Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
In the Mexican city of Monterrey, there is a scene that plays out that is both unusual, and all too common. A mother summons the courage to make eye contact with the local district attorney. She struggles for words, tears dot her face.
She wants to know where her teenager is, he's been missing for over a year. Monterrey is often described as the center of the Mexican Drug War. Tens of thousands of regular folks have disappeared, and the authorities who should be finding them are instead believed to be part of the problem.
In some cases, they're actually responsible for the disappearances and are working with the cartel groups. A new documentary takes us into to the epicenter of this drug war, and the lives it roils as it plays out on the southern border.
From those who have trafficked drugs into the U.S., to a border patrol agent who is leading the charge to bring down the cartels, to the mothers, family members, and a nun, who are fighting to bring the disappeared back.
For more, Bernardo Ruiz, director of the new POV PBS documentary "Kingdom of Shadows," spoke to Take Two's Deepa Fernandes.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.