'The world knew about the death of Pablo Escobar and the subsequent fall of the Medellin Cartel. Many knew about the Cali Cartel … but with the fall of these two cartels why had there been no decrease – I’m talking zero decrease – in the amount of drugs leaving Colombia and ending up in the United States?’ Drug Lords: The Takedown s1e4: Invisible Cartel, Bonnie Klapper, Sky Crime 2020
New York, January 1997: Armed with a search warrant, Danny and Romedio raid the Tele Austin store. ibid. caption
‘There was an invisible force behind the massive quantities of cocaine.’ ibid. Klapper
The new North Valley Cartel is innovative, brutal … and stealthy. ibid.
Bustamante’s reign of fear means no-one will give him up. John Tobon needs a way to get people talking. ibid.
As the ‘snitching war’ mounts, there is speculation that Bustamante is cooperating with the El Dorado task force. ibid.
‘He was not the traditional Mexican cartel leader. He was an American citizen.’ Drug Lords: The Takedown s1e6: Edgar Valdez-Villareal
‘He started trafficking small amounts of forty/fifty pounds of marijuana from Mexico into the US.’ ibid.
But La Barbie’s hometown is the perfect spot for an ambitious young drug trafficker. ibid. caption
‘The next morning a full country SWAT team hit the house. We arrested 4 cell members working for the cartel, we seized 120 kilos of cocaine, and $1.5 million.’ ibid. agent
La Barbie is the first to release torture and execution videos to the press. It becomes a regular tactic in the Mexican cartel wars. ibid. caption
But the US authorities still won’t give La Barbie the deal he craves. ibid.
By 2010, Mexico’s drug wars have claimed 28,000 lives in just 4 years. ibid.
Authorities track La Barbie to a ranch 20 miles west of Mexico City. ibid.
During the 1980s Colombia drug cartels expand into three main criminal conglomerates … Within the Cali Cartel a young star is rising: Juan Calos Ramirez Abadia, known as Chupeta. Drug Lords: The Takedown s1e7: Cocaine CEO, National Geographic 2023
‘Chupeta was very organised but very strict.’ iibid. cash-runner
Meanwhile Cali Cartel cocaine continues to pour into the USA. ibid.
‘It made Chupeta [Colombia] and El Chapo [Mexico] two of most powerful narco-traffickers in the entire world. ibid.
‘He became the first narco-trafficker to use narco-submarines.’ ibid. agent
‘He was an enormous drug trafficker, a prodigious producer of cocaine, 30,000 kilograms of cocaine of month. He had real control of the drug trade within Colombia. He was the man.’ Drug Lords: The Takedown s1e9: The Madman; Jay Bergman, DEA
El Loco is what is known as ‘an invisible’, a drug lord whose identity is unknown. Yet intelligence sources say he is trafficking vast amounts of cocaine. ibid.
‘He was a massive supplier of cocaine to the Mexican cartels.’ ibid. Ana
By 2008 the DEA have pieced together elements of Barrera’s original story. But they are no closer to establishing his identity. ibid.
To get to Daniel ‘El Loco’ Barrera, Ana [agent] needs someone from inside his organisation. ibid.
In Bogata, El Loco is out of his comfort zone. Investigators begin to make inroads into his network. ibid.
‘El Loco Barrera invested large sums of money to buy off witnesses and bribe police personnel.’ ibid. Ana
Europe is battling a cocaine crisis. And one port in Belgium is on the front line. Antwerp is now the main gateway to the continent. Customs are intercepting record amounts. Cocaine: Flooding Europe, BBC short 2023
A crashed plane, a drug smuggler and a black bear who unwittingly consumed over 70 pounds of cocaine. True Crime Recaps: The Real-Life Events That Inspired This Hit Film, Youtube 9.34, 2023
One of the most bizarre incidents in American history … Pablo Esco Bear. ibid.
In September 1985 a small plane crashed into the mountains in North Carolina. ibid.
A 175-pound black bear dead of a drug overdose. ibid.
Florida Keys 1986: This team is going to be celebrating for three weeks I think. Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami I: Willy & Sal, boat racing commentary, Netflix 2021
The offshore powerboat champions indicted for trafficking more than seventy-five tons of cocaine worth an estimated $2 billion. ibid. TV news
The epitome of the cocaine cowboys of the 1980s. ibid.
We’re nothing more than the Kennedys of the 21st century. ibid. smuggler
Everywhere you went it was Willy and Sal. ibid.
They always shared their wealth. ibid.
They were grossing $20-30 million every month. ibid.
Sal [Magluta] and Willy [Falcon] were going to be caught. Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami II: 75 Tons, lady friend
I’m not going to lie. He wasn’t the first drug dealer I’ve been out with. ibid.
And then everyone started getting arrested after that. ibid. smuggler
The problem is keeping them [witnesses] alive … ibid. Rozzer
And when she backed up, the bomb went off. Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami III: Mountain of Evidence, witness
They would resort to anything to save their own skins. ibid. Rozzer
There were several other murders and attempts. ibid.
Alleged ‘cocaine kings’ acquitted in Miami. ibid. The Arizona Daily Star Sunday February 18th 1996
Other jurors were not deliberating in good faith. Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami IV: Only in Miami, rozzer
Lead juror arrested on bribery charges in failed drug trial. ibid. newspaper headline
We didn’t know at the time there were other jurors involved in this. ibid. rozzer
He’s [Sal] up in Palm Beach in a phoney wig … Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami V: Femme Fatale, dude
9 years for man who fled court. ibid. newspaper headline
I was being charged with the things Sal had done. ibid. Sal’s girlfriend
Murder, attempted murder, payouts, intimidation … Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami VI: Adios, Muchachos
They were always greater than the sum of their parts. ibid. journalist