WEBVTT - Episode 2 - Cocaine CEO 0:00:15.607 --> 0:00:20.927 Pushkin Just a quick note before we start today's show. 0:00:21.327 --> 0:00:24.327 You can listen to Hot Money, the New Narcos ad 0:00:24.407 --> 0:00:28.647 free by becoming a Pushkin Plus subscriber. Find Pushkin Plus 0:00:28.647 --> 0:00:31.887 on the Hot Money Show page in Apple Podcasts or 0:00:31.927 --> 0:00:36.927 at pushkin dot fm, slash Plus. With your subscription, you'll 0:00:36.967 --> 0:00:40.887 also get access to ad free binge opportunities from Malcolm 0:00:40.927 --> 0:00:45.687 Gladwell's revisionist history, The Happiness Lab from Doctor Lori Santos, 0:00:46.047 --> 0:00:48.767 and tons of other top shows in the Pushkin Network. 0:00:49.247 --> 0:00:53.487 Sign up in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin dot fm, 0:00:53.527 --> 0:00:55.487 slash Plus. 0:00:57.087 --> 0:01:01.727 Previously on Hot Money, I started looking into a murder 0:01:01.767 --> 0:01:04.527 in a small Dutch town, the murder of a man 0:01:04.727 --> 0:01:07.847 who was living secret life on the run from the 0:01:07.887 --> 0:01:11.727 Iranian regime. And it's taken me to Ireland to a 0:01:11.767 --> 0:01:15.727 safe house owned by the Kinnahans, the family at the 0:01:15.767 --> 0:01:20.367 heart of Europe's most powerful cocaine cartel. But who are 0:01:20.367 --> 0:01:24.127 the Kinnahans and why would drug traffickers be connected to 0:01:24.167 --> 0:01:28.327 what looks like a political assassination. This isn't an easy 0:01:28.327 --> 0:01:32.087 story to report because, for obvious reasons, I can't just 0:01:32.247 --> 0:01:36.207 call up the main characters, crime bosses. They don't usually 0:01:36.247 --> 0:01:40.367 take calls from journalists, so instead I need to find 0:01:40.367 --> 0:01:41.887 the people who are trying to bring them down. 0:01:46.927 --> 0:01:49.767 Heroin took everyone by surprise, took the criminals by surprise. 0:01:50.647 --> 0:01:54.007 It took the on Garda Shircanna. The Irish police Force 0:01:54.367 --> 0:01:55.647 took them by complete surprise. 0:01:56.647 --> 0:01:59.927 In nineteen seventy seven, Michael O'Sullivan had just joined the 0:01:59.927 --> 0:02:03.087 Irish Police Force. He's in his early twenties and he's 0:02:03.167 --> 0:02:06.047 grown a handle bar mustache and got himself a leather jacket. 0:02:06.447 --> 0:02:09.167 He kind of looks a bit like Charles Bronson, but 0:02:09.567 --> 0:02:13.567 more approachable, a bit friendlier, and as a young detective, 0:02:14.007 --> 0:02:16.607 he soon finds himself on the front line of policing 0:02:16.607 --> 0:02:20.047 a new type of problem because tons of cheap heroin 0:02:20.207 --> 0:02:22.807 is flooding into Europe, including Dublin. 0:02:23.567 --> 0:02:26.567 This was a new ballgame. These were drug dealers on 0:02:26.607 --> 0:02:31.487 the streets, street wise, in what we would call flat complexes, 0:02:32.567 --> 0:02:35.407 in rundown areas where they would have lookouts, and it 0:02:35.447 --> 0:02:39.007 was they're like fortresses and the problem was getting worse 0:02:39.167 --> 0:02:45.167 and worse. It wouldn't be uncommon to have an entire family, 0:02:45.687 --> 0:02:48.327 you know, four or five kids, all on drugs. 0:02:49.127 --> 0:02:51.807 Michael can tell that the usual methods of policing, the 0:02:51.887 --> 0:02:54.807 old ways, they're just not going to work. So he 0:02:54.887 --> 0:02:56.287 comes up with a radical idea. 0:02:57.247 --> 0:03:01.047 I went to my superiors and suggested to them that look, 0:03:01.847 --> 0:03:04.007 people could go in and buy the drugs with a 0:03:04.087 --> 0:03:07.287 view to catching the drug dealer, and basically suggested that 0:03:07.327 --> 0:03:10.647 I could do it. From similar background, I felt I 0:03:10.687 --> 0:03:11.967 could easily blend in. 0:03:12.447 --> 0:03:15.407 What Michael was talking about. Here is an undercover sting, 0:03:15.927 --> 0:03:19.167 and in nineteen eighties Island in the police that's just 0:03:19.207 --> 0:03:20.167 not really the dune thing. 