02x05 - Meth

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REPORTER (over TV): Meth has
made an alarming comeback.

REPORTER (over TV): Cases
involving meth have spiked
over 1,000%.

REPORTER (over TV): Holding
meth is still a major problem.

REPORTER (over TV):
Meth is trending up.

REPORTER (over TV): Especially
prevalent in middle class
neighborhoods.

REPORTER (over TV): More
powerful. More plentiful.

REPORTER (over TV):
Easy to find and so cheap.

MAN: If you want it,
you can get it.

MARIANA: It's being called a
"new wave" of crystal meth.

MARIANA: A generation after
US government crackdown on

labs and ingredients
torpedoed the drug's supply.

Meth is back with a vengeance.

WOMAN: I basically learned how
to be a high‐functioning addict.

MAN: We call it
Zombieland now,

because everybody's
zombied the (bleep) out.

MARIANA: I want to
know who's making it,

how it's being trafficked,
and why it's become such

a hot commodity again.

OFFICER: Police department!
Search warrant.

MARIANA: It's the military.

They're covering their faces,
which is never good.

This is a journey to uncover the
most prolific meth pipeline

the world has ever seen.

MIKE: The thing
about this drug,

she always wins in the end.

♪ ♪

VOICE: 14th floor.

MARIANA: I think it's here.

I can hear
somebody talking so.

One of the reasons he picks
this hotel is because
there are no cameras.

Hi.

MIKE: Hi.

MARIANA: Hi. I'm Mariana.
How are you doing?

MIKE: Fan (bleep) tastic.

MARIANA: How many people are
you expecting to come tonight?

You have a phone
full of messages?

MIKE: Yes, tons of them.

MARIANA: 50 messages?
MIKE: Yeah.

MARIANA: And everyone there,
they're trying to buy drugs
from you?

MIKE: I dabble with a lot
of different communities.

The freaks come out at night.

MARIANA: This is Mike, a
meth dealer from Austin.

He tells me he's been dealing
meth for more than five years.

He doesn't like his clients
knowing where he lives.

MIKE: Hi, girl.

MARIANA: So he posts up at
a hotel for what he refers
to as a cattle call.

So who's coming up now?

MIKE: Mr. Pink.

MARIANA: After
some convincing,

Mike allows us to watch
as he conducts deals on a
very busy Friday night.

MIKE: You want
some crystal meth?

MR. PINK: Yes.
MIKE: Okay.

Come here.
Sit on Santa's lap.

Thank you.

MARIANA: It seems like every
deal is interrupted by

another call from
another customer.

BUYER: Thank you.

MARIANA: The last time
meth was this popular,

Mike was in elementary school.

REPORTER (over TV): It's called
crank, crystal or speed.

REPORTER (over TV):
Federal officials say

more than 12 million
Americans have tried it.

MAN (over TV): And once
you get that high,

you just want more,
and more, and more.

MARIANA: In the late
'90s and early 2000s,

a new type of drug epidemic
began playing out on local

news stations
across the country.

MAN (over TV): This is the
result of a meth lab exploding.

MARIANA: When they
weren't k*lling themselves,

amateur chemists were cooking
meth from a toxic mix of

household chemicals and over
the counter cold medicine.

It was a DIY phenomenon
that produced one of the most

addictive drugs ever seen.

And one of the best
TV series ever made.

JESSE: This is art, Mr. White.

WALTER: Actually it's
just basic chemistry
but thank you, Jesse.

I'm glad it is acceptable.

MARIANA: It was an epidemic
that was devastating rural
white America.

Perhaps the most lasting
images from those days were

put together by a
sheriff's deputy in Oregon.

A series of before and after
mug shots of users that became

known simply as
"the faces of meth."

But as I talk to some of
Mike's clients in Austin,

they surprise me.

WOMAN: I try to
keep us in my, like,

together appearance.

I don't look like somebody
from the faces of meth.

WOMAN: I am.

MARIANA: Not in a million
years would I think that
you use meth.

MAN: Well, I appreciate that,
I think, because

I think there is a certain
stigma that we're all like

toothless and eating people when
we don't sleep for ten days.

