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Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty six, musician miguelan Qui Villavicencio was sitting

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Speaker 1: with his friends at a restaurant in a small town

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Speaker 1: in Anjapari, Bolivia's tropical region. At the time, this place

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Speaker 1: was also an epicenter for cocaine production. The owner of

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Speaker 1: the restaurant interrupts his conversation and tells miguelankle that someone

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Speaker 1: at the door is looking for him. He gets up slowly.

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Speaker 1: He starts walking toward the door, and the first bullet

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Speaker 1: went through his jaw before he even hit the ground.

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Speaker 1: The second bullet hit his spine. He lay stunned on

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Speaker 1: the ground, and when he tried getting up, he noticed

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Speaker 1: that his legs weren't responding. To make sure that he

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Speaker 1: was dead, the gunman fired two more times.

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Speaker 2: From Futromedia and PRX, It's Latino Usa, I'm Marieo Fosa,

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Speaker 2: a Bolivian drug smuggler and his long road to redemption.

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Speaker 2: Producer Andres Cabiro brings us the story of Bige lange

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Speaker 2: Via Vicencio, whose dreams of becoming the next Juliueglesias turned

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Speaker 2: into a personal battle for forgiveness and survival. Here's andres

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Speaker 2: with our story. It first aired in twenty nineteen.

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Speaker 1: His friends immediately threw him in the back of a

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Speaker 1: pickup and rushed him through the jungle to the nearest hospital.

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Speaker 1: And by the way, we hired an actor to translate

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Speaker 1: Migilanko's words.

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Speaker 3: Romo the Sangrado.

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Speaker 4: The most likely scenario was bleeding to death on the

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Speaker 4: way to the hospital. So when I realized that I

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Speaker 4: was about to die, I decided to have a conversation

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Speaker 4: with God. Imagine a drug smuggler speaking with God. But

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Speaker 4: that's what happens. The way I saw it, drug smuggling

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Speaker 4: was just the business. It wasn't a crime.

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Speaker 3: Escamo trafic.

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Speaker 1: And while he was bleeding to death, he managed to pray, money.

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Speaker 5: Don't let me die. You have to.

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Speaker 4: If you let me live, I promise I will dedicate

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Speaker 4: what's left in my life to serving you.

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Speaker 5: Forgive me.

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Speaker 1: Three decades later, Miguelankl is certain that the reason he's

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Speaker 1: even alive today is because of that prayer on the.

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Speaker 5: Way to the hospital.

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Speaker 1: He's convinced that that day God had mercy on him,

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Speaker 1: but the damage from the bullets that ripped through his

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Speaker 1: body left him without the use of his legs and

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Speaker 1: in a wheelchair permanently. These days, he visits churches all

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Speaker 1: over southern California, singing original songs about his spiritual awakening.

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Speaker 1: Migulankolis sits in an suv worked in front of a

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Speaker 1: church where he's often invited to sing. He's wearing a

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Speaker 1: button up shirt and a dark blazer, and he's waiting

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Speaker 1: for his son Louis to bring his wheelchair.

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Speaker 6: In.

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Speaker 1: The pastor greets him and takes him in front of

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Speaker 1: a congregation of about one hundred. Mighelanka scoots his wheelchair

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Speaker 1: up to the podium, puts on a pre recorded backing track,

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Speaker 1: and begins to sing. This song is called I'm Not Dead.

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Speaker 1: The lyrics talk about how God completely transformed him from

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Speaker 1: his old sinful ways in the drug business, that before

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Speaker 1: he was spiritually dead, but that now he's alive. When

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Speaker 1: Miguelan Hill was growing up in Bolivia, before he got

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Speaker 1: involved in the drug trade, he had always wanted to

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Speaker 1: be a singer, but back then he wasn't interested in

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Speaker 1: Christian music.

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Speaker 3: The Joe Abbia Gusta.

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Speaker 4: Ever since I was a kid, I've loved singing. I

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Speaker 4: always dreamed of becoming.

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Speaker 1: Famous Miguelankill was raised by his grandmother in LAPAs, one

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Speaker 1: of the biggest cities in Bolivia. When he was seventeen,

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Speaker 1: he started a band with his friends, and when that

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Speaker 1: group dissolved, he auditioned solo at Restaurante Losculos, which was

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Speaker 1: apparently the place to be for live music in LAPAs.