0:03:21.127 --> 0:03:24.247 My boss has told me. It was a crazy idea. 0:03:24.487 --> 0:03:27.567 It was illegal, and if I didn't get myself arrested 0:03:27.847 --> 0:03:31.287 or brought before the courts, i'd bring the police force 0:03:31.327 --> 0:03:33.927 into discredit. It couldn't be done, and it wasn't to 0:03:33.927 --> 0:03:34.407 be done. 0:03:34.887 --> 0:03:38.607 Michael listens to his bosses, weighs up their advice, and 0:03:38.687 --> 0:03:42.487 he ignores it. The way he tells the story of 0:03:42.527 --> 0:03:45.447 this first sting, it sounds just like a scene from 0:03:45.447 --> 0:03:48.727 a movie. He's already chosen a dealer, a dealer he's 0:03:48.767 --> 0:03:51.607 been watching for a while, and one day, when he's 0:03:51.607 --> 0:03:54.127 out on patrol, he decides to split off from his 0:03:54.167 --> 0:03:57.007 colleagues and he goes out alone without telling them where 0:03:57.007 --> 0:03:57.447 he's heading. 0:03:58.247 --> 0:04:03.207 So I went into a flat complex and knocked on 0:04:03.247 --> 0:04:05.527 the door and a guy came out. This big guy 0:04:05.647 --> 0:04:08.087 stood at the door, and as I began to ask 0:04:08.167 --> 0:04:11.727 him for drugs, he produced in his hand and I 0:04:11.767 --> 0:04:13.927 was probably cut by surprise. I didn't really realize. I 0:04:13.927 --> 0:04:18.887 didn't think it would work that fast, So I took 0:04:18.887 --> 0:04:22.767 a deep breath and snatched the drugs from his hand 0:04:22.807 --> 0:04:25.167 and produced my ID card. At the same time, he 0:04:25.247 --> 0:04:27.847 looked at me in disbelief. He thought I was a 0:04:27.967 --> 0:04:28.967 junkie trying to robin. 0:04:29.887 --> 0:04:32.647 It takes a second, but the man notices Michael's police 0:04:32.687 --> 0:04:35.327 idea and then he realizes what's really going on. 0:04:36.007 --> 0:04:39.007 At this stage, he assumed that I'd back up, but 0:04:39.047 --> 0:04:41.167 what he didn't realize was the backup had no idea 0:04:41.247 --> 0:04:44.047 where I was. So he decided to cut his losses 0:04:44.087 --> 0:04:46.967 and he ran back into his flat, and I followed 0:04:47.007 --> 0:04:50.847 him on the way. He cut some drugs that were 0:04:50.927 --> 0:04:53.287 on a table and threw them into a lighting fire. 0:04:54.367 --> 0:04:57.767 Michael knows he needs the drugs as evidence, because that's 0:04:57.807 --> 0:05:01.207 the whole point of the sting, so he stops. The 0:05:01.287 --> 0:05:04.247 heroine is wrapped in this plastic and it's trying to melt. 0:05:05.087 --> 0:05:07.727 Michael reaches his hand into the fire and pulls it out. 0:05:08.727 --> 0:05:10.967 At the same time time the dealer is still desperately 0:05:10.967 --> 0:05:12.327 trying to find a way out of the flat. 0:05:13.127 --> 0:05:16.967 He opened a back window of the ground floor flat, 0:05:17.367 --> 0:05:20.487 and as he was halfway outed, I was holding onto 0:05:20.487 --> 0:05:20.847 his leg. 0:05:21.647 --> 0:05:25.407 So here's Michael, one hand covered in melted plastic, the 0:05:25.447 --> 0:05:28.207 other hand gripping the leg of a heroin dealer who's 0:05:28.287 --> 0:05:31.127 dangling out of a ground floor window, and no one 0:05:31.167 --> 0:05:35.047 knows where he is. He's got back up, but they've 0:05:35.047 --> 0:05:35.487 lost him. 0:05:36.687 --> 0:05:39.087 A passing unit of the police who are trying to 0:05:39.127 --> 0:05:41.647 look for me saw him hanging out the window and 0:05:41.727 --> 0:05:44.767 realized where I was. It came down to that, had 0:05:44.767 --> 0:05:47.487 he not gone out the window, it thinks could have 0:05:47.527 --> 0:05:50.647 gone quite badly. It was a crazy thing to do. 0:05:50.687 --> 0:05:52.447 Looking back in it, I wouldn't advise anyone to do it, 0:05:52.767 --> 0:05:55.967 but you know, you're young and impulsive, and nobody planned 0:05:55.967 --> 0:05:58.727 for it to go that way. I was admonished by 0:05:58.767 --> 0:06:03.167 my bosses and told it was her brain. Don't do 0:06:03.207 --> 0:06:03.567 it again. 