I have an education
and I have a job.

MARIANA: You're a lawyer.

MAN: Yes.

G: I sell cars actually.

MARIANA: You are able to
function and hold a job?

SPEAKER X: Yes.
Yes, for sure.

WOMAN: I was an interior
designer in a very
affluent part of town.

MARIANA: And
you're able to work?

WOMAN: Yeah.

MARIANA: How often
do you use meth?

MARIANA: And why
do you use it?

SPEAKER X: It's a habit.
It's just what I do.

It's not what I wanna do,
but it's just what I do.

MARIANA: The demographics of
meth users may have changed

but the control the drug asserts
over those users has not.

It comes from the
power of dopamine.

Meth unleashes a concentrated
high to the pleasure
sensors of the brain.

And explains why it's so easy
for users of any background to

become addicted.

How do you do it?

G: I inject it. Yeah.

MARIANA: Is that a more
dangerous way of doing it or

more powerful at least?

G: It's more
addictive I would say.

WOMAN: It's not
even a decision.

It's like a loop you
just can't get off of.

You just reach for it.

I basically learned how to
be a high‐functioning addict.

MARIANA: Mike is
an addict too.

When he's not dealing,
he's often using.

His relationship with meth
has been a rollercoaster.

MIKE: I had three houses,
two cars and lost it all.

Homeless in the
streets for four years.

MARIANA: Have you
done time in prison?

MIKE: I have three felonies.

MARIANA: For drugs?
MIKE: Possession.

If I catch
another one, I'm gone.

It's a life sentence.

I made a promise to my mother
that I will be here to take

care of her, and
I'm gonna keep that.

MARIANA: Mike and his
clients are some of
the new faces of meth.

MIKE: Go hit it.

MARIANA: I want to understand
why meth is making such a

comeback and where
it's all coming from.

DEA COP: All right.
Bring it in, guys.

Pull your phones.

So DEA SRT has ex*cuted
a state search warrant.

Subject 1, extremely
lengthy rap sheet.

He's our primary target.

Secondary target has violence
in his rap sheet also.

MARIANA: I'm with the
special response team
of the San Diego DEA

as they're preparing
for an early morning raid.

DEA COP: Any questions?
Questions? All right.

Get up.

MARIANA: Launched in 2020,
Operation Crystal Shield

targets folks like Mike,

traffickers and dealers
across the country.

At the peak of the
last meth craze in 2006,

the US finally put stringent
limits on the sales of cold

medications
containing ephedrine,

the key
ingredient in production.

The supply chain
quickly dried up.

And meth use plummeted.

But the dip was short‐lived.

COP (over radio): DEA SRT
just made the northbound
turn on Paramount.

MARIANA: Do you still
get nervous or is this...

DEA COP: Um, it's good
to be a little nervous.

Because if you're not,
then you're not safe.

MARIANA: Tonight in San Diego,
the DEA is targeting the house

of a suspected meth
dealer with prior felonies.

DEA COP: This is it.

COP (over bullhorn): (bleep)
Police department.

Search warrant.

42777.

Police department
with a search warrant.

Demanding entry pronto

Police department
coming in the front door.

Police department.
Search warrant.

Demanding entry.

MARIANA: The information
they have is that there is

large quantities of
drugs including meth.

Also possibly g*ns and we'll
see what they can find out.

COP (over bullhorn): Police
department! Search warrant.

Follow the command.

MARIANA: So it's
three total, right?

DEA COP: There's three total
out and there is at least one
more on the inside.

MARIANA: Inside.

DEA COP: Maybe more.

MARIANA: A few hours later,
they're ready to show
me what they found.

So this is crystal?

DEA COP: Crystal, right.

That's a nice big
shard right there.

MARIANA: It is.

Are you guys finding
a difference in the
quality of the meth?

Is it more powerful now?

DEA AGENT: It is.

Most of the meth that we
seized has over 90% purity.

MARIANA: Wow.

DEA AGENT: Which is a lot
different than what it
was 15, 20 years ago.

MARIANA: And if you were to
guess where this is coming

from, where did bag come from?

DEA COP: Oh, uh, from Mexico.

