Narcos: Mexico explores the emerging drug empire in Mexico in the 80s, and Season 2 takes a deep dive into their relationship with the Colombian cartel and the consequences for Enrique “Kiki” Camarena’s death.
As with its predecessors, Narcos is heavy with the facts and light on the fiction. While the binge-worthy series takes some liberties, as many of the Narco stories are difficult to verify, it remains an authentic take on the Mexican drug cartels.
Here are some of the photos and details about the real and fictional characters of Narcos: Mexico Season 2.
Was Cochiloco (Andrés Almeida) real?
Narcos: Mexico Season 2 portrays Cochiloco’s death as a major catalyst in the brewing feud between the Sinaloa cartel and the Arellano-Félix Tijuana Organization.
He is based on Manuel Salcido Uzeta, a Sinaloan drug lord. While the depiction of Salcido’s death was accurate, Narcos: Mexico took some liberties with the timeline and perpetrators.
Manuel Salcido was murdered in 1991; however, Félix Gallardo was arrested two years prior. According to the Los Angeles Times, it is unclear who was responsible for El Cochiloco’s murder.
The Deputy Attorney General at the time, Federico Ponce Rojas, reportedly blamed the murder on traitors in Salcido’s organization looking to replace him.
However, police sources suggest the murders might have been the work of “an army or judicial police unit.”
Other sources claim that Cochiloco was killed by the Colombians as revenge for stealing four tons of cocaine from one of their shipments.
Walt Breslin is based on multiple ‘Operation Leyenda’ DEA agents
Executive producer Eric Newman revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that many DEA agents claimed to oversee Operation Leyenda.
Therefore, Scoot McNairy’s Walt Breslin was created as a combination of several real DEA agents that were interviewed.
Were Guadalupe Leija Serrano and her children murdered?
Guadalupe Leija Serrano, played by actress Viviana Serna, was the wife of Héctor ‘El Guero’ Palma Salazar.
In Narcos: Mexico, Guadalupe Palma has an affair with Enrique Rafael Clavel Moreno, who murders her on Felix Gallardo’s orders.
According to the book ‘Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State?’ Clavel forced Guadalupe to withdraw $7 million before beheading her and taking her children to Venezuela, where he threw them off a bridge.
El Guero Palma allegedly killed Clavel’s three children and attorney in the act of revenge.
However, the claims of the book, written by George W. Grayson, did not cite any credible references, which appears to be why Narcos took liberties with El Guero’s family’s murder.
Was the real Mimi Webb Miller pregnant and did she have Pablo Acosta’s son?
The real Mimi Webb Miller, played by Sosie Bacon, is a consultant on the Narcos: Mexico Season 2. Therefore, it is likely that she was pregnant by Pablo Acosta, but it is unclear whether she kept the child.
According to the NYT, which has Mimi’s real photo here, Pablo Acosta was her neighbor, and they developed a romantic relationship as he helped her get permission to cross the border.
As seen in Narcos: Mexico, Mimi was one of the last people to see Pablo Acosta alive after he was gun down by a hail of bullets by the Mexican Federal Police and FBI.
Enedina Arellano Félix is considered the first female Mexican drug lord
In Narcos: Mexico, Enedina is an important member of the Arellano-Félix organization. She is real and is seemingly as smart and cunning as the Netflix series portrays her.
Fox News described her as a “smooth operator” who runs her drug empire like a legitimate business. According to the DEA, Enedina took over the cartel after her brothers and son were arrested or assassinated.
With her educational background in accounting, Enedina, who is played by actress Mayra Hermosillo, kept the books on the drug empire and, unlike her brothers, she managed to evade her enemies and keep a low profile.