1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: There's more cocaine in the world right now than there 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: has ever been before, and all of it is coming 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: from this region in South America. Most of it is 4 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:21,120 Speaker 1: being transported on large commercial cargo ships. It's a big 5 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: take from Bloomberg News. In my Heart Radio, I'm West 6 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: Pasova today inside the global supply chain for cocaine. In December, 7 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:45,200 Speaker 1: we told you the wild story of smugglers who hid 8 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,960 Speaker 1: twenty tons of cocaine worth a billion dollars aboard am 9 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 1: massive containership traveling to Europe from South America, and how 10 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,400 Speaker 1: the US found out and seize the drugs when the 11 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: ship made a stop at the port of Philadelphia. That 12 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: was a huge bus, but it barely made a dent 13 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:08,319 Speaker 1: in the global cocaine supply. For every shipment that sees, 14 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: many many more tons go undetected. My colleagues Lauren Eder 15 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: in Los Angeles and Vernon Silver in Rome are here 16 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,039 Speaker 1: with me now to tell the next part of the saga, 17 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: what happens when all that cocaine reaches port in Europe. 18 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: Lauren Vernon, thanks for being here, Hey, Thanks glad to 19 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: be here. Thank you. You and our colleague Patricia lah 20 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: have written a big investigation for Bloomberg Business Week that 21 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: details the booming cocaine industry in Europe. And your story 22 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: begins with a business importing fruit Vernon, maybe i'll start 23 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: with you. Can you describe what happened? There's been this 24 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: increasing problem, especially around the ports in Europe, in this 25 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: case the Netherlands, with these fruit shipments having cocaine in them. 26 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: In this particular case, in May two thousand nineteen, a 27 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 1: warehouse of the group Fresh Group in a small town 28 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: about an hours away from Rotterdam's port. They're going through 29 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:18,639 Speaker 1: their bananas and the employees they're found four hundred kilos 30 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 1: of cocaine. That's a street value about thirty million dollars. 31 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: At this point had already become policy of this company 32 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:27,799 Speaker 1: that when they found the cocaine, you know, they've never 33 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: found this much before, they're just going to call the 34 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: police and turn it over to the authorities, which is 35 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: what they did. But within weeks, the unexpected happened. Word 36 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: had gotten out that this fruit company had found the 37 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: cocaine and turned it over the cops, and the two 38 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 1: brothers whose family for generations had owned this company that 39 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: had grown into, you know, a huge importer of Bananas 40 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: started getting threatening messages and someone who was claiming that 41 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:58,680 Speaker 1: it was their cocaine that had been turned over to 42 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: the police said that he wanted compensation for his loss. 43 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:07,399 Speaker 1: They threatened the group family, they threatened the employees. They 44 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: tried to get payment in millions of euros in both 45 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: bitcoin and cash in handovers. That never happened because the 46 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: company and the family owned it wouldn't cooperate and wouldn't 47 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: give into the extortion claims, and that began what turned 48 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: into a two year reign of terror in this small 49 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: town the municipalities called Monstril, where there were shootings and 50 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: fire bombings of the homes of people first connected to 51 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: the company, its owners, and then just people who had 52 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: worked there, you know, former employees, current employees. And in 53 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 1: one case, in the middle of the night, these two brothers, 54 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: Henry and Yon villain Seepers, who had both worked in 55 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: the warehouse, they were to crash through the window and 56 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: then an explosion, and within minutes they found themselves jumping 57 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: out the windows and uh, you know, barely came away 58 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: with their lives and you know, broken owns and their 59 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: house was burned to the ground. And that was kind 60 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: of the peak of what, looking back on it was 61 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: the really the terrorizing of an entire small community at 62 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: the end point of a global supply chain. Lauren obviously 63 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:21,680 Speaker 1: what Vernion describes as a very extreme example of one 64 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:26,039 Speaker 1: of the effects of the growing cocaine trade throughout Europe. 