Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (2016) s02e07 Episode Script
La Huesuda
1 Over 68 million Americans leave the safety of our borders every year.
If danger strikes, the FBI's International Response is called into action.
Welcome to Mexico, señor.
All you hear about growing up in San Diego is how dangerous T.
J.
is.
But all I mean, this place rocks! Oh.
Thanks for inviting me.
You only turn 18 once.
We might as well do it right.
True that.
And about time you finally invited me down here with you.
You know, I was waiting for the right time.
I wanted you to have the best experience ever.
Well, speaking of Look what I got.
Where the hell did you get that? This guy was passed out in the bathroom with it in his hand.
Whoa, hey! You need to slow down.
- You're crazy.
- No way! I'm in T.
J.
with my best friend, and I'm ready to party! Oh.
It's okay.
Oh.
Breathe.
It's almost over.
You're okay.
Oh.
Roxy? Promise you're not gonna tell anyone at school.
Roxy? Roxy? Roxy? This isn't funny.
If you're trying to scare me, it's working.
What? Lee Kern, an 18-year-old high school senior from San Diego, California, was identified as the victim when Federales found his cellphone still in his possession in Delgado Square completely covered in red paint.
They immediately contacted the U.
S.
Consulate, who, in turn, asked for our help.
What's the preliminary C.
O.
D.
? It's hard to tell with all the red paint, but his neck was sliced at the carotid.
Religious iconography aside, do you think there's a message here? Persecuting him for his sins, making him a martyr.
Martyr or not, it's clearly someone wanting to make a statement.
Yeah, whoever it was, they weren't shy.
Agreed.
The hanging in a public area and the red paint scream someone is looking for attention.
Yeah, but from whom? Cops, locals, tourists? Jack, seems Lee wasn't alone.
Border patrols sent this.
Meet Roxy Bental also 18 A classmate of Lee's.
Boyfriend-girlfriend? Yeah, from the look of Lee's social media page, more like friends ringing in Lee's 18th birthday T.
J.
style.
Yeah, road-tripping there is like a rite of passage for American kids since the drinking at is 18.
Yeah, but most kids return home safely, like Roxy did last night.
Border Patrol has he crossing back into the U.
S.
at 11:43 P.
M.
So Lee ends up dead, and Roxy skips back across the border.
Does that smell funny to you guys? About to get stinkier, actually.
Roxy has a SENTRI card.
Isn't that for frequent border-crossers? Yes, it's issued by U.
S.
Customs to U.
S.
citizens for quicker crossing in and out of the country.
Seems Roxy not only made the pilgrimage to T.
J.
weekly, each time, it's with a different guy as you can see here.
So why would a teen girl go back and forth over the border so often? Maybe she's a drug mule.
Well, as long as there's demand, this is gonna keep happening.
I mean, there were 843 drug-related murders of foreigners in Mexico last year.
So did these kids get mixed up in the drug trade? Once we're on the ground, Simmons and I will check the crime scene.
Mae, you take a look at the Vic.
Clara, you have a chat with Roxy.
We're not about to let the murder of an 18-year-old high school student go unpunished.
There's an old Mexican expression that says, They tried to bury us.
They didn't know we were seeds.
I talked to Officer Calderon.
He said they lost six officers in the past month.
Well, the cartels, they I.
D.
officers coming to and from crime scenes, they target them for investigating.
And sometimes their families.
You see why the masks are a necessary precaution.
Mm-hmm.
I'm Officer Roberto Calderon.
Gracias for coming.
Matt Simmons.
Thanks for having us.
Local store owner saw the body this morning while opening up.
So how did no one notice a body being strung up in a popular place like this? Even Delgado Square slows down for a small window of time between night and day.
Whoever did this must have known that.
Might even live around here.
It's not easy getting a body up that high.
Corpse with a slit-open neck would have painted this tree and everything underneath it with blood.
Yeah, or it would have bled dry.
But there's none of that here.
This isn't the original crime scene.
The question is where's the primary, and who would be brazen enough to do this? All the roads in Mexico lead to the cartels.
Whoever this kid was, he unfortunately came across them, did something to piss them off, and paid the price.
Are you aware that the FBI believes you're smuggling drugs from Mexico into the United States? Because I am.
And I stand by my conviction.
I'm not a puppet of the United States of Special Interests.
What are you talking about? The pharmaceutical companies might have you and the feds in their back pocket, but not me.
So you're not smuggling recreational drugs.
No.
No, no, I'm not a criminal.
I'm an entrepreneur.
I provide a much-needed service for senior citizens who can't afford prescription meds.
So you're buying prescription meds in Mexico, bringing them into America, for what reason, out of the kindness of your heart? No.
But I'm charging pennies on the dollar compared to what Big Brother charges.
Hmm.
And all the different boys who follow you there and tag along, do they get a small percentage - of your up charge? - No.
Then why bring them? Because every frat boy with his liquid courage has a tendency to hit on me, and if I've got some arm candy, they tend to leave me alone.
And what about Lee? Did he know why you invited him? Of course not.
But he was having such a good time until he ran off on me.
Ran off? Yeah, he was blowing chunks.
And so I told him I'd be back in a minute, I covered him with my jacket, and then I ran off.
When I got back, he'd gotten up and split.
Why did you leave him? 'Cause the pharmacies were closing.
And I've got customers with serious health issues that can't afford to miss their daily dose.
Knowing Lee, he stumbled back home and is sleeping it off.
Lee is dead.
What? No, that's impossible.
You're lying.
I wish that I was.
Listen, I need you to think.
Is there anything he could have done or said that would have led someone to want to murder him? Murder? No.
No, not that I can think of.
We were just having a good time.
No, he did say that there was a guy passed out in the bathroom with a bag of coke in his hand.
Lee took it.
How much coke? I don't know.
Like, um, a sandwich bag full.
I threw it out.
That can go for a pretty penny on the streets.
I need the name of that bar.
Yeah, of course.
Of course.
This is my fault.
This is my fault.
If I hadn't have brought him down there, then he wouldn't be dead! Thank you for allowing me to assist you, Examiner Granado.
I should thank you.
We're so understaffed and overworked.
I can use an extra pair of hands.
After all these years, it's still not easy to see the dead.
And especially this young.
So much life ahead of him.
Well, the cut is clean.
It's not jagged, so the blade wouldn't be serrated.
The C.
O.
D.
is an exsanguination due to the cutting of the carotid.
It was a quick death.
Like the way you bleed an animal.
What kind of blade do we think did this? The path of the wound tapers off as if it's curved.
Like what? When I was a kid, I would spend my spring breaks at my grandparents' house, and they had a garden.
And so I was always there to help plant.
And my job was to cut all of the weeds.
