Natalie Kitroeff

From The New York Times, I'm Natalie Kintroff.

This is The Daily.

When the Mexican military captured and killed the country's top drug lord, it revealed how much President Trump's growing pressure is forcing the country to take on the cartels.

Today, my colleagues Maria Abihabib and Jack Nikas on the operation to take down that drug lord, El Mencho, and whether Mexico has what it takes to win a war on some of the most powerful criminals in the world.

It's Thursday, February 26th.

Maria, Jack, wonderful to have you both on the show.

Three Mexico City bureau chiefs.

Jack, current.

Maria, former.

Natalie, former.

We all were in Latin America as correspondents together.

Maria, you and I both covered the cartels at the same time and did some intense reporting on that.

To put it lightly.

So we have you here because the news that Mexico had taken out El Mencho, the head of the Jalisco cartel, was massive.

And we've learned in the days since that the Trump administration played a big part in that.

So level set for us.

Why is the takedown of this one cartel leader such a big deal?

Okay, let's talk about El Mencho, this cartel leader.

I think for a lot of listeners, he wasn't a household name.

So lay out for me how El Mencho got to be the most wanted man in the world.