>> i'm natalie morales and this is "dateline. " >> it's pitch black. we locked eyes there just for a split-second. he was stunned, he was frightened, he had no idea what hit him. he knew that we had him. >> he was untouchable. ruthless,

lawless, murderous. he was willing to kill whoever he needed to kill. >> the drug lord, el chapo. >> the most wanted fugitive besides osama bin laden. >> they said, no one will ever catch him. >> but him in this team did it in the most astonishing way. >> surprise you? >> i could not believe it. >> the american agent who helped capture el chapo comes out of the shadows. >> i did not know who we would be able to trust. >> exclusive details of this white-knuckle man hunt. >> we would jump out of the back of the helicopter, pure chaos. >> pictures seen here for the first time. secret drug dens, hidden escape rooms. >> it was like harry houdini. every single time we got close, the chopper would escape. >> it was beyond imagination. >> to catch the bad guy, you have to become the bad guy. >> you are inside this real life thriller. >> this is it. he is there. >> he is there. >> it was like living in a movie. >> hello, and welcome to

dateline. he was the infamous kingpin who inspired fear amongst criminals and law enforcement, on both sides of the border. his name was el chapo. for over a decade, he evaded authorities by disappearing into a secret network of tunnels built under his many safehouses. but one man was determined to capture the fugitive and would lead his team to great lengths, even risk his own life to get the job done. here is lester holt with inside the hunt for el chapo. >> he was hiding. somewhere in these forbidden mountains. or, in this sprawling city. or, in this sun-splashed beach resort. somewhere. somewhere, in mexico. he was the most wanted drug lord in the world, implicated in hundreds of murders, and finding him became the dangerous mission of this man, and a team of u.s. and mexican

law enforcement agents. >> i am pretty sure i never started interview off with a question i am about to ask you. you are chasing some really bad people, with really long memories. what are you doing, talking to me in front of these cameras? >> originally, i started out under an alias. >> for the first time ever, this former dea agent was coming out of the shadows, despite fears for his life. >> the danger is real, right? >> i have to watch my back, the same way, whether i was under an alias, or using my real name. >> is it a calculated risk? >> i am always calculating it, in my head. it was time to step up and be proud of what i had done, of what my teammates had done. >> his name is drew hogan, facing incredible odds, him and his team put their lives on the line to stop an elusive pray. we go inside drew's hunt as he pursues el chapo from safe house to safe house. and finally, comes face to face. >> it is not just a story about one man. it is larger than that, it is two countries, coming together, accomplishing something that

everyone thought was impossible. >> he recounts that journey in his book, hunting el chapo. in the book for security reasons, he changed the names of some people and places. we blurred the faces of others who are still working in the field. because for all of them, danger lurked around every curve in the road. >> we will always have that in the back of your mind. because what do you do with that fear? >> what he did was obsess over el chapo and his whereabouts. >> it was non stop, nonstop. i would dream about it, it would totally consume my life. >> drew hogan's international odyssey on the hunt for el chapo started far from mexico's narco killing fields. a small town in the midwest, where he played high school football, and dreamed of going into law enforcement. >> your first shot and carrying a badge was as a local sheriff

deputy? >> right, working the street. one day, i was working with a buddy of mine, a foreign police officer and you said hey, why do you not just go into chicago, test for the dea? >> the dea the united states drug enforcement administration. he joined in 2007 at the age of 25. his new job brought him to a border city in the southwestern united states. his first order of business was to learn about the mexican narco culture. this included songs like ''el niño de la tuna'', a ballad about el chapo. his mentor was an undercover agent that drew calls, in the book, diego. >> as his friends named him to me, i started to really understand what was behind these songs, and really connected the dots for me. sort of like a who is who of that world. >> he is, these are like modern-day outlaws?

>> absolutely. el chapo was at the very top. >> el chapo, el chapo. real name, joaquín guzmán. the city of chicago named him public enemy number one for his role in bringing in tons of drugs which were sold on the streets of the u.s.. his coauthor, doug century. >> he was a very ruthless and murderous guy. let's not sugarcoat that. he rose to power, though, on his ability to deliver huge amounts of cocaine. and he was the guy who could deliver. he invented the narco tunnel. >> the narco tunnel. the ubiquitous tunnels, burrowed underneath the u.s. mexico border, that the cartels used to smuggle vast quantities of drugs into the u. s.. his rise from abject poverty, to running one of the most powerful drug syndicates on the planet, which had thousands of members and spanned the globe, made el chapo a folk hero in mexican culture. >> he was a little boy who sold