So my grandpa would give me this.
A sickle? SÃ.
Can you hand me the tweezers? Thank you.
It looks like somebody has been playing in the sand box.
Roxy said she left Lee here.
Arterial spray.
This is our primary crime scene.
There's also a trail of blood ends abruptly.
So whoever did this must have a vehicle they're moving him in.
That explains how they got Lee's body up in that tree.
Tie a little rope to a bumper, you got yourself an instant winch.
The owner any help? He said it's too many kids come through here to remember any one face.
He prays that American kids stop coming down here.
They're too much trouble.
Officer Calderon, we believe whoever did this transported the body in some kind of vehicle.
Unless you got a plate number, it would be almost impossible to find it.
We got traffic cameras at the border, but not across the city.
I've seen this before La Horca.
Mm-hmm.
The Gallows Cartel.
They mark their territory.
Roxy said that Lee lifted a bag of cocaine off of some guy who'd passed out in the bathroom.
What if he was a member of La Horca? Like I told you, all roads lead to the cartels.
What do you got, Mae? Well, the victim's carotid artery was severed with a sickle.
A farmer's tool? Give the man a prize.
Interesting choice of weapon for the cartels.
I also found some traces of sand on Lee's body, a possible secondary transfer.
Sand? La Horca's one of the cartels vying for supremacy in T.
J.
They love to surf.
Maybe the transfer is from one of their hangouts near Aguila Beach.
Great.
Let's roll.
I'm sorry, I can't go.
I got called to another crime scene.
Please proceed without me.
I'll catch up when I can.
You check the house.
You got this? Yeah, I'm good.
Uh, psst.
Carlos.
Jack Garrett, FBI.
They're a little protective of me.
Maybe they have good reason to be.
You got big cojones, my friend.
I'm not your friend.
Seen him? Why? Did you lose him? He's dead.
Uh Where you been for the last 24 hours? Right here, partying.
With plenty of witnesses to support my alibi.
House is clean.
What about the sand? Scraped this off one of the boards inside.
Can I offer you guys a beer? Una mamacita to keep you warm? Mi casa es su casa.
Cole?! Cole?! Yeah? You got someplace better to be? You know this agente? Yeah.
Yeah? I did four years at Lompoc 'cause of this Fed.
Hmm.
Don't recall.
All you dirt bags look the same to me.
Shh, shh! Stupid move, Cole.
It seems you need your boyfriend here to protect you.
Come on, let's get him out of here.
Up, up, up.
Next time, duck, Fed.
Why didn't I get a deconfliction notification from FBI Headquarters that you were here, Ryan? Because it was on a need to know basis, Dad, and you didn't need to know.
Well, if I did, we wouldn't have blown your cover! I've been in Tijuana the last three months, deep cover, as biker Cole Dabb.
What does La Horca believe you bring to the table? Security.
With this biker gang I got, we've done some small drug runs into El Paso to prove ourself to Hector and his cartel.
And we are just weeks away from the big shipment that will take them all down.
So us crashing Hector's party compromised all that.
Yeah.
Yeah, but that's on me.
I should have never looked away from Dad.
I think I think I was just shocked that he was there.
It's all right, it's a rookie mistake.
- I should know better.
- Yes, you should.
But the fight was a nice cover.
Okay, so what now? Well, we have a backstop plan.
What's a backstop plan? If things go sideways in an undercover investigation, there's a contingency plan to save cover.
So what is it? Sorry, Mae.
It's above your clearance level.
Oh, well, I really need a promotion then.
But, Dad, I need to get back out there now.
They'll assume we're interrogating you, so we have until morning before La Horca becomes suspicious.
And right now, I need your expertise on Tijuana.
I thought that's what the local police were for.
We thought so, too, but right now, they're fighting too many wars on too many fronts to worry about us and our problems.
So we need you.
What do you got? We know all crime in Tijuana leads right back to the cartels.
Yeah.
They're like an octopus.
They have their tentacles in everything.
But this this kid's death had nothing to do with La Horca.
How can you be so sure of that? Because even the smallest crimes have to be blessed by Hector, their leader, and this wasn't.
Well, the forensic evidence supports what Ryan's saying.
The sand is free of any organic materials, which means it didn't come from the beach.
Then where did it come from? A sand bag.
Wet sand or dirt with organic materials can rot and decompose.
It creates a problem with mold and mildew and unpleasant odors.
And so they filter all of that out in the store-made sand bags.
Yeah, sand bags are typically associated with flooding, but they can be used to hold things down.
A sickle, a sand bag, and a vehicle.
If this wasn't La Horca, who was it? And who'd be so bold as to do this in the cartel's territory? Guys, we got another body.
We have an I.
D.
? American businessman Robert Miller.
Where? That's the thing, just like last time, there are two crime scenes.
Mexican authorities found his car at a parking lot just outside the dog track.
That's probably where he was abducted.
And the we found his body staged under a bridge in Tijuana.
Clara, Simmons, see what you can find from the abduction site.
Mae, you and Ryan come with me.
No, I can't show my face out there.
Then you won't.
Well, staging is clearly similar.
He's also painted black.
His carotid is sliced upon, and he's been left out in the open.
Yet significantly more gruesome.
Unsub removed his arms.
The violence is escalating.
Yeah, but he didn't pose him.
So the religious connotations of the first body are most likely coincidental.
Agreed.
He's sliced, gutted, bled out, and dismembered before being coated with black paint postmortem.
I mean, it's almost like he was dipped in a vat.
How can you tell when the body was painted? Well the unsub painted over dried blood, so the body bled out before being painted, which tells us something about the unsub's ritual.
Like? Well, all the mutilations and the force-feeding of cigars and I smell beer, too, it's postmortem.
So this isn't about the victim suffering.
There doesn't appear to be any malice towards them.
Lee Kern's body was displayed in a public square for everyone to see, Robert Miller is under a bridge.
Given the conflicting settings, it doesn't appear that the unsub is trying to make a statement.
Not a consistent one, at least.
Go.
Hey, Jack, the front left tire on the vic's vehicle was slashed.
Yeah, the unsub probably ambushed him.
That indicates a highly-organized attack.
And, Jack, we also found something else interesting.
Shoot.
Well, whatever vehicle they're using to transport the bodies is leaking fuel in its own tire track.
Yep.
I found it here, too.
Gas.
Peanuts.
Well, whoever's doing this has converted their vehicle to be Eco-friendly.
And we didn't see it in the alleyway at the first kill because we were at the scene almost 24 hours after the fact and it dried.
Monty, you there? I am, indeed.
And it seems that the Eco-friendly craze is still pretty small there in Tijuana.
So let me see what I can dig up.
Are you able to find a connection between the vics? No, in fact, other than them both being American, it seems they couldn't be any more different.