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Speaker 1: His first time singing at Lossculos, he recalls the presenter

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Speaker 1: going up on stage and saying, Mason estrada, ladies.

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Speaker 4: And gentlemen, Tonight at Restaurants Esculos, a new Bolivian star

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Speaker 4: is born.

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Speaker 5: With you, Miguel.

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Speaker 1: That night, Miguelankill took the stage wearing a flowered button

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Speaker 1: down a dark blazer in Photus from the time. He

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Speaker 1: has brown, wavy hair with sideburns that reached down to

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Speaker 1: his lower jaw.

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Speaker 5: And that night I sang Call.

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Speaker 4: People started clapping halfway through the song, and in that moment,

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Speaker 4: I knew that I would be a singer for the

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Speaker 4: rest of my days.

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Speaker 1: It's not hard to hear the roots of Migilanka's style.

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Speaker 1: Sandro the Latin American loved songs from the eighties and

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Speaker 1: nineties where a hair deeled Latin heart throw would work

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Speaker 1: the stage with those central performances unbuton shirts and so on,

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Speaker 1: and Migilanka starts doing really well as a singer. A

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Speaker 1: few years later, his songs were being played on the radio,

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Speaker 1: and then he even gets invited to the Francisco's saw Hiante,

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Speaker 1: a legendary Saturday night variety show in Latin America, which

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Speaker 1: was still based in Chile at the time. And even

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Speaker 1: though migue Lankill was on his way to national stardom,

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Speaker 1: Bolivia's music industry wasn't big enough to make him the

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Speaker 1: international sensation that he wanted to become. For that, he

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Speaker 1: needed to be in Mexico, Spain, the US and to

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Speaker 1: go to these places and to market himself. He needed money,

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Speaker 1: so he spoke to a friend whose family was in

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Speaker 1: the drug business.

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Speaker 4: By then, cocaine had become a thing in the US,

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Speaker 4: so I came to the conclusion that if I got

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Speaker 4: into drug trafficking, I could easily make a fortune.

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Speaker 1: His friend introduced him to Bolivia's most powerful drug cartel,

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Speaker 1: headed by Roberto Saris Gomez, also known as the Cocaine King.

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Speaker 1: Swatis came from a family of cattle ranchers, but when

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Speaker 1: the drug became popular in the US, he invested in

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Speaker 1: coca plants and started producing cocaine. As consumer demand grew,

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Speaker 1: tons of cocaine were being produced in Bolivia. Roberto eventually

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Speaker 1: retired and handed control of the business to his nephew, Rocasuadres.

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Speaker 1: Remember that name, because it's going to be important.

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Speaker 4: Coombia and this man, Rge Rocasuadis became the main player

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Speaker 4: and business partner of Escobars made yin Cartel.

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Speaker 1: The coca leaf is everywhere in Bolivia. It's been used

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Speaker 1: for thousands of years by the Aimata in Quechua for

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Speaker 1: ceremonial purposes, and many people chew it daily to stay

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Speaker 1: awake or to get an energy kick. It's also good

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Speaker 1: for altitude sickness and to stay off hunger. At any

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Speaker 1: market in the cities, you'll likely see giant bushels of

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Speaker 1: coca leaves, and the countryside is filled with coca fields.

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Speaker 1: It's also, of course, the key ingredient in cocaine. Bolivia

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Speaker 1: quickly became one of the biggest suppliers of califs to

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Speaker 1: Columbia's cocaine labs, as well as a major producer of

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Speaker 1: cocaine itself. Migalankin remembers seeing the cocaine King's ranch for

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Speaker 1: the first time.

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Speaker 5: It was an incredible amount of drugs. I'd never seen

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Speaker 5: anything like it, he said.

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Speaker 1: The house was filled with piles of bags of cocaine base.

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Speaker 1: Back then, the cartel would sell it to the Colombians

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Speaker 1: for about nine thousand dollars per kilo. The Colombians would

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Speaker 1: then smuggle it and sell it in the US for

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Speaker 1: many times more. And so in the early eighties, Megelanki

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Speaker 1: started off by helping transport the merchandise by land or

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Speaker 1: by air, and later he became the guy who coordinated

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Speaker 1: bribes to local officials.

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Speaker 5: On people as an outsider.

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Speaker 4: Going by what you see on TV, the perception is

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Speaker 4: that smugglers are bad, violent men who are always talking

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Speaker 4: about killing and so on Bolivia and Colombian drug traffickers,

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Speaker 4: At least in those days, we're easy going guys who

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Speaker 4: were nice to talk to.

