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New documentary examines the human side of Mexico's drug war
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Sep 16, 2016
Listen 10:36
New documentary examines the human side of Mexico's drug war
Director Bernardo Ruiz takes on the US-Mexico Drug War through the stories of a DEA agent on the border, an activist nun and a Texas-based smuggler.
(
Via Kingdom of Shadows trailer
)

Director Bernardo Ruiz takes on the US-Mexico Drug War through the stories of a DEA agent on the border, an activist nun and a Texas-based smuggler.

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.

Kingdom of Shadows trailer

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.