1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:11,119 Speaker 1: Aldo to persadas, yeah, d two person de canto. And 2 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: I remember that when I was singing that song, I 3 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:19,120 Speaker 1: raised my hands and I say to my God, I 4 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:24,799 Speaker 1: forgive the person that did me that. And I say 5 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: to my God, forgive them and forgive me, because in 6 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: this time I need you so much. 7 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 2: On the first of December nineteen ninety three, a short, plump, 8 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:49,519 Speaker 2: middle aged man is celebrating his forty fourth birthday inside 9 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 2: a house in his home city, a Meddy in Colombia. 10 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 2: There's cake, good wine, and marijuana. The man has a white, 11 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 2: small and graying hair at the sides. He owns several 12 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 2: palatial homes, has been a congressman, and for the last 13 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 2: seven years running, made the world famous Forbes magazine list 14 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 2: of billionaires. But right now he's in hiding. The next afternoon, 15 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 2: the man sits inside waiting for a boy who's been 16 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 2: sent to fetch lunch from a local restaurant. Outside, hundreds 17 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 2: of police and soldiers quietly surround the building, blocking off 18 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 2: the streets and taking up their positions. At two point 19 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 2: fifty one pm, two of the heavily armed cops from 20 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 2: an elite unit of Columbia's National Police approach knock on 21 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 2: the door, and when no one answers, they smash their 22 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 2: way in. Hearing the noise, the man runs upstairs, climbs 23 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 2: out through a window and jumps onto the roof of 24 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 2: the next door building. Despite his wealth, he's barefoot and 25 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 2: dressed in faded jeans and a blue polo shirt. With 26 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 2: the police now closing in from every side, his money 27 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 2: cannot save him. I'm Fiona Hamilton and from the Times, 28 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 2: The Sunday Times and News Corp Australia. This is Cocaine Inc. 29 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:43,080 Speaker 2: Episode two, The Sweet Song. To understand what led to 30 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:45,400 Speaker 2: the death of Ellie Edwards, which you heard in the 31 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 2: last episode, you need to start here directa in Colombia, 32 00:02:55,320 --> 00:03:01,640 Speaker 2: where the cocaine trail begins. It's the world's biggest producer, 33 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 2: where that barefoot man fleeing from police across the rooftop 34 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 2: helped turn the cocaine trade from a local smuggling operation 35 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 2: into a global business. Today we're in Bogata, the capital 36 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 2: of Columbia, in the luxurious National Police Social Club in 37 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 2: the city center. There's tall glass windows, manicured grounds with 38 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 2: palm trees, and inside a small chapel, a swimming pool 39 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,079 Speaker 2: and a Bowling Alley. It's where some of the city's 40 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 2: cops come to relax. My colleague, News Corp Australia National 41 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 2: correspondent Steven Drill, is sitting at the bar. 42 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 3: Okay ready to go. My name is Stephen. I'm a 43 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 3: journalist from Australia. Can you please tell me your name 44 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 3: and how old you are? 45 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: My name is Jose Fernando Carbajaldrea and twenty seven years old. 46 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 3: And do you have children? 47 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: No, I'm single. 48 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 3: Single. I've spent years as a reporter covering cocaine busts 49 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:19,279 Speaker 3: and celebrity cocaine scandals, and I've started to wonder where 50 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 3: does this problem come from and do we even really 51 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 3: understand it? So I managed to convince our bean counters 52 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 3: and a nervous HR department to send me halfway across 53 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 3: the world for this podcast, where one of the first 54 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 3: people I meet is Jose, the former policeman. The first 55 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 3: thing I notice is how young he looks, with a 56 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 3: neat beard, pale shirt and dark suit, and unlike what 57 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 3: you might expect for someone who's worked at the center 58 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 3: of global cocaine production, he has an infectious enthusiasm. 59 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: I work in the Mountaine in the forests in the 60 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: eradica of the elicit plants, call it cocaine. 