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Speaker 1: A few times Meguelankill came faith to face with Pablo.

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Speaker 3: Escobar Puantas Vesisi Sario, and.

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Speaker 4: Whenever he saw it necessary, he would get on one

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Speaker 4: of his private jets and go check on his business

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Speaker 4: associate in Bolivia.

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Speaker 5: On three occasions, I arrived to the ranch and there

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Speaker 5: he was. I would just say hi, shake his hands,

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Speaker 5: and that was it.

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Speaker 3: I see that he stands. Mister John demnos perrode none.

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Speaker 2: Of us.

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Speaker 1: To believe in smugglers. Escobar's business brought more than just

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Speaker 1: enormous wealth. It also brought scrutiny from the US Drug

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Speaker 1: Enforcement Agency or DEA. The DEA had been operating in

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Speaker 1: Bolivia since the nineteen seventies, and they often worked with

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Speaker 1: the government to crack down on illicit coca plantations and trade,

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Speaker 1: but in the eighties and nineties, the u I started

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Speaker 1: going after the cartels more aggressively. To do that, they

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Speaker 1: had to work closely with local law enforcement, but sometimes

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Speaker 1: the cartels were also working with the police Guando.

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Speaker 4: When I arrived to work, there was already a special

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Speaker 4: anti drug trafficking force called the Leopards.

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Speaker 1: The Leopards were Bolivia's elite anti drug force, but they

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Speaker 1: were also known to take bribes, so we.

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Speaker 5: Started bribing the commander so that he would allow the drugs.

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Speaker 1: One day, Trocasuadis, the drug lord, asked Migilankill to deliver

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Speaker 1: a bribe to a commander. But according to Miguelankell, there

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Speaker 1: was a misunderstanding with grave consequences. He says he never

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Speaker 1: received the money to pay the commander off, so he

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Speaker 1: never ended up going through with the bribe. When the

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Speaker 1: police commander didn't get the money he was promised, he

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Speaker 1: got angry and retaliated with arrests and.

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Speaker 3: Academy.

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Speaker 4: I never had a chance to communicate with Guess what

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Speaker 4: is to tell him that I never received the money?

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Speaker 4: He assumed I stole, and without thinking twice, he sent

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Speaker 4: his own criminals to kill. They were criminals, but they

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Speaker 4: were also my friends. But that's how the drug business works.

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Speaker 4: You have no friends. You just have accomplices who at

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Speaker 4: any moment will turn on you after a simple order from.

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Speaker 3: The boss' contract.

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Speaker 1: Which brings us back to the day at the roadside

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Speaker 1: restaurant when a gunman walked in the door and fired

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Speaker 1: at him. That day, a bullet had shattered his teeth

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Speaker 1: and broken his jaw in two. While dying on the

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Speaker 1: way to the hospital, the first question that came to

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Speaker 1: his mind was.

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Speaker 4: Why I was a man who was doing things right.

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Speaker 4: I was an honest drug smuggler if the word honest

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Speaker 4: even fits in this type of activity.

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Speaker 1: Dentro demento Miguelankill made it to the hospital alive, but

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Speaker 1: he woke up without the use of his legs. He

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Speaker 1: was paralyzed from the waist down and he would have

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Speaker 1: to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

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Speaker 1: Fearing that Rocasuarees would send more hitman to finish the job,

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Speaker 1: Miguelankeell fled the country for several months. When he returned

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Speaker 1: to Bolivia, he was a changed man. He had found

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Speaker 1: God and now he was focused on two things. Number one,

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Speaker 1: writing gospel songs with lyrics that talked about peace and love,

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Speaker 1: and number two, fixing his wrongdoings and seeing if he

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Speaker 1: could help the authorities bring down the cartel. So he

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Speaker 1: decides to get in touch with Frank mccoliney, then the

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Speaker 1: head of the DEA in Bolivia.

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Speaker 3: Espanol concerto aso at I'm.

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Speaker 4: Speaking with a Gringo accent. He tells me that I'm

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Speaker 4: a criminal, So I replied, my dear friend, I was

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Speaker 4: once a criminal, but I am no longer, and that's

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Speaker 4: exactly why I want to work with you.

