January 2016: El Chapo, head of the Sinaloa cartel, is arrested. Rival factions fight for control of his empire. The Sinaloa cartel still smuggles thousands of tons of illegal drugs into America. They traffick heroin, cocaine and meth but their biggest earner is … marijuana. Dope s2e3: Even If They Didn’t Pay Me, I’d Still Do It
Mexican cartels earn up to $29 billion a year from the US drug trade. ibid.
May 2017 was Mexico’s deadliest month since records began with 2,186 killings. ibid.
In 2016 CBP [Customs & Border Protection] seized over 600 tons of marijuana. Half the weed seizures along the south-west border were in the Tucson sector. ibid.
Chicago, Illinois: last memorial weekend 64 people were shot. At the heart of the violence: drugs. Dope s2e4: Is It Dangerous? Absolutely It’s Dangerous
1,862 people were shot on the west side in 2016. 226 died. ibid.
The Sinaloa cartel is reinventing heroin. They’re mixing it with a synthetic drug fifty times more potent: Fentanyl. Now they’re pushing pure Fentanyl. The high is intense but short-lived. And it’s deadly. Dope s3e1: The Devil’s Oldest Trick, Netflix 2019
Narcam has proved effective on heroin ODs. But combating Fentanyl is tougher. ibid.
Spain’s first city is braced for an avalanche of cocaine. The source: Colombia. The clan Del Golfo control Colombia’s lucrative coke market. Dope s3e2: God, Forgive Me For This
Coca can be harvested six times a year. ibid.
In 2017 Colombia’s cocaine yield rose 31% to an estimated 1,500 tons. ibid.
Los Angeles, California: cocaine capital of the west coast. Federal agents pursue traffickers by land and sea. While dealers fight to cash in. Dope s3e3: No Face, No Case
San Ysidro is one of four key drug corridors into the US from Mexico. ibid.
Rotterdam, the Netherlands: a cocaine scene in freefall. A gang boss feeling the heat. If his rivals don’t get him, the cops might. Dope 3e4: This Isn’t Miami Vice
From 2015-16 cocaine seized in the port of Rotterdam almost doubled. ibid.
The domestic market is saturated. ibid.
I’m in South Africa – a source of our most used illegal drug: cannabis. Stacey Dooley: The Cannabis Smugglers, BBC 2015
Swaziland is notorious for growing stronger weed. ibid.
Nyaope is a mix of cannabis and heroin. This often cut with HIV drugs, rat poison and other toxic substances. ibid.
It’s estimated that 15% of South Africans have a drug addiction. ibid.
The south of Spain: famous for its beaches and sunshine. But this region is also one of the most popular routes for smuggling cocaine and hashish into Europe. Violent drugs wars between criminal gangs have led to the government to issue a crackdown. Stacey Dooley: Costa del Nacos, BBC 2020
A single boat can carry up to four thousand kilos of hashish. ibid.
During the 1980s the Medellin Cartel smuggled 15 tons of cocaine a week, worth more than $400 million, into the United States. The majority entered the country through southern Florida. The Infiltrator 2016 starring Bryan Cranston & John Leguizamo & Benjamin Bratt & Diane Kruger & Yul Vazquez & Ruben Ochandiano & Juliet Aubrey & Amy Ryan & Olumpia Dukakis & Joe Gilgun et al, director Brad Furman, caption
What if we chased the money, took it to the bad guys, the real power at the top? ibid. Bob
The economy is addicted to drugs. ibid. baddie
Beautiful isn’t it? ... 42 billion spent on the war on pot. Kid Cannabis 2014 starring Amanda Tapping & Jonathan Daniel Brown & Kenny Wormald & Corey Large & Aaron Loo & Ron Perlman & John C McGinley & Marz Lovejoy et al, director John Stockwell
I ran a disciplined sixty-eight-million-dollar-a-year business. ibid.