61 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,359 Speaker 3: And with eradication, what do you actually do? Is it 62 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:10,840 Speaker 3: like spraying a chemical or cutting them down? 63 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 1: I will land square that question. In Spanish, Lacacun des. 64 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 3: Jose says the police used to spray weed killer, only 65 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 3: people criticized the damage it was doing to local farmers 66 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 3: and their crops. The Colombian government banned the practice in 67 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,719 Speaker 3: twenty fifteen. There was also a concern the chemicals in 68 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 3: the toxic weed killer would get into waterways and cause cancer. 69 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 3: So now the cops go in and physically pull out 70 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 3: the coca plants by hand. Wiping out the coca plants 71 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:49,840 Speaker 3: is one of the main ways governments around the world 72 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 3: have been trying for decades to shut down the cocaine business. 73 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:59,039 Speaker 3: The basic idea is that by sending in cops to 74 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 3: destroy the coca fine yelds, he reduced the supply of cocaine. 75 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 3: Supply goes down, the price goes up, which means that 76 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 3: customers and maybe that's you on the streets of say 77 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:14,279 Speaker 3: London or Sydney, don't buy cocaine because it's so expensive. 78 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 3: To give you an example, there was a cyclone in 79 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 3: Australia about ten years ago. 80 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 4: The banana industry is worth four hundred million dollars, but 81 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 4: it's been brought to its knees by cyclone Yasi. 82 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,839 Speaker 3: The banana plantations were wiped out. The price of bananas 83 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,680 Speaker 3: went to about thirteen bucks a kilo. That's seven pounds 84 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 3: or close to nine US dollars for a bunch of bananas. 85 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,160 Speaker 3: I didn't eat one for a year. It's economics one 86 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 3: on one right, Only there's a cost that doesn't get 87 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 3: accounted for it. To check out. 88 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:57,359 Speaker 1: La mozerra internaoso almente in La Selba. 89 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 3: Then Wastro pays and the Colombian police was sent to 90 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 3: destroy the coca crops. Jose says it was his job 91 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 3: to go ahead of the other officers with a sniffer dog. 92 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 3: Jose and his dog went alone through the forest to 93 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 3: make sure a path was clear for the rest to follow. 94 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: And one day I stepped on i s plus if 95 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: a mane and I lost my legs for that. 96 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 3: He lost his legs. That landmine was left by a 97 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 3: cocaine cartel to protect its harvest, and whoever set it 98 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 3: packed the bomb with nails and glass. They also put 99 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 3: in dogshit to make sure the wound got infected. I've 100 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 3: seen a lot while reporting on crime, but the evil 101 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:51,119 Speaker 3: intent of that decision is hard to get over. Jose 102 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 3: was left lying on the forest floor. 103 00:07:54,600 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: It was so bad, and I remember that I look 104 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: in the sky and I unsquare to my God, God Why? 105 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: And the helicopter arrived. Three miners later. 106 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,760 Speaker 3: His fellow cops rade him out under heavy gun fire 107 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 3: from the cartel how Is I was taken to hospital. 108 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 3: Both his legs were amputated. He lay in a coma 109 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 3: for eighteen days. Finally he opened his eyes. 110 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 1: I remember that the film that I see was my 111 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:43,680 Speaker 1: younger brother. In that moment, I thought, in my family, 112 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:49,959 Speaker 1: I lost my legs, but in any moment, I lost 113 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: my dreams. And I fight for my dreams with effort, 114 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: with a smile, because I love my country too, and 115 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: I think that I should continue service to my country. 116 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 3: Jose says he's fellow police officers are warriors who fought 117 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 3: all day, every day against the drug gangs, losing limbs, 118 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 3: losing their lives, leaving behind their homes and families. And 119 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 3: it's that human cost that doesn't get accounted for. The checkout. 120 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: Yes, when I lose my legs, I arrived at the clinic. 