the expert on that.
Speaker 1:So I mean, most Americans were familiar with MS-13, especially up in Long Island and that area up there, and now this new threat has manifested itself on the United States, has manifested itself on the United States, and you know, and the settlements are going to be very interesting.
Speaker 1:I mean, we have Doral, florida, which is one of the fastest growing cities in Florida, but it's a population of Venezuelans that has skyrocketed. I mean, when I started working for Customs, there was nothing there, it was fields, and now it looks like downtown Caracas and I don't mean that in a derogatory, but it's expanding so fast and I think that that's going to go into the area and the police department is going through a change there. They need to adjust to it because street crime is going to go up, because when these gangs come into there and you know it's a wealthy city, it's growing, but that breeds the same thing the smash and grabs, the street crimes, the things that you see in Los Angeles and places like that. It's going to be in the Miami area. That's just my opinion, living there for almost 40 years.
Speaker 2:I agree with you. I think you're right. I think that's exactly what's going to happen. I personally believe that's why, even though the FBI released their stats, that crime has been significantly reduced homicides, rapes, all types of crime there still is a sense of fear among the public about crime, and I think that has a lot to do with it. They see the migrants coming in, they see the gang members in, they see the gang members shooting, attacking police officers. So you know, as far as the numbers I did an interview on a news station earlier about that. As far as those numbers, my statement was basically well, numbers don't lie. There's no doubt about that. However, uh, the other thing that's also true is that perception is reality and that that's why people are in fear right now yeah, what do you, what do you see?
Speaker 1:and uh, uh, obviously I'm glad you put out there your website and the seminars are coming up and that you're going to have this on July 11th for law enforcement to, because there's a lot of questions. You know, what do the tattoos mean, you know, and that's important. So when an officer stops somebody on the street, he can identify him right away and realize this is a dangerous thug. You know we need to get him off and I just think that's going to be great and I commend you for doing that. And so, when you do the seminars, what do they entail? And just so the viewers know, and especially the cops that watch this, I have quite a few NYPD guys that have come on that were legendary detectives back then, you know. And for the new people coming, what do you offer at the seminars? Is it hands-on?
Speaker 1:or what Go ahead? I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:No, it's all lecture PowerPoint and I talk basically about the Mexican cartel because they have a tremendous impact in our country right now. I talk about the Mexican cartels. I'm talking about the gang working with them and how they work together, but I also talk about the different cartels, the main cartels, the areas of control in Mexico, the main cartels, the areas of control in Mexico. And then also I talk about their areas along the southwest border where they come across Different cartels, come across different parts, and then the different highways that they use. So I talk about that. Their travel routes, drug and human smuggling routes. I talk about that. And then I also talk about their culture. One of the big segments in my class is I talk and I train the police officers about who the Mexican cartel pray to pray to for protection from them. That's going to be an officer safety here issue. So I talk about a lot of different legitimate Catholic things that the cartels are using or, as a Catholic, I'm going to say misusing.
Speaker 1:I agree with you as a fellow Catholic.
Speaker 2:so yes, and then I talk about how they pray to Santa Muerte. That concerned me the most because she's very easily associated with death simply because of the way she looks. I actually talk about how some of these cartel members are actually sacrificing human beings to Santa Muerte, not just in Mexico but here in the United States, and actually talk about those cases and, as I mentioned, what the cartels are doing in Mexico, they're doing it here. I'm talking about beheading people, things of that nature, sacrificing people or attempting to sacrifice people. So Assunta Muerte concerns me the most. So I make sure that the police officers, law enforcement officers attending my training are well aware of Assunta Muerte, plus all the other saints. Now I also tell them that none of the saints that I talk about, including this non-saint Santa Muerte, are probable cause for search or arrest. They're meant to be primarily red flags to enhance the officer's safety. After that, then, it could possibly become an indicator leading to criminal activity or detection of criminal activity. That's on a case-by-case basis, but I train the officers on how to do that.
Speaker 2:I talk about the cartel's involvement in using witches to put hexes on the police officers and judges and prosecutors and rival cartel members. I talk about basically everything that the cartels are involved in, and try to get these officers to be aware of these things, not just while they're on duty, but off duty. You know, that's the thing is to notice these things, just be able to notice these things, and that's how you get better at detecting these things. So it's all about me giving them information that's going to enhance their safety. And then I'll talk about the two biggest cartels. I focus on the two biggest cartel Mexican cartels that are impacting the United States and actually all over the world, and they are the Sinaloa cartel and the new generation cartel, which is called the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion. I've been doing research on both of those cartels for years and years. Well, we all know that Chapo Guzman is in jail and he's going to die in jail and he's not going to escape. I think you'll agree with me there. No way he's going to escape.