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Speaker 1: After the exchange, Mighilankle agreed to provide information about cartel

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Speaker 1: operations and to help build a case against strugg lords. Eventually,

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Speaker 1: Megilanki would have to testify against them at a US court.

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Speaker 1: In exchange, the DA would give him a cash salary,

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Speaker 1: find him a home, a car, and eventually they would

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Speaker 1: help him get situated in the US. According to Miguelankill,

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Speaker 1: he and his family were offered to be put on

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Speaker 1: the US government's Witness Security program, meaning they would be

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Speaker 1: relocated to an unknown place with a new identity for

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Speaker 1: their own safety. The offer, he says, was verbal, it

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Speaker 1: was never put down on paper.

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Speaker 4: It would help me find a job so I can

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Speaker 4: work like everyone else, and then I would completely disappear.

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Speaker 1: Once the DEA built a case against Rocasuadis, Mighilankill was

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Speaker 1: asked to help find out his location and tip off

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Speaker 1: the DEA with information on his whereabouts. Through his contacts

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Speaker 1: in the drug world, Miguelankill managed to track down a

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Speaker 1: flight that Rocasuadis would soon be boarding in Miami. He

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Speaker 1: then trace his movements all the way to the nineteen

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Speaker 1: bedroom mansion that he owned in Los Angeles.

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Speaker 4: They arrested him, and that's when I had to immediately.

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Speaker 5: Leave Oblivia.

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Speaker 1: Migailankin recalls quickly packing things up getting into a car

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Speaker 1: with his family and being escorted to the airport by

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Speaker 1: four DEA agents Losno.

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Speaker 4: One was less than five and the others round seven.

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Speaker 4: They didn't really know what was happening.

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Speaker 1: Luis, who is now in his thirties, was that five

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Speaker 1: year old.

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Speaker 6: I remember having to go from like one house to

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Speaker 6: the the other with my dad and my brothers days

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Speaker 6: before leaving Bolivia to come to the US. When you're

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Speaker 6: that small, and you think that's how the world functions,

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Speaker 6: and that's what I thought was normal.

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Speaker 4: And when the plane took off, I could finally breathe

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Speaker 4: peacefully because I knew that I was heading towards. But

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Speaker 4: I didn't know was that once I helped him put

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Speaker 4: this guy away, the DEA would eventually betray me.

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Speaker 2: Coming up on Latino, USA, the DEA sends me and

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Speaker 2: his family to the US, where he would testify against

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Speaker 2: the drug lord Ros in exchange for a better, safer

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Speaker 2: life with his family, or so he thought. Stay with us,

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Speaker 2: not bays. Hey, we're back and we're going to continue

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Speaker 2: now with the story of Migelanghill, the Bolivian drug smuggler

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Speaker 2: turned religious singer. And when we left off, the DA

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Speaker 2: had taken Mielanghill to the US to seek protection and

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Speaker 2: to testify against his former boss, the drug lord Jorge Drocasuirez.

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Speaker 2: Producer Andres Cavaliro picks up the story now.

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Speaker 1: When Miguelankill and his family got to California in January

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Speaker 1: of nineteen ninety two, they started living in a hotel.

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Speaker 6: There was always agents around. They were pretty fun too.

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Speaker 1: Luis Milanka's youngest son, says that DEA agents would show

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Speaker 1: up to give his dad surveillance equipment for monitoring drug

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Speaker 1: activity along the US Mexico border. They would also bring

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Speaker 1: big statues of cash for him.

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Speaker 6: To my understanding, I was part of my dad's job,

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Speaker 6: and I knew I couldn't say anything about anything. Our neighbors,

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Speaker 6: the kids would like talk about their parents and what

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Speaker 6: they did and stuff, and like I knew that I

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Speaker 6: couldn't mention anything about what my dad did.

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Speaker 1: The DEA finally got to my house while Miguelankill waited

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Speaker 1: to testify against Prokasuadis. By then he had been passed

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Speaker 1: on to another supervisor, which worried him because Frank, his

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Speaker 1: original contact in Bolivia, had his back. This new guy,

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Speaker 1: he didn't really get along with as much. By the

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Speaker 1: end of the year, it was time for Miguelankill to

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Speaker 1: finally testify against Jorge Ross, and there he was in

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Speaker 1: the same courtroom, waiting for the hearing to begin.

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Speaker 5: And let me off him.