0:06:04.887 --> 0:06:07.927 But Michael's risky move pays off. It takes a while, 0:06:08.367 --> 0:06:11.887 but Eventually his bosses realize that he's onto something, and 0:06:12.007 --> 0:06:14.887 soon enough he finds himself coming up against a new 0:06:14.927 --> 0:06:18.447 force in Irish organized crime. It's a family that will 0:06:18.487 --> 0:06:22.767 transform the drugs business, make their fortune and end up 0:06:22.927 --> 0:06:26.447 some of the world's most wanted men. The family at 0:06:26.487 --> 0:06:34.807 the heart of the Dubai Supercartel. I'm Miles Johnson from 0:06:34.847 --> 0:06:38.607 the Financial Times and Pushkin Industries. This is Hot Money, 0:06:38.647 --> 0:07:02.287 Season two, The New Narcos, Episode two, Cocaine Ceo. I'm 0:07:02.327 --> 0:07:05.887 trying to understand how a group of European drug traffickers 0:07:06.367 --> 0:07:10.247 became some of the world's most successful criminal entrepreneurs because 0:07:10.287 --> 0:07:14.167 their story is the story of a revolution, a revolution 0:07:14.247 --> 0:07:18.487 that swept across Europe's criminal economy. And Michael, he's been 0:07:18.527 --> 0:07:21.487 following all of this from the start. The Kinahans have 0:07:21.567 --> 0:07:23.567 been in his sights since his early days on the 0:07:23.607 --> 0:07:28.207 streets of Dublin, and it started with Christopher Kinahan better 0:07:28.247 --> 0:07:30.407 known as Christie or the Dappadon. 0:07:31.527 --> 0:07:34.647 Myself and Chris Canahan has most started working in drugs 0:07:34.927 --> 0:07:39.087 around the same time, and our careers have sort of 0:07:39.087 --> 0:07:41.727 gone in tandem. I was on one side of the 0:07:41.767 --> 0:07:42.927 fence and he's on the other. 0:07:44.087 --> 0:07:47.047 Michael first comes across Christy in the mid eighties. It's 0:07:47.087 --> 0:07:49.087 at the height of Dublin's heroin problems. 0:07:50.087 --> 0:07:53.767 I was aware that there was somebody behind the distribution 0:07:53.927 --> 0:07:57.767 network within Dublin. The name Christy Kinahan came up. I 0:07:57.847 --> 0:08:00.447 had never heard of him. I had made some inquiries 0:08:00.647 --> 0:08:03.807 and I'd heard that he was best described as a 0:08:03.847 --> 0:08:07.767 fraudster and he would go around bouncing checks, you know, 0:08:07.847 --> 0:08:12.047 he could talk to wasn't a real criminal, he was, 0:08:12.127 --> 0:08:15.567 you know, a suave sort of a guy. 0:08:15.847 --> 0:08:18.367 Michael starts looking into Christy Kinahan and he learns that 0:08:18.407 --> 0:08:20.767 he grew up in a middle class family in Dublin. 0:08:21.447 --> 0:08:23.487 He went to the same school that the writer James 0:08:23.567 --> 0:08:27.487 Joyce had attended seventy years earlier when he was a kid. 0:08:27.687 --> 0:08:29.807 Christie's family lived in the UK for a bit, and 0:08:29.847 --> 0:08:33.407 he sometimes puts on an English accent. He's also acquired 0:08:33.567 --> 0:08:39.567 some expensive tastes, sports cars, nice clothes, and luxury apartments. 0:08:40.647 --> 0:08:42.927 As Michael watches him, he can tell us not just 0:08:43.007 --> 0:08:48.367 bounce checks. Covering Christie's extravagant lifestyle is drug money and 0:08:48.447 --> 0:08:50.407 Christy he seems to have come up with a new 0:08:50.447 --> 0:08:54.007 distribution model. One that's different from the other heroine dealers. 0:08:54.647 --> 0:08:59.607 He had rented a luxury apartment away from grotty streets 0:08:59.687 --> 0:09:03.247 and drug dealing and was using it as the nerve center. 