Culiacán, Sinaloa—Adolfo Zepeda, better known as “El Negro,” embodied the expendability of low-level cartel soldiers. For six months, the 27-year-old served under El Calzón, a mid-tier boss in the Calzón faction, which operated as a satellite for Mayito Flaco’s network. Zepeda fought for scraps of territory, obeyed every order, and endured brutal conditions in the forests near San Antonio and Sanalona. When a bullet struck him, his comrades abandoned him like a stray dog.
For 5,000 pesos ($285) a month—a laughable pittance for life on the frontlines—Zepeda operated in firefights and lived like a ghost in the wilderness. He spat his final words at his so-called friends, who left him to bleed out: “You guys aren’t worth a fuck for having left me to fend for myself.” The bitterness in his voice revealed the cracks in a system that demands loyalty but rewards failure with nothing but death.
The Interrogation Video
Full Transcript of Adolfo Zepeda’s Interrogation
Adolfo Zepeda sits slumped, blood pooling down his face, his nose shattered. His body is battered, but his mind races-searching for answers, strategies, or maybe just a way out.
He looks like a man who has already lost, the fight drained from his posture, but his eyes flicker with the chaos of betrayal and regret.
This transcript captures the unraveling of a sicario who now faces the cold brutality of the system he served. Special thanks to Cartel Insider’s Sol Prendido for transcribing and translating the following.
Sicario: What’s your name?
Captive: Adolfo Santos.
Sicario: How old are you?
Captive: 27.
Sicario: What’s your moniker?
Captive: El Negro.
Sicario: Where do you live?
Captive: In San Lorenzo.
Sicario: Which faction do you belong to?
Captive: The Cabezón faction. Cabezón used to work for Aquiles in Tijuana. I, in turn, reported to Mayito Flaco.
Sicario: Who’s your direct boss?
Captive: El Cabezón.
Sicario: How long have you been working?
Captive: About 5 or 6 months.
Sicario: How much are you being paid?
Captive: Five thousand pesos ($285).
Sicario: Where do they have you guys working?
Captive: They have us positioned in the forest next to a stream.
Sicario: Where were you living?
Captive: I was living in the forest. The communities of San Antonio and Sanalona are places that I was sent to operate also.
Sicario: What areas did you get to participate in?
Captive: Just in the San Antonio community, sir. We got into several firefights there.
Sicario: Where were you captured?
Captive: At a clinic here in Culiacán.
Sicario: Is there something that you’d like to say to your friends?
Captive: You guys aren’t worth a fuck for having left me to fend for myself.
Sicario: What exactly happened to you?
Captive: I was shot, and they just abandoned me like a fucking dog instead of taking me to the hospital…
Mica’s Analysis
Adolfo Zepeda illustrates the cartel’s cold efficiency at consuming and discarding its pawns. For a meager 5,000 pesos ($285) per month, Zepeda risked his life in firefights and operated in remote, dangerous territories. He clung to the illusion of loyalty, but his comrades shattered that illusion the moment they left him bleeding in the forest.
Zepeda’s demeanor during his interrogation revealed a man resigned to his fate. His calm responses betrayed no hope for rescue, only a simmering bitterness toward those who abandoned him. His descriptions of the forests near San Antonio and Sanalona show how cartels exploit rural areas for cover while launching their territorial campaigns. These terrains provide the perfect cloak for trafficking operations but isolate the soldiers who fight in them.
The interrogators didn’t just extract information; they staged a performance. Cartels use videos like this to terrorize their rivals and their own foot soldiers. The brutality sends a clear message: failure leads to humiliation, pain, and death. Zepeda’s fate reflects the cartel’s unforgiving reality, where even loyalty is no shield against betrayal.
Zepeda’s death will add another entry to the endless ledger of cartel violence. His name and confession will soon fade, buried beneath the weight of countless others like him. His video, circulated briefly as both propaganda and warning, will vanish into the digital abyss. For men like Zepeda, there is no legacy. The cartel system ensures that they live in obscurity and die as nameless pawns in a war that values profit over people.
Discover more from Cartel Insider
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
15 Comments
The government/schools should gather up all these snuff films and show them to every boy in Mexico non-stop for eight hours when he turns twelve.
Every interrogation has the same script “they leave me alone “ “they didn’t pay me “ I don’t believe this Hollywood set up
You do what they tell you simple as that
Definitely scripted…but the torture/killing is real.
Do you think this guy was having a good old time before he got captured?
Cabezón, not calzón
Thank you, I will update.
They are undeniably coached, yet their vulnerability makes them willing to say anything. As you mentioned, these are real people staring death in the face. It’s raw, unfiltered emotion—unscripted and brutally authentic.
Help me out, who is “they”?
Damn these guys are getting paid peanuts 🥜 I’ll just stick to my 6am to 2:30pm at $40/hr here in the good ol US
I don’t have a value, but the top 10% make 97% of the money.
Great article Mica. The way you captured the harsh reality of that life really spoke volumes and captured the bitter truth that what so many never believe will happen until it’s too late . Somehow we’ll think it’ll never happen to us , until the cell door slams shut , or even worse … we’re the captive, reading a script in our own execution video . Very sad to see that the cycle does not seem to stop , regardless of how bad the consequences can be .
When it comes to interrogation videos, I focus on capturing the raw, unfiltered emotions of the victims in what could be their final moments. To do this, I watch each video multiple times—without audio—to meticulously analyze their body language and uncover the silent truths their movements reveal.
I currently have three interrogations in the queue. While the questions and answers may often feel rehearsed or coerced, the raw emotions always tell a unique story. Each video becomes a study in desperation, defiance, or resignation—each one haunting in its own way. Thank you for reading! ✊
@11:52 I totally understand what you mean by that. As much as I’d like to say that I would be calm and silent , resigned to my fate, I honestly think I wouldn’t be able to be so calm in that situation. The survival instinct we are all built with would probably have me sniffling , crying like a baby , begging for my life to be spared . And that’s just being brutally honest. . The ego/mask a lot of men wear , will say “ I’m going out with honor , and “ I ain’t going to be begging for my life “, but to be in that exact situation, I honestly am not confident I can be so resigned to be executed once the video ends ,or while they are filming . Death is something we all will experience, but I still would like mine to be of old age ,or atleast more common in nature .🤷♂️ 😄
@7:50 pm Plug me in my friend. How can an average Joe apply to be your co-worker???
Something doesn’t make sense to me. He says he was left behind after getting shot, but he was captured at a hospital? So who took him to the hospital?
I grapple with the same unanswered questions—ones that will likely remain mysteries forever.