Last night’s Mayans M.C. episode “Cucaracha/K’uruch” introduced a law enforcement term everyone is curious about.
On the episode, The Mayans make a deal with Sons of Anarchy for weapons and, during the transaction, a waiting EZ (JD Pardo) gets a call tipping him off that he is now cut loose and hanging in the wind, that the deal is over. EZ tells Kevin that Miguel Galindo was arrested at the border.
“Don’t cave on me. You need to steer clear of the Mayans. They put out a BOLO,” warns Kevin Jimenez, a DEA agent (Maurice Compte) who has been working EZ in an early release in exchange for information to take down the Cartel.
But what is a BOLO? We find out:
Technically BOLO is an acronym, standing for “be on the lookout” and often referred to as a “bolo alert”. It is another way of saying there is, to use the technical term, an all-points bulletin (APB) out. An APB is a message sent to all police forces notifying them of a dangerous or missing person of interest, or perhaps a vehicle, that needs to be found.
The phrase “all-points bulletin ” was coined sometime around 1960. While BOLO is not as commonly heard as APB, they are generally interchangeable in meaning.
What happened last night with the BOLO?
The BOLO that was issued for EZ was called off by Lincoln Potter, who we discussed last week.
In a key gun purchase scene with SAMCRO, EZ created an impromptu diversion and chase to shake off the cops who pulled the M.C. over right after the gun deal went down.
The police were chasing The Mayans because of this BOLO on EZ.
The BOLO on EZ was eventually called off by Asst U.S. Attorney Lincoln Potter (Ray McKinnon) who was confronted by a distraught and overworked Kevin Jiminez.
Kevin had bucked his supervisor who told him EZ was done in the program and, now determined to reverse that decision, Kevin followed the supervisor to a top-secret office complex war room.
The twist was that the supervisor could not remember the five-digit code, making him bang on the door to the great distress and exasperation of Potter.
Then immediately after the supervisor arrived, Kevin showed up on his heels and he too banged on the door which sent Potter over the edge a bit.
That particular scene and sequence of events was a great example of the sly humor showrunners Kurt Sutter and Elgin James use in their scripts to alleviate the dramatic tension.
Once inside, Kevin pleaded his case to Potter and shared his intel about Galindo’s whereabouts with him.
Making headway with Potter, who listened to him, Kevin’s hard work infiltrating the Galindo cartel (via EZ’s access to the club) was shared. Potter then confirmed that Galindo was off the grid and ordered his team to see exactly where Galindo was being held.
Potter also told Kevin to keep working EZ as an informant and that they’ll immediately drop the BOLO.
He assured Kevin the operation could continue, with his supervisor clearly irate about being overruled and dismissed.
In the end, EZ was tuned up pretty good by the police who nabbed him, but his clever diversion tactic worked. It allowed the Mayans to get the guns back to their clubhouse safe.
This ballsy move angered Bishop, who saw that EZ made his own orders and does dangerous things that could jeopardize the club, despite the success of the entire diversion play. He barked at EZ and threatened him, “Never do that again.”
Mayans M.C. Airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on FX.