"I Bought My Way Out Of the Cartel For $30,000"

The story of a Mexican cartel affiliate who tested new drug concoctions

Mitch McDonald is a white guy from outside Atlanta. As a teenager he joined a street gang and then, later, tested new drug mixtures for a Mexican cartel.

Cartels love fentanyl profits, but remain distressed by the drug’s high death rate. So they’ve been attempting to develop “safer” fentanyl mixtures, like mixing fentanyl with methamphetamine, supposing that a “downer” / “upper” combination will make users less likely to die. (This is not at all safe, by the way.)

McDonald tested these concoctions. It was so dangerous that he Narcan-ed himself before starting work each day. But he not only survived, he was able to eventually buy his way out of the cartel, and got sober. He turned his life over to Christianity, now works at an Atlanta-area methadone clinic, and plans to start a recovery group called Fentanyl Anonymous.

We met at a conference last year. It was hugely risky for McDonald to tell me his story, but he insisted on getting the truth out there. No details below have been changed. His only stipulation was that we not mention the name of the cartel.

Growing up

“I grew up in Gainesville, Georgia, a heavily segregated town. There's Blacks on one side of the town, whites on the other, and Hispanics throughout. We didn’t have the most money, yet my parents still put me in Christian school. I wasn't really accepted by those kids. But when I went out into the neighborhood, the projects were right there, and those kids accepted me. In middle school I started selling drugs. I sold LSD, and that led me to the rave scene. I started selling ecstasy, and then cocaine. I was making quite a bit of money.”

His gang

“That eventually led to the gang lifestyle. Back then my gang was called Folk Nation. Now almost everyone in Folk Nation is referred to as a Gangster Disciple. The Gangster Disciples started in Chicago, with a guy referred to as King David. That’s why GDs wear the Star of David.

“Honestly, it was a brotherhood. I felt protected, I felt accepted. When you're 15-17 years old, as a white kid, and can walk right through the hood and no one messes with you? It’s a feeling of power. I became kind a leader in my area.”

Selling to whites

“The other gang members are Black, and we were getting weight from Hispanics. So I was the go-between to the white business guys, the real estate agents that want somebody to dress nice, show up at a nice restaurant, not say shit, and get the job done.”

Tested street drugs

“I tested drugs for the gang. I’d dress like a normal junkie, hit a street corner, and get a bag. You want to weigh the bag, test the bag. If that shit is cut all to hell, like it's not supposed to be, or if it's got something else in it, that person gets the knowledge real quick. They possibly lose the position.”

Got addicted

“I heavily regret that friends of mine got addicted to the shit I was dealing. I did too, eventually. I don't know if you remember the old green Oxy 80s. I was getting, like, 80 milligram pills for $7.48 a piece. And that’s when my addiction started. I got to the point where I was using four 80s at a time.”

Joined the Navy, went cold turkey

“I was in the Navy from 24 to 29. It changed my life. When I went to boot camp, man that was hell because I went cold turkey, down to nothing.”

Gangs in the military

“You would be shocked to see how many different kinds of gangs are in the military, at what levels. I don't want to say our military is bad. Our military is great. I'm a red-blooded American, but there are gang members in every branch of the military and using it to bring back all drugs from other countries, to sell or have fun with.”

Joins back with his gang

“After the Navy, I wasn't looking to re-join a gang. But after one of my guys got out of prison, I hit him up. Now he's explaining to me how things changed. The cartels had basically bought out [certain gangs]. They ended up buying me from my people, for a certain value. I became a ‘supercivilian’ — that is, someone dealing with a cartel who has a license to buy and sell drugs, but is no longer attached to any certain gang. This was about four years ago.”

Narcanned himself each day

“I started testing new drug mixtures for the cartel. When they included fentanyl, I would Narcan myself before testing.

“The testing happened at certain properties with a clean environment. Not a trap house. It would be more like an Airbnb.

“I would always have somebody with me as a bodyguard. Someone I knew would set up the thing. Someone I didn’t know would bring over a new batch or a new formulation from Mexico.

“He would tell me what was in the formulation, although sometimes he didn’t know himself. Whether it came right across the border, or whether it came through the mail, it might not be labeled correctly.”

A “safer” fentanyl

“The cartel was trying to create a ‘safer’ fentanyl. Well, there is no safer fentanyl! But in the cartel bylaws the number one thing is to keep the customer lucid — like, up and wanting. They want to keep the customer alive.

“At one point they tried adding a chemical to the fentanyl to give it an ‘extended release’ quality that made people less likely to overdose.”

Meth combined with fentanyl

“Because ice [meth] is so cheap and so prevalent, people would mix it with fentanyl. On the streets, I saw that all the time, people mixing those two together, thinking it would make them safer. But when I tried it I hated it. You felt the fentanyl instantaneously, and then all of a sudden you’re geeked up.”

Methadone mixed with fentanyl

“The cartel was mixing oxycodone with fentanyl; that was more like a morphine shot. I've also tried methadone mixed with fentanyl. That was more like a heroin shot.

“I never heard this come out of the cartel’s mouth, but if methadone is on your receptors at a certain level, you won't die from fentanyl. And I really believe that was their way of trying to keep the customers alive as well as extend the high.” 

While he was high

“Even though I usually used Narcan before testing, sometimes I would get really high. I would drink some Hennessy and talk with the guys. I'll be honest, it was fun. I'm a Christian now. I fully believe in the power of Jesus Christ. But at that time, the devil had his hand on me and I thought it was fucking great.”

Purple mixture with fentanyl and ADHD meds

“Everyone went crazy over this purple stuff. This formulation, to my understanding, was fentanyl, purple food color, and the buffer they use for ecstasy pills, methylphenidate (Ritalin). And, again, the idea behind that was to try to keep the user alive.

“I was told the purple color was not for marketing, but because when it was white they had soldiers dying off the supply thinking it was something else [like cocaine].”

Carfentanil

“I started testing carfentanil, which is 100 times stronger than fentanyl. I got immediately addicted. Normally, I have a lot of willpower. I've been addicted to a lot of things and can just walk away from them. But I have never in my life had cravings like that.

“I couldn't smoke it fast enough. I didn't even taste food right for six months. I was puking. I smoked something like seven grams. I was throwing up on the tinfoil I was smoking it off of.”

Had a revelation from God

“God convicted me at that point, and I prayed and prayed, and He told me what to do. He told me, go to my mom's house, tell her what I was doing, and give her my car keys and everything. I did that. I went to my mother's house and sobered up there. Got on Suboxone. “ 

Bought his way out of the cartel

“What I did to get out of my situation is I took all of what I had been given to sell, and the money it would have sold for — $30,000 — and gave it back. I had a friend that had done the same thing, and it worked for him.

“I didn't say I was out for good. I said, I feel like people are watching me. Since I was now addicted, I didn't feel like I could be trusted with it anymore.

“Here's the money you would have made, here's the stuff back, and I’ll get myself clean. And when that's done, I'll see you again. But I haven't seen them yet.

“I did all of this with faith that nothing would happen to me, that God would protect me. And He has.”

If you want to speak with Mitch about his recovery group Fentanyl Anonymous, you can call him at 470-894-6053.