WEBVTT - I’m Not Dead 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:04.360 In nineteen eighty six, musician miguelan Qui Villavicencio was sitting 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:06.640 with his friends at a restaurant in a small town 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:11.160 in Anjapari, Bolivia's tropical region. At the time, this place 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:16.079 was also an epicenter for cocaine production. The owner of 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:19.919 the restaurant interrupts his conversation and tells miguelankle that someone 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:23.079 at the door is looking for him. He gets up slowly. 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:30.040 He starts walking toward the door, and the first bullet 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:32.360 went through his jaw before he even hit the ground. 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:36.519 The second bullet hit his spine. He lay stunned on 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:39.200 the ground, and when he tried getting up, he noticed 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:42.239 that his legs weren't responding. To make sure that he 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:53.000 was dead, the gunman fired two more times. 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:59.880 From Futromedia and PRX, It's Latino Usa, I'm Marieo Fosa, 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.360 a Bolivian drug smuggler and his long road to redemption. 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:07.040 Producer Andres Cabiro brings us the story of Bige lange 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:12.559 Via Vicencio, whose dreams of becoming the next Juliueglesias turned 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:23.120 into a personal battle for forgiveness and survival. Here's andres 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:25.760 with our story. It first aired in twenty nineteen. 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:28.679 His friends immediately threw him in the back of a 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:32.080 pickup and rushed him through the jungle to the nearest hospital. 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.280 And by the way, we hired an actor to translate 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:36.560 Migilanko's words. 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:39.040 Romo the Sangrado. 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:41.280 The most likely scenario was bleeding to death on the 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:43.959 way to the hospital. So when I realized that I 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:46.040 was about to die, I decided to have a conversation 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:49.640 with God. Imagine a drug smuggler speaking with God. But 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:52.680 that's what happens. The way I saw it, drug smuggling 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:54.440 was just the business. It wasn't a crime. 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:56.320 Escamo trafic. 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:04.640 And while he was bleeding to death, he managed to pray, money. 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:06.320 Don't let me die. You have to. 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:09.760 If you let me live, I promise I will dedicate 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:11.560 what's left in my life to serving you. 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:14.800 Forgive me. 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:21.600 Three decades later, Miguelankl is certain that the reason he's 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:24.120 even alive today is because of that prayer on the. 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:24.960 Way to the hospital. 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:29.840 He's convinced that that day God had mercy on him, 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:32.040 but the damage from the bullets that ripped through his 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:35.040 body left him without the use of his legs and 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:40.720 in a wheelchair permanently. These days, he visits churches all 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:44.720 over southern California, singing original songs about his spiritual awakening. 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:49.519 Migulankolis sits in an suv worked in front of a 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:52.400 church where he's often invited to sing. He's wearing a 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:55.280 button up shirt and a dark blazer, and he's waiting 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:57.799 for his son Louis to bring his wheelchair. 0:02:59.639 --> 0:02:59.679 In. 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:02.280 The pastor greets him and takes him in front of 0:03:02.280 --> 0:03:06.160 a congregation of about one hundred. Mighelanka scoots his wheelchair 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:09.360 up to the podium, puts on a pre recorded backing track, 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:24.960 and begins to sing. This song is called I'm Not Dead. 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:29.280 The lyrics talk about how God completely transformed him from 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:32.760 his old sinful ways in the drug business, that before 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:44.360 he was spiritually dead, but that now he's alive. When 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.320 Miguelan Hill was growing up in Bolivia, before he got 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:49.560 involved in the drug trade, he had always wanted to 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:52.600 be a singer, but back then he wasn't interested in 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:53.360 Christian music. 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:57.080 The Joe Abbia Gusta. 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:00.440 Ever since I was a kid, I've loved singing. I 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:01.800 always dreamed of becoming. 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:05.280 Famous Miguelankill was raised by his grandmother in LAPAs, one 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:08.560 of the biggest cities in Bolivia. When he was seventeen, 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:11.200 he started a band with his friends, and when that 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:15.560 group dissolved, he auditioned solo at Restaurante Losculos, which was 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:18.839 apparently the place to be for live music in LAPAs. 