1 00:00:01,131 --> 00:00:04,051 ♪♪ 2 00:00:09,618 --> 00:00:11,528 On "America's War on Drugs"... 3 00:00:11,576 --> 00:00:14,356 Interpreter: Cocaine is the atom bomb of Latin America. 4 00:00:14,405 --> 00:00:16,145 Wainwright: He was given a cellmate with whom 5 00:00:16,190 --> 00:00:18,760 he would go on to change the drug world. 6 00:00:18,801 --> 00:00:21,331 Lehder: I could get us enough coke to get the whole world high. 7 00:00:21,369 --> 00:00:24,589 [ All cheering ] 8 00:00:24,633 --> 00:00:28,593 Pablo Escobar had tremendous political ambitions. 9 00:00:28,637 --> 00:00:31,547 If you're gonna mess with Pablo, you know, Pablo will kill you. 10 00:00:31,596 --> 00:00:33,596 I must speak to you tonight about a mounting danger 11 00:00:33,642 --> 00:00:34,822 in Central America. 12 00:00:34,860 --> 00:00:37,950 This is an outlaw regime. 13 00:00:37,994 --> 00:00:41,654 Parenti: There's lying, secret shipments of weapons down, 14 00:00:41,693 --> 00:00:44,093 and then coming back with cocaine. 15 00:00:44,131 --> 00:00:45,651 Levine: I'm going after the drug dealers 16 00:00:45,697 --> 00:00:49,047 that they were protecting. 17 00:00:49,092 --> 00:00:51,272 We were really playing Russian roulette with our lives. 18 00:00:52,835 --> 00:00:56,095 Castillo: I knew it went all the way to the White House. 19 00:00:56,143 --> 00:00:59,493 I do not deny that I engaged in shredding on November 21st. 20 00:00:59,537 --> 00:01:04,237 Moran: You basically have a secret CIA operation laid bare. 21 00:01:04,281 --> 00:01:06,721 Ross: It's really hard for me to fantasize that something 22 00:01:06,762 --> 00:01:10,982 so small could be so valuable. 23 00:01:11,027 --> 00:01:13,027 Pots big enough to cook me in. 24 00:01:13,073 --> 00:01:15,293 It was like, this is what I was made for. 25 00:01:15,336 --> 00:01:20,206 ♪♪ 26 00:01:20,254 --> 00:01:22,874 ♪♪ 27 00:01:24,388 --> 00:01:27,828 ♪♪ 28 00:01:27,870 --> 00:01:30,090 Wright: It's important to think about cocaine 29 00:01:30,133 --> 00:01:31,533 almost not as a drug. 30 00:01:31,569 --> 00:01:34,829 But what it really was was a currency. 31 00:01:34,877 --> 00:01:39,797 Any valuable currency has an inherent power to it. 32 00:01:39,838 --> 00:01:44,188 And cocaine became that currency. 33 00:01:44,234 --> 00:01:45,634 Narrator: Two years after Richard Nixon 34 00:01:45,670 --> 00:01:48,330 declares the War on Drugs, 35 00:01:48,369 --> 00:01:52,679 the Watergate scandal rocks the nation. 36 00:01:52,721 --> 00:01:55,851 Nixon's on his way out. 37 00:01:55,898 --> 00:01:59,988 And drug use is on the rise. 38 00:02:00,032 --> 00:02:01,862 Wright: In the early to mid-'70s, 39 00:02:01,904 --> 00:02:05,734 because Nixon had been obsessed with marijuana and heroin, 40 00:02:05,777 --> 00:02:09,957 nobody talked that much about cocaine. 41 00:02:09,999 --> 00:02:12,739 And within a very short period of time, 42 00:02:12,784 --> 00:02:16,054 it became one of the biggest moneymakers 43 00:02:16,092 --> 00:02:19,052 in drug smuggling in the world. 44 00:02:19,095 --> 00:02:22,925 And it caught everyone by surprise. 45 00:02:22,968 --> 00:02:24,748 Narrator: The story of how cocaine 46 00:02:24,796 --> 00:02:28,576 took America by storm starts here 47 00:02:28,626 --> 00:02:31,496 in a Connecticut federal prison 48 00:02:31,542 --> 00:02:35,852 where this man is doing time for car theft -- 49 00:02:35,894 --> 00:02:37,854 Carlos Lehder. 