Alexis Kestler
Finding and extracting the cartel‘s laptop from their heavily guarded warehouse stronghold in Call of Duty: Warzone 2 DMZ is easily one of the most crucial missions for any operator. But it‘s also one of the most dangerous.
Trust me, as a dedicated DMZ player with hundreds of extractions under my belt, securing this vital intel sets off a chain of events that puts you right in the crosshairs of the cartel‘s deadliest hitters.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you step-by-step through locating the laptop, surviving the forces guarding it, and extracting safely with this game-changing intel in hand.
First, let‘s do a quick recap on the cartel and their operations in Al Mazrah. This will help provide context on why extracting their laptop is such a high stakes assignment.
The cartel act as the main antagonists in DMZ, ruthlessly ruling Al Mazrah‘s criminal underworld with an iron fist. They‘ve bribed or eliminated any opposition and consolidated power.
Key cartel members include:
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El Gato – The mysterious cartel boss who pulls the strings from the shadows. His identity and exact location are unknown.
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La Santera – A high priestess working to spread the cartel‘s influence. She leads occult rituals and ceremonies.
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El Silencio – A deadly cartel enforcer who uses terror and violence to subjugate Al Mazrah.
The cartel‘s stranglehold lets them revenue through drug trafficking, arms deals, racketeering and more. Al Mazrah‘s citizens cower in fear of the cartel‘s unchecked power.
Operators like us are the only ones willing to take the fight to them. Extracting the laptop is the first step in exposing chinks in their armor.
So why exactly is stealing the cartel‘s laptop from their most secure warehouse so important?
Extracting the laptop gives our faction exclusive access to encrypted intel detailing the cartel‘s operations – supply routes, bank info, employee records, and more.
Possessing this intel is like getting handed the keys to dismantling the cartel‘s entire infrastructure from the inside out.
It unlocks new dynamic faction missions focused on sabotaging their drug and weapons operations. Disrupting these lucrative revenue streams delivers a massive financial blow.
The laptop intel even allows us to go on the offensive and ambush cartel HVTs like La Santera or El Silencio. Striking at their leadership destabilizes their whole organization.
Simply put, stealing this laptop cracks open the cartel‘s armor at the seams. The intel recovered from it is easily worth hundreds of millions, if not billions.
For an operator willing to take the risk, it‘s the payload of a lifetime. But earning a payout like this won‘t come easy…
Taking on a fortified cartel stronghold guarded by their best men will require coming prepared with the right operator and weapons loadout.
Based on my DMZ expertise, here are two different loadout approaches I recommend for this mission:
Silent but Deadly
Primary: Suppressed Assault Rifle (M4 Vanguard/Kastov 762)
Secondary: Suppressed SMG (Fennec/MP5)
Tactical: Smoke Grenades
Lethal: Proximity Mine
Perk 1: Double Time
Perk 2: Cold Blooded
Perk 3: Tracker
Equipment: Deployable Cover, Munitions Box
Vehicle: ATV
This stealth build focuses on slipping into the warehouse quietly and catching the guards off guard. The suppressed primary and secondary help pick off enemies without raising alarms. Smoke grenades allow quick cover to reposition unseen. Proximity mines guard your back.
Cold Blooded keeps you undetected by AI targeting systems. Tracker highlights enemy footsteps through the warehouse. And Deployable Cover gives quick headglitches to peek from.
With this stealthy toolset, you can systematically clear the warehouse floor-by-floor before walking out with the laptop scot free. Just stay in the shadows and off their radars.
One Man Army
Primary: LMG (RPK/SA-B 50)
Secondary: Shotgun (Expedite 12)
Tactical: Flash Grenades
Lethal: C4
Perk 1: Battle Hardened
Perk 2: Overkill
Perk 3: Survivor
Equipment: Munitions Box, Armor Box
Vehicle: SUV
If you prefer overwhelming force, this loadout brings the firepower needed to bulldoze your way into the warehouse guns blazing. The bruiser LMG and devastating shotgun combo can clear rooms quickly.
Flashbangs stun enemies before you push while C4 opens new entry points through walls and barricades. Battle Hardened protects against enemy tacticals.
Survivor allows reviving yourself once per match – a lifesaver if you go down securing the objective. And extra armor/munitions means you can keep applying pressure.
An SUV provides heavy transportation to ram your way straight through warehouse exterior fences or doors. Either way, with an arsenal this powerful, the cartel won‘t know what hit em.