65 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: But this sort of thing where companies are discovering huge 66 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: amounts of cocaine in shipments say you know nothing about, 67 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: is not exactly uncommon. That's right. Over the past few years, 68 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: especially in Northern Europe, as the cocaine trade has shifted 69 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: from Spain the Iberian Peninsula to the major commercial ports 70 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: of Northern Europe and the Netherlands and Belgium, the discovery 71 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: and the interception of cocaine and shipping containers has become 72 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: really a regular occurrence, so much so that the customs 73 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,839 Speaker 1: officials and law enforcement authorities in those nations and those 74 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 1: ports are really struggling to keep up with the amount 75 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: of cocaine that's essentially deluging their ports. The amount of 76 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:20,159 Speaker 1: cocaine that is flowing into Europe's largest two ports in 77 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:25,679 Speaker 1: the Netherlands, uh Rotterdam and Belgium Antwerp, has really skyrocketed 78 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 1: over about a five year time period, so it's become 79 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: a crisis for officials there and they really are tasked 80 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: with finding what's often described as a needle in a haystack, 81 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:42,160 Speaker 1: because the cocaine is hidden in all kinds of consumer goods, 82 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:47,599 Speaker 1: whether it's tennis shoes or computer parts or scrap metal. UM. 83 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: But it's primarily hidden in refrigerated containers that are carrying 84 00:05:54,080 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: perishable goods such as fresh produce, vegetables, UM, shrimp, those 85 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 1: types of items. And this cocaine is all coming from 86 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 1: South America, Is that right? Oh? Yes, it all comes 87 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: from South America. There are three primary countries that grow coca, 88 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: and it's largely Colombia, but it's also Bolivia and Peru, 89 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,920 Speaker 1: and so there has been an explosion in the amount 90 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: of coca that's being grown in these nations for lots 91 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,159 Speaker 1: of reasons. UM and a colleague of ours wrote an 92 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: article describing the production in coca and also cocaine as 93 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: being actually the golden age of cocaine right now. There's 94 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: more cocaine in the world right now than there has 95 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: ever been before, and all of it is coming from 96 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 1: this region in South America. Most of it is being 97 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:55,440 Speaker 1: transported on large commercial cargo ships, and the vast majority 98 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,599 Speaker 1: of it is arriving in northern Europe where these large 99 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: ports are Vernon. There's so much cocaine, as Learned describes 100 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: coming into Europe that it's actually become kind of cheap. 101 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: What's incredible is, you know, the U N and also 102 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:16,800 Speaker 1: European authorities tracked the street value and prices of cocaine, 103 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: and what you're seeing is prices program in the US 104 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 1: have kept up. You know, we're talking about you know, 105 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: you can pay a hundred and twenty to two hundred 106 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: dollars for a graham. But in the areas where this 107 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: stuff is coming in, primarily Belgium and the Netherlands, you 108 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: can get a gram of coke for you know, sixty 109 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: five dollars or less. With that amounts to and you know, 110 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: I spent two weeks traveling around the Netherlands working on 111 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: this story. Is you can get you know, for what 112 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: you pay, let's say for Margarita and Antwerp, you could 113 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: probably get three or four lines of cocaine. So when 114 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: people are being frugal and things are costing more in 115 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: the cost of a dinner out costs uh, you know, 116 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: more than it was a year ago. The one thing 117 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: that's gotten cheaper is cocaine, and that has just a 118 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: lot to do with the complete flooding of the market 119 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 1: through the surge of of cocaine that's writing on top 120 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: of the fruit shipments, and of course cheaper prices means 121 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: there's even more demand, and more demand means there's going 122 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: to be more supply, and so it just keeps on growing. 123 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: One of the really interesting things in this system that 124 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: you're describing seems to be that the nation's producing all 125 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: of this cocaine and the drug cartels that want this 126 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,800 Speaker 1: supply to distribute in Europe were able to do this 127 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: because of advances in shipping fruit. Yeah. Absolutely, Um, it's 128 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: really fascinating when you start looking at the numbers when 129 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: you look at kind of this spike in cocaine UM 130 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: imports into into Northern Europe, and it's really over kind 131 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: of a five this five to seven year time period. Um, 132 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: there was a concurrent spike in the amount of fruit 133 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:10,600 Speaker 1: that was exported and other perishable goods from South America. 