I Was an ICE Agent for 25 Years — Here's What They Don't Tell You | Eric Balliet
October 21, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readI Was an ICE Agent for 25 Years — Here's What They Don't Tell You
Eric Balliet grew up in Baldwinsville, New York, a white colonial house on a dead-end street with a golden retriever, a conservative Catholic upbringing, and no family in law enforcement. He was a poor student who couldn't maintain focus. A neighbor who was a deputy sheriff invited him on ride-alongs, and Balliet realized the work kept his attention — "you didn't know what was coming next." He nearly enlisted in the Marines, but his parents asked him to try college first. He didn't take that seriously either, got kicked out of the dorms for stealing back a confiscated keg, and eventually majored in sociology because it was the easiest option. After interning with the New York State Police, he applied to multiple agencies with a "whoever calls first" strategy. The U.S. Border Patrol called first, offering him a position in Nogales, Arizona. He had never been to Arizona, never heard of Nogales, and knew nothing about the Border Patrol.
The Academy and First Impressions
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
Never miss an episode of Locked In with Ian Bick
Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What you'll learn
- 1 (01:30) **Eric Balliet’s Background & Path to Law Enforcement** - Eric describes his middle-class upbringing in Syracuse, NY, and how a ride-along with a deputy sheriff sparked his interest in law enforcement.
- 2 (08:58) **Joining the Border Patrol: Academy & First Impressions** - Eric details his entry into the Border Patrol with zero knowledge of the agency or the border, and his experience at the academy.
- 3 (24:05) **Early Border Patrol Work: The "X" and the Grind** - Eric explains the monotonous and sometimes dangerous reality of being a new agent, which quickly led him to seek other opportunities.
- 4 (32:30) **The 9/11 Transition & The Birth of ICE** - Eric recounts his move to the U.S. Customs Service, the chaos of 9/11, and the formation of the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
- 5 (37:51) **The "Home Depot" Investigation: A Case Study in Surveillance** - Eric details his key investigative method: identifying drug traffickers by tracking their purchases of industrial stretch wrap and contact paper.
- 6 (48:54) **Anatomy of a Stash House & The "Whack-a-Mole" Game** - Eric explains how drug trafficking organizations operate their stash houses and the limitations of low-level busts.
- 7 (53:06) **Upping the Game: Communications & Finances** - Eric identifies the two critical pillars for dismantling major cartels: communications and financial infrastructure.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
Eric Balliet spent more than 25 years as a federal law enforcement agent investigating some of the world's most dangerous drug cartels and criminal organizations. From patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border to helping capture notorious cartel leader El Chapo twice, Eric takes us inside the hidden world of drug trafficking, human smuggling, underground tunnels, and corruption. He also served as a top law enforcement advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security under both Obama and Trump, giving him a rare perspective on what really happens behind the scenes at ICE, the border, and the highest levels of government. Now retired, Eric reveals the realities of fighting organized crime and the stories behind his book, Kingpins & Coyotes.
_____________________________________________
Thank you to AG1 & GLD for sponsoring this episode:
AG1: Go to https://drinkag1.com/lockedin and for a limited time, get a free Immune Support Bundle, including a bottle of Omega-3 fish oil and a bottle of Vitamin D3K2, with your first subscription order of AG1 Next Gen or AG1 Pro.
_____________________________________________
GLD: New customers get 40% Off with code LOCKEDIN at https://www.gld.com/
_____________________________________________
Connect with Eric Balliet: Website: https://www.kingpinsandcoyotes.com/bio
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-balliet/
_____________________________________________
Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick:
_____________________________________________
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction: 25 Years Chasing Cartels
00:00 Early Border Patrol Years
00:31 Growing Up in Syracuse
02:30 Finding Law Enforcement
05:40 College Years and Joining Border Patrol
28:00 Becoming an ICE Agent
31:30 Early ICE Career
34:20 The Main Drugs
39:20 Following a Vehicle
44:10 Playing Whack-a-Mole with Stash Houses
47:00 Life Inside a Cartel
50:00 Cartel Comms Evolution
51:20 Cartel Communication
55:00 Cartel's Desert Scouts
56:10 Cartel Counter-Intel and Comms
57:00 Why Interdiction Fails
59:00 How Cartels Absorb Losses
01:01:10 Inside Cartel Recruitment and Crews
01:02:40 Violence on the US Side
01:05:00 Cartel's Stance on Law Enforcement
01:06:00 Cartel Human Smuggl
More from this podcast
Locked In with Ian Bick →