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Speaker 4: He looked me straight in the eyes, almost in disbelief

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Speaker 4: that I was there testifying against him. Of course, there

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Speaker 4: was the feeling of vengeance after someone orders he killed,

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Speaker 4: but those feelings went away after I became a Christian,

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Speaker 4: so in the end I just felt victory over him.

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Speaker 5: It was an act of justice. The Hostisia.

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Speaker 1: Miglankill didn't only talk about Rokasuaris. He also outed other

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Speaker 1: drug dealers in Bolivia.

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Speaker 3: Olivia frankament, if.

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Speaker 4: I had to go back to Bolivia, I honestly don't

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Speaker 4: know from which direction the bullet would come from.

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Speaker 1: In part because of Mielanka's testimonys, was eventually sentenced to

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Speaker 1: thirty five years in prison. In the eight months that followed,

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Speaker 1: communication with the DA started to slow down. Mighielanka started

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Speaker 1: to worry. They stopped responding to his calls his messages.

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Speaker 1: He helped the DA catch the big fish and they

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Speaker 1: disappeared on him. One day, two men showed up at

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Speaker 1: his house to pick up the surveillance equipment. They also

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Speaker 1: gave him the official notice that he no longer worked

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Speaker 1: for the DEA. After several weeks, Mighelanki says, the DEA

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Speaker 1: informed them that in the end, he would not be

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00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:27,480
Speaker 1: referred to the witness Protection program. Miguelankhill was floored. Not

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Speaker 1: being placed in witness protection meant that after testifying for

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Speaker 1: the DEA, he was now on his own. Not only

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Speaker 1: would he have to hide out from the drug lords

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Speaker 1: who wanted him dead, he also had to avoid being

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Speaker 1: deported back to Bolivia because now that his job with

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Speaker 1: the da was over, his permission to be in the

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Speaker 1: United States would vanish as well. And it wasn't going

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Speaker 1: to be easy. We called the DEA and they declined

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Speaker 1: to comment on why Mighelankhill was discharged or about whether

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00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,399
Speaker 1: or not he was promised witness protection in the first place.

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Speaker 1: The Witness Protection program is officially called WITSEC, and the

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00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,840
Speaker 1: way it works is the DEA refers candidates for the

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00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,520
Speaker 1: program to the US Department of Justice. It's the Attorney

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00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:13,680
Speaker 1: General's office that makes the final decision to approve it

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Speaker 1: or not, so the DEA on their own doesn't have

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Speaker 1: the power to guarantee that somebody will make it into

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00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,879
Speaker 1: the program. In two thousand and three, a professor at

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00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,040
Speaker 1: the University of Nebraska did a study looking at cases

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Speaker 1: of foreign informants in the witness Security program. He found

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00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,959
Speaker 1: a number of instances of informants who said the DEA

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00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,040
Speaker 1: did not keep verbal promises to place them in the program.

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Speaker 1: And because of the language of the Witness Security law,

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Speaker 1: US agents can make promises to potential witnesses without any

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00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:48,320
Speaker 1: legal obligations to follow through. And even if agents aren't

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Speaker 1: purposefully trying to deceive witnesses, given the complexity of the process,

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of room for misunderstandings. Miglanka said he

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Speaker 1: would have never worked with the Americans unless they offer

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Speaker 1: for him and his family protection once it was all over,

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Speaker 1: and even though he didn't have it in writing, he

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Speaker 1: just went with it, trust him that in the end

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Speaker 1: the DEA would take care of him. Frank, the former

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Speaker 1: agent in Bolivia, is the only person who can verify

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Speaker 1: Migilankil's claim that the DEA promised him witness protection. We

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Speaker 1: try to contact Frank multiple times. We even try to

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Speaker 1: relay a message through a family member, but he never

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Speaker 1: got back to US. Now out of a job and

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Speaker 1: without legal status in the US, Miguelankl had to figure

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Speaker 1: out what to do next. He and his wife were

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Speaker 1: already having marital problems, and they eventually split up. She

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Speaker 1: took the older kids and he left with his youngest son, Luis,

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Speaker 1: to Virginia.

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Speaker 4: De kekomer I had to figure out how to start

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Speaker 4: a new life.

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Speaker 5: How was that going to eat?

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Speaker 4: Me on a wheelchair being pushed by a seven year

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Speaker 4: old child to help me get to the nearest food

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Speaker 4: bank translating for me forget about it.