Speaker 1:Not from that place.
Speaker 2:No, not from that place, no way. There's no tunnels to be dug there in the bathroom. But anyway, what we have right now with the Sinaloa cartel basically are two factions. You have Mayo Zambada, who was actually the partner with Chapo Guzman. Chapo Guzman is an older guy, he's in his 70s now.
Speaker 2:The other faction is going to be run by Chapo's sons, going to be what they call the Chapitos little Chapos and one of them was extradited to the United States, I believe in January. His name is Ovidio Guzman. They call him in the Graton or the mouth. He's extradited and he's in, I believe, in Chicago. He's already had a hearing. I feel confident that they're going to find him guilty and eventually he's going to join his father and spend the rest of his life in jail. We still have a couple of brothers that are wanted. So right now, in my opinion, the brother that's running the Chapitos is going to be Ivan, and there's a warrant out for his arrest as well. Now the Chapitos are responsible for bringing in about 80% of all the fentanyl that's poisoned into the United States. That's killing thousands and thousands of Americans. They're responsible for that. Most of these fentanyl labs are going to be in Culiacan, sinaloa, which is ground zero for the Sinaloa cartel, and then you have the other cartel, cjng, and that's run by a guy by the name of El Mencho.
Speaker 2:This guy, el Mencho, actually spent some time in San Francisco, got arrested for selling heroin. He had a son there, born in San Francisco. They call him El Menchito. El Menchito is working for his dad. He got extradited to the United States a year or so ago, so he's facing charges. But El Menchito, I believe there's a $10 million reward out for him. And this guy is extremely, extremely brutal. As far as brutality, I show video to police officers of his gang or cartel CJNG, cutting out people's hearts, and not only that, but they're eating the hearts as well. I have video of that and I show these officers not to gross them out, but to tell them Reality.
Speaker 2:It's reality. Cj and G is here and you don't want to ever get abducted by these guys. You fight to the death and you go home every night. So CJ and G is also bringing a lot of fentanyl. They're bringing a lot of methamphetamine into the United States, and what I'm seeing here lately is that we're also the two biggest drugs we're faced with are fentanyl and methamphetamine. There's a lot throughout the entire United States, but the other thing we're starting to see an increase in is cocaine. Really came from the cocaine coming into the United States. So those are the biggest challenges facing our country right now, and my, my hat goes off to DEA, because DEA does a tremendous job of going after you guys. I was very honored to work with DEA as a narcotic detective throughout my law enforcement career. These guys do an incredible, incredible job, but we need more DEA agents, dea agents we do.
Speaker 2:We need more customs inspectors, hsi agents, fbi. We need more deputy marshals throughout the United States also to be helping involved in these things, especially when it comes to OCDES investigation. So you mentioned a high-intensity drug trafficking area, the HIDA. Yeah, I'm a big believer in that program. I've been very fortunate to provide training to them. We need for our federal government to provide more funding for the HIDA, quite frankly, because the HIDAs are a multi-agency task force that go after the cartels and they dismantle these cartels. The other thing I'm hoping the federal government does is provide more funding to the National Guard Counterdrug Training Program because they provide free training for a lot of officers that can't afford the training or departments that can't afford the training. And I'm going to make a little I guess full disclosure. I'm honored to be an instructor for these programs that provide training to these officers, especially in the rural area. So that's what's going on with the cartel. They're here and they're extremely dangerous.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head. With the fentanyl and the methamphetamines and all that coming in the country. It's a real danger. The amount of people that are dying from it are the size of small cities and that, and I remember back in the 90s when I was working, I was part of the Vice Presidential Drug Task Force with DEA and Customs we saw a change where everything cocaine shifted to Mexico. You know it just like it was like overnight, within the two-year period in 1995 to 97. When you saw it, you were, you know, you were working on the job with, you know, in the investigations it all came to the southwest border and it just moved there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. Well, toby, I can shed more light on that, if you allow me to. Yeah, and actually that all began with Pablo Escobar running the Medellin cartel. He was responsible for bringing most of the cocaine into the United States and he would bring most of it in there to the Miami Florida area, where our federal government eventually was able to send enough resources down there, because the cocaine trafficking there resulted in a lot of crime, a lot of robberies, a lot of murders, a lot of shooting. So basically, our federal government put a show call down there and it deterred Pablo Escobar from getting the cocaine in here. So what did he do? He's not going to give up the business. That's when he went to Mexico and he started talking to the Guadalajara cartel. And Pablo Escobar was not dumb, you know. He didn't go say I'm going to Mexico, I'm taking over Mexico, because, at that time you already had the Guadalajara cartel that was already involved in marijuana and heroin smuggling into the United States.