134 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: They almost parallel one another. So what's happened is that 135 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:19,319 Speaker 1: the drug traffickers have figured out that there is increasing 136 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: efficiency in the transportation of fresh fruits and vegetables from 137 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:27,079 Speaker 1: South America to northern Europe. And there's also been an 138 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: increase in sort of the infrastructure that's been built up 139 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: around the international shipment of these goods. The ports in 140 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 1: South America have been really improved and lots of private 141 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 1: investment has gone into these ports, allowing larger ships to 142 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 1: call port there. Um, there has been all along this 143 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:48,679 Speaker 1: supply chain, what they call the cold chain, there's been 144 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: all kinds of innovations. The shipping companies have rolled out 145 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:56,679 Speaker 1: new shipping containers that have innovations such as allowing fruit 146 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:01,040 Speaker 1: to ripen more slowly on the long voyage across the 147 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: Atlantic Ocean from South America to Europe, and just a 148 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:10,199 Speaker 1: larger number of containers they call them reefers or refrigerated 149 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: containers that are making that journey. And that's largely because 150 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 1: there's growing demand in Western European countries, just like there 151 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: is in United States and other markets, but for year 152 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:28,000 Speaker 1: round access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Products that consumers 153 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:31,960 Speaker 1: were only able to get during seasons when they're in season, 154 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: they can now get them year round because they can 155 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: you know, they're shifted across the world with increasing efficiency, 156 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 1: and the prices have come down all of that. So 157 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:45,719 Speaker 1: that's a long story behind the reasons why traffickers realize 158 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:50,319 Speaker 1: that there is this increasing amount of just legitimate cargo 159 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 1: that's moving from their key part of the world, Latin America, 160 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:58,720 Speaker 1: South America to Europe, and they really just piggybacked on 161 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 1: that supply chain. They figured out they're all kinds of 162 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 1: ways to penetrate that supply chain, whether it's infiltrating the 163 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: exporter or the importer, or as we wrote about a 164 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:15,119 Speaker 1: few weeks ago, infiltrating the crew of major shipping companies 165 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: to be able to load cocaine in the middle of 166 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:21,840 Speaker 1: the ocean as the ship is moving from one continent 167 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: to another. The traffickers are logistics experts, and they have 168 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:30,680 Speaker 1: figured out that if they can piggyback on the increasingly 169 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: efficient logistics and supply chain of the major shipping companies, 170 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 1: that it's been very good business for them and they've 171 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: been able to move increasingly large volumes and quantities of cocaine. 172 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:48,319 Speaker 1: Lawrence hit on a really good point from the European side. 173 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: One of the you know, the more interesting and surprising 174 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: things about the reporting from these stories was the data 175 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:58,679 Speaker 1: that explained what I was seeing here in Europe. I'm 176 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 1: based in Italy, and I gotta say, before, you know, 177 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: COVID times something like an avocado that was worth eating, 178 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 1: or blueberries or you know, mangoes, forget about it. This 179 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:13,679 Speaker 1: was like you could go to a specialty market and 180 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 1: maybe find one you could buy avocados um that were 181 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:20,200 Speaker 1: you know, maybe ripe if you kept them around for 182 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,079 Speaker 1: a while and they were right for half a day, 183 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:24,560 Speaker 1: to the point where like we'd go back to the 184 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: US and you know, the first thing that our family 185 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 1: would get for us if we went to California was 186 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:30,840 Speaker 1: you know, a big bowl of avocado so we could 187 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: make guacamole. Seeing the reporting on this story out of 188 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: South America, where I saw like, oh gosh, from Peru, 189 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: exports of fruit to Europe have doubled in the four 190 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,880 Speaker 1: years through, that explained what I was seeing here, which is, 191 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:47,959 Speaker 1: you know, coming out of COVID, I could go to 192 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:50,959 Speaker 1: supermarket and it's like, gosh, here's you know, their mangoes. 193 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 1: And until seeing the reporting for this story, it didn't 194 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: click that there were real changes here. Demand has changed. 195 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 1: Europe is getting tons more of this stuff and you 196 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,119 Speaker 1: follow it into the port you're finding then the cocaine. 