“Complete DESTRUCTION!” - Narco Death Zones, Iran & CIA’s Mexican Hit Squads | S. Ritondale • 427
Julian Dorey · 27 May 2026 · 3h 14m
Guest: Stefano Ritondale · Host: Joey Def, Julian Dorey
This conversation features an open-source intelligence analyst who focuses on Mexican cartels and previously worked as a military contractor tracking Iranian ballistic missile and drone capabilities. He explains how he moved from Army service, including a training mission with Mexican military police and a border deployment in 2018, into building an OSINT-driven company that tracks cartel activity. Much of the discussion traces the fragmentation of the Sinaloa Cartel after the capture of El Mayo Zambada, the rise and death of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader El Mencho, and the shifting territorial map of cartel factions, alliances, and betrayals across Mexico. The guest walks through detailed cartel geography using live tracking maps, describing how groups like Los Chapitos, Los Mayos, CJNG, and smaller factions battle for control, and how drug trafficking routes are shifting toward Africa and Europe. He also discusses the CIA's vetted units inside Mexico, disputes over credit between the FBI, CIA, and DEA for high-profile captures, and the murky question of whether US intelligence agencies sometimes protect cartel figures for their own intelligence purposes rather than dismantling them. Earlier segments cover his read on the Iran-Israel 12-day war, the bombing of Fordow, and how military exercises and doctrine shaped expectations. Throughout, he pushes back on oversimplified media narratives and argues for more careful analysis of classified assessments, confidence levels, and institutional incentives behind reporting on cartels and geopolitical conflicts.
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What comes up
Timestamps link into the episode on YouTube.
- Guest's Army background and Mexico training mission
- Border deployment during migrant caravan, 2018
- Shift from hobby to Mexican cartel analysis
- Iran's ballistic missile and drone programs
- Military exercises, war games, and misread simulations
- Israel-Iran 12-day war and US strikes on Fordow
- CIA-linked killing of cartel figure 'El Padrino'
- Sinaloa Cartel civil war and shifting factions
- OSINT mapping tools and tracking cartel territory
- Fentanyl, marijuana, and Chinese triads in the drug trade
- CIA vetted units and interagency credit disputes
- Death of El Mencho and CJNG succession fight
Said on this episode
Quoted from the auto-generated transcript, which mishears names and technical terms. podcite.com reports what a show said; it does not endorse or fact-check it.
“I actually had an interview I published afterwards and I said 'Hey, if this happens like I anticipate airspace to close.'”
“look at the '91 Gulf War and compare it to Iran. Saddam Hussein shot down more American aircraft and killed more American airmen and even captured American pilots than Iran did in this war.”
“Think of Amazon and Blackwater merged into one.”
“the most effective anti-corruption body in Mexico is the Southern District of New York.”