oranges on the street, and then rises from absolute nothing. cannot read or write is completely illiterate, and he becomes a billionaire. this is extremely captivating as a mythology for poor, working people in a very impoverished country. >> he started in the drug trade in the 1970s, and was arrested in 1993. but el chapo who was able to run his cartel from a high security mexican prison, for eight years. and then, in 2001, his legend grew when he escaped, hidden in a laundry cart. >> the way he escaped was like, like a movie. >> telemundo's julio vaqueiro has covered mexico's drug wars and el chapo for years. >> him being able to embarrassing authorities, i think this is what, i mean, it is pure gold for a legend, right? >> el chapo was the master of bribery. he spent millions of dollars a year, secretly dueling out cash

to every branch of the mexican government, so officials would turn a blind eye to his criminal enterprise. >> with el chapo, the truth and reality is that, more than 200,000 people have died because of this war on drugs. and more than 20,000 people who have disappeared. >> ensconced in his safe houses, el chapo remained free for years, and seemed on touch-able by the time drew hogan join the dea. >> there have been so many felt attempts throughout the year, where el chapo would escape out the back door. >> he was wired into his law enforcement? >> absolutely, at every moment. >> the u.s. and mexican agents never gave up on capturing el chapo, a 30 year veteran of the dea, derek maltz ran the special operations unit, and oversize agents efforts to

bring the drug lord to justice. >> even though they were unsuccessful in the sense of capturing el chapo, they were very successful in developing intelligence, the knowledge of how his cartels worked, operated. >> drew haugen and diego first joined the hunt with a daring move, by infiltrating el chapo 's sinaloa cartel. >> when did he get on your radar in a way that you thought, i might be able to get him, i could hunt him? >> that would have been 2010, 2011, where diego and i started to move sinaloa cartel money. >> him and diego worked as part of a task force. the ego was a local detective, not a federal agent like drew. these are photos, taken during their operations. diego passed himself off as a big time operator, as drew coordinated behind the scenes. by doing this, they were risking their lives. >> you guys were playing the role of money launderers, right? >> diego was in his undercover role, posing as director of operations of a covert criminal network, but had access to airplanes, trucks, yachts that we could move millions of dollars at a time in, and tons of quantities of drugs at any point. that was our sales pitch.

>> that was their pitch, and they were successful. for instance, see those fedex boxes? they contained nearly one point $2 million destined for el chapo's operations. drew and yeager were getting inside the belly of the beast. >> coming up. >> were you actually reading their texts? >> every single one of them. >> drew hogan moves closer to el chapo. and his family moved deeper into danger. >> my wife knew everything we were getting ourselves into. >> when dateline continues. >> by 2011, dea gent drew hogan was part of the hunt for --

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they acted as money launderers and each step of the way, as they move cash, they found a new target to exploit. getting them closer to the top. >> as diego and i landed in a new location, we would immediately hit the streets. we would go out that night, hitting the different bars and hotels and clubs to -- -- >> try not to look like agents? >> exactly. >> they were playing a very dangerous game. and drew was becoming obsessed, obsessed with tracking down el chapo. drew felt he went as far as he could in the u.s.. he needed to immerse himself south of the border. he made a decision to move to mexico city with his young family. >> i talked with my wife extensively. she knew everything we were getting ourselves into. and she told me, what's your gut telling you? and i said, to go. to go. let's do it. >> leaving diego back in the states, drew and his family arrived in mexico city in may,

2012. he and the team were now stalking one of the most powerful criminals in the world on el chapo's own turf. >> it's just like, who's watching me? it could be anybody from chapas people to the local cartel around mexico city, to street facts, or even the mexican government. >> he worked in a cluttered cubicles at the u.s. embassy in mexico city. during long days and nights, he barely saw his family. drew's attention was focused on the mountain range far to the west. the sierra madre. it's known as mexico's lawless land.

