The Gringo Hunters has recently hit the OTT platform Netflix and people across the world have been loving the series. Along with the enthusiasm, the people are curious to know the reality behind the storyline.
The Gringo Hunters is about a top-secret Mexican police force - the International Liaison Unit, whose job is to provide arrest warrants to international suspects. The team of the show is led by Officer Temo and then Nico as they chase criminals, both serial murderers and fraudsters. Nico starts his solo investigation when he realizes that there is a massive conspiracy exposed in the justice system.
The show has been based on a true unit that has existed in Tijuana Mexico since 2001. The unit called the Gringo Hunters in informal circles has deported more than 1600 fugitives who had committed crimes which include homicide and drug trafficking. According to the series producer Rafael Ley, the show puts to rest the stereotype that Mexico is a no-go country and brings to light the accuracy and cloak-and-dagger quality of the real unit, which, at times, uses plainclothes, civilian vehicles and makes low-key arrests.
On the contrary, it becomes action packed with dramatized situations full of chase and media coverages going contrary to the normal low profile approaches of the unit. Day-to-day work of the team was disclosed by the Washington Post report by Kevin Sieff when they were involved in the arrest of Damion Salinas in 2022, but the show is not based directly on this case.
What is actually occurring is that the real life unit is having the fugitives charged under Mexican immigration law rather than extradition, thus the more rapid deportations which are an average of 13 a month. The fictional one is more centric on suspense and character progression.
There exists the possibility that some characters could be loose-based on real officers. Nico might be motivated by Moises who is the present leader of the genuine unit. Gloria can be similar to another former cop Abigail Esparza Reyes who was murdered in 2025 in a shootout with a fugitive. But the underlying conspiracy and internal deceit at the driving force of the story, such as the character fantasy of Temo, are wholly fictional.
After all, although The Gringo Hunters is based on a true story, it allows itself some creative freedom to focus on a dramatic interpretation of crimes, justice, and corruption.