50 00:02:37,896 --> 00:02:40,456 Son of a German father and Colombian mother, 51 00:02:40,508 --> 00:02:43,338 Carlos Lehder is a man of contradictions. 52 00:02:43,380 --> 00:02:47,300 He worships Hitler and John Lennon. 53 00:02:47,341 --> 00:02:49,521 Stratton: He was a car thief in the beginning. 54 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:53,220 He used a lot of coke himself, he had delusions of grandeur. 55 00:02:53,260 --> 00:02:56,870 He was crazy in many ways, but also he was a visionary. 56 00:02:56,915 --> 00:02:58,345 Wainwright: At a fairly young age, 57 00:02:58,395 --> 00:03:01,005 he went to jail in Danbury in Connecticut, 58 00:03:01,050 --> 00:03:02,660 and that might have been the end of his criminal career, 59 00:03:02,704 --> 00:03:04,314 but it wasn't. 60 00:03:04,358 --> 00:03:06,578 He was given a cellmate with whom he would go on 61 00:03:06,621 --> 00:03:08,101 to change the drug world. 62 00:03:08,144 --> 00:03:10,454 [ Indistinct conversations ] 63 00:03:10,494 --> 00:03:13,544 Narrator: Lehder's cell mate is an American 64 00:03:13,584 --> 00:03:15,804 with a passion for aviation. 65 00:03:15,847 --> 00:03:18,887 ♪♪ 66 00:03:23,159 --> 00:03:27,949 George Jung, a hippie misfit, who specializes in smuggling 67 00:03:27,990 --> 00:03:32,430 marijuana from Mexico into the U.S. on small planes. 68 00:03:32,473 --> 00:03:36,523 Jung had been importing cannabis from Mexico to the United States 69 00:03:36,564 --> 00:03:38,134 using a light aircraft. 70 00:03:38,174 --> 00:03:41,054 He'd never thought of importing anything else. 71 00:03:41,090 --> 00:03:45,140 Wright: These relatively unknown criminals hooked up together 72 00:03:45,181 --> 00:03:46,661 and became partners. 73 00:03:46,704 --> 00:03:48,584 It was this match made in heaven 74 00:03:48,619 --> 00:03:52,189 because Jung had experience with airplanes 75 00:03:52,232 --> 00:03:54,022 and with smuggling marijuana 76 00:03:54,059 --> 00:03:57,849 and Lehder had experience with cocaine. 77 00:03:57,889 --> 00:04:01,329 Wainwright: The combination of these two guys resulted in the conclusion 78 00:04:01,371 --> 00:04:04,161 to revolutionize the cocaine trade in the United States. 79 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:08,900 ♪♪ 80 00:04:08,944 --> 00:04:12,994 ♪♪ 81 00:04:13,035 --> 00:04:16,295 ♪♪ 82 00:04:16,343 --> 00:04:19,303 ♪♪ 83 00:04:19,346 --> 00:04:23,086 Man: Camila! 84 00:04:23,132 --> 00:04:24,482 [ Indistinct conversations ] 85 00:04:24,525 --> 00:04:26,045 Narrator: Medellin is the center 86 00:04:26,091 --> 00:04:29,181 of Colombia's burgeoning cocaine underworld, 87 00:04:29,225 --> 00:04:30,655 and the home of the man with whom 88 00:04:30,705 --> 00:04:32,525 Carlos Lehder and George Jung 89 00:04:32,576 --> 00:04:35,316 will revolutionize the cocaine trade. 90 00:04:35,362 --> 00:04:37,022 Senorita! 91 00:04:37,059 --> 00:04:39,319 Pablo Escobar Gaviria -- 92 00:04:39,366 --> 00:04:42,456 As a teenager was already a petty thief, 93 00:04:42,499 --> 00:04:44,369 allegedly stealing gravestones 94 00:04:44,414 --> 00:04:46,854 and then sanding them down to be resold. 95 00:04:46,895 --> 00:04:49,985 He sells contraband cigarettes on the Colombian black market. 96 00:04:50,028 --> 00:04:53,468 Then he moves on to cocaine. 97 00:04:53,510 --> 00:04:55,860 ♪♪ 98 00:04:55,904 --> 00:04:57,124 Wright: Pablo Escobar was sort of like 99 00:04:57,166 --> 00:04:58,516 if you founded a company, 100 00:04:58,559 --> 00:05:00,909 you need a chief of operations. 