Absolutely.
And it's just right here.

DEA AGENT: Last year, over
50,000 kilos of meth was seized

in California on the
southwest border.

It's increasing every year.

MARIANA: I've never worked
with this guy before and he

just wants to make sure that
we are in fact journalists.

To understand the origins of
this wave of Mexican meth,

I need to go meet
its new suppliers.

What's up?

MARIANA: Okay. Okay.
You guys stay in the car.

I've reported from
Sinaloa many times before.

Hola! Estoy bien, como estas?
Soy Mariana.

I know this drill well.

MARIANA: No one introduces
themselves as cartel members,

but I know exactly
who I'm dealing with.

The Sinaloa cartel
runs the most ruthless

narco‐trafficking
operation on the planet.

They'll do just about
anything to defend
their smuggling routes.

Their violent reputation
hides another truth.

The cartel knows how to
spot a business opportunity.

US authorities may
have torpedoed the
domestic supply of meth,

during its last
heyday in the 2000s.

But they did little
to stem the demand.

That opened the door
for organizations like
the Sinaloa cartel.

I don't know if you
went to the right or left.

MIGUEL (over radio): Right.

MARIANA: Got it. So
we're entering cartel
territory here, right?

MIGUEL (over radio): Yes.

MARIANA: So we're following
this guy who we've been told

he's a lieutenant
for the cartel,

sort of a boss in the cartel.

He's taking us to,
what they call a super
meth lab around here.

We're trying to keep up with
him because he's in, in a hurry.

He says we have
to get there fast.

If we get there.

This is it, guys.
We're here.

There's just a bunch of
masked men waiting for us.

MARIANA: This is it, guys.
We're here.

After driving two hours deeper
into the Sierra Madre mountains,

we arrive at a
very remote location.

MARIANA: Okay.
We can go guys.

Okay. Gracias.

Their walkie‐talkies
are really loud.

MARIANA: Yeah.

So they knew essentially since
we entered the Sierra Madre,

this area here,
that we were here,

that without permission
there's no way we would've
even gotten this close.

MARIANA: Oh, wow, so
you see these pipes?

This is water pipes
they say for the lab.

Can you see how they are trying
to hide them with grass here?

Oh, my God.

This is it. Wow.

This is much bigger than I
thought it was gonna be.

After a long hike, we arrive
at a massive meth production

site, what the Sinaloa
cartel calls a super lab.

MARIANA: Hola.

MARIANA: Lead.

MARIANA: Galleta, which
is what they call cookie,

is a mix of other chemicals.

(speaking Spanish).

MARIANA: Cyanide, lime, alcohol.

And then they put the
fire on, it starts heating.

The smell is so strong.

MARIANA: Make no
mistake about it,

the booming popularity of meth
in the US goes hand‐in‐hand

with the boom in
production here.

Labs like this are cooking
meth on an industrial scale.

A generation ago,
American‐made meth

was only about 60% pure.

The cartels have increased
the purity to above 90%.

It's just showing
you the accuracy.

This is what, the
level that they want.

And it's spot‐on.

And yet cooking the drug
is still as crude and
dangerous as ever.

So you can see just how
rudimentary this all is.

The fire coming
underneath here,

there's a really
strong smell of gas.

There's a thing going
round and round and this
is all made by hand and

you just have the feeling that
this can go wrong really fast.

HOMBRE: No.
MARIANA: Wow.

MARIANA: Okay.

So instead of having to buy
and wait for the precursor
chemicals to come from China,

they're actually making
it all right here.

It's finally happening.

The cartels' drug producers
are becoming self‐reliant.

Only two years ago, I was off
the coast of Mazatlan watching

cartel members fish barrels
of Chinese‐made chemicals
out of the water.

Now, they are free of
Asian suppliers and shipping

timelines and making
the chemicals themselves.

That means more
meth at a faster rate.

So this is the final
step in the whole process.

So this is the crystal
that forms crystal meth.

So they're, it's starting
to boil and the crystal is

starting to form at the top.

MARIANA: I want to understand
how meth produced in the

super lab makes it to America,
so I reach out to my cartel

contact to see the next
link in the supply chain.

It's the military.

But on the way
out of the area,

our cars are surrounded.

There's another one coming.

They're covering their faces,
which is never good.

MARIANA: I'm in Sinaloa
tracking the supply chain of

America's latest drug wave.

We just left a
crew of well‐armed,

masked men cooking insane
amounts of crystal meth.

When our cars are surrounded
by a different crew of

well‐armed, masked men.

It's the military.

The Mexican military.

There's another one coming.

They're covering their faces,
which is never good.

They blocked us behind us
and in front of us, trucks.

We just never know what
exactly their goal is,

why all this intimidation.

MARIANA: As the
military swarms us,

they refuse to give us a
specific reason as to

why we're being detained.

They're saying they
want us out of the car,

they wanna take photos of
us and do an investigation.

MARIANA: They wanna
check the car, guys.

We were essentially
surrounded by military.

They're searching
our cars right now.

Definitely not a pleasant
experience because they're

coming up at us with
g*ns and they're asking
us all sorts of questions,

asking why we are there,
what we're filming.

MARIANA: Ah, okay, so they're
telling us not to film,

we have to put
cameras down, guys.

As they search our vehicles,
a senior officer demands that

our local producer explain
where we've been and

where we're going.

MARIANA: Ultimately, they
find no reason to keep
us and they let us go.

I mean, that was not a
good situation to be in.

That is a lot of armed men.

But, you know,
corruption is rife in Mexico.

So you never know who
exactly they're working for,

if it's the government
or the cartel themselves.

In Mexico, it's hard to
know where allegiances lie.

The billions of dollars
cartels make running drugs to

the US have
perverted the rule of law,

corrupting government
and law enforcement at
nearly every level.

We were allowed to
continue our journey north,

but it was a good reminder
to never let our guard down.

Okay. So we're still
in narco territory.

And we're heading to a stash
house where they say that they

have crystal meth that has
been packed up or they're

packing it up right now.

I'm unsure but that's going to
be shipped to the US tomorrow.

The problem is it's
getting night here,

which is never when you want to
be in this part of the world.

MIGUEL (over radio):
It's here to the left.

MARIANA: Here it is.
We're here.

(speaking Spanish).

MARIANA: Ah, okay.

(speaking Spanish).

MARIANA: Oh, my God.

Holy (bleep) I
cannot believe it.

Wow.

So all this is crystal
meth that came from the lab.

MARIANA: He's showing, okay.

So imagine this is fertilizer,
these are the drugs.

They just cover it all
with real fertilizer.

So if you're
searching the car,

you're not gonna search
each individual piece.

So they have these
four bags and they
have more bags inside.

(speaking Spanish).

MARIANA: "Come and
see this," he's saying.

MARIANA: So it's hidden
in the bathroom I guess.

Here it is one, two,
three, four more.

MARIANA: And they just throw
it in the truck like this,
he's saying.

Just easily, you don't even have
to try to hide it very much.

MARIANA: Half a ton of drugs.

Let's just do
the math on that.

My sources tell me that
one pound of meth in
Mexico goes for $200.

But that price jumps to $650
once it crosses the border.

And up to 1,500 per pound
once it reaches a big
city like Los Angeles.

So if they're moving
half a metric ton to LA

every week,
roughly 1,100 pounds,

They're making more
than $1.4 million

in profit every shipment.

I don't think I've ever seen
just the enormous amount of

drugs that were there tonight.

And they don't
even try to hide it.

Handing over the drugs
to us and we're all
talking openly about it.

And then to find out that
half a ton of meth is

shipped out of here,
that is insane.

America's latest wave of
crystal meth is big business

in cartel land.

Still, I want to understand
how the Sinaloa cartel is

moving so much ice
across the highly‐secured
US border each week,

and how American dealers
like Mike get their
hands on that supply.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: Hey, any news?

ROGER (over phone): We got
information that we're gonna
be meeting a biker,

he's smuggling
drugs across the border.

He's crossing now so
we got to hurry up.

MARIANA: Okay.
Any other rules?

Anything we need to
know about beforehand?

ROGER (over phone): Well,
they're gonna tell us
where they want to meet.

It is for their
security and for ours.

MARIANA: Okay, bye.

So it looks like it's on.

I'm in the border town of
Calexico to see how

Mexican cartels smuggle meth
into the biggest ill*gal drug
market in the world,

the United States of America.

We're here.

MARIANA: Okay.

There's not much to it,
we just wait now.

MIGUEL (over phone):
Hey, Mariana, the biker
should arrive to your

spot any minute now.

MARIANA: Okay. So he's
coming right to our car?

MIGUEL (over phone): Yes.

MARIANA: The trafficker
tells me to call him Ricardo.

He's an American
citizen from East LA.

MARIANA: Crystal meth.

MARIANA: That's
crystal meth? Ice?

The drugs are wrapped
with duct tape and plastic.

They're called huevos or eggs,

and each one is packed
tightly with crystal meth.

MARIANA: Two pounds.

Turns out there are 12 huevos
hidden throughout the bike.

Totaling 24 pounds of meth,
a street value of $36,000
in Los Angeles.

MARIANA: Ricardo is one of
thousands in a decentralized

network of freelance smugglers
utilized by the cartel.

It's an army of ants who avoid
seizures by funneling smaller

packages of meth in
cars and motorcycles,

maximizing efficiency and
minimizing risk with drivers

who have less direct ties
to the cartels themselves.

MARIANA: Just like that, we
are interrupted by Ricardo's

boss who needs him to
proceed with his route.

His boss is calling.

MARIANA: Okay.
He really has to go.

MARIANA: This meth pipeline
is part of a drug trafficking

empire that brings in an
estimated $30 billion in

revenue a year.

That's more than
Fortune 500 companies
like Visa or Starbucks.

And like any good business,
the cartels are never satisfied.

That's how I find myself
parked on an LA street

awaiting a sketchy meet‐up
with a cartel operative

working on a new initiative.

Hey guys, can you hear me?

ROGER (over radio):
Loud and clear.

MARIANA: Are these the
people we've met before?

MARIANA: Do you
trust these people?

MARIANA: Oh. That's,
they actually said that?

MARIANA: Okay. So no,
absolutely no filming on
the way to the location,

wherever that location is.

MARIANA: Okay.
You guys heard that?

Okay. I think this is it.

So we're parking
about two blocks from
the actual location.

And they've asked
us to park away.

And also, they told us to
bring all the gas masks

because apparently
it's super toxic.

Okay?
Let's do this.

MARIANA: Raking in
billions a year,

the cartels have seen their
meth profits soar thanks to

their endless pursuit of
cheaper and quicker ways to

reach American users.

I walk a few blocks to meet a
new cartel contact who calls
himself Pablo.

Hey.

PABLO: Hello.

MARIANA: And I honestly
have no idea what to expect.

PABLO: Please
put your mask on.

I did already and the smell of
chemical is really bad and

it's really strong.

All the chemicals that we're
using are very, very dangerous.

You gotta be
careful what you touch?

PABLO: Yes, I was cooking.

I have something here, but I
don't wanna touch it 'cause

it's still cooking.

This is what you call a
"Shake and Bake."

'Cause in case, "Police
is coming," shake it.

We gone, do another one.

PABLO: I go directly to
my boss in Sinaloa cartel.

PABLO: He gives me the orders.

That's why you guys got the okay
and the access to come here.

MARIANA: That's right.

According to Pablo, the
same Shake and Bake labs,

that once dotted the
American landscape
are making a comeback.

But this time they are funded
and run by Mexican cartels.

PABLO: We got the gas,
we got the battery acid.

PABLO: We have the
liquid Sudafed because
we crush up the pills

MARIANA: Pablo tells me that
while getting Sudafed is hard,

the cartel has channels
to source ingredients from

pharmaceutical companies.

PABLO: Let's say that
they were doing 60 pills.

MARIANA: Uh‐hmm.

PABLO: So I'm using 500 pills,
the more pills we crush up,

the more stronger it is.

PABLO: Yes, they are.

PABLO: Exactly.

MARIANA: Pablo explains that
the cartel is experimenting

with this direct to
consumer model which
lowers production costs,

eliminates the risk
and cost of transport,

and cuts out
mules and middlemen.

PABLO: We're in the
middle of the city

PABLO: We have five
that are getting built
right now as we speak.

PABLO: And around
the corner, they
already have at least eight.

PABLO: Yes.

MARIANA: Profits
are already soaring.

Just from the network of
labs run by Pablo in LA,

he tells me he's making $12
million every year for his

bosses in Sinaloa.

PABLO: We call it
Zombieland now,

because everybody's
zombied the (bleep) out now,

they're using crystal meth.

PABLO: Yes, it does bother me,
but like I gotta live one way
or another.

I grew up in this
(bleep) I come from Sinaloa,

this is all I know and,
you know, this is hard.

MARIANA: As the cartels'
producers in Mexico and within

the US pump out more
and purer crystal meth,

their strategy to hook
more users is working.

REPORTER (over TV): 328 people
died by overdosing on drugs her
in Arizona last year.

REPORTER (over TV):
Methamphetamine is back
on the rise in Ohio.

REPORTER (over TV):
More people are now dying
from meth overdoses

than heroin across Colorado.

REPORTER (over TV): Right here
on the streets of San Francisco

REPORTER (over TV): Omaha is
caught in the crosshairs.

REPORTER (over TV): On
the rise in San Diego.

REPORTER (over TV): That means
more customers for the cartels.

MARIANA: The US is now
home to an estimated one
million meth addicts.

An epidemic that's k*lling
thousands of people a year.

I wonder how Mike, the
dealer I met in Austin,

feels about his role in
such a deadly epidemic.

So I reach back out.

And I ask if he's still planning
to come to LA for business.

MIKE: So as if my life
couldn't get any more crazier,

it was just a
(bleep) show today.

MARIANA: His reply is the
first in a series of nearly

incoherent video texts.

MIKE: There's someone
always watching you.

At every time, every
minute, every day,

every hour, every hour,
every week, every week,

every month, every month,

every year, every year
for the rest of your life.

MARIANA: I ask where he is,
but it's not totally clear

from his next text.

MIKE: Here I am
still with no ID,

wondering how am I gonna
make (bleep) happen in.

MARIANA: Mike tells me
he's on his way to meet
me but then I get this.

MIKE: I'm literally, literally,
literally on my last dime.

So now, what to do?

MARIANA: It's like I'm
watching him unravel.

MARIANA: Finally, he tells me
he's in San Diego and then

the line suddenly goes dark.

What I thought was
simply the last link in
the meth supply chain,

a street‐level dealer,
is actually a window into

the raging epidemic itself.

Mike's disappearance is evidence
of the very dark places

where meth
addiction leads,

reminding me of something
one of his clients told
me back in Austin.

WOMAN: I've been really
lucky in a lot of ways,

I've never been arrested,
I've never stolen anything
from anybody,

I haven't
had to sell my body.

I've, all these things that
I've seen a lot of really

smart and really good people
do just because that's what

this drug pushes you to do.

It is not easy.

And mom guilt is very real.

And pressure is
very real there.

I mean, that's just what also
comes with meth, right?

Guilt and shame and pressure.

Uh‐hmm.

MARIANA: Three days later,
I get a message that Mike
has made it to LA.

He wants to meet at his motel.

I have a hunch things
are about to get messy.

MIKE: Can we cut real quick?

I'm just starting to,
like, hyperventilate.

Hmm.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: Okay. So Mike,
what are we doing here?

MIKE: We are actually
fulfilling orders that were

sent to me
through my clientele.

MARIANA: After several
days of radio silence,

Mike resurfaces in
Los Angeles and invites
me to his motel room.

MARIANA: He seems
scattered from the start.

MIKE: Yeah. I am.

I get really all (bleep) nerve
and so I need something to

kinda calm me down.

It's like I gotta be high
on something every day.

MARIANA: After
taking the edge off,

Mike agrees to show me how
he ships the meth he buys

wholesale in Calexico to
clients across the country.

You're gonna put the
drugs inside lunchboxes?

MIKE: Yes.

So in the case at
which they get X‐rayed,

it's gonna be harder
to see what's inside.

And because of this, it
sounds like a puzzle.

MARIANA: It seems the sheer
availability of pure Mexican

meth has been a huge part
of the drug's resurgence.

It's a cheap high and for
a country with a massive

addiction problem, that's
irresistible in spite of

meth's ugly reputation.

MIKE: It's more of a taboo
because of the stigma behind it.

MARIANA: So why did you
let us come with you?

MIKE: Just because it's
not what people think it is.

Some of the greatest
people that I know use it.

Some of the most smartest
people that I know use it.

If you look at the
community as a whole,

there's a lot of people
that use it in different ways.

Can we cut real quick?

MARIANA: Yeah.

MIKE: I'm just starting
to, like, hyperventilate.

MARIANA: Do you want water?

It's a profitable business,
but not an easy one for a

hardcore user like Mike and
the more time I spend with him,

the more I witness the messy
reality of his addiction.

MIKE: Yeah, I'm a
hot mess and it's,

yeah, it's not getting easier.

And I think it's just from
the long‐term uses of it.

(phone vibrating).

MARIANA: You're getting
a call from your mom.

MIKE: It's okay.

MARIANA: You're not answering?

MIKE: She wants answers to
things that I don't have the

answers to right now, so.

MARIANA: Does she
know where you are?

MIKE: Yeah.

MARIANA: Does she
what you're doing?

MIKE: Yeah.

She doesn't like it and neither
does the rest of my family.

You know, they're worried
about me because it's not

about the drug usage,
but it's more about if
anything happens to me.

MARIANA: How scared are
you of going to prison?

MIKE: It's on my
mind every day.

Considering how I
have three felonies,

if anything happens
to these packages,

it's bye‐bye, Birdie.

MARIANA: I ask Mike about his
first experience with meth.

He points to a lunchbox
that's headed to Key West.

MIKE: He's the one that
got me involved in all
of this to begin with.

He's my ex‐boyfriend.

He's the one that tried to
keep me away from it and I

just came running towards it.

He warned me, he really did.

MARIANA: Does he
use it as well?

MIKE: Yeah, he does.

MARIANA: Is he
addicted to meth as well?

MIKE: Well, I would assume so.

MARIANA: Mike tells me
that like a lot of users,

his experience with meth
is tied to a hard‐partying
social scene.

In fact, that's why he
loves coming to Los Angeles.

That night, Mike
heads to West Hollywood,

the epicenter of g*y life
in Los Angeles and fertile

grounds for new clients.

How do you sell?

Do you go out and
look for clients?

MIKE: One of the biggest ways
I've made my money was through

social media, in
the g*y community,

it's been like Grindr, Scruff,
Adam4Adam, BBRT.

These are all avenues for men to
meet other men in and hook up.

And that's where I come in.

MARIANA: Mike can go to any
city in the country and within

minutes find customers.

For g*y men looking to
hook up and get high,

these apps give
dealers like Mike an edge.

And it's in these g*y
communities where Mike's

personal and business
interests converge.

Lot of people though.

Wow.

MIKE: Yeah, this is all
within a mile radius.

MARIANA: Are you
getting requests right now?

MIKE: Yeah. I got people at
the hotel waiting for me.

MARIANA: Waiting for
you to sell them meth?

For you to have sex?

MIKE: No, no, no.
Maybe both, who knows.

That's all I do all day.

I try to have fun on the side
and then get back to work.

Now, there's a
secret language online.

There's a chance that this guy
could smoke because of the T.

It's capital

MARIANA: And so T
stands for Tina?

MIKE: So, yes, but
there's a lot of things
that stand for Tina.

Anything like a
teacup or time for tea,

which would be a clock,
a little teacup,

and then you also do diamonds.

And there's party and play.

MARIANA: Which means what?

MIKE: They want to
smoke meth and have sex.

MARIANA: Mike tells me sex
on meth is almost better
than the drug itself.

MIKE: For a lot of people, it
makes them ferociously horny

and then it becomes that sex
is always gonna be associated

with a certain substance.

80% of all my clientele
are either before they're
PnP, or during.

