Drug trafficking was not invented by a mafia but by the European colonial powers in the 19th century. Opium use spread throughout Asia, promoted by colonial powers. Meanwhile, the western pharmaceutical industry was developing some miraculous products, such as morphine, cocaine, and heroin. Addiction became a global scourge, and prohibition gradually became the norm. But outlawing these substances at the beginning of the 20th century gave rise to the first drug-trafficking networks, which often sought to operate under state protection, in Mexico, France and China… These networks underwent unprecedented growth during the Cold War, when secret services used the drug trade as a geopolitical instrument. The United States paid the price for this: In 1970, one third of their troops in Vietnam were addicted to heroin. A year later, in an historic speech, President Richard Nixon launched the war on drugs.
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Drug trafficking was not invented by a mafia but by the European colonial powers in the 19th century. Opium use spread throughout Asia, promoted by colonial powers. Meanwhile, the western pharmaceutical industry was developing some miraculous products, such as morphine, cocaine, and heroin. Addiction became a global scourge, and prohibition gradually became the norm. But outlawing these substances at the beginning of the 20th century gave rise to the first drug-trafficking networks, which often sought to operate under state protection, in Mexico, France and China… These networks underwent unprecedented growth during the Cold War, when secret services used the drug trade as a geopolitical instrument. The United States paid the price for this: In 1970, one third of their troops in Vietnam were addicted to heroin. A year later, in an historic speech, President Richard Nixon launched the war on drugs.
2020 • People
The first world power goes to war against drugs: the United States strikes hard. But the drug trade never dies. It moves, transforms, adapts. As the war on drugs progresses around the world, a new generation of drug lords emerged at the end of the 1970s, more powerful than ever. These criminals were not only in it for the money; they also wanted power. Pablo Escobar was the most notorious, but there was also Toto Riina in Sicily, Khun Sa in the Golden Triangle, and Felix Gallardo in Mexico, all of whom changed the destinies of their respective territories by taking drug trafficking to a global scale. They defied states and threatened the powers-that-be. It took almost 20 years for states to get organized and come up with strategies to bring down the drug barons.
2020 • People
The third episode opens on a world of drug trafficking that has been fragmented by the efforts of the police. Dealers have now changed; invisibility is their chief weapon. The trade has shifted to areas beyond law-and-order, like war zones in Afghanistan or areas with guerilla activity like Colombia. Designer drugs, which are easy to manufacture and conceal, play a key role in the transformation of the traffic. In Mexico, the cartels have dragged the whole country into a merciless spiral of violence – wherever one looks, the toll of the war on drugs makes for grim reading. Synthetic drugs, which are easy to manufacture and conceal, herald the fourth generation to come: traffickers in white coats. This poses the question: Is it time to legalize drugs, radically changing the current situation and perhaps the way we perceive them?
2020 • People
Kabwita Kasongo is a 28-year-old Congolese aspiring farmer with a young wife and three children. He earns a living making and selling charcoal while dreaming of a better future for his family. His only resources are the strength of his arms, the bushland around him, and his iron determination. When he sets out on a treacherous journey to the market in the nearest town where he hopes to sell his produce, he learns the true value of his efforts and the price he must pay to achieve his dreams.
2017 • People
Terror filled the streets of Sicily as rival bosses fought for control of the drug empire. The arrest of godfather, Tommaso Buscetta marked a turning point when he broke omerta, the mafia's sacred code of silence.
In August 2020, a plane travelling from Siberia to Moscow made an emergency landing. One of its passengers, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was deathly ill. Taken to a local Siberian hospital and eventually evacuated to Berlin, doctors there confirmed that he had been poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent implicated in attacks on other opponents of the Russian government. President Vladimir Putin immediately cast doubt on the findings and denied any involvement. While recovering, Navalny and his team unravel the plot against him, finding evidence of the Kremlin’s involvement and prepare to go public with their findings.
2022 • People
An extensive, detailed account on the incredible legacy Breaking Bad created before it had even ended, whilst documenting in intimate detail the filming of its final season.
2013 • People
Sal takes uncharacteristically desperate measures in the face of new federal charges, an unearthed paper trail and increasing pressure on a confidant. Sal has his day in court — again — Willy decides to go his own way. Facing a surefire prosecutorial case against them, Sal and Willy had their lawyers publish a veritable "hit list" of federal witnesses, many of whom were quickly assassinated. Moreover, despite having their narcotics assets frozen, they found a means of circumventing the law and using those illicit funds to pay for their expensive council. Understanding that wasn't enough to secure their exoneration, they then also bribed three jurors to swing the verdict in their favor—a scandal that compelled prosecutors to carry on a subsequent investigation to indict the jurors and use them against Sal and Willy.
S1E5 • Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami • 2021 • People