Former Shot Caller for the Sinaloa Cartel Reveals America’s New Strategies Against Cartels with Margarito "Jay" Flores, Jr

May 14, 2025

Sealing borders won't resolve the fentanyl crisis unless we rethink how domestic trafficking can be disrupted.

In this episode, we welcome back Margarito "Jay" Flores, Jr. —a former Sinaloa cartel kingpin turned law enforcement educator—to dive deeper into the operations behind the illicit fentanyl trade that's taken thousands of U.S. lives each year. With cartels now designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, the U.S. is taking a harder stance, but Jay and Michael explore if policy is enough if we don't also confront the networks operating in our own neighborhoods.

We also discuss:

Why labeling cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations could shift the legal landscape of drug enforcement in America.
How fentanyl reaches U.S. communities, and why most traffickers don't look like the stereotype.
The importance of treating domestic distribution networks with the same urgency as international ones.
Why prevention, education, and empathy must be part of any long-term solution to the opioid crisis.

Listen and subscribe on your favorite podcast player:

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Views expressed in this material are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Rigaku Analytical Devices.

To make sure you never miss an episode of The Opioid Matrix, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the website, or your favorite podcast player here: https://plinkhq.com/i/1625927161?to=page

Michael Brown

Michael W. Brown is the global director of counter-narcotics technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices. He has a distinguished career spanning more than 32 years as a Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He served as the country attaché in India and Myanmar; During his tour in Myanmar, he provided foreign advisory support for counter narcotic enforcement that, to date, has resulted in the interdiction of over US$250 million in precursor chemicals and implementing the regions first use of Raman spectroscopy to degrade the supply chain for narcotics production. He was also part of a special specialized counter narcotics unit operating in the jungles of South America tasked with locating and destroying drug labs and narcotic supply chains. Most recently he was the DEA Headquarters staff coordinator for the Office of Foreign Operations for the Middle East-Europe-Afghanistan-India. Michael is a graduate of the United States Ranger Training Battalion and has a master’s degree in interdisciplinary technology and management from the University of Eastern Michigan.

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