el chapo's home base, the mexican city of sinaloa comprises part of it. culiacan, the biggest city there, is the reputed narco capital of mexico. and el chapo essentially owns the town. >> it would be like in the heyday of prohibition when al capone completely owned chicago. for somebody to come into just try and throw handcuffs on a couple. >> it was a police were king pins who died in mexico's drug wars were policed in the large ornate tunes. they seemed to stand as reminders of the violence and the danger that engulfed the city. >> i think it's very dangerous. those areas are completely controlled by the drug cartels. >> but drew was relentless. for instance, just before he arrived in mexico, he came upon a treasure trove of evidence. el chapo had left his safety even for this mansion in kabul

st. lucas. it was raided by mexican law enforcement. el chapo got away. there were key scraps of paper, notebook and phones left behind. with phone numbers and drew can target. >> you can't just target the man himself. you have to target his entire infrastructure. that means is pilots, his facilitator, his career years, his wives, his girlfriends, his sons. down to his made, his cook. it began with his two most trusted pilots. >> pilots who had would swoop el chapo in and out of his hideouts under cover of darkness. it was a big discovery. drew learned an agent from homeland security investigations back in the states, who he calls brady, had also uncovered the pilots numbers. >> he came back and said that, oh my gosh, this could be a

gold mind. and we just leave again vowing intelligence back and force. him up in the states and we down in mexico. >> drew and the team knew el chapo usually didn't carry a phone himself, that was always with an underling who did. so, they thought if they could track the phone of el chapo's closest associates, they would find el chapo himself. but making things more difficult was that el chapo's people kept changing what are called burner phones disposable phones used a short time and then tossed away. man. do you have to go back to square one every time they toss them? >> if they drop the phones all at the same time. yes. but there's hundreds of people in this organization and they're not all dropping their phones at the same time.

>> i tossed my phone now, she tosses her phone tomorrow. your three days later. that was their weakness, right? >> right. >> it's not registered in anyone's main, how we able to identify where these communications were coming from? >> through the names that they were using. they were very open in their communications. >> it was a big mistake by el chapo's operation. drew and the team could now track them, and the cartel operatives had no idea. >> they didn't think that those communications could be intercepted by u.s. law enforcement. >> were you actually reading their texts? >> every single one of'em. >> could you tell where they were coming from and whether you were in fact seeing communications directly from el chapo? >> yes. it took us awhile to infiltrate this mirror structure that they had set up. >> a mirror structure, a ladder of phones belonging to el chapo's underlings, climbing to the top, from third tier, maybe a runner, to second tier, perhaps a driver, and so on. u.s. angelique cracked the code? >> cracked the code. >> it was a high point in the search, after years of hunting,

el chapo was in their sights. at last. >> coming up -- >> chapo knew instantly somebody was corrupt. >> drew hogan smells a rat and makes a move. >> we had to go into enemy territory and root him out. >> a bold strike with deadly stakes. >> the city is lighting up. it's on fire. something is not right. >> when "dateline" continues.

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the base of operations for the sinaloa cartel. and in 2013, fortunes for the world's most dangerous drug lord, el chapo. --

>> this is culiacán, mexico. the base of operations for the sinaloa cartel. and in 2013, fortunes for the world's most dangerous drug lord, el chapo. by tracing the burner phones used by el chapo's underlings, the dea's drew hogan was zeroing in on his target. >> all that mattered this entire time was his location. where was he at? that was the only question i wanted answered. >> as you realized, you were building this ladder, potentially to el chapo, what was that like? and you read the messages? >> read the messages, piecing together the structure of his organization, his day-to-day operations. >> must have been an eye opener? >> it was like reading a novel you could not put down. >> culiacán. does not sound like a place the dea or even mexican authorities could easily infiltrate.

this was a stronghold, for so long. you had the information with, what could you do at that moment? >> once i knew that he was in culiacán, i had to find another location. it was far too dangerous to actually go into culiacán and root him out. we thought it would be an absolute bloodbath. >> then, a break. christmas eve, 2013. obsessed with his mission, drew hogan once again sacrificed time with his family to continue the hunt. he worked with brady, his colleague from homeland security investigations back in the states. together, they tracked phones of el chapo's closest associates, knowing that el chapo would likely be with them, and putting their locations on google maps. >> we have seen him come down out of culiacán, to a remote location. we were trying to pinpoint it. after hours of searching on google maps, we found it. >> it was a location where they saw tiny shelters known as palapas in the middle of

nowhere. el chapo was camped out at a place known for duck hunting. >> where he would come down, meet with his most trusted lieutenants, sons, just for a few hours. then, he would head back to the city. once we had that location, it was our x and i nicknamed it, "duck dynasty". >> drew now knew that el chapo was venturing outside his fortress city of culiacán. this was the best shot they might have ever had. him and his partners pushed their superiors. and a decision was made. they would grab el chapo at "duck dynasty". >> now you have them in your sights, i'm assuming this is not an operation that you could pull off by yourselves? >> no, we cannot do anything as the united states government, without the host nation. from the beginning, i did not