121 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 1: I cried so much, but I take a decision so 122 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: important for my life. 123 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:43,839 Speaker 3: Despite the cost he paid in the drug war, Jose 124 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 3: says he's come to terms with what happened to him. 125 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:52,440 Speaker 1: One day, I wake up so sad, and I remember 126 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:57,960 Speaker 1: that I hear a nurse seeing a hitting music. Christian 127 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: music is music a Christian Yeah, and there is a 128 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: part of the song that I will sing at the people. Yes, 129 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 1: quando test friend al mar heloscatra Visa Germa s on 130 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: brey Confe solo love hell mar Romano Nomo see the 131 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:35,440 Speaker 1: transbiene fa on delo Kanto. And I remember that when 132 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: I was singing that song, I raise my hands and 133 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 1: I say to my God, I forgive the person that 134 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: did me that. And I say to my God, my God, 135 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:55,439 Speaker 1: forgive them and forgive me because I need you in 136 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 1: this time. I need you so much. 137 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:06,319 Speaker 3: Jose forgave the cocaine gain who set that landmine. Today 138 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 3: he's living in Bogata studying law. I will be a 139 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:19,439 Speaker 3: selling layer. And somehow he's still managing to smile given 140 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:21,840 Speaker 3: what happened to him. You might have thought Jose would 141 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,439 Speaker 3: be pretty down on the practice of cops pulling out 142 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 3: cocaine plants, except he. 143 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:33,360 Speaker 1: Isn't reason by Santa if. 144 00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 3: It's a difficult job, but he says it's important, which 145 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 3: is where we get back to what I was talking 146 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:46,640 Speaker 3: about with the bananas. According to economists, by reducing the 147 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 3: supply of the coca crop, you would think it would 148 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 3: drive up the price of cocaine. Jose says something similar 149 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 3: is when I. 150 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,640 Speaker 1: Demanda, I ferda, it's. 151 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:05,680 Speaker 3: All about supply and demand, except, as I was about 152 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 3: to discover in the cocaine business, it doesn't work like 153 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 3: that at all. We finished talking and head out of 154 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 3: the police social club together, Jose walking slowly on his 155 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 3: prosthetic legs. 156 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: God bleeds you, and never forget that the life will 157 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:35,640 Speaker 1: be better with my with our love, maybe is our 158 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: message for you. 159 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,600 Speaker 3: Afterwards, I joined up with some of Jose's former colleagues 160 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 3: in the National Police, and together we're traveled by helicopter 161 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 3: deep into the Columbian Mountains. The police are armed with 162 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 3: sixteen rifles as we fly over the thick forest, We 163 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 3: land and climb into heavy duty four by fours, then 164 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:12,520 Speaker 3: drive along muddy tracks, heading deeper into the jungle. We're 165 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 3: about one thousand meters above sea level, but among the 166 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:20,440 Speaker 3: mountains there are plateaus where the local farmers have planted fields. 167 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:22,679 Speaker 4: We walk. 168 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 3: Among the trees. I see neat fields with row after 169 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 3: row of coca plants, with their flat green leaves and 170 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 3: bright red berries, the source of the global cocaine trade. 171 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 3: They're handpicked by local farmers. Only here there's no farmhouse, 172 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 3: just some ramshackle buildings made from timber and corrugated iron sheets. 173 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 3: Leaving the car behind us, we walk closer and standing 174 00:13:56,440 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 3: there in silence, when suddenly the forest erupts around heavily. 175 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:10,520 Speaker 3: Police charge forward, but this time it's a training rate 176 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 3: on a mock cocaine production lab, but the noise in 177 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 3: the threat of violence feels real. The men pretending to 178 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 3: be cocaine farmers are forced to lie face down, hands 179 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 3: out stretched in the dirt, and the cops as soon 180 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 3: seizing assault rifles, clearing rooms, pulling their suspects off at gunpoint. 