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<v Speaker 1>Joining me now is de Special Agent in charge of

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<v Speaker 1>the Rocky Mountain Division, Special Agent Jonathan Pulland welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>the show. First of all, how does that title fit

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<v Speaker 1>on a business card?

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<v Speaker 2>Like?

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<v Speaker 1>How big are your business cards? Are they three by five?

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<v Speaker 1>What are we looking at of here?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, we're talking three by five sized business cards, a

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<v Speaker 3>big long title.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, I got to say, the DEA has been in

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<v Speaker 1>the news as of late because you guys have been

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<v Speaker 1>making some really big, high profile busts. Tell me about

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<v Speaker 1>some of the stuff that you guys have and really

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<v Speaker 1>I feel like this is all investigations coming to fruition.

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<v Speaker 1>Is that accurate?

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<v Speaker 2>That's great? Yeah, that's right.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean there was some one offs last week where

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<v Speaker 3>we went after some targets of opportunity, But for pretty

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<v Speaker 3>much what you've seen over the course of the last

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<v Speaker 3>seven or eight days has been cases that we've been

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<v Speaker 3>working for months and targets that we've been tracking for months.

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<v Speaker 1>So when you guys are taking drugs off the streets,

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<v Speaker 1>what are we talking amounts? What are we talking about?

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<v Speaker 1>You know, how much are we taking out of the

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<v Speaker 1>supply chain?

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<v Speaker 3>Well, so last Monday, we seized, we executed a search

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<v Speaker 3>warrant and we seized one hundred and thirty thousand fentanyl

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<v Speaker 3>pills in one hit. So that's an incredible amount of fedel.

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<v Speaker 3>So if you think that five out of ten of

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<v Speaker 3>those pills has a deadly dose for you and me,

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<v Speaker 3>that's you know, I wasn't a math major, but I

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<v Speaker 3>think that's sixty five thousand pills taking off the streets

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<v Speaker 3>of Denver that could have killed regular citizens.

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<v Speaker 1>So I mean, I'm guessing that though that sounds like

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<v Speaker 1>a huge amount of pills, is that just like one

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<v Speaker 1>regular shipment, how many pills are actually making their way

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<v Speaker 1>into Colorado and into our streets now?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, Unfortunately, seeing one hundred thousand pills at a time

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<v Speaker 3>has become more of the norm for us here in Colorado.

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<v Speaker 3>You may know that last year in twenty twenty or four,

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<v Speaker 3>we broke the record for Colorado for the most amount

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<v Speaker 3>of fennyl ever sees. We had over three million pills seized.

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<v Speaker 3>So that's an absolutely enormous amount of fedel coming into

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<v Speaker 3>our state.

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<v Speaker 1>So where's this coming from? Kind of know the question,

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<v Speaker 1>but I'm gonna ask anyway, where is the fentanyl coming from?

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<v Speaker 3>Well, it's a fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. So like

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<v Speaker 3>heroin is an opioid, right, but so is an OxyContin

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<v Speaker 3>pill that your doctor may prescribe you if you had

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<v Speaker 3>back pain or back surgery. But a fencanyl is purely synthetic.

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<v Speaker 3>It's only made from chemicals, right, And so those chemicals

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<v Speaker 3>are sourced in China, they're shipped to Mexican cartels, and

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<v Speaker 3>it's all made within Mexico and Mandy.

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<v Speaker 2>They make it for so cheap.

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<v Speaker 3>They can make one fentinyl pill for two cents in Mexico,

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<v Speaker 3>and by the time it hits the streets of Denver,

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<v Speaker 3>that same pill could sell from between two to four dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh my god, the profit margin.

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<v Speaker 2>You know what.

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<v Speaker 1>The Democrats should go after them for gouging. No, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>sad it was a joke for my audience. Yeah, you

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<v Speaker 1>guys are not working alone though. There's a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>coordination happening between federal authorities. Tell me about that.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and that's kind that's kind of unprecedented. Really, I

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<v Speaker 3>mean the Department of Justice, which is you know dea

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<v Speaker 3>at f FBI, US marshals. You know, we've really been

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<v Speaker 3>embedded in the last week or two weeks with the Department,

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<v Speaker 3>Homeland Security Agencies, which is Homeland Security Investigations and ICE

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<v Speaker 3>and really sort of using all of the resources from

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<v Speaker 3>all those agencies at the same time.