Speaker 2:So he knew that the Mexican cartel already had these drug smuggling routes established, so why reinvent the wheel? So he reached out to the Mexican cartel and he said look, I'll pay you $1,500 for each kilo of cocaine that you deliver to the United States. Sounds like a pretty good deal. And that's what they started doing until eventually the cartel said you know, we can make a lot more money. I told pablo escobar basically you can't do this without us. We want 50 percent of the product.
Speaker 2:So that's basically how the mexican cartels got more involved in in in trafficking cocaine in the united states. And then you bring amado carrillo fuentes into the picture. He was a leader of the waters cart cartel actually at the time that I was working narcotics in El Paso, and he would send his big 0727 airplane to Colombia, load them with cocaine and bring them to Mexico and then the cocaine would make its way in the United States. That's why he earned the title or he was called el señor de los cielos the Lord of the Sky, because he used the sky to bring the cocaine in. But that's basically how Pablo Escobar was involved in the Mexicans getting involved in cocaine.
Speaker 2:Last year, actually last summer in July, I actually went to Medellin, colombia, and I was able to kind of hang out with Pablo Escobar's family for they don't know who I am, but I was able to hang out with Pablo Escobar's family. I actually met and talked to Pablo Escobar's brother, roberto Escobar, who in my opinion was as dangerous or more dangerous than Pablo Escobar, involved in killing a lot of innocent people police officers, judges, prosecutors. Blew up a plane because he thought there was a presidential candidate on the plane who was not even on the plane. Those kind of things, a lot of car bombs. So that's what I did last summer I went out to Bogota and then went to Medellin and hung out with Pablo Escobar's family.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I went down there a couple years ago myself. I went down there a couple years ago myself and I went to where his ranch was and saw the hippopotamuses that are overabundance. There's an amusement park that's there for kids and they worship him in that town. I mean, there's a museum. Did you go to the museum when you were there?
Speaker 2:No, I didn't go to the museum, but I did go to the memorial they built when they demolished his fortress there in Medellin, and that was pretty eye-opening and it was a tribute, a memorial to all his victims, including a police officer who died at the hands of Pablo Escobar. Part of that memorial reminded me of the 9-11 memorial, kind of like the waterfall and the names on the slide there on the walls on the top. Yeah, so I went there, but no, I wasn't able to make the museum. I take it back, though. I did go to the one that Roberto Escobar runs and then I went to another one that his nephew ran also. They were like private museums and they charged people to go in there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I went to the one in town, the main one and I went to Annapolis and saw that he had these cars from the 40s we in the United States would have seized them immediately and they went to rust. It was an unbelievable collection that he had there. And you know, I didn't tell people who I was. I think I got on a bus with German tourists or something like that I did and went there and just wanted to see firsthand.
Speaker 1:But, no, it's amazing and thank you so much for shedding the light on the cartels and the organizations and what the problem is here. I mean it's a major problem and, like you said, all fingers point back to Mexico on this, to the cartels and the gangs and stuff like that. I, you know, I had heard about this gang in Venezuela when I was there. They said be careful. And I had no idea who this was. You know it was a street gang or whatever, but this is, like you said, the most dangerous gang that's here in the United States right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, there's no doubt about it, and I don't know. If we're running out of time, you tell me, or do we still have more time where I can talk a little bit about Mexico itself?
Speaker 1:Please, please. The religious aspect was very interesting. Well, thank you.