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:23.080 His first time singing at Lossculos, he recalls the presenter 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:28.440 going up on stage and saying, Mason estrada, ladies. 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:32.039 And gentlemen, Tonight at Restaurants Esculos, a new Bolivian star 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:32.640 is born. 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:36.920 With you, Miguel. 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:42.680 That night, Miguelankill took the stage wearing a flowered button 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:46.479 down a dark blazer in Photus from the time. He 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:49.159 has brown, wavy hair with sideburns that reached down to 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:49.839 his lower jaw. 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:53.960 And that night I sang Call. 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:06.400 People started clapping halfway through the song, and in that moment, 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:08.680 I knew that I would be a singer for the 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:10.080 rest of my days. 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:15.479 It's not hard to hear the roots of Migilanka's style. 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:20.600 Sandro the Latin American loved songs from the eighties and 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.960 nineties where a hair deeled Latin heart throw would work 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:28.240 the stage with those central performances unbuton shirts and so on, 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:35.000 and Migilanka starts doing really well as a singer. A 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:51.240 few years later, his songs were being played on the radio, 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:55.200 and then he even gets invited to the Francisco's saw Hiante, 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:59.000 a legendary Saturday night variety show in Latin America, which 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:03.320 was still based in Chile at the time. And even 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:06.000 though migue Lankill was on his way to national stardom, 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:09.000 Bolivia's music industry wasn't big enough to make him the 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:13.279 international sensation that he wanted to become. For that, he 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:16.880 needed to be in Mexico, Spain, the US and to 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:20.360 go to these places and to market himself. He needed money, 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:23.400 so he spoke to a friend whose family was in 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:25.159 the drug business. 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:28.440 By then, cocaine had become a thing in the US, 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:31.080 so I came to the conclusion that if I got 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:34.440 into drug trafficking, I could easily make a fortune. 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:39.679 His friend introduced him to Bolivia's most powerful drug cartel, 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:44.480 headed by Roberto Saris Gomez, also known as the Cocaine King. 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:53.160 Swatis came from a family of cattle ranchers, but when 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:55.919 the drug became popular in the US, he invested in 0:06:55.960 --> 0:07:01.960 coca plants and started producing cocaine. As consumer demand grew, 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:06.400 tons of cocaine were being produced in Bolivia. Roberto eventually 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:10.680 retired and handed control of the business to his nephew, Rocasuadres. 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:13.760 Remember that name, because it's going to be important. 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:19.400 Coombia and this man, Rge Rocasuadis became the main player 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:22.200 and business partner of Escobars made yin Cartel. 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:33.160 The coca leaf is everywhere in Bolivia. It's been used 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.640 for thousands of years by the Aimata in Quechua for 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:39.240 ceremonial purposes, and many people chew it daily to stay 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:42.480 awake or to get an energy kick. It's also good 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:45.800 for altitude sickness and to stay off hunger. At any 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:48.840 market in the cities, you'll likely see giant bushels of 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:52.800 coca leaves, and the countryside is filled with coca fields. 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:57.840 It's also, of course, the key ingredient in cocaine. Bolivia 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:00.600 quickly became one of the biggest suppliers of califs to 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:03.840 Columbia's cocaine labs, as well as a major producer of 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:08.800 cocaine itself. Migalankin remembers seeing the cocaine King's ranch for 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:09.480 the first time. 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.600 It was an incredible amount of drugs. I'd never seen 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:15.240 anything like it, he said. 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:18.080 The house was filled with piles of bags of cocaine base. 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.080 Back then, the cartel would sell it to the Colombians 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.640 for about nine thousand dollars per kilo. The Colombians would 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:26.640 then smuggle it and sell it in the US for 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:31.040 many times more. And so in the early eighties, Megelanki 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:34.520 started off by helping transport the merchandise by land or 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:37.959 by air, and later he became the guy who coordinated 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:39.920 bribes to local officials. 