Undercover in Juárez: Sal Martinez on Cartels, Corruption & the Wildest DEA Years
Podcasts > Border Static
Saturday, August 22, 2026
Ciudad Juárez in the 1990s was one of the most dangerous places on earth, and former DEA Special Agent Sal Martinez was sent across the border when few others would go. In this episode of Border Static: NARC Agent Stories, Sal opens up about working alongside Mexican federal police, facing cartel intimidation, witnessing corruption up close, and surviving life-or-death moments while trying to disrupt the Juárez Cartel.
From illegal wiretaps and brutal interrogations to cartel-controlled streets, political corruption, and close calls with AK-47s, Sal shares the raw truth about what it meant to operate in dangerous territory with limited backup and no guarantees. He also reflects on the complicated cost of fighting the drug war, the betrayal he later experienced, and how his journey eventually led him to help people as a bail bondsman.
Sal’s memoir **“NARC: Convictions of an Undercover Agent”** is available now on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/NARC-Convictions-Undercover-Agent-Martinez/dp/1703630645
Border Static — Real stories from the most dangerous border in the world.
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