0:09:03.487 --> 0:09:06.047 He's paranoid, so he'd only trust himself, and he reckoned 0:09:06.087 --> 0:09:08.567 he was in such a safe place and that he 0:09:08.727 --> 0:09:15.767 was unknown that he could hold the drugs and maybe 0:09:15.847 --> 0:09:20.367 get one or two trusted people to take them from him, 0:09:20.407 --> 0:09:23.527 and they will go and cut it and distribute it. 0:09:24.127 --> 0:09:27.367 The location of Christie's base of operations is so unlikely 0:09:27.647 --> 0:09:30.287 that Michael actually doubts it at first, but then he 0:09:30.287 --> 0:09:32.607 sees Christy arriving at the block of flats. 0:09:33.087 --> 0:09:35.647 Fortunately for us, he drove a flash red sports cart 0:09:35.927 --> 0:09:36.807 and it's confirmed. 0:09:37.567 --> 0:09:41.447 It's nineteen eighty six and Michael's undercover sting operations are 0:09:41.487 --> 0:09:45.807 by now well established. If Christie's holding heroin in that apartment, 0:09:46.487 --> 0:09:48.367 that's where Michael wants to stage a sting. 0:09:49.127 --> 0:09:51.087 You just can't hang around a place for days and 0:09:51.327 --> 0:09:55.327 with cameras and sit in another adjoining apartment complexes. You've 0:09:55.327 --> 0:09:58.127 got to put yourself into a position. So we just decided, look, 0:09:58.287 --> 0:10:00.447 let's go in as workmen, and myself and another guy 0:10:00.487 --> 0:10:03.327 went in as workmen and carrying on our work tools. 0:10:03.967 --> 0:10:06.167 Michael's with a colleague and they go inside the block 0:10:06.207 --> 0:10:10.527 of flats. They're dressed as electricians. They start going around, 0:10:10.727 --> 0:10:13.007 knocking on doors and asking residents if they can check 0:10:13.047 --> 0:10:13.567 their lights. 0:10:14.167 --> 0:10:16.207 One or two of the residents asked us to try 0:10:16.247 --> 0:10:18.367 and fix fridges and stuff. So we just sort of 0:10:18.527 --> 0:10:21.007 ran with the flow and it worked. 0:10:22.687 --> 0:10:26.207 There in the corridor was Christie. 0:10:27.127 --> 0:10:31.807 He passed me in the hall. I saw him go 0:10:31.927 --> 0:10:34.607 in and out and I realized who he was. 0:10:35.607 --> 0:10:38.887 So Michael calls him back up and braces himself to 0:10:38.927 --> 0:10:39.247 go in. 0:10:40.847 --> 0:10:45.087 You don't know if somebody behind that door has a gun. 0:10:45.887 --> 0:10:48.167 You don't know how many people are behind that door. 0:10:49.127 --> 0:10:51.207 You could go in and a guy could be standing 0:10:51.247 --> 0:10:53.047 there with a machine gun. A guy could be standing 0:10:53.087 --> 0:10:54.767 with a handgun and get the drop on you. As 0:10:54.767 --> 0:10:59.047 they would say, the adrenaline is flowing, you know, your 0:10:59.087 --> 0:11:02.327 heart is racing. Anything could go wrong. 0:11:03.167 --> 0:11:06.887 The door opens, but it's not Christie on the other side. 0:11:07.087 --> 0:11:11.207 It's another man. Mike On and his colleagues pull out 0:11:11.207 --> 0:11:15.567 their search warren and they entered the flat. Where's Christy 0:11:15.727 --> 0:11:16.887 At this point. 0:11:16.927 --> 0:11:20.047 He's sitting at a table eating a sandwich. Can still 0:11:20.047 --> 0:11:22.607 see him sitting out looking as it was a big role. 0:11:22.647 --> 0:11:25.567 He was eating a big salad roll or something. It 0:11:25.607 --> 0:11:27.247 was still in his mouth as we came in the 0:11:27.287 --> 0:11:33.607 door and knee he just he visibly paled and he 0:11:32.887 --> 0:11:38.687 just he just froze. Really, he just froze. Yeah. I 0:11:38.727 --> 0:11:41.647 told him we were the drug squad and with a 0:11:41.687 --> 0:11:44.527 warrant to search the premises. And he put down the 0:11:44.567 --> 0:11:48.087 sandwich and he said, I'm as sick as a parrot 0:11:48.687 --> 0:11:52.247 for the English phrase. He said, is your name Sullivan? 0:11:52.727 --> 0:11:55.087 I said it is. He said, I was told to 0:11:55.087 --> 0:11:58.767 look out for you, and I said, well he should 0:11:58.767 --> 0:11:59.967 have took that advice. 