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:44.720 On people as an outsider. 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:47.400 Going by what you see on TV, the perception is 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:50.280 that smugglers are bad, violent men who are always talking 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:53.960 about killing and so on Bolivia and Colombian drug traffickers, 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:56.240 At least in those days, we're easy going guys who 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:57.000 were nice to talk to. 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.920 A few times Meguelankill came faith to face with Pablo. 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:08.440 Escobar Puantas Vesisi Sario, and. 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:12.400 Whenever he saw it necessary, he would get on one 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:14.439 of his private jets and go check on his business 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:15.520 associate in Bolivia. 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:19.200 On three occasions, I arrived to the ranch and there 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:22.480 he was. I would just say hi, shake his hands, 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:22.959 and that was it. 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:28.360 I see that he stands. Mister John demnos perrode none. 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:28.600 Of us. 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:35.319 To believe in smugglers. Escobar's business brought more than just 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:39.040 enormous wealth. It also brought scrutiny from the US Drug 0:09:39.280 --> 0:09:50.599 Enforcement Agency or DEA. The DEA had been operating in 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.959 Bolivia since the nineteen seventies, and they often worked with 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:57.480 the government to crack down on illicit coca plantations and trade, 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:00.480 but in the eighties and nineties, the u I started 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:04.400 going after the cartels more aggressively. To do that, they 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:08.000 had to work closely with local law enforcement, but sometimes 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:11.400 the cartels were also working with the police Guando. 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:15.839 When I arrived to work, there was already a special 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:18.240 anti drug trafficking force called the Leopards. 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:22.520 The Leopards were Bolivia's elite anti drug force, but they 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:27.320 were also known to take bribes, so we. 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:30.240 Started bribing the commander so that he would allow the drugs. 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:36.080 One day, Trocasuadis, the drug lord, asked Migilankill to deliver 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:39.520 a bribe to a commander. But according to Miguelankell, there 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:44.480 was a misunderstanding with grave consequences. He says he never 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:47.640 received the money to pay the commander off, so he 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.439 never ended up going through with the bribe. When the 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:53.120 police commander didn't get the money he was promised, he 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:55.760 got angry and retaliated with arrests and. 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:57.720 Academy. 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:00.319 I never had a chance to communicate with Guess what 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:02.480 is to tell him that I never received the money? 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:06.439 He assumed I stole, and without thinking twice, he sent 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:14.280 his own criminals to kill. They were criminals, but they 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:17.960 were also my friends. But that's how the drug business works. 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:21.200 You have no friends. You just have accomplices who at 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:23.840 any moment will turn on you after a simple order from. 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:26.880 The boss' contract. 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:30.840 Which brings us back to the day at the roadside 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:33.839 restaurant when a gunman walked in the door and fired 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:41.959 at him. That day, a bullet had shattered his teeth 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:45.319 and broken his jaw in two. While dying on the 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:47.839 way to the hospital, the first question that came to 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:49.000 his mind was. 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:52.839 Why I was a man who was doing things right. 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:56.520 I was an honest drug smuggler if the word honest 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:57.960 even fits in this type of activity. 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:07.599 Dentro demento Miguelankill made it to the hospital alive, but 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:10.120 he woke up without the use of his legs. He 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:12.640 was paralyzed from the waist down and he would have 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:15.120 to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:22.680 Fearing that Rocasuarees would send more hitman to finish the job, 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:27.000 Miguelankeell fled the country for several months. When he returned 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:30.280 to Bolivia, he was a changed man. He had found 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:35.280 God and now he was focused on two things. Number one, 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:39.200 writing gospel songs with lyrics that talked about peace and love, 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:43.559 and number two, fixing his wrongdoings and seeing if he 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:46.959 could help the authorities bring down the cartel. So he 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:49.719 decides to get in touch with Frank mccoliney, then the 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:51.600 head of the DEA in Bolivia. 