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Speaker 1: Once Mighilankill used up all of his savings, he and

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Speaker 1: Louise went on the lamb. They started sleeping in people's

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Speaker 1: garages at churches. They eventually rented a room where they

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Speaker 1: ended up staying more permanently. One afternoon, someone showed up

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Speaker 1: at their door. Louise had just gotten home from school.

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Speaker 1: He goes to the door and sees two men dressed

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Speaker 1: up as plumbers.

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Speaker 6: They knock on the door and I'm like hi, and

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Speaker 6: they're like, oh, we're plumbers. The owner sent us, dude,

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Speaker 6: I'm a kid. There's no way I'm letting you in

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Speaker 6: my house because you said the owner said, even if

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Speaker 6: the owner came, there's no way you're coming in, you know.

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Speaker 6: So I was like till I'll be right back, you know.

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Speaker 6: I locked the door. I go upstairs to my dad

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Speaker 6: and I'm like, hey, plumbers are here, but my dad

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Speaker 6: was like, yeah, let them in.

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Speaker 1: According to Louise, the men look at his dad and

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Speaker 1: ask him if his name was mighe lan xel Vievi

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Speaker 1: sents you yea.

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Speaker 5: I told him yes.

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Speaker 1: They were I INS agents in disguise. Today they're known

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Speaker 1: as Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE agents.

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Speaker 5: We're here to detain you after getting work, that you

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Speaker 5: are a dangerous criminal.

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Speaker 6: And that's when my dad tells the agent, if you

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Speaker 6: arrest me and you deport me, then they're going to

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Speaker 6: kill me in my country for serving your nation. And

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Speaker 6: that kind of shocked the agent a little.

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Speaker 1: The officer asks if he had any proof of what

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Speaker 1: he was saying. Megilankle brings his passport and he shows

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Speaker 1: them the special visa that DA had issued years earlier

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Speaker 1: when they brought him to the US.

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Speaker 4: This isn't a regular visa, it's one that you get

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Speaker 4: when you work for the government. The man looked at

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Speaker 4: me and said, yes, that's what it looks like.

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Speaker 1: Megilankin says that the immigration officers decided not to detain

379
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Speaker 1: him that afternoon, but they said that he would have

380
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Speaker 1: to fight his deportation in court. According to court documents,

381
00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 1: Megailankel was charged for being an alien who is not

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00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,840
Speaker 1: in possession of an entry document. The charges also stated

383
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Speaker 1: that the government had reason to believe he had been

384
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Speaker 1: an illicit trafficker or assisted illicit trafficking of a controlled substance.

385
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Speaker 1: To Mighi Lanki, it looked like he was being double

386
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Speaker 1: crossed by the DEA. They were the only ones who

387
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:27,320
Speaker 1: knew about his history in the drug trade. On the

388
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Speaker 1: day of the hearing at immigration court, Mighi Lanka says

389
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Speaker 1: that the government's attorney claimed to have spoken with the

390
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:35,479
Speaker 1: DEA about their relationship.

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Speaker 6: With him, and.

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Speaker 3: No loco, no semos.

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Speaker 5: What did the agents say from the start, He never

394
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Speaker 5: worked for us, We don't know him.

395
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Speaker 6: And my dad and I were just like, what these

396
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Speaker 6: agents that would go to my house they don't know him.

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Speaker 6: In my head, I was you're kidding, right, this is

398
00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,879
Speaker 6: a joke. No, he never worked for the DEA.

399
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Speaker 1: Mighlankil then gives the judge a copy of a document

400
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:09,080
Speaker 1: he held onto an informal contract signed by he and

401
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:12,639
Speaker 1: the DEA for his work with them. The contract refers

402
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:16,760
Speaker 1: to him as a quote DEA cooperating individual, but the

403
00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,480
Speaker 1: second line from the top reads quote I have no

404
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:24,040
Speaker 1: official status implied or otherwise as agent or employee of

405
00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:27,480
Speaker 1: the DEA. This meant that he was with them, but

406
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,359
Speaker 1: that he wasn't really one of them. It was also

407
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,480
Speaker 1: the reason he was getting paid in cash. Eventually, Frank,

408
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:38,360
Speaker 1: now retired from the DEA, agreed to testify in Mighlankil's

409
00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:42,080
Speaker 1: favor via telephone. We got a copy of Frank Saffa David,

410
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,760
Speaker 1: where he confirmed that Mighlankil helped the US capture Rocasuades

411
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,200
Speaker 1: and that his life would be in danger were he

412
00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:52,160
Speaker 1: to be deported back to Bolivia. According to court documents,

413
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:56,000
Speaker 1: the government did not provide any evidence for the smuggling allegations,

414
00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,800
Speaker 1: so the judge eventually dropped those charges, and years after

415
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,960
Speaker 1: the immigration charges were settled as well. It took four

416
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,000
Speaker 1: and a half years from the start of the case

417
00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:09,080
Speaker 1: for the official ruling to come in the mail in

418
00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:10,000
Speaker 1: two thousand and two.

