With Los Gringo Hunters, Netflix is bringing a Mexican–American cop series loaded with tension, based on a shocking Washington Post investigation. Produced by Oscar winner Ron Howard, it’s a border crime drama that overturns one of the genre’s most established perspectives: this time, the manhunt starts in Mexico, and the criminals are American. Set in Tijuana, a border city pulsing with contrasts and ambiguity, the series moves through dusty streets, interrogation rooms, and secrets buried beneath the institutional surface, following an elite unit of the Mexican police tasked with tracking down fugitives who think they can make themselves invisible across the border.
Between spectacular arrests, tense interrogations, and escapes skirting the edge of legality, Los Gringo Hunters portrays the border as a complex, fragile, and deeply human system, going beyond a straightforward cop story. What emerges is an ambivalent world where the border is not just geographical but also ethical, and every choice carries consequences. The trailer is at the end of the article.
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Los Gringo Hunters – All the info
- Original title: Los Gringo Hunters
- Format: TV series
- Episodes: 12 (season 1)
- Genre: Action, crime drama
- Country of production: Mexico / United States
- Original language: Spanish and English
- Netflix release date: July 9, 2025
- Creators: Jorge Dorantes, Scott Gold
- Main cast: Harold Torres, Mayra Hermosillo, Manuel Masalva
- Production: Netflix, with Imagine Entertainment (in collaboration with Woo Films and Redrum)
Los Gringo Hunters – The plot
Based on true events, the series follows an elite unit of the Mexican police tasked with tracking down and capturing American fugitives fleeing to Mexico, to hand them over to the U.S. justice system. Known as the International Liaison Unit, the team operates in a gray zone made up of surveillance, field operations, high-risk arrests, and delicate diplomatic balances, where every intervention is inevitably political as well.
The story unfolds through individual cases that set the pace of each episode, but over the season a deeper tension gradually builds: within the unit, a dark intrigue takes shape, made up of suspicion, compromise, and possible betrayal. The threat doesn’t just come from outside; it seeps into the very heart of the institution, putting the characters’ loyalty and integrity to the test.
Based on a real investigation by the Washington Post, written by journalist Kevin Sieff, the series takes a strongly realistic approach, supported by ongoing journalistic consulting. Tijuana is never just an abstract backdrop, but a living, contradictory, and vibrant city, treated as a true narrative character.
Between spectacular arrests, psychological interrogations, and escapes skirting the edge of legality, this crime drama lays bare the tensions within the system and the fragility of the people who inhabit it. The series weaves together paceand reflection, action and social critique, offering a layered story that goes far beyond a standard cop show.
The cast of Los Gringo Hunters
The main cast has been assembled with rigorous attention to linguistic and cultural realism, a key strength of the series. The production chose bilingual actors, allowing Spanish and English to coexist naturally in the dialogue, without forcing or oversimplifying. Among the most recognizable faces for Netflix viewers are Mayra Hermosillo and Manuel Masalva, already seen in Narcos: Mexico. Alongside them, Harold Torres, Andrew Leland Rogers, Gerardo Trejoluna, and Héctor Kotsifakis round out a believable and close-knit ensemble.
Is it based on a true story?
Yes, with an important distinction. Los Gringo Hunters is presented by Netflix as a series inspired by true events, and its roots lie in the investigative work that brought international attention to a real Mexican police unit, informally known as the “Gringo Hunters.” The direct reference is the 2022 Washington Post investigation by investigative journalist Kevin Sieff, which documented the unit’s activities and the complex operational dynamics along the border.
The series stems from a collaboration between Netflix and Sieff himself, who was brought on as a consultant to ensure accuracy and adherence to the facts. The TV adaptation was overseen by Ron Howard as executive producer, through Imagine Entertainment, with the stated goal of turning the journalistic material into a rigorous serialized narrative, preserving the realism of the context while introducing fictional elements needed for storytelling.
The production approach has been described by the creators as “visual journalism”: a focus on facts, cross-checking, and continuous consulting, including with Sieff himself, to avoid stereotypes or oversimplifications. Filming took place entirely in Mexico, with a mixed crew from the U.S. and Latin America. Tijuana, by creative choice, has not been softened: it is shown in its true urban and social complexity, becoming a mirror of the tensions playing out on the geopolitical stage, which are deeply rooted in today’s reality.
Ron Howard’s role in the series Los Gringo Hunters
Ron Howard, an Oscar-winning director and producer and one of the most influential figures in the American film industry, is involved in the series as an executive producer through Imagine Entertainment. The filmmaker behind movies like A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13, Howard has built a career on a constant balance between spectacle and narrative rigor. In Los Gringo Hunters, he oversees the adaptation of the Washington Post investigation, applying an approach he has already used to other projects inspired by real events: starting with journalistic material to build a solid narrative, faithful to the facts and free of oversimplifications. His touch can be felt in the choice of a stripped-down realism and in the depiction of the border as a complex system of power, responsibility, and consequences.
When to watch Los Gringo Hunters on Netflix
Los Gringo Hunters is available on Netflix since July 9, 2025.
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