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:56.440 Espanol concerto aso at I'm. 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:58.800 Speaking with a Gringo accent. He tells me that I'm 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:05.599 a criminal, So I replied, my dear friend, I was 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:08.360 once a criminal, but I am no longer, and that's 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:10.480 exactly why I want to work with you. 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:17.400 After the exchange, Mighilankle agreed to provide information about cartel 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:22.120 operations and to help build a case against strugg lords. Eventually, 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:25.520 Megilanki would have to testify against them at a US court. 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.080 In exchange, the DA would give him a cash salary, 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:33.040 find him a home, a car, and eventually they would 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:36.559 help him get situated in the US. According to Miguelankill, 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:39.120 he and his family were offered to be put on 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:42.679 the US government's Witness Security program, meaning they would be 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:46.520 relocated to an unknown place with a new identity for 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:50.599 their own safety. The offer, he says, was verbal, it 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:52.199 was never put down on paper. 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:55.240 It would help me find a job so I can 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:59.280 work like everyone else, and then I would completely disappear. 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:03.920 Once the DEA built a case against Rocasuadis, Mighilankill was 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:06.640 asked to help find out his location and tip off 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.600 the DEA with information on his whereabouts. Through his contacts 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:13.319 in the drug world, Miguelankill managed to track down a 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:16.719 flight that Rocasuadis would soon be boarding in Miami. He 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:19.280 then trace his movements all the way to the nineteen 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:21.920 bedroom mansion that he owned in Los Angeles. 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:27.640 They arrested him, and that's when I had to immediately. 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:28.320 Leave Oblivia. 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:38.800 Migailankin recalls quickly packing things up getting into a car 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.760 with his family and being escorted to the airport by 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:43.840 four DEA agents Losno. 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:50.240 One was less than five and the others round seven. 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:52.120 They didn't really know what was happening. 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:55.560 Luis, who is now in his thirties, was that five 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:56.040 year old. 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.800 I remember having to go from like one house to 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:03.040 the the other with my dad and my brothers days 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:07.440 before leaving Bolivia to come to the US. When you're 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:10.440 that small, and you think that's how the world functions, 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:14.560 and that's what I thought was normal. 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:20.360 And when the plane took off, I could finally breathe 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:27.040 peacefully because I knew that I was heading towards. But 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:29.240 I didn't know was that once I helped him put 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:31.800 this guy away, the DEA would eventually betray me. 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:49.680 Coming up on Latino, USA, the DEA sends me and 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:53.000 his family to the US, where he would testify against 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:57.160 the drug lord Ros in exchange for a better, safer 0:15:57.240 --> 0:16:04.120 life with his family, or so he thought. Stay with us, 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:21.080 not bays. Hey, we're back and we're going to continue 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:25.000 now with the story of Migelanghill, the Bolivian drug smuggler 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:29.680 turned religious singer. And when we left off, the DA 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:33.560 had taken Mielanghill to the US to seek protection and 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:38.360 to testify against his former boss, the drug lord Jorge Drocasuirez. 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:41.880 Producer Andres Cavaliro picks up the story now. 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:45.920 When Miguelankill and his family got to California in January 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.680 of nineteen ninety two, they started living in a hotel. 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:51.920 There was always agents around. They were pretty fun too. 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:56.880 Luis Milanka's youngest son, says that DEA agents would show 0:16:57.000 --> 0:16:59.920 up to give his dad surveillance equipment for monitoring drug 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:04.240 activity along the US Mexico border. They would also bring 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:05.960 big statues of cash for him. 