Speaker 2:It really does open some eyes of officers out there. But I mean, that is what it is. And I tell these officers look, I'm not trying to get you to believe in this stuff, I'm just trying to get you to believe that they believe in this stuff and that's all that matters. And use this information as a tool, primarily to stay safe, to enhance your safety. But as far as Mexico you know, people ask me, robert, what is the problem in Mexico? Why are the cartels so prevalent out there? Why are they so powerful? And for me the answer is very simple. One word sums it up and that is corruption. Unfortunately, corruption is embedded in the fiber of the fabric that makes Mexico can leave. That's corruption. And let's go all the way up to the state, military, federal and even the federal government.
Speaker 2:Last year we had the former defense minister of Mexico that's a big deal Genaro Garcia Luna, that was convicted, found guilty of working with Chapo Guzman and getting paid millions and millions of dollars. I tell people that's the problem and unfortunately, unfortunately, that's not going to change until the Mexican people, the good people of Mexico, putting enough pressure on the Mexican government and demand change. Otherwise it's just another day at the office. You know when innocent people get killed in Mexico. About three years ago we had three film students from college a film college there in Mexico out exploring a ranch to film do a film and they were abducted by the New Generation Cartel. The New Generation Cartel determined they weren't who they were looking for, but they killed them anyway and then they paid another guy to dissolve their bodies in acid. When that happened, a lot of people came out protesting and marching and things of that nature. But here's the deal. That's great. I just think the Mexican government, they know that no big deal. This protest is going to end one or two days and it's over and things return back to normal, and they're right.
Speaker 2:So I believe, in order to to get obtain permanent change, the good people of mexico need to keep this pressure on the mexican government at all time. That's that's what's going on here. You got police officers that are working for the mexican cartel at all different levels. Things aren't going to get any better now. Don't get me wrong, and I know you, you agree with. We have our corruption problems here in the United States. We do in all agencies state, local and federal. However, I feel confident saying that not to the extent that they have in Mexico. That's the biggest problem in Mexico. Now let's talk about the argument, or the idea of declaring the Mexican cartel this terrorist organization. Quite frankly, I think that's what needs to be done. That needs to be done Now. A lot of people don't agree with that, and I think a lot of it, because they don't understand what that yeah, I knew you would.
Speaker 2:But a lot of people don't agree with that because see what they envision, these people that don't understand what that means. They think that if we declare these cartel terrorist organization, they envision tanks uh, us tanks and troops invading mexico going in there. That's not going to happen. We're going to go after these cartel leaders in the same manner that we go after these isis leaders and these terrorists in the Middle East, these other terrorists in the Middle East. We just locate them with a drone and then blow them up. That's what needs to happen. Unfortunately, mexico doesn't want to do that.
Speaker 2:Now we have a new president of Mexico coming in. My first impression of her was not that great, and the reason for that because she said she was running on a platform of continuity. Continuity means nothing's going to change and Mexico needs to go after the car. They're not going to do that. However, before becoming president-elect of Mexico, she was the mayor of Mexico City, and I do like some of the things she did there.
Speaker 2:She got law enforcement officers there to proactively target and address areas where they were experiencing high crime, and that had some positive results there. So I like the way she's thinking. She's also talking about creating a national database, intelligence sharing database with all the officers there. I like that. Obrador never thought of stuff like that, and I would like it even better if they involve US law enforcement, especially DEA. Obrador hated DEA, he hated DEA. He almost kicked DEA out of Mexico. So our relationship with Obrador as far as law enforcement was horrible. So let me just say this I'm, I guess, withholding judgment on the president-elect, and I'm hopeful that she's going to be a big improvement over Obrador.
Speaker 1:That would be fantastic. One of the things that I was involved in was the Kiki Hamarina case with Rene Verdugo Urquoise and you know that was like I said. People didn't understand this is the death of an agent. It was necessary at the time to do it and it went to the Supreme Court and I think it turned out. It brought attention to the region with this drug problem to the average person when it happened in the middle 80s. But I think you nailed it on the head that Mexico needs to change and you know I'm glad you brought it up. Corruption has always been in the culture there.
Speaker 1:And you know, like you said, you know, even though you and I are good Catholics and we practice, it's still there's that one thing that's out there, with the corruption that I think needs to be addressed, and it's a challenge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and let me just say this also, toby is that you have Catholic priests in Mexico. Several of them have been abducted by the cartel, tortured and some of them killed, and the reason is because during their homily, they speak out against organized crime, they speak out against the cartels and what they're doing, so to shut them up, that's what they're doing. A lot of journalists are being killed in Mexico as well. Now you mentioned Kiki Camarena. I'd like to just spend a minute talking about Kiki Camarena. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Kiki Camarena everywhere I go, toby every class that I put on. I talk about Kiki Camarena because I don't want anybody forgetting him. I want to keep his memory alive. This guy was truly a hero, an American hero. He's a California boy from Calexico, california, former United States Marine and then also local police officer. I think he was a firefighter there for a short time and then he joined the EAA station in Arizona assigned to Guadalajara.
