Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: yt.franzesewine.com
💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: michaelfranzese.com/family
Two DEA agents helped bring down Pablo Escobar, the man who once supplied up to 80% of the world’s cocaine and may have ordered 50,000 murders. Their real‑life story became the basis for Narcos, but Hollywood didn’t show everything. In this sit‑down, Steve Murphy and Javier Peña tell me what it was really like to hunt Escobar with a $300,000 bounty on their heads, what Los Pepes actually did on the ground, and why they call him the most violent narco‑ter*orist in history.
Then we fast‑forward to today: the kil*ing of El Mencho, the CJNG’s terror tactics in Mexico, and the fentanyl and counterfeit pill wave killing almost 100,000 Americans a year. Steve and Javier explain why Mexican cartels are “meaner” than Escobar’s, how they adapt when we bomb drug boats or close one route, and what actually has to change in the U.S. if we want to stop burying our kids.
The DEA Agents Who Took Down Pablo Escobar Expose Today’s Cartel War
DEA Legends Who Took Down Escobar Warn America About the Cartel War
🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call
🔥 Check out my store: store.michaelfranzese.com
🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: spoti.fi/3Eo39qb
📧 Interested in partnerships? partnerships@michaelfranzese.com
00:00:00 – Pablo Escobar vs today’s cartels
00:01:05 – Michael intro and 2M‑subs pitch
00:03:25 – Meet DEA legends Steve and Javier
00:07:05 – First thoughts on El Mencho’s death
00:10:11 – New leaders, more bloodshed coming
00:12:40 – Mexican cartels’ extreme public brutality
00:18:19 – Why the “war on drugs” is a joke
00:21:42 – Escobar’s early work with Mexico
00:23:23 – Escobar’s real war: extradition
00:24:38 – Mexican cartels’ terror tactics explained
00:28:58 – Most terrifying moments chasing Escobar
00:30:49 – $300,000 bounty on each agent
00:32:30 – Escobar’s cook poisons the officers
00:40:19 – Only time they actually saw Pablo
00:41:31 – Are today’s cartels richer than Pablo?
00:42:32 – Forbes‑listed wealth: Pablo vs Chapo
00:50:05 – Escobar invents narco‑terrorism
00:52:32 – “We’re here to kill Pablo”
00:55:36 – Murder estimates: 10–15K or 50K?
00:58:18 – Loving husband on phone during torture
01:03:02 – Medellín cartel completely wiped out
01:08:38 – Steve loses his son to meth
01:11:16 – Cement mixers, fentanyl and fake pills
01:14:45 – Airline‑crash analogy: 272 dead daily
Backbone Media Group
🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: yt.franzesewine.com
💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: michaelfranzese.com/family
Two DEA agents helped bring down Pablo Escobar, the man who once supplied up to 80% of the world’s cocaine and may have ordered 50,000 murders. Their real‑life story became the basis for Narcos, but Hollywood didn’t show everything. In this sit‑down, Steve Murphy and Javier Peña tell me what it was really like to hunt Escobar with a $300,000 bounty on their heads, what Los Pepes actually did on the ground, and why they call him the most violent narco‑ter*orist in history.
Then we fast‑forward to today: the kil*ing of El Mencho, the CJNG’s terror tactics in Mexico, and the fentanyl and counterfeit pill wave killing almost 100,000 Americans a year. Steve and Javier explain why Mexican cartels are “meaner” than Escobar’s, how they adapt when we bomb drug boats or close one route, and what actually has to change in the U.S. if we want to stop burying our kids.
The DEA Agents Who Took Down Pablo Escobar Expose Today’s Cartel War
DEA Legends Who Took Down Escobar Warn America About the Cartel War
🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call
🔥 Check out my store: store.michaelfranzese.com
🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: spoti.fi/3Eo39qb
📧 Interested in partnerships? partnerships@michaelfranzese.com
00:00:00 – Pablo Escobar vs today’s cartels
00:01:05 – Michael intro and 2M‑subs pitch
00:03:25 – Meet DEA legends Steve and Javier
00:07:05 – First thoughts on El Mencho’s death
00:10:11 – New leaders, more bloodshed coming
00:12:40 – Mexican cartels’ extreme public brutality
00:18:19 – Why the “war on drugs” is a joke
00:21:42 – Escobar’s early work with Mexico
00:23:23 – Escobar’s real war: extradition
00:24:38 – Mexican cartels’ terror tactics explained
00:28:58 – Most terrifying moments chasing Escobar
00:30:49 – $300,000 bounty on each agent
00:32:30 – Escobar’s cook poisons the officers
00:40:19 – Only time they actually saw Pablo
00:41:31 – Are today’s cartels richer than Pablo?
00:42:32 – Forbes‑listed wealth: Pablo vs Chapo
00:50:05 – Escobar invents narco‑terrorism
00:52:32 – “We’re here to kill Pablo”
00:55:36 – Murder estimates: 10–15K or 50K?
00:58:18 – Loving husband on phone during torture
01:03:02 – Medellín cartel completely wiped out
01:08:38 – Steve loses his son to meth
01:11:16 – Cement mixers, fentanyl and fake pills
01:14:45 – Airline‑crash analogy: 272 dead daily
Backbone Media Group