181 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 3: It all happens in seconds. What's left is a stack 182 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 3: of brick sized blocks of white powder cocaine lying in 183 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 3: the jungle sun. Watching the police, I see a lot 184 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 3: of bravery, but not a lot of evidence the strategy 185 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 3: is actually working here in Colombia. As acre after acre 186 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 3: of coca plants are destroyed by the police, the farmers 187 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:00,080 Speaker 3: just go out and plant more. And even if half 188 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 3: the harvests are ruined every year by cops, which is 189 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:06,640 Speaker 3: pretty much what happens, the price paid on the street 190 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 3: for cocaine has actually stayed the same or for one 191 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:15,280 Speaker 3: in real terms, over the past thirty years, which is 192 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 3: where we come back to economics. Economics says that that 193 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 3: shouldn't happen. A supply of reduction shouldn't meant a price fall. 194 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,680 Speaker 3: The coca farmers should be able to charge more and 195 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 3: the drug cartels should have to pay it. When I 196 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 3: was trying to understand this, I read something by the 197 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 3: Economist Magazines Central America correspondent Tom Wainwright. Picture this, You're 198 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:44,840 Speaker 3: at the supermarket buying a two letter bottle of milk. 199 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 3: It's pretty cheap. In fact, in real terms, the price 200 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 3: of this bottle of milk has fallen over the past 201 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 3: thirty years. Part of the reason it's cheap is because 202 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 3: the big supermarket chains dominate the market. Think Tesco, Sainsbury's, Coals, 203 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 3: Woolies or wal Mart. Those big supermarket chains account for 204 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 3: a huge amount of the food we eat and the 205 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 3: milk we drink, meaning the dairy farmers have a little 206 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 3: choice over who they sell to. That means the supermarkets 207 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 3: can squeeze their suppliers, telling them they're only prepared to 208 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 3: pay so much, keeping down the cost to the customer 209 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 3: while maintaining their own profits and leaving any increase in 210 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,400 Speaker 3: the cost of producing the milk itself to be picked 211 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,840 Speaker 3: up by the farmer. And while Western farmers might say 212 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 3: they feel like they're being held at gunpoint, the farmers 213 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 3: in Colombia actually are. Those cartels set the prices. Meaning 214 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 3: the whole strategy of destroying the coca plants, something governments 215 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 3: have spent billions on, doesn't work. You see, the amount 216 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:58,480 Speaker 3: of land used to grow coca plants world wide has 217 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 3: roughly trebled touring the past decade. Production is now at 218 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:08,119 Speaker 3: a record level. The crops do get destroyed, but that 219 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:11,040 Speaker 3: just makes it harder for the farmers. It doesn't affect 220 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:14,440 Speaker 3: the cocaine gains that are shipping and selling the drug. 221 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,680 Speaker 3: Looking back at what I've seen so far in Colombia, 222 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:32,080 Speaker 3: it's the sheer violence of a drug trade. That stands 223 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:36,320 Speaker 3: out Jose's injuries from a landmine, the police training for 224 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 3: a raid with both sides armed and submachine guns. Who 225 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:44,119 Speaker 3: created this business model? There's really one place to go 226 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 3: to find the answer. From the mountains, I travel north 227 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:52,399 Speaker 3: to Meda Yane, where Papal Escobar helped build the world's 228 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,919 Speaker 3: first major drug cartel during the seventies and eighties. 229 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 5: The Median Catel group of men that in the last 230 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:05,000 Speaker 5: few years has formed a near monopoly on the processing 231 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:06,480 Speaker 5: and sale of cocaine. 232 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,560 Speaker 3: The Median cuts held changed everything in the cocaine business. 233 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,199 Speaker 3: They were the first to industrialize the process, shipping and 234 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,119 Speaker 3: flying cocaine bus quantities out of the country. 235 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 5: According to American officials, controlling as much as eighty percent 236 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 5: of the world's supply. 