know who we would be able to trust with this. i had not shared anything with the mexican government. the only unit i could do that with, where i had some level of trust, was the mexican marines. >> they are the elite? >> really. >> semar, the mexican marines, had a sterling reputation for integrity, and the ability to keep a secret. but this time, something went wrong. >> as soon as we met, i provided el chapo's location, this "duck dynasty" location to them. but the second that they moved resources up to sinaloa, he knew instantly. >> you saw that in your intercepts? >> yes. >> how did you feel? >> devastated. it was an eerie feeling. >> the team had been betrayed. but nobody knew who did it or why. >> you still wanted him? was plan b to re-focus on

culiacán? >> so, the heat around "duck dynasty" deterred him from coming around. he stayed holed up in his safe house were sent 90% of his time in culiacán, and he was not coming out. >> it is the last place you would want to have to go get, right? >> right. >> brady had flown to mexico to join drew in person. the clock was ticking. because of the leak, el chapo now knew something big was about to go down. the team had no choice. >> we had to make a move. and that move was to go into enemy territory and root him out. >> the task force leaders approved a bold action, to do what they did not want to do, and strike at el chapo in his fortress city, culiacán. >> you went in with the mexican marines into culiacán. they had to trust him? >> right. >> truth was recording on his cell phone as the operation began. >> this particular operation in february, 2014 was the first time that the mexican marines had ever done an operation, on the ground in this area. because of the danger, the compromises, the risks involved. >> laser focused on their mission, drew, brady and the team had narrowed down the location of el chapo to a one block radius. but, they needed to find the right house, and a specific door to get at him. >> so, we sent our teams down there to do that. they spent 24 hours in that city, alone, trying to pinpoint that door. >> drew and the rest of the team waited at a nearby military base for the call to come in, that the location of el chapo had been pinin the m a buzz. flying amongst the peopl c right. neig>> you slept in one of his ? >> i did. we slept in his bed, ate the>> .

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i'm natalie morales. dea agents, drew hogan had spent years on the hunt for el chapo, known as the world's most dangerous drug lord. he and his colleagues colleagues headed to the search to one block radius in culiacán, mexico. a town deep inside enemy territory. now, a team of mexican marines and the u.s. agents was on the ground to. determined to strike before he could escape again. here again is lester holt "inside the hunt for el chapo." >> february 16th, 2014. as drew was waiting at a

military base, 150 miles away mexican of the u.s. team had gathered the hornets nest of culiacán. it's nest of narco kingpin, el chapo guzman. they've been on the ground, exposed for 24 hours, and still hadn't located the exact safehouse where el chapo hold up in. >> i got a call from the ground team and they said look, this isn't working. everyone's tired, hungry, we're exhausted. >> time was running out. >> we've got one option left. el chapo most trusted courier. go find him. >> they did. and sure enough, he flipped on his boss and agreed to lead them to el chapo's five safe houses. >> a squad of more than 50 mexican marines and u.s. agents swarmed the area. drew and brady flew in from the

base with another contingent of mexican marines. drew much of the operation on his phone. >> i said, perfect. it's done. he is done. >> what followed was a tense cat and mouse game. as the mexican marines redid el chapo's safe houses and stash pads throughout culiacán, in search of their prize. >> first message that comes in from my guy says, cameras everywhere. the place is a fortress. >> drew understood that when he and brady arrived at one of the safe houses. >> i see the steel reinforced door. it's about six inches thick. it took the team of marines 10 to 15 minutes to get through that door.

>> these images inside those safe revealed details about el chapo's drug operation and his life underground. like these fake green bananas that drew says the cartel filled with putin and smuggled across the border. they also found tons of drugs and scores of weapons, including el chapo's price possession, this jewel encrusted handgun with his initials on it. that's drew holding it. and drew uncovered another of el chapo's signature items. you write in the book that you help yourself to one of his hats? >> i did. i found one going through one of his safe houses up in the closet. essentially my only souvenir of the hunt. >> what was your impression of the sea of houses and the way he was a living? >> i was surprised. he really afforded himself no luxuries.