101 00:05:00,952 --> 00:05:04,482 Escobar's job was to help manage this network 102 00:05:04,521 --> 00:05:07,791 of cocaine processing labs, 103 00:05:07,829 --> 00:05:10,569 and then to help manage the smuggling 104 00:05:10,614 --> 00:05:13,184 of the cocaine product into North America. 105 00:05:13,225 --> 00:05:15,225 What's wrong? 106 00:05:15,271 --> 00:05:18,191 Narrator: And Escobar is looking for a better product 107 00:05:18,230 --> 00:05:20,760 to compete in the North American market. 108 00:05:20,798 --> 00:05:23,578 ♪♪ 109 00:05:23,627 --> 00:05:27,327 ♪♪ 110 00:05:27,370 --> 00:05:30,900 Escobar's meeting with a Chilean chemist 111 00:05:30,939 --> 00:05:33,719 who just fled a bloody coup. 112 00:05:33,768 --> 00:05:37,078 ♪♪ 113 00:05:39,034 --> 00:05:42,304 Narrator: In the early '70s, Chile, not Colombia, 114 00:05:42,342 --> 00:05:45,262 is the center of the cocaine trade. 115 00:05:45,301 --> 00:05:48,481 Chile's also a Cold War hotspot, 116 00:05:48,522 --> 00:05:51,222 where the U.S. is worried a left-wing government 117 00:05:51,263 --> 00:05:54,573 will turn Communist. 118 00:05:54,615 --> 00:05:56,915 On September 11, 1973, 119 00:05:56,965 --> 00:06:01,875 a CIA-backed coup overthrows 120 00:06:01,926 --> 00:06:06,236 the democratically-elected government. 121 00:06:06,278 --> 00:06:08,148 An American ally, 122 00:06:08,193 --> 00:06:10,633 Augusto Pinochet begins cracking down 123 00:06:10,674 --> 00:06:12,424 on criminals and those he considers 124 00:06:12,459 --> 00:06:17,859 to be enemies of the state. 125 00:06:17,899 --> 00:06:20,639 Stratton: The best chemists in the world 126 00:06:20,684 --> 00:06:26,784 for making cocaine from coca were in Chile. 127 00:06:26,821 --> 00:06:29,001 When they cracked down on them, they split and left 128 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,040 and went to Colombia. 129 00:06:32,087 --> 00:06:35,657 America's attempts to foster the replacement 130 00:06:35,699 --> 00:06:38,089 of left-leaning governments with governments 131 00:06:38,136 --> 00:06:42,396 that were more friendly to the United States backfire. 132 00:06:42,445 --> 00:06:46,135 That, ultimately, was the beginning. 133 00:06:46,188 --> 00:06:47,148 ♪♪ 134 00:06:47,189 --> 00:06:49,579 [ Speaking Spanish ] 135 00:06:54,631 --> 00:06:57,241 Narrator: With help from the Chilean chemists, 136 00:06:57,286 --> 00:06:59,106 Escobar and his partners in Medellin 137 00:06:59,157 --> 00:07:03,727 are soon making some of the best cocaine in the world. 138 00:07:03,771 --> 00:07:06,341 Farah: There was a lack of attention initially paid 139 00:07:06,382 --> 00:07:08,172 to drug trafficking in Colombia 140 00:07:08,210 --> 00:07:09,910 by the U.S. intelligence services 141 00:07:09,951 --> 00:07:11,651 because they weren't communists. 142 00:07:11,692 --> 00:07:15,172 The basic policy was capitalism is good. 143 00:07:15,217 --> 00:07:17,567 Become capitalists and everything will be okay. 144 00:07:17,611 --> 00:07:20,921 But that was exactly what the narcos were doing, right? 145 00:07:20,962 --> 00:07:26,712 ♪♪ 146 00:07:26,750 --> 00:07:29,880 ♪♪ 147 00:07:29,927 --> 00:07:32,097 Narrator: Carlos Lehder is out of prison, 148 00:07:32,147 --> 00:07:34,757 and he has convinced Pablo Escobar to allow him 149 00:07:34,802 --> 00:07:39,592 to distribute his cocaine in the U.S. 150 00:07:39,633 --> 00:07:42,943 Inside his luggage is 50 kilograms 151 00:07:42,984 --> 00:07:46,684 of Pablo Escobar's nearly-pure cocaine. 