237 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:25,960 Speaker 3: With that control came huge profits. 238 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:29,680 Speaker 6: They're talking about a business that probably makes a couple 239 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 6: of billion dollars a year. 240 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:35,320 Speaker 3: In nineteen eighty one, Time magazine ran a front page 241 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:40,119 Speaker 3: story calling cocaine the drug of choice for millions. A 242 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 3: few years later, Forms magazine put the Median cartel's leader, 243 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 3: Pablo Escobar in its annual list of billionaires. Cocaine Inc. 244 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:52,400 Speaker 7: A huge international business run by a relatively small band 245 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,400 Speaker 7: of smugglers operating out of Columbia. This cocaine cartel, in 246 00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 7: many ways, is as sophisticated as a fortune five hundred 247 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:00,360 Speaker 7: up on. 248 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 3: It, and it was sophisticated just like any other business. 249 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 3: The carta had to manufacture, transport, market and seal its product. 250 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 3: The people running it also became sophisticated just like other 251 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:18,159 Speaker 3: business leaders. They wore the same expensive watchers, went to 252 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,879 Speaker 3: the same expensive parties, and had the same expensive problems 253 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 3: as those running legal businesses, like managing their employees, navigating regulation, 254 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:32,360 Speaker 3: finding reliable suppliers, and dealing with their competitors. 255 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 8: The forty four year old Escobar was accused of waging 256 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:39,439 Speaker 8: a terror ac campaign. Hundreds of people were killed by 257 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:40,680 Speaker 8: Escobar's assassins. 258 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 3: Looked at this way, cocaine might be the ultimate capitalist product. 259 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:52,119 Speaker 3: The businesses that had the most success selling it are dynamic, innovative, ruthless, 260 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 3: loyal only to the pure, unfettered free market. 261 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 8: Pablo Escobar had been a fugitive more than a year 262 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:03,720 Speaker 8: and a half after escaping from this prison, where police 263 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 8: say he still ran his cool Keene. 264 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:08,919 Speaker 3: Empire until, of course, it ended. 265 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:18,119 Speaker 8: An elite Colombian police unit killed Pablo Escobar in a shootout, 266 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:20,719 Speaker 8: cornering him here in this house where he had been 267 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:22,200 Speaker 8: hiding in the city of Medaheene. 268 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:27,159 Speaker 3: Escobar was the barefoot man who tried escaping across the 269 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 3: rooftops that Fiona was talking about at the beginning of 270 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 3: this episode. He'd vowed to go down fighting rather than surrender, 271 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 3: and was true to his word, firing at the police 272 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:43,639 Speaker 3: with a nine millimeter pistol in each hand. They shot back, 273 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 3: hitting him twelve times. Escobar fell dead on the terra 274 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 3: cotta tiles. The police post for photos, smiling holding their 275 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,719 Speaker 3: guns over his bloodied body. It looks like a trophy 276 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:01,919 Speaker 3: photo taken by a hunting party. 277 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:06,399 Speaker 8: Colombian authorities say its message to other drug lords is 278 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:08,640 Speaker 8: to surrender or you will be killed. 279 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,200 Speaker 3: But that message didn't seem to get through. In the 280 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:16,080 Speaker 3: year after Escobar's shooting, his cartail broke up into factions, 281 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 3: and so did the control it had over the cocaine 282 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 3: business in maneem I visit a suburb called Communa thirteen. 283 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:31,879 Speaker 3: It's high in the hills on the outskirts of the city, 284 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 3: but near the main highway. A crucial combination for the 285 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:40,359 Speaker 3: cocaine trade. But while the drug bosses make millions, Communit 286 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:44,439 Speaker 3: thirteen is one of the poorest areas of Columbia. Escobar 287 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,600 Speaker 3: ruled it as his personal kingdom. Walking through its narrow 288 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,639 Speaker 3: streets to get out of the rain, I duck inside 289 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:54,200 Speaker 3: one of the houses and sit down with a local woman, 290 00:21:54,960 --> 00:22:00,359 Speaker 3: a gay. We mean, her name is Rhodes. She doesn't 291 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 3: speak much English and I don't speak much Spanish, so 292 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:07,720 Speaker 3: we talked through a translator. Grat yes for letting us 293 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 3: speak in your home. 294 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 1: Audience. 