197 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: We went through the press releases from the prosecutors in 198 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 1: the Netherlands for every press release they had over the 199 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 1: past year of drug busts and narrowed them down to 200 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,080 Speaker 1: busts in the Rotterdam port, and then from there looked 201 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: at what was in the containers where they were finding this, 202 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: and a little more than half the time it was 203 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 1: fresh fruits and vegetables. So there's like there's a direct 204 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 1: correlation between what you're seeing coming out of Latin America 205 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: right now and what you're seeing on the ground in 206 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 1: the markets and in the drug busts in Europe. You know, 207 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: it's one of these things where it's like it's right 208 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:42,839 Speaker 1: in front of you, like that the that the piggybacking 209 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:45,199 Speaker 1: was happening, and it all sort of fit together at 210 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: this aha moment, learning Burning Please stick around. Our conversation 211 00:13:49,960 --> 00:14:03,680 Speaker 1: continues after the break, Lauren, this coincidence of geography, let's 212 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:07,880 Speaker 1: cocaine hit rride on fruit shipments to Europe. Did you 213 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: write that packing cocaine with fruit gives the drug runners 214 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,600 Speaker 1: another advantage once the ship reaches port in Europe. Can 215 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:19,760 Speaker 1: you describe why that is? Yes, there is this increasing 216 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,040 Speaker 1: efficiency along this logistics supply chain, along this cold chain. 217 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:27,720 Speaker 1: But the other really important factor here is that customs 218 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 1: officials are under constant pressure to ensure that the supply 219 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 1: chain moves quickly and smoothly and efficiently, and to ensure 220 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: that the amount of cargo, that the cargo coming into 221 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 1: their ports is not being held up unnecessarily. So their 222 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: customs officials are actually under a lot of pressure to 223 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: rapidly push through the containers to make sure that they 224 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: reach their ultimate destination, to not slow down the rhythm 225 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:00,960 Speaker 1: of trade, of global trade is essentially because there's a 226 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: lot of money on the line. There are customers waiting 227 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: for their items. The shipping companies are very powerful and 228 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 1: they really don't want the trade to be slowed down. 229 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:13,440 Speaker 1: So what that means is that when you're shipping a 230 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: product like fresh fruit, there's an even greater sense of 231 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:21,840 Speaker 1: urgency to ensure that the product is is move swiftly 232 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:26,480 Speaker 1: through customs. And the traffickers know that because bananas can rot, 233 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:31,160 Speaker 1: shrimp can go bad, and so they realize that customs 234 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 1: officials when they come across a container filled with perishable goods. 235 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 1: There's a sense of urgency there that they're going to 236 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: process it quickly, get it out of the shipyard into 237 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 1: the market, and that they're not going to detain that 238 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: container unnecessarily. What's interesting is that there isn't a no tolerance, 239 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: zero tolerance view of this stuff getting through that in 240 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 1: the customs industry. And remember that, like customs was set 241 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 1: up as an idea of centuries ago as a way 242 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:00,360 Speaker 1: for countries to collect taxes. This is a this is 243 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 1: a revenue business. It's not necessarily a law enforcement business. 244 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: And I went to a meeting of the World Customs 245 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:11,840 Speaker 1: Organization and MASTRIX, and it was all about the technology 246 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: that can be used to sort of tilt the balance 247 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: of you know, speeding things through versus catching the contraband. 248 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:22,280 Speaker 1: It was about the balance. It wasn't about making sure 249 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: that nothing made it through. And part of what Lauren 250 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 1: found in her reporting was like, it is the cost 251 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: of doing business for the drug traffickers that they know 252 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:32,560 Speaker 1: some of it will get taken by the by the cops, 253 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: but a lot we'll get through. Lauren Divernon's point, you 254 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: write that authorities are season more cocaine than ever before, 255 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 1: but they can only inspect a small number the thousands 256 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: and containers that arrive each day, so a lot more 257 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:51,520 Speaker 1: is probably getting through, Is that right. Yeah, it's really 258 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: surprising actually, and it really just goes to show just 259 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: the immense task that confronts customs officials. But globally, only 260 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:05,680 Speaker 1: two percent of containers are inspected by customs officials. So 261 