152 00:07:46,727 --> 00:07:48,727 [ Indistinct conversations ] 153 00:07:48,772 --> 00:07:51,212 It will be worth more than $2 million 154 00:07:51,253 --> 00:07:53,563 if Lehder's old cellmate George Jung 155 00:07:53,603 --> 00:07:55,133 can get it out of the airport. 156 00:07:55,170 --> 00:07:57,740 Man: Against the wall, by the escalator. 157 00:07:57,781 --> 00:08:00,611 ♪♪ 158 00:08:00,654 --> 00:08:02,874 Excuse me. 159 00:08:02,917 --> 00:08:05,437 [ Indistinct conversations ] 160 00:08:09,010 --> 00:08:11,670 ♪♪ 161 00:08:11,708 --> 00:08:14,538 Using his old marijuana connections, 162 00:08:14,581 --> 00:08:17,671 Jung tests the market of L.A.'s party circuit. 163 00:08:17,714 --> 00:08:21,894 George Jung came out to California with cocaine 164 00:08:21,936 --> 00:08:24,286 and found himself at the head 165 00:08:24,329 --> 00:08:27,119 of this party and nightclub scene. 166 00:08:27,158 --> 00:08:30,638 Cocaine was the drug of doctors and lawyers 167 00:08:30,684 --> 00:08:34,304 and famous people were using it in discotheques. 168 00:08:34,339 --> 00:08:37,649 Jung and people like him selling cocaine, 169 00:08:37,691 --> 00:08:40,221 distributing it, they became rock stars. 170 00:08:40,258 --> 00:08:43,348 [ Laughter ] 171 00:08:43,392 --> 00:08:47,612 Narrator: Cocaine inhaled as crystalline powder 172 00:08:47,657 --> 00:08:49,347 causes a buildup of dopamine, 173 00:08:49,398 --> 00:08:51,308 the feel-good neurotransmitters that kick in 174 00:08:51,356 --> 00:08:54,796 when you're eating chocolate or having sex. 175 00:08:54,838 --> 00:08:58,098 Grim: Jimmy Carter's top drug-policy official 176 00:08:58,146 --> 00:09:01,236 was a cocaine user and said there is just as much reason 177 00:09:01,279 --> 00:09:05,279 to legalize cocaine as there is to legalize marijuana. 178 00:09:05,327 --> 00:09:08,327 Greed and pleasure were on the rise 179 00:09:08,373 --> 00:09:12,123 and the consciousness expansion of the late '60s were waning. 180 00:09:13,857 --> 00:09:16,467 ♪♪ 181 00:09:19,471 --> 00:09:24,611 Narrator: George Jung quickly unloads his entire 50 kilogram stash. 182 00:09:24,651 --> 00:09:28,001 In just two weeks, he makes $2.2 million dollars -- 183 00:09:28,045 --> 00:09:31,045 worth over $9 million in today's money. 184 00:09:31,092 --> 00:09:32,482 Stratton: It's like a light bulb goes off 185 00:09:32,528 --> 00:09:33,958 in his head and he's like, "Oh my God, 186 00:09:34,008 --> 00:09:36,138 this is the business that I need to be in." 187 00:09:36,184 --> 00:09:38,404 But whenever I got involved with anybody 188 00:09:38,447 --> 00:09:40,537 who was in the cocaine business, 189 00:09:40,580 --> 00:09:43,150 bad stuff happened every single time. 190 00:09:43,191 --> 00:09:48,021 ♪♪ 191 00:09:48,065 --> 00:09:50,805 Narrator: George Jung delivers the cash to his old cellmate 192 00:09:50,851 --> 00:09:52,161 Carlos Lehder. 193 00:09:55,290 --> 00:09:58,080 His successful trip to L.A. just proved that demand 194 00:09:58,119 --> 00:10:01,859 for cocaine in the U.S. far outstrips supply, 195 00:10:01,905 --> 00:10:03,685 and they'll soon become Pablo Escobar's 196 00:10:03,733 --> 00:10:06,213 main U.S. distributors. 197 00:10:06,257 --> 00:10:10,347 But there's a weak link -- transportation. 198 00:10:10,392 --> 00:10:14,572 Stewardesses and other civilians are being used to smuggle coke 199 00:10:14,614 --> 00:10:16,664 in luggage on commercial flights, 200 00:10:16,703 --> 00:10:18,103 but it's not enough. 