NYT Reporter Explains What It Took To Embed With The Sinaloa Cartel: 'They Want To Talk Once They Trust You'

A New York Times reporter who embedded with the Sinaloa Cartel to detail how the group traffics fentanyl into the U.S. described how she managed to get the trust from the organization.

Speaking to the outlet she works for, Paulina Villegas said it's "incredibly valuable for our readers to better understand how this drug trade has become what it is today."

She went on to say that it is "far too simplistic to see cartels only as ruthless criminals" even though "they are that, of course, and must be held accountable for the violence and devastation they've caused."

However, Villegas did not that, in her view, "it's important to hear the cartel's side." "Doing that is high risk and I'm perfectly aware of that, but I think it's incredibly valuable for our readers to better understand how this drug trade has become what it is today."

Villegas said operations in which she was embedded were ridden with tension, including from cartel members. "When the cartel was preparing the packages and loading the vehicles at night, everyone was nervous," she said.

Asked why she believed operatives ended up speaking with her, she claimed that the situation on the ground is "very tense" at the moment, especially considering that the Claudia Sheinbaum administration is "facing a lot of pressure from the Trump administration to crack down on the cartel and to dismantle the criminal groups and stem the flow of fentanyl."

"I think they want to talk once they trust you, once they see that we're doing our homework and committed to getting the story right. There's also an element of them boasting a bit about their capacities, power, money and influence," she added.

Villegas published a report earlier this month detailing how fentanyl is smuggled into the U.S. Last year she also explained how the drug is produced in clandestine laboratories across Mexico, even drawing a rebuke from Sheinbaum, who said was not truthful.