0:12:00.927 --> 0:12:03.487 Did it. I worry you at all that he knew 0:12:03.487 --> 0:12:04.007 who you were. 0:12:04.967 --> 0:12:08.047 When you're in the drugs business, when you're working against 0:12:08.047 --> 0:12:12.607 the organized crime, if you're going to worry about your safety, 0:12:12.607 --> 0:12:13.447 you're on the wrong job. 0:12:14.807 --> 0:12:18.487 After Michael arrests him, Christy Kinahan's charged. He admits to 0:12:18.487 --> 0:12:21.047 owning the drugs and the cash and the fraudulent checks 0:12:21.047 --> 0:12:24.407 that were found inside the apartment. He pleads guilty, and 0:12:24.447 --> 0:12:27.407 while Christie works his way through the legal system, Michael 0:12:27.487 --> 0:12:28.927 starts to get a sense of his character. 0:12:29.927 --> 0:12:32.847 You know, in court and traveling to court, he would 0:12:32.847 --> 0:12:37.607 be trying to learn French or reading books. He thought 0:12:37.647 --> 0:12:40.447 he was a step above everybody. 0:12:40.687 --> 0:12:41.167 He was. 0:12:42.767 --> 0:12:47.487 Reasonably smart, but he was I suppose it's a bit 0:12:47.527 --> 0:12:50.567 of a snob. Really, he wouldn't waste time and he'd 0:12:50.607 --> 0:12:52.207 always look for opportunities. 0:12:53.407 --> 0:12:55.687 By the time Christie's trial comes around, his lawyers come 0:12:55.727 --> 0:12:58.207 up with the defense. He says that his client is 0:12:58.247 --> 0:13:00.647 committed to turning his life around, and he tells the 0:13:00.687 --> 0:13:04.207 court that Christie's learning, He's learning French and Arabic, and 0:13:04.247 --> 0:13:08.247 he's trying to improve himself. Michael is skeptical, but the 0:13:08.327 --> 0:13:10.767 judge buys Chris this story, and then he gives him 0:13:10.767 --> 0:13:15.927 six years in prison. Christy Kinahan is down, but he's 0:13:15.927 --> 0:13:20.167 not out. A few years later, Michael's still doing drug enforcement. 0:13:20.927 --> 0:13:23.607 One night, after work, he decides to go for a run. 0:13:24.447 --> 0:13:27.887 And I glanced over my shoulder and I saw a 0:13:27.967 --> 0:13:32.687 car following me, and so I ran through a series 0:13:32.727 --> 0:13:36.767 of streets and I could see the car was still 0:13:36.807 --> 0:13:42.247 following me, and I went around a corner and stopped 0:13:42.247 --> 0:13:44.927 to tie my lace, and the car sped past me, 0:13:45.807 --> 0:13:49.167 and I glanced at it, and I told to myself, 0:13:49.247 --> 0:13:52.567 I swear that's Chris Connhan. I went back to the 0:13:52.567 --> 0:13:54.927 office and I said, h'm after seeing Chris Connette. She 0:13:54.927 --> 0:13:59.727 couldn't have done Yeah, So it came to pass that 0:13:59.767 --> 0:14:00.247 he was out. 0:14:01.847 --> 0:14:06.007 Christi Kinahan's out of prison and he's only just getting started. 0:14:19.527 --> 0:14:21.687 I'm gonna warn you right up front. I'm known to 0:14:21.767 --> 0:14:22.727 go all over the place. 0:14:22.767 --> 0:14:28.407 So that's Derek Maltz. And Derek's loud, but he's not angry. 0:14:28.567 --> 0:14:30.927 He just talks like this all the time. It's sort 0:14:30.927 --> 0:14:33.487 of the same if he's ordering a pizza or arresting 0:14:33.487 --> 0:14:36.807 a drug kingpin. Derek used to run the Special Operations 0:14:36.847 --> 0:14:39.167 Division of the US Drug Enforcement Administration. 0:14:40.007 --> 0:14:42.247 When we signed up to be DA, we didn't sign 0:14:42.367 --> 0:14:45.167 up to be firemen where the bell rings, you slide 0:14:45.167 --> 0:14:46.967 down the pole and you go put out the fire. 0:14:47.847 --> 0:14:52.007 We signed up to proactively infiltrate the biggest and baddest 0:14:52.047 --> 0:14:53.007 criminals in the world. 0:14:54.327 --> 0:14:56.407 Derek's been a source of mind for a couple of years. 0:14:57.007 --> 0:14:58.567 It's been a couple of years where I've been having 0:14:58.607 --> 0:15:01.487 to do a lot of networking with law enforcement agents 0:15:01.487 --> 0:15:03.807 around the world because I was writing a book on 0:15:03.967 --> 0:15:07.847 international organized crime. But the thing about police. There's no 0:15:07.927 --> 0:15:12.367 online directory, and the way it works is this, you 0:15:12.407 --> 0:15:15.327 meet someone like Derek, and if you're lucky, he'll introduce 0:15:15.367 --> 0:15:18.287 you to someone else, and so it goes on, and 0:15:18.327 --> 0:15:21.007 it's three these kind of connections. I've met police from 0:15:21.167 --> 0:15:25.847 the US, France, the Netherlands, the UK Island and more. 0:15:26.767 --> 0:15:31.087 In each agency they have their own culture, their own vibe. 0:15:31.887 --> 0:15:35.087 And Derek, he couldn't mean more on brand for the DEA. 0:15:35.647 --> 0:15:38.367 And maybe that's because it's pretty much in his blood. 0:15:41.447 --> 0:15:43.687 He worked thirty years my father in the DEA. 0:15:44.287 --> 0:15:46.247 My father did a lot of work with the heroin 0:15:46.327 --> 0:15:49.247 traffickers in New York, you know, getting drugs from you know, 0:15:49.287 --> 0:15:52.607 Italian organized crime. At the time, when I was thirteen 0:15:52.687 --> 0:15:55.527 years old, my father actually took me out on a 0:15:55.567 --> 0:16:01.327 surveillance following a female who was connected to a heroin fugitive. 0:16:02.287 --> 0:16:03.727 And so he thought it was a good idea to 0:16:03.727 --> 0:16:05.767 put a thirteen year old kid in the government vehicle, 0:16:05.927 --> 0:16:08.927 follow into a high rise hotel in a very bad 0:16:08.967 --> 0:16:11.567 area in New York City and send his kid into 0:16:11.607 --> 0:16:15.287 the elevator with the target to see what apartments she 0:16:15.327 --> 0:16:15.727 went into. 0:16:16.367 --> 0:16:18.367 So I guess my law enforcement. 0:16:17.887 --> 0:16:20.487 Career actually started when I was like between nine and 0:16:20.567 --> 0:16:21.447 thirteen years old. 0:16:22.527 --> 0:16:25.647 Derek's father was tackling the growing problems caused by heroin. 0:16:26.247 --> 0:16:28.487 But by the time Derek started working for the DEA, 0:16:28.687 --> 0:16:31.607 there was a different drug rapidly taking market share. 0:16:32.167 --> 0:16:36.647 America was getting completely bombarded with cocaine and crack and 0:16:37.247 --> 0:16:41.607 just so many problems violence, crime, okay, and all of 0:16:41.647 --> 0:16:44.247 the cocaine at that time was coming from Colombia. 0:16:44.887 --> 0:16:48.007 Columbia has always been one of the biggest producers of coca, 0:16:48.087 --> 0:16:51.127 the plant that cocaine is derived from. The cost of 0:16:51.127 --> 0:16:54.487 growing and processing coca is low and the markups are huge. 0:16:54.847 --> 0:16:58.847 The supply chain is controlled by powerful cortails. 0:16:58.727 --> 0:17:01.247 The cartels. They're in the business to make money. 0:17:01.287 --> 0:17:04.767 They run these organizations like a fortune five hundred company 0:17:04.767 --> 0:17:07.767 in the sense of they want to maximize profits and 0:17:07.847 --> 0:17:09.087 reduce risks. 0:17:10.007 --> 0:17:12.967 In the nineteen eighties and nineteen nineties, these Latin American 0:17:13.047 --> 0:17:16.407 drug kingpins they captured the world's attention. Names you might 0:17:16.447 --> 0:17:19.407 have heard of, like Pablo Escobar or El Chappo Gusman. 0:17:20.127 --> 0:17:23.167 The American market for cocaine it got bigger, and the 0:17:23.207 --> 0:17:27.367 cartels they became more and more powerful, so US law enforcement. 0:17:27.607 --> 0:17:28.887 They ramped up their response. 0:17:29.647 --> 0:17:31.967 The DEA established a Kingpins strategy. 0:17:32.367 --> 0:17:35.887 The United States attorneys around America started engaging a lot more. 0:17:37.007 --> 0:17:39.487 We started getting enhanced sentencing. 0:17:39.007 --> 0:17:43.767 Guidelines for drug traffickers around America, and we started working 0:17:43.887 --> 0:17:47.087 very closely with the Colombian National Police. 0:17:47.167 --> 0:17:50.527 It was a controversial strategy. Not everyone was comfortable with 0:17:50.567 --> 0:17:53.927 the DA jumping into other countries and arresting people, but 0:17:54.007 --> 0:17:57.727 it got results. Hundreds of cartel members were extradited from 0:17:57.727 --> 0:18:00.927 Columbia to the US on cocaine trafficking charges, and it 0:18:00.967 --> 0:18:05.167 made life for them really difficult. So the cartels pivoted 0:18:05.607 --> 0:18:08.527 because moving cocaine loads into the US no longer seemed 0:18:08.527 --> 0:18:09.727 as appealing as it used to be. 0:18:11.327 --> 0:18:14.887 You got to remember, the Colombians are like entrepreneurs, very 0:18:14.967 --> 0:18:18.607 very smart. They studied their failures. They didn't want to 0:18:18.647 --> 0:18:19.967 sit in American jails. 0:18:20.007 --> 0:18:20.367 Okay. 0:18:21.407 --> 0:18:28.247 They advanced their communications, they compartmentalized their operations, They insulated 0:18:28.247 --> 0:18:30.287 themselves from prosecution in America. 0:18:31.367 --> 0:18:35.287 But to do this, the Colombian cartels needed a new market, 0:18:35.687 --> 0:18:38.567 one which was not the United States, a place that 0:18:38.607 --> 0:18:41.927 would not get people like Derek on their case. And 0:18:41.967 --> 0:18:45.687 this is a key moment in Christy Kinahan's story, because 0:18:45.727 --> 0:18:50.407 the market the Colombians choose, it's Western Europe, and. 0:18:50.247 --> 0:18:54.807 They started bombing Europe with massive amounts of cocaine. Like 0:18:54.887 --> 0:18:57.447 I said, if you're in a business, there's really two 0:18:57.487 --> 0:19:01.967 things you got to keep in mind. Increased profits reduce risk. Well, 0:19:02.047 --> 0:19:06.247 cocaine trafficking in Europe was a home run for the cartels. 0:19:08.127 --> 0:19:11.247 So by the early naughties, the South American cartails are 0:19:11.247 --> 0:19:15.127 busy building up trusted networks of distributors in Europe and 0:19:15.167 --> 0:19:18.407 there are hubs emerging places filled with people eager to 0:19:18.447 --> 0:19:23.007 do business with them. Amsterdam is the perfect base for 0:19:23.087 --> 0:19:26.967 anyone who's looking to expand their criminal network. The first 0:19:27.007 --> 0:19:30.767 thing's where it's situated. It's in the center of Western Europe, 0:19:30.887 --> 0:19:33.647 and so they're regular flights and trains to anywhere in 0:19:33.687 --> 0:19:37.567 the world. And secondly, it's a city that's close to 0:19:37.607 --> 0:19:40.927 two of the world's largest container ports, Rotterdam and Antwerp, 0:19:41.487 --> 0:19:45.007 and that's the critical infrastructure for bringing almost all goods 0:19:45.007 --> 0:19:49.887 into Europe, including vast shipments of cocaine. At the same time, 0:19:50.167 --> 0:19:54.447 European economic growth and integration was ramping up, borders are 0:19:54.447 --> 0:19:58.087 coming down and the single currency, the Euro is coming together, 0:19:59.047 --> 0:20:03.367 and broader globalization is making the world even smaller. During 0:20:03.407 --> 0:20:05.767 its golden age, Amsterdam was a hub, and it was 0:20:05.767 --> 0:20:08.767 a hub for diamonds, spices, and now it's becoming a 0:20:08.807 --> 0:20:12.527 hub again because over the next few decades the cocaine 0:20:12.567 --> 0:20:17.287 market will explode. In nineteen eighty six, less than five 0:20:17.367 --> 0:20:19.807 tons of cocaine was seized in Europe, according to the 0:20:19.887 --> 0:20:22.887 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. But by the 0:20:22.927 --> 0:20:26.247 mid nineties this has grown to around twenty five tons. 0:20:27.047 --> 0:20:30.127 And then flash forward to twenty twenty one, they're now 0:20:30.167 --> 0:20:34.007 seizing a record breaking two hundred and forty tons, almost 0:20:34.047 --> 0:20:37.247 ten times more. And the thing is that's just a 0:20:37.287 --> 0:20:40.447 tiny proportion of the actual amount that gets in, So 0:20:40.567 --> 0:20:43.687 the true size of the market it's much much bigger. 0:20:44.287 --> 0:20:46.887 Perhaps it's over one thousand tons a year, or maybe 0:20:46.887 --> 0:20:47.407 even more. 0:20:48.967 --> 0:20:52.007 Cocaine was seen as a rich man's drug. Young populations, 0:20:52.287 --> 0:20:58.327 affluent population, disposable income people see cocaine as sexy. It's 0:20:58.527 --> 0:21:00.687 great to have. We'll have a few drinks and we'll 0:21:00.727 --> 0:21:03.647 take some cocaine and we'll party throughout the night. And 0:21:03.847 --> 0:21:05.967 they would never stick a needle in their round They 0:21:06.007 --> 0:21:08.327 probably wouldn't take an ecstasy pill because they wouldn't know 0:21:08.327 --> 0:21:12.087 what's in it. But coke looks quite and clean and bright, 0:21:12.127 --> 0:21:13.967 and you see it on the movies and that everyone's 0:21:14.007 --> 0:21:15.887 doing it and it's great and it's I wouldn't really 0:21:15.887 --> 0:21:19.087 get addictive. That's what people think. That's how it's marketed. 0:21:20.327 --> 0:21:24.487 The reason Europe has such a large market is because 0:21:24.487 --> 0:21:27.727 the money is there, the profits are there. No criminal 0:21:27.807 --> 0:21:32.847 organization were to salt would not be involved in cocaine. 0:21:32.847 --> 0:21:37.167 In other words, cocaine is the fuel by which organized 0:21:37.207 --> 0:21:38.247 crime operates. 0:21:39.127 --> 0:21:42.567 Derek says, the Colombian hotels immediately saw there was a 0:21:42.687 --> 0:21:44.287 huge opportunity in Europe. 0:21:44.807 --> 0:21:46.647 So why do I want to sell If I'm a 0:21:46.647 --> 0:21:48.967 cartel leader in Columbia, why do I want to sell 0:21:49.007 --> 0:21:53.247 cocaine in America for twenty thousand dollars you know kilogram 0:21:53.327 --> 0:21:56.407 when I could send it into Europe and make double triple. 0:21:56.807 --> 0:22:00.367 And then when you look at Antwerp and Rotterdam and 0:22:00.447 --> 0:22:04.567 look at the amount of maritime business that's being done, 0:22:04.647 --> 0:22:06.207 how the hell are they going to be able to 0:22:06.647 --> 0:22:11.407 properly monitor the vine that's coming into those ports. So 0:22:11.567 --> 0:22:15.687 guess what drug traffic is transnational criminals are going to 0:22:15.687 --> 0:22:19.767 take total advantage of weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and that's what 0:22:19.807 --> 0:22:20.287 they've done. 0:22:21.247 --> 0:22:23.487 And so in the mid two thousands, Derek realizes that 0:22:23.527 --> 0:22:27.047 the DA's strategy needs to change. They need a global 0:22:27.087 --> 0:22:30.447 network just like the cartels are building. So they start 0:22:30.487 --> 0:22:33.967 to work more closely with national law enforcement agencies. They 0:22:33.967 --> 0:22:37.767 start to share more information and work jointly on more investigations. 0:22:38.567 --> 0:22:43.207 The command and control leadership for all of these international 0:22:43.327 --> 0:22:45.927 drug traffic and organizations is all overseas. 0:22:45.967 --> 0:22:46.927 It's not in America. 0:22:47.407 --> 0:22:48.807 So how the hell are you going to do your 0:22:48.887 --> 0:22:53.367 job if you don't work very closely and cooperatively collaboratively 0:22:53.727 --> 0:22:56.847 with your partners in these countries all over the world. Okay, 0:22:57.767 --> 0:23:00.407 so I made it a goal to kind of break 0:23:00.447 --> 0:23:13.967 down walls, not only in the US but around the world. 0:23:15.767 --> 0:23:18.487 In the mid twenty tens, Christi Kinhan sets up a 0:23:18.487 --> 0:23:21.847 consulting company and on the website there's a motto. I 0:23:21.927 --> 0:23:23.687 take it as a kind of guiding principle for how 0:23:23.727 --> 0:23:27.287 Christy built his empire. Being in the game is not 0:23:27.367 --> 0:23:30.767 as important as staying ahead of it. But it's not 0:23:30.807 --> 0:23:33.047