each safehouse was the same type of construction. very basic. walmart style plastic tables. >> not the lavish trappings of a drug kingpin? >> no. not at all. >> and there was something else. all the safe houses had in common. >> every single one of them had a tunnel underneath the bathtub, which connected to the city sewer system. >> when they saw the tunnels, they knew. >> he's gone. i don't know where he's at. >> it was a crushing blow. a low point. tunnels. el chapo's trademark. expertly engineered. accessed by a secret switch that was activated hydraulic lifts under the bathtub. here's video of drew and brady inside one of those tunnels. el chapo was long gone. no sign of him. it was time to regroup while agents in the u.s. work to locate el chapo, drew and the

team we did in culiacán. it exhausted and on edge, they spent four days continuing to dismantle dismantle el chapo's criminal from within his stronghold. you slept in one of his beds? >> i did. several of them. we hit the safehouses. we needed something to say and the marines turned them into their bases. we slept in his beds. we went to the kitchen and ate the food out of his refrigerator. i popped open a pacifico, a beer out of his fridge. >> it must have been surreal sitting there in his living room, drinking his beer, sleeping on his bed. >> yeah, it was almost like, you know, i had become him in a way. >> but el chapo was counting and elusive. mentally, had you almost caught him at that point? >> yes. we're so close i can taste it. >> coming up -- >> we locked eyes first split second. >> at last, the hunter and the hunted come face to face. >> every single time you got close, chapo guzman would escape. he's like a hurry houdini. >> who had the ace up his sleeve this time? >> surprise you? >> i couldn't believe it. >> when "dateline" continues.

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someone he trusted, the dea, armed with information from another case track to the cell phone of the campaign chief enforcer, picudo. >> he had driven at a high rate of speed from culiacán down to mazatlán. turned around, and came right back to culiacán. >> you have actually seen the location of where that phone is? >> yes. >> did you see it go from culiacán to mazatlán quickly? and then return? no other mission other than to take el chapo to safety? >> right. >> a famous beach resort on the mexican coast that has attracted thousands of u.s. tourists a year. it was just a two hour drive from culiacán. drew hogan and the team were ready to go, but they needed a plan first. >> we could not take 300 marines down to mazatlán. he would know we are coming in an instant. >> instead, they would stick into mazatlán under the radar

of el chapo's vast network of look outs. his, halcones, his hawks. >> we would buy civilian clothes, t-shirts, flip flops and we were tourists. >> trying not look like an invading army at this point? >> right. we all left at different times in the city, from different locations. >> they still did not know where in mazatlán el chapo was holdup. >> we were about halfway to mazatlán, and he just finds that top tier number. and we paying it, from the back seat. and it is on the coast. >> what is it pointing to? >> it is pointing to a place called miramar, in the middle of the sea, like this is it, this is where he is at. >> they had trapped el chapo's top tier underling to this building, miramar. they would soon find out if el

chapo was with him. >> we set the operation for 5:30 in the morning. >> more than a decade of collective investigative work had come down to a predawn raid in the tourist heart of the city. the whole team, suited back up in military gear. >> tell me how it went from that point? >> we came in, right up to the front of the hotel, got out. the marines began filtering inside. i was standing out front in camouflage, wearing a black ski mask. at this time, i had el chapo's black ball cap on my head. >> they determined that el chapo was likely holed up on the fourth floor. knowing him and his bodyguards were most certainly armed, the team was worried the operation would turn into a firefight, catching civilians in and around the apartment building in the deadly cross fire. >> i was worried about our

perimeter. we did not have enough manpower. so i wanted to stay outside. >> to watch as lights flipped on in the building. the mexican marines have begun to make their entrance. >> this is when i heard the excited radio chatter. when i ran up to the guy who had the radio and said, what did they say? he said, they got the target. they got him. >> him. el chapo. drew had spent four years hunting el chapo. he had weathered the danger and anxiety of stalking him on his own turf, had sacrificed countless hours with his family. and finally, he was about to come face to face with the object of his obsession. drew drove his armored car into the garage. >> you are about to pick up el chapo? >> yes. i run over to him, i jump into his face, and the first thing that comes to my mind, i go, what is up chapo? and his eyes bulged out of his

head, we locked eyes for a split second. i put him into my vehicle, in the back seat. that is when i told him to turn around, look at me. i took a couple of pictures and that was it. he was done. >> as i listen to you tell the story, i find myself shocked this was not a bloodbath. there was no dramatic shoot out. in fact, no shots were fired at all, where there? >> none. >> did this surprise you? >> i could not believe it, i could not believe it. we could have ended up in a gunfight. at every door, every raid. driving around every corner. and it did not happen. >> a mexican marine helicopter met the convoy and picked up their prize catch, flying him to a nearby military base. >> drew and brady recorded their celebration on drew's

