Facing El Chapo Ending Explained: Facing El Chapo part of a situation as simple as it is incredible: two federal police officers, exhausted after a long night on patrol, stop a red Ford Focus that has just been reported stolen and discover that they are traveling inside Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and his trusted man, El Cholo. Arturo Carmona and Héctor Rosales suddenly find themselves faced with a decision that could change their lives. El Chapo offers them millions in exchange for taking him to Che Ríos, but Carmona refuses. Rosales hesitates at first, aware that confronting the cartel could mean a death sentence, although he finally decides to support his partner. The problem is that stopping it is only the beginning. The two agents are practically alone; they don’t know who they can trust, and they have to find a way to keep their prisoners alive until reinforcements arrive.
Based on real events, “Facing El Chapo” is a Mexican Netflix film that takes place during Operation Black Swan carried out by the Navy in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, and follows two police officers Arturo Carmona (Alfonso Herrera) and Héctor Rosales (Noé Hernández), that Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán (Héctor Kotsifakis) is captured almost by chance. However, they must keep him in custody until reinforcements arrive in territory dominated by that cartel. They get it? This action thriller directed by Chava Cartas (“Counterattack” and “Mirreyes against Godínez: Las Vegas”) from the script by Bernardo Esquinca begins with Arturo finding out that he will be a father for the third time. Even though they have a lot of debt, the officer promises his wife, Isaura (Paola Fernández), that they will find a way to get ahead. For now, Carmona requests the night shift.
Facing El Chapo Ending Explained: What Happened to Carmona and Rosales After Their meeting With ‘El Chapo’?
Later, Rosales visits Carmona to make peace. Although Arturo still does not completely trust his new partner, he decides to forget about it and focus on work. Meanwhile, the Marines orchestrate a dangerous operation to capture Jorge Iván “El Cholo” Gastelum (Juan Pablo Cruz García), El Chapo’s security chief. Although they manage to enter the property, the criminals escape through a tunnel that leads to the sewers. At dawn the Marines continue searching for the fugitives, so Carmona’s boss, Valladares (Gerardo Trejoluna), informs him that no patrol should mobilize to avoid interfering, but does not reveal more details.
While they wait for new instructions, Carmona has nightmares about an operation that came out and has not let him sleep in peace since then. Just as Rosales complains that his shift is over, they receive an alert about a stolen vehicle. When they see him cross the road they do not hesitate to chase him without imagining that it will change their lives forever. After intercepting the stolen vehicle, they discover that they are in front of El Chapo Guzmán and his security chief. Although they are detained, they do not know how to proceed, since their boss does not answer them. The only thing they are clear about is that their lives are in danger. Do they let them escape? Do they accept bribery?
Why Are They Hiding El Chapo in a Motel?
Carmona quickly understands that staying in the same place would be suicidal. The drug trafficker’s men will soon look for him and, until he manages to contact his superiors, any fixed location can become a trap. That’s why he decides to keep moving and ends up hiding El Chapo in a room at the Motel del Puerto. Rosales remains in the car watching over El Cholo while Carmona is left alone with the boss.
Before getting there they already have a first confrontation with members of the cartel who try to free their boss. Carmona and Rosales manage to neutralize them, but the episode makes it clear to what extent they are exposed. El Chapo offers them money again. The amount reaches up to 15 million for each one, plus protection for the rest of their lives. Carmona refuses because he understands the trap perfectly: accepting that money would not mean being free, but rather entering the orbit of the cartel forever.
Was Rosales Planning to Betray Carmona?
For much of the film there has been that doubt.
Carmona barely knows Rosales and knows that corruption within the police is common. El Chapo himself detects this distrust and tries to exploit it when Rosales is left alone with him and El Cholo. However, Rosales ends up showing that he does not intend to sell himself. When the drug traffickers think they have convinced him, he reveals what he is carrying 29 years in the police and that he is about to retire. His real reward, he tells them, would be being able to see men like them behind bars. That moment ends up consolidating the relationship between the two police officers. Carmona stops seeing him as a possible threat and starts to really trust him.