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:09.000 To my understanding, I was part of my dad's job, 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:14.240 and I knew I couldn't say anything about anything. Our neighbors, 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:18.879 the kids would like talk about their parents and what 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:22.320 they did and stuff, and like I knew that I 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:25.760 couldn't mention anything about what my dad did. 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:29.960 The DEA finally got to my house while Miguelankill waited 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:34.000 to testify against Prokasuadis. By then he had been passed 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:37.520 on to another supervisor, which worried him because Frank, his 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:41.360 original contact in Bolivia, had his back. This new guy, 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:46.720 he didn't really get along with as much. By the 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:49.399 end of the year, it was time for Miguelankill to 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:55.280 finally testify against Jorge Ross, and there he was in 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:58.480 the same courtroom, waiting for the hearing to begin. 0:17:59.119 --> 0:17:59.959 And let me off him. 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.800 He looked me straight in the eyes, almost in disbelief 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:07.560 that I was there testifying against him. Of course, there 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:09.760 was the feeling of vengeance after someone orders he killed, 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:12.520 but those feelings went away after I became a Christian, 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:17.120 so in the end I just felt victory over him. 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:20.679 It was an act of justice. The Hostisia. 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:25.920 Miglankill didn't only talk about Rokasuaris. He also outed other 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:27.080 drug dealers in Bolivia. 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:32.359 Olivia frankament, if. 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:34.560 I had to go back to Bolivia, I honestly don't 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:36.360 know from which direction the bullet would come from. 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:41.920 In part because of Mielanka's testimonys, was eventually sentenced to 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:45.879 thirty five years in prison. In the eight months that followed, 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:50.320 communication with the DA started to slow down. Mighielanka started 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:53.920 to worry. They stopped responding to his calls his messages. 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:57.840 He helped the DA catch the big fish and they 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:01.760 disappeared on him. One day, two men showed up at 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:04.480 his house to pick up the surveillance equipment. They also 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:07.520 gave him the official notice that he no longer worked 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:18.560 for the DEA. After several weeks, Mighelanki says, the DEA 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:21.240 informed them that in the end, he would not be 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:27.480 referred to the witness Protection program. Miguelankhill was floored. Not 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:30.840 being placed in witness protection meant that after testifying for 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:34.680 the DEA, he was now on his own. Not only 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:36.440 would he have to hide out from the drug lords 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:38.960 who wanted him dead, he also had to avoid being 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:41.680 deported back to Bolivia because now that his job with 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:44.080 the da was over, his permission to be in the 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:47.640 United States would vanish as well. And it wasn't going 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:53.640 to be easy. We called the DEA and they declined 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:56.880 to comment on why Mighelankhill was discharged or about whether 0:19:56.960 --> 0:19:59.399 or not he was promised witness protection in the first place. 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:03.560 The Witness Protection program is officially called WITSEC, and the 0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:06.840 way it works is the DEA refers candidates for the 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:10.520 program to the US Department of Justice. It's the Attorney 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:13.680 General's office that makes the final decision to approve it 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:17.560 or not, so the DEA on their own doesn't have 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:20.480 the power to guarantee that somebody will make it into 0:20:20.560 --> 0:20:23.879 the program. In two thousand and three, a professor at 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:27.040 the University of Nebraska did a study looking at cases 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:31.000 of foreign informants in the witness Security program. He found 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:33.959 a number of instances of informants who said the DEA 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:37.040 did not keep verbal promises to place them in the program. 