201 00:10:18,139 --> 00:10:19,529 Large amounts of cocaine 202 00:10:19,575 --> 00:10:21,835 are also snuck in on cargo ships, 203 00:10:21,882 --> 00:10:24,322 hidden inside wood or other merchandise. 204 00:10:24,362 --> 00:10:28,192 But ships are easy targets. 205 00:10:28,236 --> 00:10:29,846 It's all about logistics. 206 00:10:29,890 --> 00:10:31,810 It's all about moving the product 207 00:10:31,848 --> 00:10:33,458 from one place to another. 208 00:10:33,502 --> 00:10:36,372 Anybody who can figure out how to get it there, 209 00:10:36,418 --> 00:10:38,328 that's what it really comes down to. 210 00:10:43,468 --> 00:10:45,038 Narrator: Carlos Lehder is about to make 211 00:10:45,079 --> 00:10:47,039 one of the most audacious moves 212 00:10:47,081 --> 00:10:51,611 in the history of the war on drugs. 213 00:10:51,651 --> 00:10:55,001 Jung has convinced him that small planes hold the key 214 00:10:55,045 --> 00:10:58,525 to their takeover of the American cocaine market. 215 00:10:58,570 --> 00:11:02,180 Carlos Lehder was a visionary when it came to logistics. 216 00:11:02,226 --> 00:11:05,706 The man who figured out the best smuggling routes 217 00:11:05,752 --> 00:11:07,492 into the United States. 218 00:11:07,536 --> 00:11:10,706 The round trip flight from Colombia to Florida 219 00:11:10,757 --> 00:11:14,717 is too far for a small aircraft to make without refueling. 220 00:11:14,761 --> 00:11:20,721 So Lehder finds a small Bahamian Island with a long runway. 221 00:11:20,767 --> 00:11:22,637 It's called Norman's Cay. 222 00:11:22,682 --> 00:11:25,692 Wright: Norman's Cay was a stroke of genius 223 00:11:25,728 --> 00:11:29,818 because nobody was watching planes laden with cocaine 224 00:11:29,863 --> 00:11:33,393 flying from Colombia into Norman's Cay. 225 00:11:33,431 --> 00:11:36,871 He buys up half the properties on the island in cash 226 00:11:36,913 --> 00:11:39,923 and then threatens to kill anyone who won't leave. 227 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:43,220 Carlos Lehder took over and threw all the normal people 228 00:11:43,267 --> 00:11:46,227 who were living there out and brought his boys in, 229 00:11:46,270 --> 00:11:50,750 and it became just a completely insane situation. 230 00:11:50,797 --> 00:11:53,537 Man #1: All right. I will consult you. 231 00:11:53,582 --> 00:11:55,322 Drop 500. You're coming in too slow. 232 00:11:55,366 --> 00:11:56,716 Man #2: Clear. 233 00:11:56,759 --> 00:11:59,539 Check. 8-4-0. 234 00:11:59,588 --> 00:12:03,028 Narrator: The Medellin Cartel now has their own island. 235 00:12:03,070 --> 00:12:04,940 [ Laughing ] Sí. 236 00:12:04,985 --> 00:12:07,855 Planes land and take off around the clock, 237 00:12:07,901 --> 00:12:10,291 carrying hundreds of kilos of cocaine 238 00:12:10,338 --> 00:12:13,298 destined for Florida. 239 00:12:13,341 --> 00:12:16,691 Lehder is bringing in $20 million a month. 240 00:12:16,736 --> 00:12:18,906 Stratton: It was nuts, it was crazy. 241 00:12:18,955 --> 00:12:20,085 They were bringing women in there. 242 00:12:20,130 --> 00:12:21,700 There were orgies. 243 00:12:21,741 --> 00:12:23,701 It was party central. 244 00:12:23,743 --> 00:12:25,573 Party central with a lot of cocaine. 