Lee Kern was a high school senior from San Diego, Miller was from Flagstaff, Arizona, who was an engineer for BTL Petroleum Industries.
Wait, he works for a Mexican oil company? That's correct.
Could this be Eco-terrorism? Guys, come here.
Or is it the cartels? I thought you said La Horca wasn't involved in this.
Right, La Horca, but there are other cartels in Tijuana vying for power, and their mutual enemy is Big Oil.
Big Oil? Yeah, a few years back, the cartels started tapping into the oil company's main line and siphoning off large amounts of oil to sell.
To combat this, the oil companies brought in mercenaries.
It's been a war ever since.
Like this place doesn't have enough problems already.
But the different cartels don't agree on anything except their mutual hatred for Big Oil.
So maybe this wasn't just a message.
Maybe it was a blood sacrifice.
A blood sacrifice? Yeah, think like an animal sacrifice, only the cigar and the beer were the offerings.
Okay, but to whom? When I saw the offerings, I started thinking how the cartels used to commonly go to black magic looking for protection or favor.
Of course! Like in 2003, there was this American college student who was abducted in a border town by local dealers.
He was killed as part of a human sacrifice to protect a large drug shipment going out the next day.
So Officer Calderon was right, this was the cartels.
Just not the way we thought.
So this has nothing to do with someone running afoul of Mexican drug dealers.
But may have everything to do with the cartels' black magic rituals.
They employ a spirit guide.
It's one part voodoo doctor, one part priest, and the rest, all devil worship.
He's the number one guy in these parts, his name is Julio Salazar A.
K.
A.
El Cuco.
If he's not behind this, he knows who is.
Where can we find him? - You're kidding me.
- No.
When El Cuco is not doing black magic rituals, he's giving palm readings to tourists or selling occult paraphernalia to the locals.
I mean, just the idea that he's getting this close to innocent people on a daily basis makes my skin crawl.
Yeah, well, wait till you meet him.
He's got the charm of a rattlesnake.
The shop is halfway between the kill sites and where the unsub has been bleeding out their victims.
El Cuco definitely needs blood for his rituals.
Could be why we didn't find all the blood at the crime scene.
So he's collecting them at a secondary location for ritualistic purposes.
All right, everybody follow my lead.
Ryan, you stay back, cover our six.
FBI.
His eyes are gone.
This definitely looks like black magic.
Yeah, well, black magic is treated differently here than it is in the States.
Yeah, superstitions have a long tradition in Mexican culture, so spells to the locals are like prayers to us.
All right, let's go through this.
The third victim is Julio Salazar, killed in the same manner as the first two.
His neck was slashed with a sickle, and like the second victim, he had cigars stuffed in his mouth.
But this time, his eyes were removed.
Yeah, it looks like the same killer, but if it was, why wasn't the body painted in the same manner? Yeah, the body wasn't dipped in a vat like the other ones, or even moved.
All the blood confirms that this is the primary crime scene.
But if this is another blood sacrifice, how does it fit the pattern? Or why does it deviate? I mean, the first two kills were clean and precise, and this one just seems angry and rushed.
And how are these victims connected? In under 12 hours, we have three murders with similar M.
O.
s.
But if his spells provided protection to the cartels, then why kill him? Because the unsubs weren't tied to the cartels, more likely an individual driven to make black magic sacrifices.
For their own protection? Maybe.
Certainly feels like a spree-oriented kill.
The killers seem to be deviating.
Their pace is increasing.
Yeah.
But to what end? And for whom? Go ahead, Monty.
So with pollution and war over oil in Tijuana, a few locals have converted their diesel engines to run on food oils.
Five people have registered their biodiesel engines with the DMV.
I was able to find four of them, and they have confirmed alibis with the police.
But the fifth one is M.
I.
A.
You got a name? Miguel Gonzalez, 40.
Essentially fallen off the planet.
Access to his address has been blocked, but I put in a call to the Tijuana DMV to figure out why.
That seems like a person of interest.
What else have you found? Robert Miller's employer laid him off nine months ago.
However, he's been crossing the border into Mexico from his home in Arizona, where he's married with two kids.
He could have just been searching for other employment.
Maybe, but, strangely, he had his severance check forwarded to an address in the village of Narvado on the outskirts of Tijuana instead of his home in the U.
S.
All right, Mae, you stay with the body until the local authorities arrive.
Monty, get me an address for Miller.
You got it.
Why don't you guys head to Miller's, and I'll catch up with you later? Are you okay, Dad? Yeah.
Yeah, I'm fine.
I'll see you in a bit.
Okay.
Agent Jack Garrett.
Section Chief Cruz, Jack.
Mateo, long time, no speak.
What can I do for you? I think you know the answer to that.
The director's not happy.
We're handling it.
You pulled you son from a high-profile undercover operation and have yet to pull the trigger on the backstop plan.
Why? Since we have no local assistance in the area, Ryan's knowledge on the ground has been an integral part of the I.
R.
T.
's investigation.
Cut the bull, Jack.
You had no right to pull him.
His cover was blown.
It was compromised, okay? You're trying to buy time, and we don't have any.
You've got to put the backstop plan in motion ASAP.
Look, I understand he's your son, but duty calls.
Copy.
Good.
I'll tell the director that there will be no more delays.
We got the call.
How did you come upon such darkness? Some clues and some profiling led us to his door.
- You know him? - SÃ.
He's the Don of Darkness, but from the looks of it, he got what he had coming to him.
Probably got double crossed by his bosses in the cartels.
Why do you say that? Who else would dare kill a priest of such dark power? Maybe someone who needs or wants that power.
Ryan, perimeter's clean.
No signs of blood or struggle anywhere.
All right.
Let's take a look inside.
Hola.
My name is Ana Sofia.
I speak English, if that's easier.
- Great.
- Mama? They're just here to ask a few questions.
But why don't you go to your room, and I'll tell you all about it later.
How about that? Yeah? Please, come in.
What's going on here? That's what we're hoping you can tell us.
Simmons, Clara.
Robert Miller is your husband, Arturo is his son? SÃ.
Is this about his other family? So you know about them? I only discovered it a few months ago when his job sent over some paperwork listing his wife in Arizona.
And what happened when you confronted him about it? He admitted it, and we fought.
But my son needs a father, so we're managing.
But you're here for another reason.
What did Roberto do? I'm sorry, but your husband has been the victim of a homicide.
Dios mÃo.
Mrs.
Miller, you didn't know about your husband's other family for years.
Is it possible that he had other affiliations, relationships that could have led to this? My husband gambled, and he drank, and God knows what else, but he always kept a roof over our heads, and he never laid a hand on me.
Or my son or anybody else.