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:09,280 Speaker 1: the hundreds of millions of containers that are being shipped 262 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 1: around the world going to ports, two percent or less 263 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:15,879 Speaker 1: are inspected, are pulled out of the supply chain, the 264 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:19,399 Speaker 1: stream of commerce and inspected by customs officials. But in 265 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:23,439 Speaker 1: Northern Europe and in Antwerp and in Rotterdam, it's actually 266 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: much less than two percent. It's around one percent, between 267 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: one to two percent, and that's partly a function of 268 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,280 Speaker 1: the just the sheer difficulty of doing this. They first 269 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:37,159 Speaker 1: have to target the containers and figure out where is 270 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: the cocaine. It's this ultimate game of hide and seek, 271 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 1: because the traffickers are constantly shifting their methods. You know, 272 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 1: once the law enforcement officials are kind of onto them, 273 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 1: they come up with a new scheme to evade detection. 274 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:53,800 Speaker 1: And they've done this over and over and over again. 275 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:57,160 Speaker 1: So the police are always trying to kind of chase 276 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 1: them figure it out, but they're also the customs officials 277 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 1: are trying to target which containers the cocaine might be in. 278 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: So the mayor of Rotterdam, he has explained that he 279 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: would like to see every single container from South America 280 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:15,159 Speaker 1: carrying fruit to be inspected by customs officials. And this 281 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,199 Speaker 1: was seen as kind of a radical proposal because what 282 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:21,199 Speaker 1: that means is that if you're a legitimate shipper of 283 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:25,680 Speaker 1: bananas from Columbia or Ecuador, you're gonna automatically have your 284 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 1: container pulled aside, pulled off the ship, pulled into the 285 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:34,160 Speaker 1: scanning facility, and held for hours, if not days. And meanwhile, 286 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: your your bananas might row, your customers getting upset because 287 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:41,119 Speaker 1: they haven't received the product yet, and you may or 288 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:45,400 Speaker 1: may not find cocaine in that shipment. So even though 289 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:49,639 Speaker 1: customs authorities are inspecting just one to two percent of 290 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 1: containers that arrive in their ports, in European Union authorities 291 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:58,439 Speaker 1: seized more than two and forty tons of cocaine. It 292 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:02,560 Speaker 1: was a record amount. It was triple the amount season. 293 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:07,400 Speaker 1: You can imagine that they're seizing this record amount of cocaine, 294 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: but even more than that is likely getting through Vernion. 295 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: Once all that cocaine gets to shore, they have to 296 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,480 Speaker 1: get it off the ships and get it into the 297 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:21,880 Speaker 1: hands of the distributors. How do they get it from 298 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 1: the port into the streets? Yeah, I mean this is 299 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: sort of an amazing part of going through the court 300 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 1: records of the past a decade and talking to experts 301 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: was seeing how that this is evolved. They've gone from 302 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,399 Speaker 1: a system where these container ships would start pulling up 303 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:41,119 Speaker 1: towards the port and somewhere in the North Sea, you know, 304 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: dump bags essentially duffle bags off the back of these 305 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:48,439 Speaker 1: big ships and be met by fishing boats to have 306 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: picked them up at sea, to just having it packed 307 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 1: in the containers, which means that the action is now 308 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:58,639 Speaker 1: on shore, in the ports themselves and in warehouses on 309 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,400 Speaker 1: the street level. And city is like Rotterdam. The problem 310 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:04,400 Speaker 1: is that you have a lot of young people who 311 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 1: are underemployed and who all of a sudden can be 312 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:11,520 Speaker 1: paid for one big mission where they get into a 313 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 1: port and they get into a container and they somehow, 314 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: you know, they grabbed the duffel bags full of cocaine 315 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:20,000 Speaker 1: and you know all you know and quotes. All they 316 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 1: need to do is get it from there into a 317 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,680 Speaker 1: car and off the grounds of the port and to 318 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:30,200 Speaker 1: a distribution center a warehouse where these drugs are being accumulated. 