National Geographic - Narco Wars (2021) Part 1 How Cocaine Came to America

Documentary series diving into the real Narco Wars, revealing how opportunistic smugglers in the late 20th century began an illegal business that has evolved into one of the most treacherous industries in the world. Ruled by ruthless cartels, besieged by various agencies and police forces, and endured by millions of innocent citizens this is the story behind the violent flow of narcotics that travel from Latin America into the USA. Narco Wars explores the rise of drug trafficking and the deadly violence that accompanies it through two compelling drivers eyewitness accounts of the drug cartels' rise to power alongside gripping contemporary actuality. Featuring access to drug labs, traffickers, hitmen and arms dealers as well as key eyewitness interviews with everyone from Pablo Escobar's wife to the psychologist who profiled El Chapo and the ex-DEA agents who have risked their lives to fight the never-ending war on drugs. The Latin American Narco Wars are spiralling out of control. Despite the 1 Trillion USD spent of enforcement and the 2.5 million death toll, more illegal drugs are being produced, trafficked and consumed than ever before. Featuring interviews and action filmed with key players on both sides of the law, this 10 part series will examine the drug wars – both past and present – to explain why. NARCO WARS explores how opportunistic smuggling networks in Latin America turned into powerful and ruthless drug cartels with the power to destabilize and tear apart whole countries. The series combines gripping access to cartel members and the law enforcement agencies opposing them with a deep dive documentary exploration of the geo-political, social and cultural factors that led the cartels' rise.

Part 1 How Cocaine Came to America

In the 1970s, Colombia was a bitterly poor “failed state” in which the cocaine trade was one of the few lucrative sources of income. This is where the origins of the Medellin cartel lay. With interviews from notorious smuggler George Jung and Pablo Escobar's wife and son, this pilot episode reveals how a handful of criminals including the original “Black Widow” Griselda Blanco, daredevil Carlos Lehder and Pablo Escobar himself joined forces to form the most powerful cartel in the world, the Medellin Cartel, which pioneered the cocaine smuggling business in the '70s and '80s.

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