295 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:13,400 Speaker 6: Nah, huh, come kill woostom. 296 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 3: We're in a very small room, about two meters by 297 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 3: three meters. It's the kitchen, the bathroom, the living room, 298 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,800 Speaker 3: and the bedroom. Rose actually pulls down a chair off 299 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:28,440 Speaker 3: the bunk bed so we can sit down. 300 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:30,600 Speaker 9: She said, you know, this is my humble house. 301 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:32,359 Speaker 3: How long have you lived here for? 302 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:32,920 Speaker 4: Okay? 303 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:42,000 Speaker 9: As a quanto it she was fourteen years old when 304 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 9: she arrived here, and now she's speak the name do 305 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:45,199 Speaker 9: you know? 306 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 3: Okay? And so you were here when the drug lords 307 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,440 Speaker 3: and the gorillas were in charge, just to walk out 308 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:59,200 Speaker 3: until she said yes. Rose tells me how Commune thirteen 309 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,200 Speaker 3: could be a the place even for people with nothing 310 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,680 Speaker 3: to do with the drugs trade. 311 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,360 Speaker 9: She said, the gorillas almost killed one of her sons. 312 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:13,399 Speaker 9: The gorillas confusing with somebody else, so they wanted killing 313 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,320 Speaker 9: someone who knows her. You know, saw what was happening 314 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:20,440 Speaker 9: to him. So the guy warned her and she went 315 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 9: directly to the place where her kid was, and she 316 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:26,439 Speaker 9: said to the gorillas, No, he's my kid, and you 317 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,160 Speaker 9: got to respect him. If you want to kill him, 318 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:30,760 Speaker 9: you have to kill me too. 319 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 3: Rose stood up to the drug gangs and her son survived. 320 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 3: Neither of them had anything to do with the cocaine business. 321 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:43,400 Speaker 3: But that's how close life and death got In made 322 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 3: n in the nineteen nineties. After Escobar's death, his cartail crumbled. 323 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:54,520 Speaker 3: Other gangs stepped in fighting over the cartail's business, and 324 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:58,040 Speaker 3: while Rose's family managed to escape the violence, plenty of 325 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:02,720 Speaker 3: her neighbors went so lucky. For a time, Menin had 326 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 3: a reputation as the murder capital of the world. Life 327 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,680 Speaker 3: in the city has gotten safer, Rose says, looking back, 328 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:17,400 Speaker 3: I ask what she thinks about the drug trade. 329 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:22,320 Speaker 9: She said, I wish would be gone, because you know, 330 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:26,000 Speaker 9: that's definitely only no good for the kids. So she 331 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 9: would lay, never see that again. I run the streets bad. 332 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 9: It's it's impossible as spite of the columbn economy. 333 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 3: So yeah, Rose and I don't chat for too long 334 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:42,880 Speaker 3: before I leave and make my way back to my hotel, 335 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:46,640 Speaker 3: to the narrow streets of Mediine. But what she says 336 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:50,080 Speaker 3: days with me. What she said is that the cocaine 337 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:54,440 Speaker 3: business isn't just a criminal enterprise. It's bigger than that, 338 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 3: so big that it's part of the Columbian economy, just 339 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 3: like say in the oil industry or mining, huge multinational 340 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:08,439 Speaker 3: industries with power to change the lives of millions, and 341 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:13,600 Speaker 3: in some cases more powerful than individual governments. I'm still 342 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 3: thinking about it months later. 343 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:25,640 Speaker 6: Do you speak Spanish, Salido. 344 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:27,360 Speaker 3: Which is how I ended up on a video call 345 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:30,160 Speaker 3: to another person who's witnessed the rise of the cocaine 346 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:35,680 Speaker 3: industry in Colombia. This is doctor Luiz Vales. Today he's 347 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:39,639 Speaker 3: a law professor. He actually teaches Jose, who you remember 348 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:43,080 Speaker 3: from earlier in this episode. It was Jose who suggested 349 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:43,920 Speaker 3: we speak. 