The United States government currently spends billions of dollars each year trying to combat powerful Mexican drug cartels, but the Americans stand accused of getting to close to some of the worlds most notorious criminals and cutting deals with them. As a brutal drug war raged in Mexico, American law enforcement helped arm some of the gangs, over 2500 firearms where seen to have been shipped south to Mexico, but with cocaine and heroin still flooding the streets of America, many are now questioning the true cost of Americas war on drugs.

On the 22nd of February 2014, Joaquin Guzman one of the most wanted drug traffickers in the world was arrested in Mexico. Guzman known as ‘el Chapo’, was boss of the Sinaloa Cartel, the highest ranking drug kingpin ever to be arrested. This arrest was widely hailed as a victory but the truth is that his capture could very well be another murky chapter in the scandal-ridden history of US involvement in Latin American and the Mexican drug wars. In this film BBC’s award winning investigative series This World, takes a closer look at the whole incident.