245 00:12:25,614 --> 00:12:27,404 ♪♪ 246 00:12:27,442 --> 00:12:30,102 [ Woman speaking in Spanish ] 247 00:12:30,140 --> 00:12:34,490 He was getting high on his own supply, but hugely so. 248 00:12:34,536 --> 00:12:37,796 I mean, these guys would party for days. 249 00:12:37,844 --> 00:12:42,204 It became nuts, completely insane. 250 00:12:42,239 --> 00:12:45,899 Carlos Lehder is so coked up at that time, 251 00:12:45,939 --> 00:12:48,159 he was getting really paranoid. 252 00:12:48,202 --> 00:12:50,032 George Jung, the guy who really got him started 253 00:12:50,073 --> 00:12:52,253 in this whole thing, kicks him off the island. 254 00:12:57,124 --> 00:12:59,564 Narrator: Despite the madness, Carlos Lehder is now 255 00:12:59,604 --> 00:13:03,224 head of logistics for Pablo Escobar. 256 00:13:03,260 --> 00:13:08,960 Carlos Lehder went on to really pioneer the explosion 257 00:13:09,005 --> 00:13:11,135 of cocaine traffic in the U.S. 258 00:13:11,181 --> 00:13:14,841 But few people at the time realize Lehder and Escobar 259 00:13:14,881 --> 00:13:17,361 are just middlemen 260 00:13:17,405 --> 00:13:20,445 in a much larger cocaine production network 261 00:13:20,495 --> 00:13:23,015 allegedly protected by the highest level 262 00:13:23,063 --> 00:13:25,333 of the American government. 263 00:13:25,369 --> 00:13:27,499 I'm going after the drug dealers 264 00:13:27,545 --> 00:13:30,455 that they were protecting for Central Intelligence. 265 00:13:30,505 --> 00:13:33,805 We were really playing Russian roulette with our lives. 266 00:13:33,856 --> 00:13:35,506 Aah! 267 00:13:35,553 --> 00:13:40,433 ♪♪ 268 00:13:40,471 --> 00:13:45,391 ♪♪ 269 00:13:45,433 --> 00:13:49,833 ♪♪ 270 00:13:52,875 --> 00:13:58,965 ♪♪ 271 00:13:59,012 --> 00:14:00,842 Narrator: The foothills of the Andes -- 272 00:14:00,883 --> 00:14:03,103 one of the only places in the world 273 00:14:03,146 --> 00:14:06,316 where the coca plant grows. 274 00:14:06,367 --> 00:14:08,587 ♪♪ 275 00:14:12,939 --> 00:14:16,069 The greatest drug lord no one knows is about to launch 276 00:14:16,116 --> 00:14:19,856 a revolution in the war on drugs. 277 00:14:19,902 --> 00:14:23,952 Roberto Suárez, a descendant of the rubber baron of Bolivia, 278 00:14:23,993 --> 00:14:25,913 his family's plantations 279 00:14:25,952 --> 00:14:29,522 were more than four times the size of New Jersey. 280 00:14:29,564 --> 00:14:34,874 Roberto Suárez was a handsome, very charismatic leader. 281 00:14:34,917 --> 00:14:36,007 [ Indistinct conversations ] 282 00:14:36,049 --> 00:14:37,569 The Bolivian people, 283 00:14:37,615 --> 00:14:40,175 among the poorest people on earth, loved him. 284 00:14:40,227 --> 00:14:43,707 Why? Because Roberto feeds the people. 285 00:14:43,752 --> 00:14:47,152 Narrator: In the mid-'70s, Suárez switches his empire 286 00:14:47,190 --> 00:14:50,450 to a more lucrative crop -- coca. 287 00:14:50,498 --> 00:14:52,238 ♪♪ 288 00:14:52,282 --> 00:14:54,552 He was a rancher in the Beni region of Bolivia 289 00:14:54,589 --> 00:14:56,979 where I happened to live for many years. 290 00:14:57,026 --> 00:15:00,026 He began buying up large quantities of land, 291 00:15:00,073 --> 00:15:04,513 began mass producing the huge labs in the jungles. 292 00:15:04,555 --> 00:15:08,645 They had air strips hidden under the jungle canopy. 293 00:15:08,690 --> 00:15:13,260 Levine: Roberto Suárez was in control of 60%-80% 294 00:15:13,303 --> 00:15:17,263 of the global cocaine market. 295 00:15:17,307 --> 00:15:21,047 Pablo Escobar was just a customer of Roberto Suárez. 