But you do know something, don't you, Ana? What is it? A shrine to the Grim Reaper? No.
La Santa Muerte Patron saint of those who've been left behind.
Left behind by whom? By God.
Ana, did you have something to do with your husband's death? I was so angry.
I prayed for bad things.
But I didn't mean any of them.
I was so upset.
You prayed here at this altar? Yeah.
And at the Tijuana mobile altars.
Mama? If you need anything, I'll be with my son.
The La Santa Muerte following is one of the largest belief systems in Mexico.
They've got 12 million followers.
Right, but both the Catholic Church, who views it as an evil offshoot of Catholicism, and the local police, who see it as a belief system for the lower class, have outlawed and denounced the faith's practice.
Outlawed it? Yeah, there are no churches.
I mean, its followers have to set up prayer altars like these that are either mobile or easily dismantled so the local police don't find them and destroy them.
Well, isn't it true that if you ask for something from La Santa Muerte, you have to offer her - something in return? - Yes.
Like a metaphysical quid pro quo.
Is the unsub doing this because they want something from La Santa Muerte, and if so, what is it? The colors strewn across the altar, they're the same colors that the first two victims were painted.
Yeah, this is more than just superstition.
We're looking at a La Santa Muerte practitioner or a fanatic.
- Hey.
- All right, Monty.
Everyone's here.
Go ahead.
Okay, La Santa Muerte is highly adaptable to the individual believer.
Not only do they not have any churches, there's also no bible, either.
Followers have spells that have been handed down from generations through word of mouth.
I found one ex-member who wrote a blog that outlines some of the spells.
Can you link any of them to the murders? What seems to be consistent here is that two of the three murders have been blood sacrifice spells designed to restore an absent loved one.
So the unsub lost someone.
And this is all a personal act to get that person back.
Turns out the colors have a power structure to them.
Red is the lowest, then black is a little bit more powerful.
Gold is king.
Lee Kern was the first, and he was red.
Yeah, and the red spell asks for the bloodletting of someone young.
So the sacrifice of Lee Kern should have satisfied the saint and returned the unsub's loved ones.
But, clearly, it didn't.
So then the unsub tried to cast a stronger spell.
Exactamundo.
The color black asks for the bloodletting of a sinner, so the display of Robert Miller should have worked, too.
But it didn't, either.
Therefore, the unsub felt he needed more power and tried to absorb it by killing the occult priest, Julio Salazar.
And now with the most powerful color left, they believe that they will get their loved one back.
What does the gold sacrifice entail? Taking the heart from a person of authority, but unlike the others, the victim must be alive, aware during the ceremony.
So this grief-induced spiritually-motivated unsub is out there right now looking for someone who fits that.
Someone like an officer of the law.
Officer Calderon is missing.
He was on a disturbing the peace call for a La Santa Muerte altar.
He ran the plates, and they belong to Miguel Gonzalez.
But here's the thing.
I found Miguel, and he's dead.
Who was driving the truck? Impound records show that Alma Gonzalez has reclaimed the car three times.
Gonzalez? Any relation to Miguel? Yeah, brother and sister.
Well, why was the truck towed in the first place? Because it had a La Santa Muerte altar in the bed.
The altars are illegal, so the police destroy them and impound any vehicle associated with them.
And Alma has a long history of violations, and even arrests.
The last one, only two months ago by Officer Calderon for erecting and displaying La Santa Muerte altars.
Probably had the sand bags to hold down the altar in the back of the truck.
It must have busted open, transferring some sand to the victims.
Alma's connection to La Santa Muerte and Miguel make her our prime suspect.
According to public records, Alma and her sister, Teresa, were left a family-owned business a year ago.
Wait a minute.
There's another sibling? So what if the black magic priest's murder felt like a different kill because they're two different unsubs? Alma and Teresa are working as a team.
Together, they drive around T.
J.
in a pickup truck with a Santa Muerte altar, looking for their next victims.
To find someone young, they went to Tijuana's most popular bar district.
They needed a sinner, so they found a gambler at a dog track.
And needing a man of authority, they lure a police officer in with their altar.
So the family biz is a salvage yard, which he signed over about a year ago today.
Wait, why would he sign it over? Miguel applied for a U.
S.
Visa, but was denied, so he did what millions of other people do in search for a better life He hopped the border illegally.
He didn't make it, did he? No, and his absence has been absolutely devastating to his sisters.
They're about to lose the salvage yard to bankruptcy, which explains why I wasn't able to access the address through the DMV.
The truck's being held up in a probate court case.
So they haven't heard or seen their brother in over a year.
The anniversary of his disappearance is their trigger.
So the sisters believe that by performing this ritual, they can bring their brother Miguel back to them and he'll fix everything.
And they needed Officer Calderon alive to perform it.
We better hurry before he runs out of time.
Ryan, you hang back.
Anyone tries to get in or out, stop them.
FBI! Drop the weapon! Move away from Officer Calderon! We know what you're doing.
How your brother, Miguel, went to the States to make a better living.
And once settled, he was going to send for you both, but he never did.
Because he couldn't.
You see, he made it across, but he didn't get far.
Mentirosos! We're not lying, Alma.
You are! Miguel is in America.
But Teresa and I, we broke our promise to La Santa Muerte.
We stopped displaying our altar because we were afraid of la policia, so she's punishing us.
Keeping Miguel away from us, taking our business and our home, too! With this final sacrifice, we'll satisfy La Huesuda and return Miguel to us! No, no! It's too late for that.
I'm, sorry.
Miguel is dead.
You'll never see Miguel again.
No! I pity the sisters.
Their grief, it just it twisted a faith that offers real hope and guidance to many.
You also offer hope.
The way you fight for your people against monumental odds.
The world can use more men like you, Calderon.
Gracias.
Good work, Dad.
Couldn't have done it without you, son.
I don't know about that.
Look, now that it's over, I need to get back under.
Why are you taking the toughest, most dangerous road there is in the Bureau? You cast a really large shadow.
I have to make my own way if I ever hope to step out of it, become my own man.
Yeah, I get that.
But at what price? The exact same price you've been willing to pay your entire career.
I'm asking you to see me as a fellow agent, not as your son.
That's easier said than done.
I know you're worried.
But you know the deeper my cover, the safer I am.
This backstop plan's gonna give me even more credibility with La Horca.
Ryan, you remember when you were little and we used to go to that lake and fish all day? Yeah.
Yeah, you'd start a fire.
Fry up some perch or catfish that we'd caught.
We'd just watch the stars and talk.
Some of the best times of my life.
Yeah, me too.
But when this is over, you owe me a fishing trip.
Habla Inglés? His name is Cole Dabb, and we got him on possession, intent to distribute, assault and battery of a federal agent.