Why Does Carmona Refuse to Let El Chapo Escape?
It’s not just about doing your duty.
Carmona has long been to blame for an operation related to drug trafficking in which two innocent children died. For him, El Chapo represents precisely the system that allows this violence to continue: young people used as vendors, families trapped by crime and civilians turned into collateral damage.
That is why he also rejects the image of a benefactor that the drug trafficker tries to build of himself. According to Carmona, helping poor children financially does not compensate for the damage caused by an organization that may later end up using them as labor. Stopping El Chapo thus becomes something personal. Carmona knows that he will probably never have such an opportunity again.
What Happens to Carmona’s Family?
The most tense moment comes when the cartel men locate Carmona’s house. His wife calls him terrified and tells him that there are armed men outside. Shortly after, one of them enters the house while she tries to protect her children. Carmona listens to everything on the phone and completely loses control. El Chapo takes advantage of the situation to remind him that this is the price of trying to become a hero. When Carmona hears a gunshot, he aims directly at El Chapo and is about to kill him.
The situation changes just as the Mexican marines arrive at the motel. Carmona receives another call and discovers that the Army has managed to get home in time and kill the attacker. His wife and children are safe. Only then lower the weapon. Before handing over El Chapo, Carmona punches him in response to all the fear he has caused during those hours.
What About El Cholo?
While Carmona watches over El Chapo inside the motel, Rosales remains in the vehicle with El Cholo. The lieutenant constantly tries to intimidate him and assures him that both he and Carmona will end up paying for what they are doing. Rosales ends up pointing his gun at him, but then another person appears and points it at him from behind. For a few seconds it seems that the cartel men have managed to catch up with them. It’s actually about Barraza, an undercover police officer that he knows Rosales and decides to help him. Both keep El Cholo under control until the arrival of the marines.
Who Finally Takes Credit for Facing El Chapo?
When the Navy special forces arrive, a new conflict appears. Vice Admiral Ortega informs Commissioner Valladares that the Navy will assume custody of El Chapo and El Cholo. Valladares immediately understands what that can mean: may the participation of the Federal Police be erased from history. That’s why he makes a pretty forceful decision: he wives himself to El Chapo. Valladares insists that it was Carmona and Rosales who carried out the arrest and demands to accompany them to the presidential hangar to guarantee that this fact is officially recorded. Ortega ends up accepting.
What Happens to El Chapo after His Capture?
The ending remembers what happened later with Joaquín Guzmán. The drug trafficker ended up being extradited to the United States, where he was convicted and sent to the maximum-security federal prison ADX Florence, in Colorado. The irony is especially evident considering that during the film El Chapo boasts of having previously escaped from prison and acts convinced that no prison can hold him forever. This time, however, the story ends differently.
What Happened to Carmona and Rosales?
The two agents knew that stopping El Chapo would immediately make them targets. For this reason, the authorities protected their identities and their families. Carmona received a promotion and was later assigned abroad, where Rosales also worked. Although Carmona later returned to Mexico with his family, its location continues to be kept secret for security reasons. Rosales’ situation also remains protected and, according to the film, he ended up postponing his retirement. The outcome thus makes the two police officers the true center of Facing El Chapo. They are not agents of a special unit nor do they participate in a large planned operation. They simply find the most wanted man in the country sitting in the back seat of a car and decide not to look away.
What Does the End of Mean Facing El Chapo?
The film contrasts two ways of understanding power throughout its duration. El Chapo is convinced that everything can be bought: police, protection, silences and even lives. Carmona and Rosales, on the other hand, are two men with real financial problems. Precisely for this reason the offer is much more significant. Carmona needs money to support his family and Rosales is about to retire after decades of working. Both would have reasons to accept a fortune and disappear. But they don’t.
The closing of Facing El Chapo it is built around that decision. The arrest does not depend on a sophisticated police operation, but on what two ordinary agents reject an amount of money capable of solving all their problems and agree instead to put themselves in danger. El Chapo loses because he finds something that he cannot buy for a few hours: two police officers who decide to do their job until the end.