Speaker 2:At that time the Guadalajara cartel. The three main players were Miguel Angel Pilek Gallardo, rafael Caro Quintero and Ernesto Fonseca. So in 1985, they ordered for Kiki Camarena to be abducted. And the reason for that was Kiki Camarena was doing a tremendous job. He was with a pilot, an assistant from a pilot in Mexico, flying and locating these tremendous huge marijuana groves and taking them down, also seizing a lot of cocaine. So finally the cartel got upset and under the orders of Caro Quintero. And so finally the cartel got upset and under the orders of Caro Quintero, he was abducted during broad daylight as he was on his way to meet his wife, mica Camarena, for lunch. And I know Mica personally just talked to her on the phone a week ago. She actually was our speaker last year when we had the International Summit on Mexican Cartels and Gangs in San Antonio. We're doing that again in November. That's on the website mexicancartelorg. The year before that we had Kiki's son, kiki Jr, as the guest speaker.
Speaker 2:So anyway, kiki was abducted and brutally tortured nonstop for 36 hours. The final death blow they got a tire arm and drove it to the top of his skull. So this was a very, very sad situation. They also killed the pilot as well. As soon as we didn't know Kiki was dead, right away what happened with Mika? Kiki didn't show up for lunch, but that's not unusual, being married to a cop. But when Kiki didn't come home from work or call her, she got worried. She called his supervisor who said Kiki is not working anything At that moment. They sent all the agents to Kiki's house. They protected the family and then they started going after who? They suspected the Guadalajara cartel, because they knew Kiki hurt them.
Speaker 2:Now, the reason that we were able to get Kiki's body back is because of President Ronald Reagan. He was the president at that time and he actually shut down the border. He shut down the border and said we're not going to open until you give us his body back, and that actually had a lot to do, or actually everything to do with them returning, locating Kiki's body and the body being able to be returned to the United States for proper burial. But those are some of the things that happened. I was working in our cottage when that happened there in El Paso and I remember vividly that border being shut down and working with DEA and I mean it was just a horrible, horrible time for our country. So Kiki Kometa truly died. A hero, a great American hero, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1:It was my pleasure to take Rene Verdugo-Arquise to his arraignment in San Diego from Washington, and one of the things that you can comment on is, when we did the operational plan to bring him there, washington media was suspecting that something was going on, as they did, but we didn't have the mass media, the CNNs, the multi, you know. So we took him from the federal courthouse on a coach flight with me to San Diego and, uh, they missed it and it was kind of kind of fun. You know how the marshals are, they like doing tricks and pulling things over on fugitives. So that was it. But uh, no, your involvement with that is wonderful and you know, you just shed so much light on this. I came into this podcast and I'm amazed, you know, and I know the listeners are going to want to go to your school, so please tell me your website again and that so they can go to it.
Speaker 2:Sure, absolutely. It's mexicancartelorg. The information for that webinar being held July 11th, two-hour webinar, is on that website. It's for law enforcement. And then the other big thing we have coming up is in November in San Antonio November 10th to the 15th, or 11th to the 15th, I should say we're having the International Summit for Mexican Cartels and Gangs. This is actually going to be our fourth annual conference and we have a great turnout from people from all over the country, also from Canada, so a lot of good training going on. And again, I'm always available to do training. Anybody wants me to go out there and I can tailor my presentation for any type of audience and for any amount of time as well.
Speaker 1:I think that would be of interest to the law enforcement community where I reside in South Florida. Definitely, with the, we have such an influx of people coming from Venezuela, good and the bad. So again, thank you so much, robert, for being on here. I'll talk to you in the next couple days. And, on a side note, I noticed you're friends with Javier Guerrero on Facebook and I worked with him in Los Angeles before he got to be a child police. But thank you so much and enjoy the rest of your evening, appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, Toby. Thank you very much. It's an honor to be here. God bless you and all your viewers and listeners. Thank you for having me here. It's truly an honor.
Speaker 1:Thank you, sir.