The opening sequence of Traffic pretty much sets up the psychological tenors for the rest of the movie. Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro) and Manolo Sanchez (Jacob Vargas), two Mexican State Police officers, ambush and arrest a truck driver who not only offers to 'buy a permit' for illegally traversing a private road along the border but is found with kilos of coke stashed in the back of the rusted truck. Minutes after the arrest, however, Javier's van finds itself surrounded by an intimidating convoy of SUVs. The convoy is led by General Salazar(Thomas Milian), a top-ranked Mexican official, whose men assume charge of the temporary prisoners and have their weapons trained on Javier, while Salazar approaches the helpless van, leans over and inquires :