We tried to extradite him, but we couldn't.
He's your problem now.
If danger strikes, the FBI's International Response is called into action.
Welcome to Mexico, señor.
All you hear about growing up in San Diego is how dangerous T.
J.
is.
But all I mean, this place rocks! Oh.
Thanks for inviting me.
You only turn 18 once.
We might as well do it right.
True that.
And about time you finally invited me down here with you.
You know, I was waiting for the right time.
I wanted you to have the best experience ever.
Well, speaking of Look what I got.
Where the hell did you get that? This guy was passed out in the bathroom with it in his hand.
Whoa, hey! You need to slow down.
- You're crazy.
- No way! I'm in T.
J.
with my best friend, and I'm ready to party! Oh.
It's okay.
Oh.
Breathe.
It's almost over.
You're okay.
Oh.
Roxy? Promise you're not gonna tell anyone at school.
Roxy? Roxy? Roxy? This isn't funny.
If you're trying to scare me, it's working.
What? Lee Kern, an 18-year-old high school senior from San Diego, California, was identified as the victim when Federales found his cellphone still in his possession in Delgado Square completely covered in red paint.
They immediately contacted the U.
S.
Consulate, who, in turn, asked for our help.
What's the preliminary C.
O.
D.
? It's hard to tell with all the red paint, but his neck was sliced at the carotid.
Religious iconography aside, do you think there's a message here? Persecuting him for his sins, making him a martyr.
Martyr or not, it's clearly someone wanting to make a statement.
Yeah, whoever it was, they weren't shy.
Agreed.
The hanging in a public area and the red paint scream someone is looking for attention.
Yeah, but from whom? Cops, locals, tourists? Jack, seems Lee wasn't alone.
Border patrols sent this.
Meet Roxy Bental also 18 A classmate of Lee's.
Boyfriend-girlfriend? Yeah, from the look of Lee's social media page, more like friends ringing in Lee's 18th birthday T.
J.
style.
Yeah, road-tripping there is like a rite of passage for American kids since the drinking at is 18.
Yeah, but most kids return home safely, like Roxy did last night.
Border Patrol has he crossing back into the U.
S.
at 11:43 P.
M.
So Lee ends up dead, and Roxy skips back across the border.
Does that smell funny to you guys? About to get stinkier, actually.
Roxy has a SENTRI card.
Isn't that for frequent border-crossers? Yes, it's issued by U.
S.
Customs to U.
S.
citizens for quicker crossing in and out of the country.
Seems Roxy not only made the pilgrimage to T.
J.
weekly, each time, it's with a different guy as you can see here.
So why would a teen girl go back and forth over the border so often? Maybe she's a drug mule.
Well, as long as there's demand, this is gonna keep happening.
I mean, there were 843 drug-related murders of foreigners in Mexico last year.
So did these kids get mixed up in the drug trade? Once we're on the ground, Simmons and I will check the crime scene.
Mae, you take a look at the Vic.
Clara, you have a chat with Roxy.
We're not about to let the murder of an 18-year-old high school student go unpunished.
There's an old Mexican expression that says, They tried to bury us.
They didn't know we were seeds.
I talked to Officer Calderon.
He said they lost six officers in the past month.
Well, the cartels, they I.
D.
officers coming to and from crime scenes, they target them for investigating.
And sometimes their families.
You see why the masks are a necessary precaution.
Mm-hmm.
I'm Officer Roberto Calderon.
Gracias for coming.
Matt Simmons.
Thanks for having us.
Local store owner saw the body this morning while opening up.
So how did no one notice a body being strung up in a popular place like this? Even Delgado Square slows down for a small window of time between night and day.
Whoever did this must have known that.
Might even live around here.
It's not easy getting a body up that high.
Corpse with a slit-open neck would have painted this tree and everything underneath it with blood.
Yeah, or it would have bled dry.
But there's none of that here.
This isn't the original crime scene.
The question is where's the primary, and who would be brazen enough to do this? All the roads in Mexico lead to the cartels.
Whoever this kid was, he unfortunately came across them, did something to piss them off, and paid the price.
Are you aware that the FBI believes you're smuggling drugs from Mexico into the United States? Because I am.
And I stand by my conviction.
I'm not a puppet of the United States of Special Interests.
What are you talking about? The pharmaceutical companies might have you and the feds in their back pocket, but not me.
So you're not smuggling recreational drugs.
No.
No, no, I'm not a criminal.
I'm an entrepreneur.
I provide a much-needed service for senior citizens who can't afford prescription meds.
So you're buying prescription meds in Mexico, bringing them into America, for what reason, out of the kindness of your heart? No.
But I'm charging pennies on the dollar compared to what Big Brother charges.
Hmm.
And all the different boys who follow you there and tag along, do they get a small percentage - of your up charge? - No.
Then why bring them? Because every frat boy with his liquid courage has a tendency to hit on me, and if I've got some arm candy, they tend to leave me alone.
And what about Lee? Did he know why you invited him? Of course not.
But he was having such a good time until he ran off on me.
Ran off? Yeah, he was blowing chunks.
And so I told him I'd be back in a minute, I covered him with my jacket, and then I ran off.
When I got back, he'd gotten up and split.
Why did you leave him? 'Cause the pharmacies were closing.
And I've got customers with serious health issues that can't afford to miss their daily dose.
Knowing Lee, he stumbled back home and is sleeping it off.
Lee is dead.
What? No, that's impossible.
You're lying.
I wish that I was.
Listen, I need you to think.
Is there anything he could have done or said that would have led someone to want to murder him? Murder? No.
No, not that I can think of.
We were just having a good time.
No, he did say that there was a guy passed out in the bathroom with a bag of coke in his hand.
Lee took it.
How much coke? I don't know.
Like, um, a sandwich bag full.
I threw it out.
That can go for a pretty penny on the streets.
I need the name of that bar.
Yeah, of course.
Of course.
This is my fault.
This is my fault.
If I hadn't have brought him down there, then he wouldn't be dead! Thank you for allowing me to assist you, Examiner Granado.
I should thank you.
We're so understaffed and overworked.
I can use an extra pair of hands.
After all these years, it's still not easy to see the dead.
And especially this young.
So much life ahead of him.
Well, the cut is clean.
It's not jagged, so the blade wouldn't be serrated.
The C.
O.
D.
is an exsanguination due to the cutting of the carotid.
It was a quick death.
Like the way you bleed an animal.
What kind of blade do we think did this? The path of the wound tapers off as if it's curved.
Like what? When I was a kid, I would spend my spring breaks at my grandparents' house, and they had a garden.
And so I was always there to help plant.
And my job was to cut all of the weeds.
So my grandpa would give me this.
A sickle? SÃ.