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<v Speaker 2>We've always worked together and worked to.

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<v Speaker 3>Join cases, but this is sort of on a whole

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<v Speaker 3>another level, really at the direction of the new administration.

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<v Speaker 3>And I got to be frank with you, it's making

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<v Speaker 3>a huge difference. Right So when my teams are out

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<v Speaker 3>like they're out today, we got an ATF guy on

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<v Speaker 3>board with us, We had ICE agents on board with us.

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<v Speaker 3>We're doing it sort of as a big joint federal

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<v Speaker 3>task force. It's pretty cool.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean most of the time, though, it would seem

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<v Speaker 1>that I'm guessing you don't find many drug dealers without guns,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm guessing right now you're probably seeing a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people involved in this trade that are here illegally. So,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, it makes a lot of sense to put

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<v Speaker 1>you all on the same thing. At the same time,

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<v Speaker 1>it's actually refreshing to hear you say that under this administration,

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<v Speaker 1>this is how things are going. Now, let me ask

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<v Speaker 1>you about it about a local law enforcement because Mayor

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<v Speaker 1>Mike Johnston has caught a world of self imposed crap

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<v Speaker 1>by talking tough about protecting illegal immigrants, and then he said,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, local law enforcement is very involved in all this.

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<v Speaker 1>How much do you work with local law enforcement on

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<v Speaker 1>these large operations quite a bit.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, you know, the thing we have to protect

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<v Speaker 3>local law enforcement from is you know, Colorado state law

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<v Speaker 3>prohibits them from being involved in the immigration piece. So

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<v Speaker 3>when we're going out working a drug case, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>we're not asking them to be involved in the in

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<v Speaker 3>the investigation or the movement of potential illegal aliens into

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<v Speaker 3>the hands of ice. We're handling that as the federal agents.

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<v Speaker 3>And then they still but the local, the state and

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<v Speaker 3>local cops who are with us, they work the drug case,

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<v Speaker 3>right or they work the money laundering side of the case.

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<v Speaker 3>So we're being careful to sort of protect, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>protect them in that space. But they're with us and

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<v Speaker 3>they're definitely been a big part of our success lately.

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<v Speaker 1>So tell me about the relationship that you guys have

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<v Speaker 1>with federal prosecutors, because one of of the issues that

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<v Speaker 1>I have been really frustrated with a lot of people

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<v Speaker 1>have been really frustrated with at the local and district

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<v Speaker 1>levels is that some of our prosecutors are not necessarily

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<v Speaker 1>interested in prosecuting, And how are federal prosecutors different, And

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<v Speaker 1>will we expect people to actually pay a price for

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<v Speaker 1>breaking these laws in the United States?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think so.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, listen, everybody has resource constraints, right, I mean

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<v Speaker 3>the United States Attorney's Office here, they need more people,

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<v Speaker 3>they need more money, just like all the agencies do.

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<v Speaker 2>So, I mean that's one factor.

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<v Speaker 3>But the thing for our cases the DEA works is

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<v Speaker 3>that they go out of state really quick, right, or

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<v Speaker 3>they go out of the country really quick. The suppliers

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<v Speaker 3>for a lot of the fedanel that comes in here,

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<v Speaker 3>we deal directly.

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<v Speaker 2>With people in Mexico a lot of times.

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<v Speaker 3>Right, So once we identify that guy, we can charge

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<v Speaker 3>him in federal court here in Denver and then reach

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<v Speaker 3>out and touch him in Mexico. But we really need

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<v Speaker 3>that we're really the support of the US Attorney's Office

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<v Speaker 3>to do that, and largely we've had it.