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:40.000 And because of the language of the Witness Security law, 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:44.320 US agents can make promises to potential witnesses without any 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:48.320 legal obligations to follow through. And even if agents aren't 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:52.320 purposefully trying to deceive witnesses, given the complexity of the process, 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:57.240 there's a lot of room for misunderstandings. Miglanka said he 0:20:57.320 --> 0:20:59.960 would have never worked with the Americans unless they offer 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:02.760 for him and his family protection once it was all over, 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:05.240 and even though he didn't have it in writing, he 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:07.359 just went with it, trust him that in the end 0:21:07.760 --> 0:21:12.400 the DEA would take care of him. Frank, the former 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:15.320 agent in Bolivia, is the only person who can verify 0:21:15.440 --> 0:21:19.520 Migilankil's claim that the DEA promised him witness protection. We 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:22.440 try to contact Frank multiple times. We even try to 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:24.880 relay a message through a family member, but he never 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:28.800 got back to US. Now out of a job and 0:21:28.880 --> 0:21:32.200 without legal status in the US, Miguelankl had to figure 0:21:32.240 --> 0:21:35.320 out what to do next. He and his wife were 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:39.000 already having marital problems, and they eventually split up. She 0:21:39.119 --> 0:21:42.359 took the older kids and he left with his youngest son, Luis, 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:43.200 to Virginia. 0:21:43.800 --> 0:21:47.640 De kekomer I had to figure out how to start 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:48.160 a new life. 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:49.760 How was that going to eat? 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:52.199 Me on a wheelchair being pushed by a seven year 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:54.320 old child to help me get to the nearest food 0:21:54.359 --> 0:21:56.800 bank translating for me forget about it. 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:01.840 Once Mighilankill used up all of his savings, he and 0:22:01.960 --> 0:22:05.000 Louise went on the lamb. They started sleeping in people's 0:22:05.000 --> 0:22:08.639 garages at churches. They eventually rented a room where they 0:22:08.720 --> 0:22:13.600 ended up staying more permanently. One afternoon, someone showed up 0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:17.159 at their door. Louise had just gotten home from school. 0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:20.399 He goes to the door and sees two men dressed 0:22:20.480 --> 0:22:21.160 up as plumbers. 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:24.040 They knock on the door and I'm like hi, and 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:28.359 they're like, oh, we're plumbers. The owner sent us, dude, 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:30.720 I'm a kid. There's no way I'm letting you in 0:22:30.800 --> 0:22:32.840 my house because you said the owner said, even if 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:36.399 the owner came, there's no way you're coming in, you know. 0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:38.840 So I was like till I'll be right back, you know. 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:41.480 I locked the door. I go upstairs to my dad 0:22:41.520 --> 0:22:44.720 and I'm like, hey, plumbers are here, but my dad 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:45.760 was like, yeah, let them in. 0:22:46.240 --> 0:22:49.240 According to Louise, the men look at his dad and 0:22:49.400 --> 0:22:51.960 ask him if his name was mighe lan xel Vievi 0:22:52.080 --> 0:22:53.040 sents you yea. 0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:54.720 I told him yes. 0:22:55.160 --> 0:22:58.880 They were I INS agents in disguise. Today they're known 0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:02.119 as Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE agents. 0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:05.840 We're here to detain you after getting work, that you 0:23:05.960 --> 0:23:06.960 are a dangerous criminal. 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:13.359 And that's when my dad tells the agent, if you 0:23:13.520 --> 0:23:17.200 arrest me and you deport me, then they're going to 0:23:17.280 --> 0:23:20.200 kill me in my country for serving your nation. And 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:23.280 that kind of shocked the agent a little. 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:26.359 The officer asks if he had any proof of what 0:23:26.440 --> 0:23:29.920 he was saying. Megilankle brings his passport and he shows 0:23:29.960 --> 0:23:32.919 them the special visa that DA had issued years earlier 0:23:33.119 --> 0:23:34.280 when they brought him to the US. 0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:39.119 This isn't a regular visa, it's one that you get 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:41.560 when you work for the government. The man looked at 0:23:41.600 --> 0:23:43.600 me and said, yes, that's what it looks like. 0:23:44.119 --> 0:23:48.000 Megilankin says that the immigration officers decided not to detain 0:23:48.119 --> 0:23:50.240 him that afternoon, but they said that he would have 0:23:50.400 --> 0:23:58.560 to fight his deportation in court. According to court documents, 0:23:58.880 --> 0:24:02.080 Megailankel was charged for being an alien who is not 0:24:02.280 --> 0:24:05.840 in possession of an entry document. The charges also stated 0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:08.560 that the government had reason to believe he had been 0:24:08.720 --> 0:24:13.600 an illicit trafficker or assisted illicit trafficking of a controlled substance. 0:24:18.760 --> 0:24:21.040 To Mighi Lanki, it looked like he was being double 0:24:21.119 --> 0:24:23.800 crossed by the DEA. They were the only ones who 0:24:23.880 --> 0:24:27.320 knew about his history in the drug trade. On the 0:24:27.400 --> 0:24:30.400 day of the hearing at immigration court, Mighi Lanka says 0:24:30.600 --> 0:24:33.320 that the government's attorney claimed to have spoken with the 0:24:33.359 --> 0:24:35.479 DEA about their relationship. 0:24:35.000 --> 0:24:37.480 With him, and. 0:24:39.760 --> 0:24:41.400 No loco, no semos. 0:24:41.960 --> 0:24:44.560 What did the agents say from the start, He never 0:24:44.800 --> 0:24:47.080 worked for us, We don't know him. 0:24:47.560 --> 0:24:50.520 And my dad and I were just like, what these 0:24:50.760 --> 0:24:55.040 agents that would go to my house they don't know him. 0:24:55.840 --> 0:24:58.119 In my head, I was you're kidding, right, this is 0:24:58.200 --> 0:25:01.879 a joke. No, he never worked for the DEA. 0:25:02.600 --> 0:25:05.560 Mighlankil then gives the judge a copy of a document 0:25:05.640 --> 0:25:09.080 he held onto an informal contract signed by he and 0:25:09.200 --> 0:25:12.639