Can you hand me the tweezers? Thank you.
It looks like somebody has been playing in the sand box.
Roxy said she left Lee here.
Arterial spray.
This is our primary crime scene.
There's also a trail of blood ends abruptly.
So whoever did this must have a vehicle they're moving him in.
That explains how they got Lee's body up in that tree.
Tie a little rope to a bumper, you got yourself an instant winch.
The owner any help? He said it's too many kids come through here to remember any one face.
He prays that American kids stop coming down here.
They're too much trouble.
Officer Calderon, we believe whoever did this transported the body in some kind of vehicle.
Unless you got a plate number, it would be almost impossible to find it.
We got traffic cameras at the border, but not across the city.
I've seen this before La Horca.
Mm-hmm.
The Gallows Cartel.
They mark their territory.
Roxy said that Lee lifted a bag of cocaine off of some guy who'd passed out in the bathroom.
What if he was a member of La Horca? Like I told you, all roads lead to the cartels.
What do you got, Mae? Well, the victim's carotid artery was severed with a sickle.
A farmer's tool? Give the man a prize.
Interesting choice of weapon for the cartels.
I also found some traces of sand on Lee's body, a possible secondary transfer.
Sand? La Horca's one of the cartels vying for supremacy in T.
J.
They love to surf.
Maybe the transfer is from one of their hangouts near Aguila Beach.
Great.
Let's roll.
I'm sorry, I can't go.
I got called to another crime scene.
Please proceed without me.
I'll catch up when I can.
You check the house.
You got this? Yeah, I'm good.
Uh, psst.
Carlos.
Jack Garrett, FBI.
They're a little protective of me.
Maybe they have good reason to be.
You got big cojones, my friend.
I'm not your friend.
Seen him? Why? Did you lose him? He's dead.
Uh Where you been for the last 24 hours? Right here, partying.
With plenty of witnesses to support my alibi.
House is clean.
What about the sand? Scraped this off one of the boards inside.
Can I offer you guys a beer? Una mamacita to keep you warm? Mi casa es su casa.
Cole?! Cole?! Yeah? You got someplace better to be? You know this agente? Yeah.
Yeah? I did four years at Lompoc 'cause of this Fed.
Hmm.
Don't recall.
All you dirt bags look the same to me.
Shh, shh! Stupid move, Cole.
It seems you need your boyfriend here to protect you.
Come on, let's get him out of here.
Up, up, up.
Next time, duck, Fed.
Why didn't I get a deconfliction notification from FBI Headquarters that you were here, Ryan? Because it was on a need to know basis, Dad, and you didn't need to know.
Well, if I did, we wouldn't have blown your cover! I've been in Tijuana the last three months, deep cover, as biker Cole Dabb.
What does La Horca believe you bring to the table? Security.
With this biker gang I got, we've done some small drug runs into El Paso to prove ourself to Hector and his cartel.
And we are just weeks away from the big shipment that will take them all down.
So us crashing Hector's party compromised all that.
Yeah.
Yeah, but that's on me.
I should have never looked away from Dad.
I think I think I was just shocked that he was there.
It's all right, it's a rookie mistake.
- I should know better.
- Yes, you should.
But the fight was a nice cover.
Okay, so what now? Well, we have a backstop plan.
What's a backstop plan? If things go sideways in an undercover investigation, there's a contingency plan to save cover.
So what is it? Sorry, Mae.
It's above your clearance level.
Oh, well, I really need a promotion then.
But, Dad, I need to get back out there now.
They'll assume we're interrogating you, so we have until morning before La Horca becomes suspicious.
And right now, I need your expertise on Tijuana.
I thought that's what the local police were for.
We thought so, too, but right now, they're fighting too many wars on too many fronts to worry about us and our problems.
So we need you.
What do you got? We know all crime in Tijuana leads right back to the cartels.
Yeah.
They're like an octopus.
They have their tentacles in everything.
But this this kid's death had nothing to do with La Horca.
How can you be so sure of that? Because even the smallest crimes have to be blessed by Hector, their leader, and this wasn't.
Well, the forensic evidence supports what Ryan's saying.
The sand is free of any organic materials, which means it didn't come from the beach.
Then where did it come from? A sand bag.
Wet sand or dirt with organic materials can rot and decompose.
It creates a problem with mold and mildew and unpleasant odors.
And so they filter all of that out in the store-made sand bags.
Yeah, sand bags are typically associated with flooding, but they can be used to hold things down.
A sickle, a sand bag, and a vehicle.
If this wasn't La Horca, who was it? And who'd be so bold as to do this in the cartel's territory? Guys, we got another body.
We have an I.
D.
? American businessman Robert Miller.
Where? That's the thing, just like last time, there are two crime scenes.
Mexican authorities found his car at a parking lot just outside the dog track.
That's probably where he was abducted.
And the we found his body staged under a bridge in Tijuana.
Clara, Simmons, see what you can find from the abduction site.
Mae, you and Ryan come with me.
No, I can't show my face out there.
Then you won't.
Well, staging is clearly similar.
He's also painted black.
His carotid is sliced upon, and he's been left out in the open.
Yet significantly more gruesome.
Unsub removed his arms.
The violence is escalating.
Yeah, but he didn't pose him.
So the religious connotations of the first body are most likely coincidental.
Agreed.
He's sliced, gutted, bled out, and dismembered before being coated with black paint postmortem.
I mean, it's almost like he was dipped in a vat.
How can you tell when the body was painted? Well the unsub painted over dried blood, so the body bled out before being painted, which tells us something about the unsub's ritual.
Like? Well, all the mutilations and the force-feeding of cigars and I smell beer, too, it's postmortem.
So this isn't about the victim suffering.
There doesn't appear to be any malice towards them.
Lee Kern's body was displayed in a public square for everyone to see, Robert Miller is under a bridge.
Given the conflicting settings, it doesn't appear that the unsub is trying to make a statement.
Not a consistent one, at least.
Go.
Hey, Jack, the front left tire on the vic's vehicle was slashed.
Yeah, the unsub probably ambushed him.
That indicates a highly-organized attack.
And, Jack, we also found something else interesting.
Shoot.
Well, whatever vehicle they're using to transport the bodies is leaking fuel in its own tire track.
Yep.
I found it here, too.
Gas.
Peanuts.
Well, whoever's doing this has converted their vehicle to be Eco-friendly.
And we didn't see it in the alleyway at the first kill because we were at the scene almost 24 hours after the fact and it dried.
Monty, you there? I am, indeed.
And it seems that the Eco-friendly craze is still pretty small there in Tijuana.
So let me see what I can dig up.
Are you able to find a connection between the vics? No, in fact, other than them both being American, it seems they couldn't be any more different.