419
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:13,160
Speaker 6: We were sitting outside on stairs when we got the mail.

420
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,480
Speaker 6: I opened this envelope and there it was, and I

421
00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:20,720
Speaker 6: was a ruling in our favor, and that was it.

422
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:21,760
Speaker 6: That was over.

423
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,880
Speaker 1: Louise was also protected from deportation along with his dad.

424
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,320
Speaker 1: I asked Louise, looking back at everything that happened to them,

425
00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:38,560
Speaker 1: if he felt that they had found justice.

426
00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:42,720
Speaker 6: When the drug lord decided that he was going to

427
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,560
Speaker 6: end my dad's life, he didn't end it, Thank God

428
00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:53,200
Speaker 6: for that. He just didn't know that he was condemning

429
00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:58,480
Speaker 6: his children to live in a certain lifestyle. You determine

430
00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:02,040
Speaker 6: how they're going to live for the rest of their lives,

431
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:04,880
Speaker 6: and I think that is not fair.

432
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:11,119
Speaker 1: On one end, there was Rocasuaires, the bad guy who

433
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,040
Speaker 1: tried to kill his dad but instead let him confine

434
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,720
Speaker 1: to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. And

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Speaker 1: on the other end, there were the Dea, people who

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Speaker 1: were supposed to be the good.

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Speaker 6: Guys, a group of men that work to make things right,

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00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:28,399
Speaker 6: come into your life and they tell you we're going

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00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,720
Speaker 6: to make things right, and they paint you a picture

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00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:34,479
Speaker 6: of how they're going to fix everything as long as

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00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:38,000
Speaker 6: your dad works for them. And then at the end

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00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:41,240
Speaker 6: of the day they bail, Then what do you turn to?

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00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:43,280
Speaker 6: What do you look for?

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Speaker 1: We should mention here that despite the murky nature of

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00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:00,479
Speaker 1: the world of drug smugglers and informants, we have been

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00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:04,000
Speaker 1: able to corroborate many of the elements of Megailanki's life story.

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00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:08,320
Speaker 1: We have court documents from his immigration trial, court transcripts

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00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,600
Speaker 1: of the case when he testified against Rokaswaidis, and then

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00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:14,760
Speaker 1: we found a ton of Bolivian newspaper articles ranging from

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00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:18,240
Speaker 1: the eighties unto the late nineties that confirm his accounts.

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Speaker 1: It's hard to say how common stories like meghelankiins are.

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00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,040
Speaker 1: There aren't exactly a lot of hard numbers available on

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00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,000
Speaker 1: people who feel betrayed by the DEA, But we do

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00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:31,680
Speaker 1: know that US law enforcement and military so often rely

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00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,760
Speaker 1: on foreigners like Megaelankil to risk their lives in order

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00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:37,840
Speaker 1: to complete their missions. Think of the Iraqi and Afghan

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00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,880
Speaker 1: translators who work with the army, for example. These people

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00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:45,560
Speaker 1: are vulnerable. Often they have little to lose, and it's

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00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:47,240
Speaker 1: worth it for them to make a bet on the

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00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:49,800
Speaker 1: US government and hope everything works out for the best.

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Speaker 1: For some, it does, others aren't as lucky, and if

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Speaker 1: the US loses the trust of people like Miguelankil is

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00:28:57,480 --> 00:28:59,480
Speaker 1: going to be a lot harder to put people like

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Speaker 1: Rogasus what is in prison. In two thousand and eight,

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00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:12,240
Speaker 1: after more than three decades operating in Bolivia, prison Evo

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00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:15,520
Speaker 1: Morales gave the de eight three months to leave the country,

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Speaker 1: accusing them of espionage and of fomenting violence.

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Speaker 5: Territory.

