A recently surfaced telephone call shows how casually Mencho wields the threat of violence. On the recording, he can be heard talking to a local police commander (call sign “Delta One”) whose officers were apparently being too zealous for Mencho’s liking. An abridged translation follows:
Mencho: Delta One?
Commander: Yes, who’s speaking?
M: Listen up, you son of a bytch. This is Mencho. Tell your guys to back the fukk off, or I will seriously fukk you up. I’ll kill even your fukking dogs, motherfukker.
M: Yes, sir. I’ll tell them to stand down—
M: Don’t hang up on me, you son of a bytch. I know where you are – you were just in Chapala [a wealthy suburb of Guadalajara].
C: No, sir. I’m not hanging up. I’ll tell them to stand down.
M: I thought you said we would get along, motherfukker. You’d better get on board or you’ll be the first to go, understand?
C: No, sir. We don’t have to go there. We do not have to go there.
M: If you want friendship, you have a great friend here. But if not, then you can go fukk yourself.
C: Sir, you know me. You know I’m your friend. I’ll make some calls right now. I’ll call you back at this number—
M: No, no, no. Don’t call this number. I’ll call you. And don’t turn off this phone, or else I’ll take that as a negative [sign].
C: Yes, sir. You know me, sir. You know there’s respect.
M: OK, then. Sorry for the bad language.