If you only get your international drug policy history from Netflix, you might think that the drug traffickers in Mexico are a smart, coordinated system of violent sociopaths that control the government. They are cartels. Therefore they have leadership, and hierarchies and tangible targets that can be taken out just like in a Call of...
Nov 11
Episode 95: Behind the Speedboat Dope Bombings with Ioan Grillo
<p>As we’ve said hundreds of times on Narcotica, the drug war is a war on people used to advance some of the worst atrocities in history. Drugs are the perfectly legible boogeyman to the public, used as a justification used to advance racist, draconian policy. From CIA planes tha ... Show More
1h 29m
Sep 27
Episode 93: Veterans’ Harm Reduction Battle with Beth Dinges
<p>Despite all the nationalism in our country, veterans are too often seen as expendable. Drug use in the military is as common as any other aspect of society, obviously, but increased stigma and consequences pushes most to the shadows. Harm reduction for veterans is especially v ... Show More
50m 26s
Jun 2025
#212 Katarina Szulc - Inside the Cartels' Secret Smuggling Operation in Port of Vancouver
Katarina Szulc is an investigative journalist and the host of Borderland: Dispatches, a show delivering raw, on-the-ground reporting from the front lines of Mexico’s cartel war. With a sharp lens on organized crime, corruption, and cross-border conflict, she brings listeners real ... Show More
2h 18m
Mar 2024
Ridouan Taghi Gets Life: An Update From The Marengo Trial
It’s been a couple of months since the last episode of Gateway: Cocaine, Murders & Dirty Money in Europe, but business is busy as ever in the world of global drug trafficking. This week, we wanted to share an important update with fans of the series: Ridouan Taghi has been senten ... Show More
36m 43s
Jan 2025
157: The Painkiller Problem: How Fentanyl Took Over America
Hi friends, happy Wednesday!
Last year I had a surgery so that I could breathe again, and it’s been nice, thanks for asking! I love breathing. But when I was in the hospital, the doctors gave me some really strong pain medication.
I asked what it was, and the doctor told me it w ... Show More
41m 8s