Borderland: Narcosis with Vincent 'Rocco' Vargas

Today Vince takes a deep dive into the fast and furious gun-running scandal with guest Pete Forcelli.He is widely known as a whistleblower for the Operation Fast and Furious scandal and wrote the book The Deadly Path: How Operation Fast & Furious and Bad Lawyers Armed Mexican Cartels Pete served for 15 years with the N.Y.P.D prior to joining the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, where he retired as d Deputy Assistant Director. Borderland is an IRONCLAD Original. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Matthew Thomas, Chief Deputy of the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona. Throughout his career, he has served in several specialty units—Detention, Patrol, Traffic, Training, the Police Academy, Motors, Narcotics, and Investigations. He is also the author of the book Interceptors: The Untold Fight Against the Mexican Cartels. Borderland is an IRONCLAD Original. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is investigative journalist and filmmaker Guillermo Galdos. Has spent the last 15 years making documentaries and producing exclusive news stories from Latin and South America - topics including human rights abuses, the drug trade, immigration and exposed police corruption and the human trafficking industry. He has personally experienced and documented the treacherous conditions migrants go through as they attempt to cross the dangerous Darien Gap from Colombia into Panama to eventually make it to the US Southern Border - an over 3,000 mile journey through Central America. You can watch his film "Drowning, kidnap and jaguars - travelling the deadly Darien Gap migrant route to the USA" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzdkmb5Zjas Borderland is an IRONCLAD Original. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's Borderland, Vince dives deeper into the current situation at the Southern Border by talking to two bordertown sheriffs. Both men previously appeared on an episode centered on Operation Lone Star (which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSE2M78_MHU ), but today's episode features previously unreleased portions of these conversations. Thaddeus Cleveland is the Sheriff for Terrell County, Texas. Prior to being elected, Sheriff Cleveland spent just over 26 years in the U.S. Border Patrol. He served as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Advisor to U.S. Army North (ARNORTH) in support of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) assistance to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the Humanitarian Crisis at the Southwest Border with Mexico. He also served six months alongside the Texas Department of Public Safety in Austin, Texas as the Border Patrol Staff Officer at the Texas Homeland Security Border Security Operations Center (BSOC) as the single point of contact between the BSOC, U.S. Border Patrol Sectors and U.S. Border Patrol in Washington, D.C. Leon Wilmot is the Sheriff of Yuma County, Arizona. He has worked in law enforcement since 1985. Some of his professional accomplishments as Chief Deputy include the restructuring of the Southwest Border Alliance drug task force to the newly formed Yuma County Narcotics Task Force. Sheriff Wilmot was also instrumental in overseeing the restructuring of the Yuma County Sheriff’s Posse and is currently working on a Mutual Aid Law Enforcement Agreement between Imperial County California and Yuma County. Borderland is an IRONCLAD Original Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Marine Corps veteran Daniel Torres. Born in Tijuana, he served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, but was deported to Mexico after years of service. There, he lived in The Bunker, the Deported Veteran Support House. After gaining his American citizenship, he has become an advocate for fellow veterans who have been deported. This episode was intended to spotlight his story and his advocacy, but the conversation went in other directions, highlighting the tension that often exists in debates about immigration, the law, and politics. Borderland is an IRONCLAD Original. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Vigil is the former Chief of International Operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration. He is also the author of DEAL, Metal Coffins: The Blood Alliance Cartel, Narco Queen, and The Land of Enchantment CartelHe is responsible for numerous multinational operations, the largest involving 36 countries, and was involved in the real-life story told in Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico involving the murder of his friend Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Today on Borderland, Vince and Mike discuss his career, going undercover in the early days of the cartel wars, his thoughts on the border crisis, and what it will take bring down the cartels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on Borderland, Vince talks with two asylum seekers who have escaped the authoritarian regime in Venezuela. Jorge Galicia is a Fund for American Studies research fellow, an attorney, and a TPUSA Sunshine Field Representative. Follow him on X:  https://twitter.com/JorgeGalicia95 Andres Guilarte is a political activist, Outreach Fellow for the Venezuela Project and a Fund for American Studies research fellow. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/andres7guilarte You can see more about their work here: https://tfas.org/site/venezuelan-exiles-andres-guilarte-jorge-galicia/?utm_medium=301 Borderland is an IRONCLAD Original  Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/user/thisisironclad/videos⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today is the second in a two-part series on BORDERLAND, examining the MS13 gang and the massive crackdown taking place in El Salvador. Last week, we spoke with Alex Papadovassilakis and Steven Dudley of the organization InSight Crime, to talk about efforts to clear the country of gang violence, the 70,000 people who’ve been arrested, and the mega prisons that are housing them. This week, we do a deep dive into the origins of the notorious street gang and how they differ from Mexican cartels.  The fentanyl crisis, what is tranq (as well as how it became such a massive and dangerous problem in areas known for street drugs), how these drugs are coming into the country, and what can be done to stop it. Borderland is an IRONCLAD Original  Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/user/thisisironclad/videos⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Exploring the controversial crackdown on MS13 in El Salvador, including mass arrests and mega prisons. Delving into the origins and growth of the notorious gang, along with comparisons to Mexican cartels. Discussing the impact of enforcement laws, human rights violations, and unforeseen consequences of the government's tactics.

Today on Borderland, Vince sits down with cartel and border security expert and Newsmax border correspondent, Jaeson Jones, who reveals the shocking situation on the Southern Border including the prevalence of drugs, human smuggling, and cartel violence. Jaeson is a retired Captain from the Texas Depa rtment of Public Safety’s Intelligence and Counter Terrorism Division and has supervised numerous Human Intelligence (HUMINT) operations. You can follow him on X and see more his work @jaeson_jone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices