From Lookout to Supermax: Every Mexican Cartel Rank

You start at a red light in Culiacán, Sinaloa. You end in a 7 by 12 foot cell. Nine ranks, one brother, and the real cases behind every step. Composite character. Real cases. This documentary follows a fictional composite through the structure of a Mexican cartel to show how the system recruits, extorts, corrupts and destroys. It does not glorify or encourage crime. Every event, document and statistic on screen is real and sourced below. The rubber stamps, the phone screens and Mateo's missing poster are illustrative graphics. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:25 Level 1: The Lookout 1:25 Level 2: The Transporter 2:50 Level 3: The Collector 4:04 Level 4: The Cell Leader 5:47 Level 5: The Plaza Boss 7:32 Level 6: The Regional Boss 9:21 Level 7: The Cartel Leader 10:43 Level 8: Supermax 11:30 Level 9: Your Successor 11:51 The Light SOURCES U.S. Sentencing Commission, Quick Facts: Fentanyl Trafficking, FY2025: https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/fi... ADN40 (Oct 20, 2025), Bernardo Bravo: https://www.adn40.mx/seguridad/2025-1... Prieto-Curiel, Campedelli and Hope, Science (2023): https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adh2888 U.S. DOJ, ANOM / Operation Trojan Shield (Jun 8, 2021): https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/... U.S. DOJ, Genaro García Luna sentenced (Oct 16, 2024): https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/... Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator: https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/ Federal Register, FTO designations (Feb 20, 2025): https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/F... Battle of Culiacán, Oct 17, 2019: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_... El Mencho, Tapalpa (Feb 22, 2026): https://laopinion.com/2026/02/22/el-m... U.S. DOJ, Joaquín Guzmán López pleads guilty (Dec 2, 2025): https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/joaqui... U.S. DOJ, El Mayo Zambada sentenced to life (Jul 20, 2026): https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/co-fou... Popular Science, ADX Florence: https://www.popsci.com/adx-florence-p... N+ (Sep 9, 2026), Sinaloa war figures: https://www.nmas.com.mx/sinaloa/segur... FOOTAGE AND IMAGES News footage: Voice of America (public domain). U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Coast Guard, Operation Ardent Vanguard and FBI via DVIDS (public domain). Documents: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Register, U.S. Sentencing Commission, Federal Bureau of Prisons (public domain). Satellite imagery: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH, s2maps.eu (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0; USGS The National Map (public domain). Wikimedia Commons: "Battle of Culiacan" by NotimexTV, CC BY 3.0 "Loma de Rodriguera, Camiones de Culiacán" by Santos Sánchez Félix, CC BY 3.0 "Jesus Malverde Shrine in Culiacan", "Effigy of Jesus Malverde", "Jesus Malverde figures" by Tomas Castelazo, CC BY-SA 4.0 "CuliacanSinMX Overlook" by Redspork02, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Atardecer Culiacán", "Centro de Culiacán en día lluvioso" by Ee1824, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Culiacán calle" by David Boté Estrada, CC BY-SA 2.0 "Monterrey de Noche" by Rick González, CC BY 2.0 "Cateo" by Toto the egg, CC BY-SA 4.0 Public domain: DEA (Zambada wanted poster), Homeland Security Investigations (Ovidio Guzmán López), FBI (ANOM), Federal Bureau of Prisons (ADX Florence). Licenses: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Additional B-roll: Mixkit (mixkit.co), free license. MUSIC Mixkit Stock Music Free License: "Fright Night" (Michael Ramir C.), "Delirium", "Vertigo", "Selpan", "Moon Walk", "Fragments Of Bangkok", "Goats", "First Kiss" (Eugenio Mininni), "Echoes" (Andrew Ev). KILO FILE. Every kilo has a file. #truecrime #cartel #documentary