phone. back at the base, drew again pulled out his phone. here he is with brady, posing next to a blindfolded el chapo. and drew caught a few moments of el chapo's interrogation by the mexican marines. >> [speaking spanish] >> hard to believe, but he was the world's most dangerous drug lord, complaining about his teeth. and with el chapo finally in custody, there was one person that drew wanted to talk to. his wife. >> i had not talked to her in days. and i grabbed my phone, i send a quick text and i said, i got him. and she writes back, no way! and i said yes, i am coming home. >> the job was over? >> that was it. >> tonight, the world top drug lord is in custody after decades on the run. >> the news of his capture reverberated around the world. >> to grab el chapo guzmán

after years of a man hunt is like the houdini out there, evading law enforcement, every single time you've got close, chapo guzmán would escape. so basically, it was an amazing success for everyone. >> drew flew back to mexico city. mission accomplished. but then, the unthinkable. >> coming up. >> i just felt a wave wash over me. >> one more houdini move, and one wild last stand. >> he was always one step ahead. >> when dateline continues. and can help you breathe better in as little as 2 weeks. dupixent is an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma that's not for sudden breathing problems. dupixent can cause allergic reactions that can be severe. get help right away if you have rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath,

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the extraordinary capture of el chapo, dea agent drew hogan returned to his desk at the u. s. embassy. >> i had this feeling, just this empty feeling. i was completely hallow. and i expected to be doing cartwheels

up and down the hall, but i wasn't. >> drew could not understand why he was suddenly depressed. >> i felt almost like i was placed at dea to do this, and then once it was done, that was it, it was time for me to go. >> eight months later special agent drew hogan walked away from the dea and left mexico with his family. he got a job in the private sector and that was supposed to be the end of a story. then 17 months after el chapo's capture. >> i was in the backseat of a taxicab in rome on my way to the airport headed to new york city to meet with my literary agent about this story when my wife sent me a text. she writes, "c" is out, he just escaped. " >> "c", chapo. he had escaped from prison again. drew's head was spinning. >> and i just felt a wave wash over me there in the backseat of that taxicab not knowing what was right anymore. i

couldn't believe it. he was always one step ahead. >> turns out it was all caught on tape. mexican authorities had installed a security camera in el chapo's cell as a precaution. >> you see el chapo just walking back and forth inside the cell, and then you suddenly stop seeing him. he just disappears off the frame, and that's when he left. >> as the world learned, el chapo escaped through a tunnel dug right under the prison and up in into his cell. the job to retake him was now in the hands of the mexican marines and virtually the same group of u. s. agents minus drew. but this time they weren't starting from scratch. >> they understood his organization. they understood the network. they understood the movements. he wasn't as clever as he thought. >> learning from and building on the 2014 playbook, the mexican and u. s. team cornered el chapo on january 8th, 2016, just six months after he escaped. but this time he didn't go down without a fight. and it was wild. this helmet cam footage shot by a mexican marine captured the operation as it quickly devolved into a shootout, killing five of el chapo's man and injuring one marine. el chapo was once again in custody. and this time quietly extradited to the united states. in february 2019, guzman was convicted on all ten charges against him including

engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit murder. he was sentenced to life plus 30 years in an american prison. he has filed an appeal, but the drug wars rage on. el chapo's arrest did not stem the flow of narcotics across the u. s. border, and there were nearly 30,000 murders in mexico in 2017. at the time, a record for that country. most of the killings were linked to drug violence, and the cartels are evolving, becoming key suppliers of the fentanyl that is wreaking havoc on the streets of america. >> enforcement is only one piece of the problem, right? i'm very confident that we've made a difference. but the reality is, is that unless you stop the demand, these young kids that are getting addicted that have no idea what they're taking, this is going to be a very long battle. it starts

with the schools, the educators. we need to have a full court blitz on this problem. >> even though he left the dea in 2014, drew still has security concerns. afraid? >> no. i wouldn't say afraid. just hyper aware, ready for anything. >> and ready for his place in law enforcement history. a dea agent who was obsessed with the hunt for the most wanted drug lord in the world. >> i think that's where people had gotten caught up before is they just become almost infatuated with the man, with the legend, with the myth. and for me that was never the case. it was about the challenge. it was about the hunt. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie, thank you for watching.

>> suddenly, there was a man with his arm around my neck and a gun to my head. i shoved my purse into his chest and i said, "jesus, save me. " and the bullet shot me right in the head, and i went down.