Mexican police say they have arrested six alleged drug traffickers, including a suspected cartel leader who police believe appeared in a CTV W5 investigation.
Earlier this year, CTV W5 Investigative Correspondent Avery Haines sat down with the head of the Mayan Riviera drug trade for the Sinaloa cartel for a one-on-one interview. The man, who only went by “Manuel,” hid his face behind a knitted balaclava and was flanked by heavily armed bodyguards.
During the interview, “Manuel” spoke in near-perfect English and discussed the wave of drug-related violence spreading through tourist hotspots Playa Del Carmen and Cancun.
Haines described the interview as “far-reaching and disturbing.”
“He spoke with ease about dismemberments, executions, the lack of care if tourists get caught in the crossfire. He told me I wouldn’t understand the life he leads because I wasn’t born into it, that I grew up in a different country, a different world,” Haines wrote following the interview.
In a release, Mexican police described the suspect as the alleged leader of the Sinaloa cartel in Playa del Carmen and said that the five others arrested are his “accomplices.” The release also tied the suspect to the W5 documentary.