Lee Kern was a high school senior from San Diego, Miller was from Flagstaff, Arizona, who was an engineer for BTL Petroleum Industries.
Wait, he works for a Mexican oil company? That's correct.
Could this be Eco-terrorism? Guys, come here.
Or is it the cartels? I thought you said La Horca wasn't involved in this.
Right, La Horca, but there are other cartels in Tijuana vying for power, and their mutual enemy is Big Oil.
Big Oil? Yeah, a few years back, the cartels started tapping into the oil company's main line and siphoning off large amounts of oil to sell.
To combat this, the oil companies brought in mercenaries.
It's been a war ever since.
Like this place doesn't have enough problems already.
But the different cartels don't agree on anything except their mutual hatred for Big Oil.
So maybe this wasn't just a message.
Maybe it was a blood sacrifice.
A blood sacrifice? Yeah, think like an animal sacrifice, only the cigar and the beer were the offerings.
Okay, but to whom? When I saw the offerings, I started thinking how the cartels used to commonly go to black magic looking for protection or favor.
Of course! Like in 2003, there was this American college student who was abducted in a border town by local dealers.
He was killed as part of a human sacrifice to protect a large drug shipment going out the next day.
So Officer Calderon was right, this was the cartels.
Just not the way we thought.
So this has nothing to do with someone running afoul of Mexican drug dealers.
But may have everything to do with the cartels' black magic rituals.
They employ a spirit guide.
It's one part voodoo doctor, one part priest, and the rest, all devil worship.
He's the number one guy in these parts, his name is Julio Salazar A.
K.
A.
El Cuco.
If he's not behind this, he knows who is.
Where can we find him? - You're kidding me.
- No.
When El Cuco is not doing black magic rituals, he's giving palm readings to tourists or selling occult paraphernalia to the locals.
I mean, just the idea that he's getting this close to innocent people on a daily basis makes my skin crawl.
Yeah, well, wait till you meet him.
He's got the charm of a rattlesnake.
The shop is halfway between the kill sites and where the unsub has been bleeding out their victims.
El Cuco definitely needs blood for his rituals.
Could be why we didn't find all the blood at the crime scene.
So he's collecting them at a secondary location for ritualistic purposes.
All right, everybody follow my lead.
Ryan, you stay back, cover our six.
FBI.
His eyes are gone.
This definitely looks like black magic.
Yeah, well, black magic is treated differently here than it is in the States.
Yeah, superstitions have a long tradition in Mexican culture, so spells to the locals are like prayers to us.
All right, let's go through this.
The third victim is Julio Salazar, killed in the same manner as the first two.
His neck was slashed with a sickle, and like the second victim, he had cigars stuffed in his mouth.
But this time, his eyes were removed.
Yeah, it looks like the same killer, but if it was, why wasn't the body painted in the same manner? Yeah, the body wasn't dipped in a vat like the other ones, or even moved.
All the blood confirms that this is the primary crime scene.
But if this is another blood sacrifice, how does it fit the pattern? Or why does it deviate? I mean, the first two kills were clean and precise, and this one just seems angry and rushed.
And how are these victims connected? In under 12 hours, we have three murders with similar M.
O.
s.
But if his spells provided protection to the cartels, then why kill him? Because the unsubs weren't tied to the cartels, more likely an individual driven to make black magic sacrifices.
For their own protection? Maybe.
Certainly feels like a spree-oriented kill.
The killers seem to be deviating.
Their pace is increasing.
Yeah.
But to what end? And for whom? Go ahead, Monty.
So with pollution and war over oil in Tijuana, a few locals have converted their diesel engines to run on food oils.
Five people have registered their biodiesel engines with the DMV.
I was able to find four of them, and they have confirmed alibis with the police.
But the fifth one is M.
I.
A.
You got a name? Miguel Gonzalez, 40.
Essentially fallen off the planet.
Access to his address has been blocked, but I put in a call to the Tijuana DMV to figure out why.
That seems like a person of interest.
What else have you found? Robert Miller's employer laid him off nine months ago.
However, he's been crossing the border into Mexico from his home in Arizona, where he's married with two kids.
He could have just been searching for other employment.
Maybe, but, strangely, he had his severance check forwarded to an address in the village of Narvado on the outskirts of Tijuana instead of his home in the U.
S.
All right, Mae, you stay with the body until the local authorities arrive.
Monty, get me an address for Miller.
You got it.
Why don't you guys head to Miller's, and I'll catch up with you later? Are you okay, Dad? Yeah.
Yeah, I'm fine.
I'll see you in a bit.
Okay.
Agent Jack Garrett.
Section Chief Cruz, Jack.
Mateo, long time, no speak.
What can I do for you? I think you know the answer to that.
The director's not happy.
We're handling it.
You pulled you son from a high-profile undercover operation and have yet to pull the trigger on the backstop plan.
Why? Since we have no local assistance in the area, Ryan's knowledge on the ground has been an integral part of the I.
R.
T.
's investigation.
Cut the bull, Jack.
You had no right to pull him.
His cover was blown.
It was compromised, okay? You're trying to buy time, and we don't have any.
You've got to put the backstop plan in motion ASAP.
Look, I understand he's your son, but duty calls.
Copy.
Good.
I'll tell the director that there will be no more delays.
We got the call.
How did you come upon such darkness? Some clues and some profiling led us to his door.
- You know him? - SÃ.
He's the Don of Darkness, but from the looks of it, he got what he had coming to him.
Probably got double crossed by his bosses in the cartels.
Why do you say that? Who else would dare kill a priest of such dark power? Maybe someone who needs or wants that power.
Ryan, perimeter's clean.
No signs of blood or struggle anywhere.
All right.
Let's take a look inside.
Hola.
My name is Ana Sofia.
I speak English, if that's easier.
- Great.
- Mama? They're just here to ask a few questions.
But why don't you go to your room, and I'll tell you all about it later.
How about that? Yeah? Please, come in.
What's going on here? That's what we're hoping you can tell us.
Simmons, Clara.
Robert Miller is your husband, Arturo is his son? SÃ.
Is this about his other family? So you know about them? I only discovered it a few months ago when his job sent over some paperwork listing his wife in Arizona.
And what happened when you confronted him about it? He admitted it, and we fought.
But my son needs a father, so we're managing.
But you're here for another reason.
What did Roberto do? I'm sorry, but your husband has been the victim of a homicide.
Dios mÃo.
Mrs.
Miller, you didn't know about your husband's other family for years.
Is it possible that he had other affiliations, relationships that could have led to this? My husband gambled, and he drank, and God knows what else, but he always kept a roof over our heads, and he never laid a hand on me.
Or my son or anybody else.
But you do know something, don't you, Ana? What is it? A shrine to the Grim Reaper? No.