When I was on here
the other night,

every freaking guy
that hit me up are like,

"Are you partying? Partying?
Partying? Partying?"

I can't even leave a city
block without being bombarded

by either requests or
people that want PnP.

MARIANA: I've never seen a
drug epidemic through the

lens of a dating app.

But there it is, the new
faces of meth courtesy of a

seemingly endless
stream of online profiles
looking to party.

Why do you think meth
is so prevalent in
the g*y community?

MIKE: It's larger in the
g*y community, yes it is,

but it doesn't symbol the
g*y community as a whole.

It's one niche in
the g*y community,

and if you want to see it,
log on from 2:00 to 6:00
in the morning.

MARIANA: Right.

MIKE: Uh, would you excuse me.

My cognitivity is
starting to go out the window.

I'll start with one subject
and I'll nod out real quick

and start a whole
completely different one.

It's because my brain is
starting to just spark.

It's getting tired and
it's gonna shut down.

(phone vibrating).

MARIANA: It's your mom again.

You have to call
her at some point.

MIKE: Yeah.

Hola guapas.

I'm still working right now.

MOTHER (over phone): Did
you find out anything?

MIKE: I'll be home tomorrow.

MOTHER (over phone): You don't
even have your plane ticket.

How can you tell me that?

MIKE: Um, I don't know.

Um...

MOTHER (over phone): I don't
want you to tell me something
that's not gonna happen.

MIKE: Okay.

I love you, I gotta go mom,
I'm on, I'm, I gotta go.

MOTHER (over phone):
You need to tell me.

MIKE: I don't know, Mom.

Please.

MOTHER (over phone): You always
say, "Mom, please," but you
never get back with me.

MIKE: Mom, please?
I will talk to you.

MOTHER (over phone): When?

MIKE: Mom, I need to
get off the phone.

MOTHER (over phone): Okay.
Love you. Bye.

MARIANA: Aw.

She's so worried about you.

MIKE: Yeah. I'm tired.

I am completely and
utterly exhausted.

I am leaving this car now.

MARIANA: Stay safe.
Call your mom back.

Bye, Mike.

It's sad.

It's sad especially to see
his mom calling him, you know
so worried about him

and wondering when he's
gonna go back home.

And she knows full well
what he's doing here too.

So as a mother
myself, that really,

that moment really got to me.

He says he wants to quit.

He says that in a few
months, that's his plan.

But as he knows
full well himself,

it's a really
hard drug to quit.

He's tried it a few times and
he hasn't been successful at it,

but we'll see
what happens this time.

The current meth epidemic is
many things to many people.

For a handful of
cartel bosses,

it's a windfall.

For thousands of people who
depend on the meth pipeline to

make their living,
it's a paycheck.

And for millions of addicts and
their families, it's a curse.

MOTHER: What are
you gonna be cooking?

MIKE: Macaroni.

MARIANA: A few weeks
later back in Austin,

Mike is cooking
dinner with his mom.

MOTHER: Where are
your potholders?

Oh, there's your colander too.

We're gonna need it.

MARIANA: But she's
worried about him.

And the conversation
quickly turns serious.

MOTHER: Do you believe you
have a serious addiction?

MIKE: Who doesn't
have an addiction?

Who doesn't have an
addiction to something?

Mine just seems to be
with crystal meth and...

a lot of other things.

MOTHER: The money?

MIKE: The money,
the interaction.

MOTHER: You know, have you
ever thought to yourself,

"Am I hurting
people out there"?

MIKE: I don't have a
g*n to their head.

I'm not selling to anyone
that hasn't previously used.

MARIANA: In my experience,
dealers and users always find

a way to justify
what they are doing.

And all too often, it's
mom who pays the price.

MOTHER: I still have hope,
one day you're gonna put
this behind you.

I have hope.

MIKE: I am, Mom, I can't tell
you the future because it's
not written yet.

MOTHER: No, exactly.
No, no.

I'm not asking you to
tell me your future.

MIKE: I don't know.

My goal is just to
live longer than you.

MOTHER: Are you
waiting on someone?

MIKE: Yeah.

I'm just gonna step
out for a second.

I have to meet
my buddy outside.