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Speaker 1: Meanwhile, Trocasuaitis was extradited from the US to Bolivia. In

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Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, mighlankly texted me a picture showing the former

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00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,959
Speaker 1: drug lord walking freely on the airport tarmac, wearing plain clothes,

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Speaker 1: being escorted by three men.

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Speaker 5: We'll see how much he suffered in prison.

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Speaker 4: Soon he will be free, but I will still be

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00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:49,800
Speaker 4: on my wheelchair, suffering the consequences from being on a wheelchair.

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Speaker 1: After arriving in Bolivia, Rocasuetis claimed to have health problems

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00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:58,440
Speaker 1: while in prison. Last month, soon after being relocated to

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00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:06,040
Speaker 1: a local hospital, trocaso Is escaped. The believing authorities are

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00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:10,240
Speaker 1: still looking for his whereabouts. One local newspaper released a

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00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:14,720
Speaker 1: video that allegedly showed now in his late sixties, peacefully

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00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:23,800
Speaker 1: eating at a restaurant in Santana Yakuma. Let's back in

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Speaker 1: the California church where Mighelankil is invited to sing, he

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00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:43,320
Speaker 1: finishes up his last song. Afterwards, people from the congregation

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00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:45,960
Speaker 1: come up to him to take pictures with them or

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00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:47,000
Speaker 1: buy a copy of his CD.

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Speaker 6: Yoh.

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Speaker 1: Migilankill isn't afraid to confront the mistake he has made

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00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:04,000
Speaker 1: in his life. They come up again and again when

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00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:08,560
Speaker 1: he shares his testimony at church. Talking about those mistakes

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00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:13,280
Speaker 1: and repenting for them have given him a purpose. It's

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00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,280
Speaker 1: a a near death experience to inspire Mi Lankin to

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00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 1: do what he thought was right and help the Dea.

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00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:22,800
Speaker 1: In turn, he put his faith in the Dea to

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00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:25,840
Speaker 1: do right by him, but he now realizes that he

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00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:29,160
Speaker 1: put that faith in the wrong place and that at

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Speaker 1: the end of the day, the only one he can

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00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,040
Speaker 1: really trust is God alone.

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Speaker 2: And here's a little update on the story you just heard.

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00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:51,680
Speaker 2: In twenty twenty, Rocas Souadrees began operating from Peru forming

500
00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:55,840
Speaker 2: a new organization that Chipco came to the US. He

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00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,000
Speaker 2: was arrested in Lima in March of twenty twenty one,

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00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:03,840
Speaker 2: and in March of twenty twenty four, he was extradited

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Speaker 2: to the United States. This episode was produced by Andres

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00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:20,560
Speaker 2: Caballero and edited by Marlon Bishop. He was mixed by

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00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:25,480
Speaker 2: Stephanie Lebau. Special thanks to voice actor Raul Castillo, who

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00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:28,520
Speaker 2: you heard as Migue Langhill is known for his work

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00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,960
Speaker 2: in the TV series Seven Seconds and a Typical and

508
00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:36,360
Speaker 2: the Sun Dance Award winning film with the Animals, Gracias Raoul.

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00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:42,240
Speaker 2: The Latino USA team includes Roxanna Guire, Julia Caruso, Felicia

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00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:47,800
Speaker 2: do Minuez, Fernando Charvari, Jessica Elis Victoria Strada, Dominique Inestrosa,

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00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:52,880
Speaker 2: Renaldo Leanos Junior, Andrea Lopez Brussado, Luis Luna, Marta Martinez,

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00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:57,760
Speaker 2: Monica Morales, Garcia, j j Carubin, Tasha Sandoval, Nursaudi and

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00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:02,040
Speaker 2: Nancy Trujillo Penilerami. It is Marlon Bishop, Marie Garcia myself

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00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,360
Speaker 2: are co executive producers and I'm your host Bydiannie Prossac.

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Speaker 2: Join us again on our next episode. In the meantime,

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00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:09,880
Speaker 2: I'll see you on social media and remember not by

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00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:10,560
Speaker 2: yes By.

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Speaker 7: Latino USA is made possible in part by the Ford Foundation,

519
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:23,560
Speaker 7: working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide,

520
00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:29,040
Speaker 7: The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for more than fifty years,

521
00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:34,880
Speaker 7: advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world

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00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:40,160
Speaker 7: at Hewlett dot org, and the John D. And Catherine T.

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00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:41,280
Speaker 7: MacArthur Foundation