La Santa Muerte Patron saint of those who've been left behind.
Left behind by whom? By God.
Ana, did you have something to do with your husband's death? I was so angry.
I prayed for bad things.
But I didn't mean any of them.
I was so upset.
You prayed here at this altar? Yeah.
And at the Tijuana mobile altars.
Mama? If you need anything, I'll be with my son.
The La Santa Muerte following is one of the largest belief systems in Mexico.
They've got 12 million followers.
Right, but both the Catholic Church, who views it as an evil offshoot of Catholicism, and the local police, who see it as a belief system for the lower class, have outlawed and denounced the faith's practice.
Outlawed it? Yeah, there are no churches.
I mean, its followers have to set up prayer altars like these that are either mobile or easily dismantled so the local police don't find them and destroy them.
Well, isn't it true that if you ask for something from La Santa Muerte, you have to offer her - something in return? - Yes.
Like a metaphysical quid pro quo.
Is the unsub doing this because they want something from La Santa Muerte, and if so, what is it? The colors strewn across the altar, they're the same colors that the first two victims were painted.
Yeah, this is more than just superstition.
We're looking at a La Santa Muerte practitioner or a fanatic.
- Hey.
- All right, Monty.
Everyone's here.
Go ahead.
Okay, La Santa Muerte is highly adaptable to the individual believer.
Not only do they not have any churches, there's also no bible, either.
Followers have spells that have been handed down from generations through word of mouth.
I found one ex-member who wrote a blog that outlines some of the spells.
Can you link any of them to the murders? What seems to be consistent here is that two of the three murders have been blood sacrifice spells designed to restore an absent loved one.
So the unsub lost someone.
And this is all a personal act to get that person back.
Turns out the colors have a power structure to them.
Red is the lowest, then black is a little bit more powerful.
Gold is king.
Lee Kern was the first, and he was red.
Yeah, and the red spell asks for the bloodletting of someone young.
So the sacrifice of Lee Kern should have satisfied the saint and returned the unsub's loved ones.
But, clearly, it didn't.
So then the unsub tried to cast a stronger spell.
Exactamundo.
The color black asks for the bloodletting of a sinner, so the display of Robert Miller should have worked, too.
But it didn't, either.
Therefore, the unsub felt he needed more power and tried to absorb it by killing the occult priest, Julio Salazar.
And now with the most powerful color left, they believe that they will get their loved one back.
What does the gold sacrifice entail? Taking the heart from a person of authority, but unlike the others, the victim must be alive, aware during the ceremony.
So this grief-induced spiritually-motivated unsub is out there right now looking for someone who fits that.
Someone like an officer of the law.
Officer Calderon is missing.
He was on a disturbing the peace call for a La Santa Muerte altar.
He ran the plates, and they belong to Miguel Gonzalez.
But here's the thing.
I found Miguel, and he's dead.
Who was driving the truck? Impound records show that Alma Gonzalez has reclaimed the car three times.
Gonzalez? Any relation to Miguel? Yeah, brother and sister.
Well, why was the truck towed in the first place? Because it had a La Santa Muerte altar in the bed.
The altars are illegal, so the police destroy them and impound any vehicle associated with them.
And Alma has a long history of violations, and even arrests.
The last one, only two months ago by Officer Calderon for erecting and displaying La Santa Muerte altars.
Probably had the sand bags to hold down the altar in the back of the truck.
It must have busted open, transferring some sand to the victims.
Alma's connection to La Santa Muerte and Miguel make her our prime suspect.
According to public records, Alma and her sister, Teresa, were left a family-owned business a year ago.
Wait a minute.
There's another sibling? So what if the black magic priest's murder felt like a different kill because they're two different unsubs? Alma and Teresa are working as a team.
Together, they drive around T.
J.
in a pickup truck with a Santa Muerte altar, looking for their next victims.
To find someone young, they went to Tijuana's most popular bar district.
They needed a sinner, so they found a gambler at a dog track.
And needing a man of authority, they lure a police officer in with their altar.
So the family biz is a salvage yard, which he signed over about a year ago today.
Wait, why would he sign it over? Miguel applied for a U.
S.
Visa, but was denied, so he did what millions of other people do in search for a better life He hopped the border illegally.
He didn't make it, did he? No, and his absence has been absolutely devastating to his sisters.
They're about to lose the salvage yard to bankruptcy, which explains why I wasn't able to access the address through the DMV.
The truck's being held up in a probate court case.
So they haven't heard or seen their brother in over a year.
The anniversary of his disappearance is their trigger.
So the sisters believe that by performing this ritual, they can bring their brother Miguel back to them and he'll fix everything.
And they needed Officer Calderon alive to perform it.
We better hurry before he runs out of time.
Ryan, you hang back.
Anyone tries to get in or out, stop them.
FBI! Drop the weapon! Move away from Officer Calderon! We know what you're doing.
How your brother, Miguel, went to the States to make a better living.
And once settled, he was going to send for you both, but he never did.
Because he couldn't.
You see, he made it across, but he didn't get far.
Mentirosos! We're not lying, Alma.
You are! Miguel is in America.
But Teresa and I, we broke our promise to La Santa Muerte.
We stopped displaying our altar because we were afraid of la policia, so she's punishing us.
Keeping Miguel away from us, taking our business and our home, too! With this final sacrifice, we'll satisfy La Huesuda and return Miguel to us! No, no! It's too late for that.
I'm, sorry.
Miguel is dead.
You'll never see Miguel again.
No! I pity the sisters.
Their grief, it just it twisted a faith that offers real hope and guidance to many.
You also offer hope.
The way you fight for your people against monumental odds.
The world can use more men like you, Calderon.
Gracias.
Good work, Dad.
Couldn't have done it without you, son.
I don't know about that.
Look, now that it's over, I need to get back under.
Why are you taking the toughest, most dangerous road there is in the Bureau? You cast a really large shadow.
I have to make my own way if I ever hope to step out of it, become my own man.
Yeah, I get that.
But at what price? The exact same price you've been willing to pay your entire career.
I'm asking you to see me as a fellow agent, not as your son.
That's easier said than done.
I know you're worried.
But you know the deeper my cover, the safer I am.
This backstop plan's gonna give me even more credibility with La Horca.
Ryan, you remember when you were little and we used to go to that lake and fish all day? Yeah.
Yeah, you'd start a fire.
Fry up some perch or catfish that we'd caught.
We'd just watch the stars and talk.
Some of the best times of my life.
Yeah, me too.
But when this is over, you owe me a fishing trip.
Habla Inglés? His name is Cole Dabb, and we got him on possession, intent to distribute, assault and battery of a federal agent.
We tried to extradite him, but we couldn't.
He's your problem now.