Now let‘s get into the nitty gritty meat and potatoes…
Got your loadout locked and loaded? Good, because it‘s time to step through locating and extracting the laptop itself.
Follow along carefully with these steps and you‘ll be driving away with some seriously valuable intel. Here‘s exactly how it‘s done:
Step 1 – Infiltrate the Warehouse Exterior
First, you‘ll need to access the exterior of the cartel warehouse itself. It‘s located at coordinate C6 on Al Mazrah‘s map – north of the Hydroelectric plant across the river.
When first approaching, use vegetation and buildings for cover as you scope out the parameter. Mark any exterior guards patrolling the area.
I advise taking these guards out quickly and quietly before breaching. A suppressed sniper rifle is perfect for this job. Quick headshots prevent them from radioing backup.
If you brought an SUV, plow through exterior fences or barricades to carve a new entrance instead of using doors or gates. This catches them off guard.
Either way, clear the immediate exterior of opposition before proceeding inside.
Step 2 – Breach and Clear the Warehouse Floors
Once exterior guards are neutralized, it‘s time to breach and clear the warehouse floor-by-floor.
When breeching, watch out for enemies waiting in ambush positions by the doors and entryways. Toss flashbangs before entry to stun them.
Systematically sweep each floor. Check corners and staircases carefully – cartel members love attempting close-quarters flanking maneuvers.
Clear floors from the bottom up. This prevents getting shot in the back by enemies from lower floors.
Be prepared for heavy resistance. The cartel station some of their most elite hitters here to protect the intel. Use your equipment and abilities to their fullest.
Don‘t leave any hostile standing – scour each floor entirely before moving up. Leaving stragglers can complicate the extraction when you‘re carrying the laptop.
Step 3 – Secure the Laptop
After completely neutralizing all three warehouse floors, it‘s time to finally secure the intel.
Search the desks, shelves, and counters until you locate the cartel laptop. It has a chance to spawn in multiple possible places but is always somewhere within the warehouse interior.
Quickly interact to pick up and stow the laptop when you find it. Don‘t worry – despite its crucial intel, it only takes a standard bag slot.
Step 4 – Extract Safely From Al Mazrah
Laptop secured? Congratulations, you now possess some of the most valuable intel in all of Al Mazrah! Now comes the hard part – safely extracting with it.
I strongly advise calling in a helicopter for emergency exfil. This costs cash, but extracting safely on foot is extremely difficult while encumbered.
Find a solid position to bunker down in and defend until your helicopter arrives. Toss proximity mines on flanking routes and watch your six.
If enemies swarm your position, relocate to another defensive spot and hold out there until exfil. Use cover and flashbangs to buy precious seconds.
Once the helicopter lands, safely board it with the laptop intact to complete your escape from Al Mazrah!
Tips For Extracting the Laptop:
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Pack smoke grenades to conceal your movements if repositioning.
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Try squeezing into obscure spots enemies won‘t expect.
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Plate up and don‘t risk gunfights you can avoid.
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Play inside the gas ring if it gives a better defensive position.
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If downed, use survival instincts to stay alive until exfil arrives.
Follow these steps, and the cartel laptop is as good as yours. The hardest part will be not opening and peeking at the juicy intel inside!
Stealing this laptop marks you as a prime target for retaliation from the cartel. Expect them to be gunning for you now more than ever in Al Mazrah.
However, the laptop intel unlocks new dynamic faction missions focused on sabotaging their operations. I suggest immediately embarking on these missions to keep up the offensive.
Notable upcoming missions unlocked by the laptop intel include:
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Assassinating La Santera at an occult ritual.
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Ambushing El Silencio‘s armed convoy transporting weapons shipments.
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Destroying cartel drug labs being used to produce narcotics.
Completing these laptop-unlocked missions lets you loot powerful contraband weapons and equipments as rewards. But more importantly, each mission struck at the cartel‘s heart.
With the cartel laptop finally in our hands, we now have the blueprints needed to systematically tear them down from the inside out. It‘s time to put these ruthless criminals on their heels for good.
This concludes my comprehensive guide on locating and extracting the ultra-valuable cartel laptop from their heavily fortified warehouse stronghold. I hope these insights from my DMZ experience helps you secure this lucrative objective.
Stay tactical, watch those flanks, and happy hunting! This is one opportunity you don‘t want to let slip through your fingers.