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<v Speaker 1>So I don't know if you saw this, but today

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<v Speaker 1>the Mexican president, in response to Donald Trump's tariffs that

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<v Speaker 1>he levied over the weekend, has already come to the

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<v Speaker 1>table with Donald Trump to say, look, we're going to

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<v Speaker 1>send ten thousand troops to the border to help stem

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<v Speaker 1>the tide of both fentanel and illegal immigrants. Do you

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<v Speaker 1>have confidence in the Mexican government and the Mexican military

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<v Speaker 1>to follow through on those promises, because I've heard a

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<v Speaker 1>lot about corruption. It's hard when you're making no money

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<v Speaker 1>as a Mexican cop to not take the money from

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<v Speaker 1>the cartels. What has your experience been in those relationships.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, so I've worked in Mexico over the years quite

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<v Speaker 3>a bit, and I can tell you that I think

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<v Speaker 3>there's a distinction between what maybe local Mexican cops that

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<v Speaker 3>were sitting in the state of Sinaloa and they have

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<v Speaker 3>to deal with the Sinaaloa cartel literally as their neighbors,

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<v Speaker 3>the sort of reaction that you'll get from there, or

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<v Speaker 3>maybe the level of corruption from local cops. There's a

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<v Speaker 3>difference between the at and what we see in the

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<v Speaker 3>federal police and the military.

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<v Speaker 2>There.

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<v Speaker 3>For many years, we've had really great partnerships in Mexico

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<v Speaker 3>at the higher levels, and I think that that's what's

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<v Speaker 3>going to come through now in this new administration, and

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<v Speaker 3>I'm really encouraged by it. I mean, I think I

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<v Speaker 3>think we have an opportunity really with focus on both

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<v Speaker 3>sides of the border to make a huge difference in

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<v Speaker 3>the amount of drugs that end up on our streets.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, I hope.

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<v Speaker 2>So.

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<v Speaker 1>I have a friend who lives in the Sinaloa area

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<v Speaker 1>of Mexico and hearing his stories about like when the

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<v Speaker 1>cartel activity gets geared up, everybody just goes in their

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<v Speaker 1>houses and stays there until it's over. Like people in

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<v Speaker 1>Mexico are living in a terrorist state because of these cartels.

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<v Speaker 1>Is there any hope that you see on the horizon

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<v Speaker 1>to really bring some of these massive cartels to check

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<v Speaker 1>in any significant way in Mexico.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean, I.

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<v Speaker 3>Think that there's got to be pressure from both sides,

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<v Speaker 3>and you're seeing that now. I mean, we're already sort

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<v Speaker 3>of hearing from sources that the Mexican cartels are pretty

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<v Speaker 3>nervous based off of what's happened just in the last

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<v Speaker 3>seven to ten days. We're hearing that they don't want

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<v Speaker 3>to send stuff across the border because they know that

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<v Speaker 3>the the US.

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<v Speaker 2>Border has been hardened.

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<v Speaker 3>And so to hear that coming from down south is

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<v Speaker 3>pretty incredible after just a week's worth of work. But

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<v Speaker 3>it's also going to take work on the south side, Right,

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<v Speaker 3>the Mexicans are going to have to do their part

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<v Speaker 3>to keep those guys in check. But listen, Manda, you're

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<v Speaker 3>talking about multi billion dollar businesses here in these cartels, right, So,

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<v Speaker 3>I mean they're worth fifty to sixty billion dollars per year,

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<v Speaker 3>So they have the money to fight a Mexican army, right.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean you're talking armored vehicles, and they got all

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<v Speaker 3>the weaponry you can imagine. So it's not like it's

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<v Speaker 3>not like it is in the United States. They're literally

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<v Speaker 3>dealing with an armed insurrection.

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<v Speaker 1>I got one question from the text line that I

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<v Speaker 1>actually think is a really good one. How do you

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<v Speaker 1>guys dispose of all these pills?

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<v Speaker 2>Well?

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<v Speaker 3>We incinerate them, Okay, So that's really the way we

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<v Speaker 3>do it. And we have a few places around the country.

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<v Speaker 3>Once the cases are adjudicated, and it's not just the

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<v Speaker 3>all it's all of the drugs and evidence that we get,

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<v Speaker 3>they go and they're incinerated.

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<v Speaker 1>All right. Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mullen from the

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<v Speaker 1>de A, I appreciate your time today. Keep doing what

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<v Speaker 1>you're doing. I mean it's kind of exciting to pick

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<v Speaker 1>up the paper and see one thing after another after another,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm I'm enjoying it. I'm not gonna lie, So

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<v Speaker 1>keep up the good work and we'll check in with

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<v Speaker 1>you when there's more to report in the near future.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, thank you.

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<v Speaker 1>That is Special Agent in Charge of the Rocky Mountain Division,

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<v Speaker 1>Jonathan Mullen of the de A.