Show Notes
From a strict Mormon upbringing in Texas to the violent world of cartel-connected crime, Tyler’s story is one of the wildest we’ve heard.
In this episode, Tyler explains how he went from being a high school kid making money transporting drugs to working around human-smuggling networks along the Texas–Mexico border. He describes witnessing extreme cartel violence at a young age, moving migrants through border towns, becoming involved in violent contract work in Mexico, and later building a large drug business back home.
Tyler also opens up about the side of that lifestyle people rarely talk about—the paranoia, emotional numbness, PTSD, memory problems, prison, and the difficulty of returning to a normal life after years surrounded by violence.
We discuss:
• Growing up in a strict Mormon household
• Getting recruited into drug transportation as a teenager
• Witnessing cartel violence for the first time
• How human-smuggling networks operate along the border
• Coyotes, safe houses, spotters, burner phones, and cartel organization
• His descent into increasingly violent criminal work
• Building a drug business through Snapchat
• His 2019 arrest and prison sentence
• The lasting psychological effects of the lifestyle
• Therapy, family, faith, and trying to rebuild his life
This conversation contains descriptions of violence, drug trafficking, and other criminal activity. It is presented for documentary, educational, and entertainment purposes and is not intended to promote or encourage illegal behavior.
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00:00 Intro: Mormon Kid to Cartel Hitman
01:27 Growing Up in a Strict Mormon Household
03:13 Rebelling Against Church Rules
04:16 First Adventure: Driving Heroin
06:40 Close Call: Witnessing a Chainsaw Murder
09:07 The Psychological Aftermath
12:32 Understanding the Cartel's Organization
15:10 Mental Health Struggles and Trauma
20:35 This Episode Is Sponsored By BetterHelp
21:55 Getting Back into Smuggling
23:23 Human Smuggling Operations and Safe Houses
27:18 Evolution into a Hitman
29:04 Cartel's Control and Police Corruption
31:52 The Job: Contract, Payment, and Preparation
36:27 The First Hit and Moral Numbing
40:33 This Episode Is Sponsored By Mood
42:33 Avoiding Addiction and the Double Life
45:08 The Worst Thing Seen: Four Days of Torture
52:00 The Drug Business and Burner Phones
01:10:11 Getting Busted and Going to Prison
01:17:00 Building the Snapchat Drug Empire
01:22:26 Why Keep Doing Hits?
01:24:07 The Last Job and Quitting
01:27:01 Arrest and Prison Sentence
01:30:09 Life After Prison and Redemption Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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