350 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 6: And now did you interpew it here in? He's wonderful 351 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 6: a human being. 352 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:52,840 Speaker 3: And actually, but before taking up his teaching post, doctor 353 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 3: Vealez was a judge who oversaw the state's investigation into 354 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,919 Speaker 3: the drug gang that took over the cocaine trade from 355 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 3: the Median cartel. They were called the Cali Hotel. 356 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,720 Speaker 6: And we're talking about Cali cartel is mean conunction. 357 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 3: And then the Cali Catel took over after Escobar. 358 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:14,280 Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, but it was the first time in Colombia 359 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 6: that the Georgiers had bodygardener. I have the bodygarder. 360 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:21,880 Speaker 3: The judges. He had bodyguards. He tells me he had 361 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 3: a bulletproof vest and a bulletproof car. His family also 362 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:27,480 Speaker 3: had to have protection. 363 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 6: My daughter, she was one year old and she had 364 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,399 Speaker 6: to go to the kindergarten with the bodyguarden. 365 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:39,360 Speaker 3: Really, this was the big nineteen nineties. The Cali Hotel 366 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:41,880 Speaker 3: spread throughout Colombian society. 367 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 6: I saw how drugs money corot the Colombian society. The 368 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:52,880 Speaker 6: point is, drugs trafficking becomes a new form of employment 369 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:57,320 Speaker 6: in one of the most an equality country in the world. 370 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:02,480 Speaker 3: Let me repay that trafficking became a form of employment 371 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 3: in a poor country. But what's driving that economic engine, 372 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:11,119 Speaker 3: according to doctor Valais, is not supply. It's not the 373 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:15,159 Speaker 3: coca plants growing in the jungle. It's demand, and that 374 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:19,040 Speaker 3: demand is coming from those rich countries where people pay 375 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,120 Speaker 3: a fortune for cocaine. 376 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:27,359 Speaker 6: Columbia is the country that has been the highest course 377 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:32,200 Speaker 6: in the war in the by again drugs. 378 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:36,359 Speaker 3: He says. Colombia is the country that's paid the highest 379 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:39,720 Speaker 3: price of any in the drug war, or at least 380 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 3: it wasn't ntil recently, because like any modern business, the 381 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 3: cocaine trade is always changing, and when the authorities like 382 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:52,280 Speaker 3: doctor Valez cracked down on it here in Colombia. 383 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:55,680 Speaker 6: It moved. 384 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 3: And I. 385 00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:02,280 Speaker 6: Think it's a base for this terrible Mexico. 386 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:07,760 Speaker 3: Doctor Valez is now working as an advisor to the 387 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:11,719 Speaker 3: government of Mexico. Were countless thousands have been murdered by 388 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 3: the drug gangs. 389 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:14,639 Speaker 6: Mechico is terrible. 390 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,359 Speaker 3: Mexico is terrible, he says. And that's coming from a 391 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:22,040 Speaker 3: man who had a bodyguard for his one year old daughter. 392 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:26,920 Speaker 3: Hearing that, I know that Mexico is where we must 393 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:27,520 Speaker 3: go next. 394 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:34,560 Speaker 4: The problems between the different cartels, normally they solved that 395 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 4: through killing people, and unfortunately we have lots of corpse 396 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:43,040 Speaker 4: and we have not been able to identify those people 397 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:49,280 Speaker 4: belong to that, and there are lots of clandestine. 398 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 3: Grapes That's next time on Cocaine Ink. 399 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 2: Cocaine Inc. Is a joint investigation from the Times for 400 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:10,160 Speaker 2: Sunday Times and News Corp Australia. The reporters are David Collins, 401 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:15,080 Speaker 2: Stephen Drill and me Fiona Hamilton. The series is produced 402 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:20,080 Speaker 2: by Sam Chanterassak. They executive producers are Will Rowe and 403 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 2: Dan Box. Audio production and editing is by Jasper Leak, 404 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:28,680 Speaker 2: with original music by Tom Burchell additional recording by Jason 405 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 2: Edwards and If you want to get in touch with 406 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:36,000 Speaker 2: any questions or thoughts on the series, email Cocaine Inc. 407 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 2: At the Times dot co dot uk.