319 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:35,960 Speaker 1: So I spoke to the mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Abu Taleb, 320 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,480 Speaker 1: and this was a real pain point for him. He 321 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,679 Speaker 1: has watched his city kind of transform as a cocaine 322 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: trade has really kind of swept across Rotterdam. And one 323 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:49,520 Speaker 1: of the things that is really heartbreaking for him and 324 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:53,879 Speaker 1: also just very problematic in terms of solving, is that 325 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:57,600 Speaker 1: there are so many young people who are at risk 326 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:02,120 Speaker 1: of being recruited by the rug traffickers to do these jobs. 327 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:04,879 Speaker 1: And they appear as kind of simple jobs. Right. You 328 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:08,439 Speaker 1: might earn ten thousand euro to climb the fence of 329 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: the shipyard, go in under the cover of night, sneak 330 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 1: into or break into one of these containers that is 331 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:20,400 Speaker 1: known to be containing cocaine, snatched the bags out of there, 332 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: the deffel bags of cocaine, and then jump the fence 333 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:26,640 Speaker 1: and runaway and you know, deliver the cocaine to the traffickers. 334 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: That's just one job that you might be able to 335 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:33,560 Speaker 1: earn ten thousand thousand euro as opposed to you know, 336 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,680 Speaker 1: taking a normal kind of legitimate job as a carpenter 337 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: or as a plumber, or as working in a shop. 338 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:44,040 Speaker 1: And so the mayor feels really up against the traffickers 339 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,720 Speaker 1: and the organized crime groups in a sense that how 340 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:51,920 Speaker 1: can legitimate employers compete with those wages that the traffickers 341 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 1: are offering. So he described it really as kind of 342 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:59,120 Speaker 1: an undermining of civil society, because it's not overt all 343 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: the time. It's just of these subtle ways where the 344 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:06,760 Speaker 1: criminal organizations kind of undermine legitimate kind of trade and 345 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 1: undermine the above board markets, and how that has a 346 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: trickle down effect and kind of captures these young men 347 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:18,200 Speaker 1: or you know boys in some instances who then get 348 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:21,640 Speaker 1: really kind of lured into this trade. He actually told 349 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:23,679 Speaker 1: me kind of an interesting and a little bit of 350 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:28,160 Speaker 1: a chilling story about how the traffickers work and how 351 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: they kind of get people to cooperate with them. And 352 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:36,480 Speaker 1: this was actually involving shipping company employees or port workers. 353 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:39,440 Speaker 1: So the way it might work is you work at 354 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,240 Speaker 1: say a doc and your job is to kind of 355 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 1: make sure the containers kind of you know, come in 356 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: come out on time, and somebody might approach you and say, hey, 357 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:50,679 Speaker 1: we have this side job for you. We we just 358 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: need you for ten tho euro to look the other way, 359 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:56,919 Speaker 1: just for five minutes. Step away from your post for 360 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:59,639 Speaker 1: five minutes and we'll give you ten thousand euro. And 361 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:01,200 Speaker 1: the guy is like, I don't know if I really 362 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,840 Speaker 1: want to do that. It's a little risky, but he agrees, 363 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:06,040 Speaker 1: so he does the job. They say, okay, meet us 364 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:08,119 Speaker 1: at this restaurant afterwards and we're going to give you 365 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,119 Speaker 1: your payment. When he arrives to pick up his payment, 366 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: sitting there is not only the traffickers who are going 367 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,320 Speaker 1: to pay him, but one or two other employees at 368 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:21,760 Speaker 1: the port who now know that this individual has done 369 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: something illegal. So in that very subtle way, he's now 370 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:29,240 Speaker 1: captured by the organization because he has these other people 371 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:31,199 Speaker 1: and he's in on it, and you can't kind of 372 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 1: back out of that. So they're very sophisticated in the 373 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:38,440 Speaker 1: way that they recruit individuals, the way that they capture them, 374 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:40,440 Speaker 1: and kind of once you're in, it's very hard to 375 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: get out. The ports and the customs officials will actually 376 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: tell their employees like, please do not wear your uniform 377 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,959 Speaker 1: if you're going to leave, like say go pump gas 378 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:54,840 Speaker 1: or go to a restaurant or anything like that, because 379 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: you suddenly become a target. And they're constantly being bombarded. 380 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: There are track for curs that look for them on LinkedIn. 381 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:04,520 Speaker 1: They'll send them messages on LinkedIn and say, hey, do 382 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:06,840 Speaker 1: you want to earn you know, a little money. On 383 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:10,359 Speaker 1: the side, they are being hunted by these organized criminals 384 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: trying to recruit them into the trade. And it's um, 385 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:17,199 Speaker 1: it's a very tricky problem that the city and the 386 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: ports and the customs officials are facing. We'll be right back, Vernie. 387 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 1: We've heard how this sophisticated international operation works, but who's 388 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: in charge of it? Who are the organizations or cartels 389 00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:44,520 Speaker 1: behind it all. What they're dealing with is transnational organized crime. 390 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 1: There's no one location or one group for exactly. It's 391 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:52,239 Speaker 1: not you know, just the Sicilian mafia. It's many of 392 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 1: them working together. And from these investigations the European authorities 393 00:24:56,080 --> 00:25:00,440 Speaker 1: have done, we see connections to Eastern Europe. We see 394 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:04,040 Speaker 1: connections where some people from the Netherlands are now based 395 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:08,560 Speaker 1: out of the Persian Gulf countries. We see North Africa 396 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 1: being involved. And this is partly because of distribution. Uh, 397 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,879 Speaker 1: this is partly because of you know, how learn in 398 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 1: her reporting about the shipping itself has connected uh some 399 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:24,920 Speaker 1: of us to cruise from the Balkans. They have found 400 00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:27,800 Speaker 1: from north to south and east to west through Europe. 401 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:30,960 Speaker 1: One connection, which is the cash that they can make 402 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:34,080 Speaker 1: off of this new flood of cocaine. And that's why 403 00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: it's been so hard, sort of like you know, a 404 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:38,600 Speaker 1: multi headed monster for them to whack it. You know, 405 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:40,840 Speaker 1: in in the Netherlands they talk about some kind of 406 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,679 Speaker 1: Moroccan mafia, but as it doesn't have anything really to 407 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: do with Morocco. In Italy, where a lot of this 408 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:49,920 Speaker 1: stuff is also coming, it's the traditional organized crime groups UM. 409 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,560 Speaker 1: And then in Eastern Europe you were dealing with organizations 410 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:57,119 Speaker 1: that can you know, connect more deeply into Central Asia. 411 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:02,200 Speaker 1: It's truly a multinational, all conglomerate and all of this 412 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: money has effects. You can see it as you write 413 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:09,159 Speaker 1: in Rotterdam that there are the effects of drug wealth 414 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:15,480 Speaker 1: wherever you go. In Rotterdam, you know, the city officials 415 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:17,760 Speaker 1: took me around for a walking tour and the first 416 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 1: thing that was interesting was how afraid they were they 417 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 1: said they feel safe in their city and all this, 418 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,360 Speaker 1: but when it came down to using anybody's names were 419 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:27,800 Speaker 1: describing their titles, they didn't want to do that for 420 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,960 Speaker 1: the reasons that Lauren outlined about everyone being a target. 421 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:33,760 Speaker 1: If somebody knows what you do, you can be targeted. 422 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,119 Speaker 1: So in some sort of anonymity, they took me for 423 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: this walk around what seemed to me to be a 424 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:43,280 Speaker 1: really lovely neighborhood. Little by little they pointed out what 425 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 1: they were seeing. There were lots of gold and jewelry 426 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 1: shops with no customers in them, which to them were 427 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,679 Speaker 1: signs of potential money laundering. Some of them had changed 428 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,919 Speaker 1: hands and ownership, you know, two or three times in 429 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: the last couple of years, another sign of We walked 430 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:01,359 Speaker 1: past the restaurant on a co owner that are beautifully 431 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: rebuilt facade, new pink colored glass, again dinner time, no 432 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:09,560 Speaker 1: customers in there, and as they pointed out, they had 433 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: learned that the person who paid for this stuff was 434 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:15,800 Speaker 1: just renting it wasn't even his building. And then we 435 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,159 Speaker 1: we keep going down this boulevard to a strip of 436 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:22,159 Speaker 1: garages with lots of BMW's and outis parked in the driveways, 437 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: and they said that this is where the drug runners 438 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: come to get their automobiles fitted out with secret compartments. 439 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:31,919 Speaker 1: In these secret compartments is where these duffel bags and 440 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,440 Speaker 1: bricks of cocaine are stashed to then be driven down, 441 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,399 Speaker 1: you know, these these big highways that go down into 442 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,960 Speaker 1: the rest of Europe and all over the place. Has 443 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,480 Speaker 1: the rise in cocaine trafficking in the Netherlands and other 444 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:50,560 Speaker 1: countries in Europe led to an increase in violent crime 445 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:54,920 Speaker 1: as well. The nutty thing is that nationwide, the stats 446 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 1: showed that violent crime of all types has been decreasing, 447 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:02,400 Speaker 1: but that doesn't mean that life is better in some 448 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:07,320 Speaker 1: way because of it. There's this permeation and society there 449 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:10,359 Speaker 1: of of a sort of fear. Not that they are 450 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: themselves targets of specific violent crimes, but they could be 451 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:17,760 Speaker 1: that someone their family might be targeted that you know, 452 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,320 Speaker 1: there have been assassinations of a journalist and a lawyer 453 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: who are working on drug cases. There's sort of a 454 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,200 Speaker 1: paradox to it. Things have gotten nicer, but they've gotten worse. 455 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: There are these chilling photographs published this past year when 456 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:35,800 Speaker 1: a prosecutor showed how they had found torture chambers when 457 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:38,160 Speaker 1: they had a dentist chair in it with straps on it. 458 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,840 Speaker 1: And fittingly, these torture chambers they found had been found 459 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 1: in shipping containers. Is there anything that can be done 460 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 1: to actually stem the flow of cocaine given what an 461 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:53,880 Speaker 1: enormous challenge it is. It really depends on who you 462 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:58,120 Speaker 1: talked to. The shipping companies and UM. Others in the 463 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 1: shipping industry will often say like, look, there is a 464 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:04,880 Speaker 1: demand there for this product, and there's nothing that we 465 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 1: can really do to stop it. I mean, they're all 466 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,120 Speaker 1: kinds of steps and measures that they could take. UM, 467 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,560 Speaker 1: But again, it gets to the root of this issue, 468 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 1: which is institutions not wanting to disrupt this smooth flow 469 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:22,840 Speaker 1: of global trade. So the mayor of Rotterdam has kind 470 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:26,800 Speaker 1: of taken on this as a mission and he's really 471 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 1: kind of studied the shipping industry and he's like, look, 472 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:34,360 Speaker 1: the shipping companies are making record amounts of money right now, 473 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:37,560 Speaker 1: and it's true they are because of the supply chain 474 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,400 Speaker 1: crisis in the week of the pandemic. So he's like, 475 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,479 Speaker 1: there are things that they could do to spend money 476 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,440 Speaker 1: to solve this problem. They could transform their fleet of 477 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:49,200 Speaker 1: shipping containers into what are called smart containers, which is 478 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: essentially introducing some sort of technology, a little microchip into 479 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 1: the container that would be able to track when a 480 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:59,320 Speaker 1: container is opened or shut, um track it's um it's 481 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 1: voyage from point A to point B, and just to 482 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: have a better kind of handle on the voyage or 483 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,000 Speaker 1: the life cycle of the shipping container. The shipping companies 484 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,040 Speaker 1: will also say, hey, look, if this is such a 485 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:13,000 Speaker 1: big problem, which they all acknowledge that it is, why 486 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,200 Speaker 1: don't the governments of say Belgium, in the Netherlands and 487 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:21,800 Speaker 1: other European government spend more money to hire more customs authorities. 488 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 1: But people that I've talked to said that, look, you 489 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:28,400 Speaker 1: could hire an army of customs officials and you still 490 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: would not be able to tackle this problem. Even if 491 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:35,360 Speaker 1: people disagree on what is the right solution, almost everybody 492 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,520 Speaker 1: agrees on one thing. If you're gonna fix this problem, 493 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,080 Speaker 1: it's going to cost more money. And who's going to 494 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 1: end up paying that at the end of the day 495 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 1: is the consumer. Your strawberries are going to be a 496 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,160 Speaker 1: more expensive, your shrimp is going to be more expensive. 497 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 1: You're going to end up paying more for Consumer Goods. 498 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 1: Lauren Edder, Vernon Silver, thanks so much for talking with 499 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 1: me today. Thanks so much. Hey, thanks again. You're gonna 500 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:00,880 Speaker 1: read more from Lauren editor and Vernon s Over at 501 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: Bloomberg dot com. Thanks for listening to us here with 502 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:06,880 Speaker 1: The Big Take, the daily podcast from Bloomberg and I 503 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:09,640 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more shows from my Heart Radio, visit 504 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:12,960 Speaker 1: the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. 505 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:16,239 Speaker 1: Read today's story and subscribe to our daily newsletter at 506 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: Bloomberg dot com. Slash Big Take, and we'd love to 507 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: hear from you. Email us with questions or comments to 508 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,760 Speaker 1: Big Take at Bloomberg dot net. The supervising producer of 509 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:30,440 Speaker 1: The Big Take is Vicky Erga. Our senior producer is 510 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:36,160 Speaker 1: Katherine Fink. Our producers are Mo Barrow and Michael falerro 511 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 1: Is our engineer. Original music by Leo Sidrin. I'm West Casova. 512 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:45,360 Speaker 1: We'll be back tomorrow with another Big Take