I have here a report which deals with diamonds … ‘it does appear to be highly organized.’ River Beat 1954 starring Robert Ayres & Leonard White & Ewan Roberts & Glyn Houston & Margaret Anderson & Charles Lloyd Pack et al, director Guy Green, rozzers
I do it became I remember that this didn’t exist before. So, my kids, we gladly bring these to all of you. The Trade s1e1, gangsta with toys, Showtime 2020
I’ve never seen this kind of epidemic before. We’re seeing folks that are struggling across the border in Mexico who would love to have that American dream, and they see what the drug trade has to offer – thousands of dollars a day, and that thirst takes over. ibid. border officer
31/32,000 vehicles a day that come into the United States – and quite frankly they can’t screen every vehicle. ibid.
There’s two kids in the back of the car. ibid. local rozzer stops vehicle with dope
I never thought that I would be like this – a junkie. When I was younger I was just hanging out with friends, skateboarding, you know just a normal suburban life. When I first started using, it was pain pills you know on a weekend – kind of like a party thing … a neighbour of mine was using heroin … I may as well try it out: I was seventeen … ibid. addict with distressed withdrawing partner
We have lost trust in the government so we fend for ourselves. We are always alert because the price of poppies keeps rising. ibid. Mexican gangsta
I’d like to see my children grow up without weapons, without hitmen killing family upon family. ibid.
Oh, my God there’s stuff coming out of her mouth, coming out of her nose! The Trade s1e2, distressed father’s 911 call
Ashleigh’s case is my first fatal case and it weighs on you. It’s important that I find out who gave Ashleigh the heroin that killed her so I can bring them in before they kill someone else. ibid. rozzer
I would love it if it was all calm and we could live in peace. ibid. Mexican gangsta
Addiction is a son of a bitch. And I need to stop the cycle now because I don’t want my kids looking in a casket. ibid. mother
The courier that we arrested said that he was picking up money from an Hispanic female. He says she runs a stash house for the cartels, and that the stash house is part of a larger cell here in Columbus. The Trade s1e3, US rozzer
I’ve never thought of myself as a leader. I have defended my family and my town from Los Rojos. And through these actions we’ve won over the people. The Trade s1e4, Mexican gangsta
Hope After Heroin. ibid. protest march
Rozzer: What I need to know, Edith, is how many kilos come at one time to this house?
Edith: Maybe two kilos …
Rozzer: … At least twenty were here … ibid.
Sick and tired of being sick and tired … I knew I could change. ibid. addict
Edith and her co-conspirators pleaded guilty and are now in prison. ibid. caption
America’s overdose crisis is worse than ever before because of the synthetic opioid Fentanyl. The Trade s1e5, television news
Overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of fifty. ibid.
This horrible cycle that we’re stuck in … The heroin death rate is going up. ibid. rozzer
[jaunty music] Liverpool. A world city at the heart of the new county of Merseyside. It’s a city full of contrasts. A kaleidoscope of contradictions … Liverpool Narcos I: Heroin, public information film, Sky Documentaries 2021
We don’t class ourselves as being English: we’re the People’s Republic of Liverpool [laughs]. ibid. old lady in greenhouse
We have a degree of accepted lawlessness here. It’s like Cowboys and Indians. They don’t follow the rules ’cause they’re outlaws … the epicentre of drugs … Welcome to Liverpool. ibid. comments
What was it about Liverpool that made it such a big player in thee drug trade? The docks. ibid. Michael Showers, the boss
The hard part was getting it off [ship]. Customs were very very alert in Liverpool. Our firm had people who had relatives in senior positions. And that was it. It was just a matter of choosing the right time for them to take it off. Then pass it over to our sales division. And our sales division did their work. And then when I came home, just counted the money. ibid.
Pleading guilty at 15 to something I hadn’t done was my greatest regret. My greatest regret. Because that started it all. ibid.
In the ’80s a number of things conspired to bring brown smoke-able heroin to Liverpool … 47% of black workers unemployed, 43% of white workers [news clip] … No opportunities whatsoever … Young people weren’t of any value to society, or so they felt. And then of course we had the Toxteth riots in ’81 … A visitor from the US came in the ’80s and said, This is like Beirut. This is like a bombed-out shell, a husk of a city and a number of other things … ibid. comments
The game-changer was a cheap, high-grade smoking heroin became available. It was from Pakistan. And I’ve got Pakistani family. So I immediately kind of seized the opportunity to capitalize on that. Yeah. ibid.