296 00:15:21,094 --> 00:15:24,054 Narrator: DEA agent Michael Levine 297 00:15:24,097 --> 00:15:26,057 is based in South America, 298 00:15:26,099 --> 00:15:28,929 working undercover on some of the biggest cases 299 00:15:28,971 --> 00:15:31,581 in the growing cocaine trade. 300 00:15:31,626 --> 00:15:33,576 I was part of an undercover team 301 00:15:33,628 --> 00:15:38,418 that had penetrated the Roberto Suárez organization. 302 00:15:38,459 --> 00:15:42,329 Posing as a half-Sicilian, half-Puerto Rican Mafia don 303 00:15:42,376 --> 00:15:45,466 from the U.S., I had made deals 304 00:15:45,509 --> 00:15:48,899 face to face with, uh, Roberto Suárez and company. 305 00:15:48,948 --> 00:15:52,518 We were in position to take them down. 306 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:55,870 Enter American special interest 307 00:15:55,911 --> 00:15:59,521 in the form of the CIA. 308 00:15:59,567 --> 00:16:01,787 Narrator: By the mid-'70s, South America 309 00:16:01,830 --> 00:16:04,270 is not only the center of the cocaine underworld, 310 00:16:04,311 --> 00:16:07,441 it's also become a Cold War hotspot. 311 00:16:07,488 --> 00:16:11,058 The Cold War brought a conscious fear, 312 00:16:11,100 --> 00:16:13,970 on the part of our leadership, 313 00:16:14,016 --> 00:16:17,366 of the encroachment of communism. 314 00:16:17,411 --> 00:16:21,071 The U.S. backs right-wing dictatorships 315 00:16:21,110 --> 00:16:24,070 against a perceived communist threat. 316 00:16:24,113 --> 00:16:26,123 Farah: In the Cold War, everything was viewed through 317 00:16:26,159 --> 00:16:28,379 who could take advantage of what. 318 00:16:28,422 --> 00:16:30,292 If we didn't do this, would the Soviets taking advantage? 319 00:16:30,337 --> 00:16:33,037 So we propped up dictators across the hemisphere. 320 00:16:33,079 --> 00:16:34,819 ♪♪ 321 00:16:34,863 --> 00:16:39,653 [ People chanting in native language ] 322 00:16:39,694 --> 00:16:42,964 And it's here in Bolivia the U.S. worries 323 00:16:43,002 --> 00:16:47,482 a leftist president is leaning toward the communist side. 324 00:16:47,528 --> 00:16:50,528 Roberto Suárez began realizing that this access to money 325 00:16:50,574 --> 00:16:52,234 gave him political power. 326 00:16:52,272 --> 00:16:54,972 And so he offered to pay off all of Bolivia's debt, 327 00:16:55,014 --> 00:16:58,104 and the government said no. 328 00:16:58,147 --> 00:16:59,497 Narrator: Roberto Suárez 329 00:16:59,540 --> 00:17:03,280 decides to take over the country himself. 330 00:17:03,326 --> 00:17:05,416 But he needs muscle to do it, 331 00:17:05,459 --> 00:17:07,199 so he turns to one of the 20th century's 332 00:17:07,243 --> 00:17:09,813 most notorious war criminals -- 333 00:17:09,854 --> 00:17:11,864 Klaus Barbie, 334 00:17:11,900 --> 00:17:14,340 one of Hitler's top Gestapo officers 335 00:17:14,381 --> 00:17:16,081 in occupied France -- 336 00:17:16,122 --> 00:17:19,652 known as the "Butcher of Lyon." 337 00:17:19,690 --> 00:17:24,650 After the war, Barbie becomes a U.S. intelligence asset, 338 00:17:24,695 --> 00:17:26,865 and like many high-ranking Nazis, 339 00:17:26,915 --> 00:17:29,565 he flees to South America. 340 00:17:29,613 --> 00:17:31,533 Living under an assumed name in Bolivia, 341 00:17:31,572 --> 00:17:34,312 he's part of Operation Condor, 342 00:17:34,357 --> 00:17:36,397 the CIA-connected covert plan 343 00:17:36,446 --> 00:17:39,876 to eliminate communists across South America. 344 00:17:39,928 --> 00:17:41,798 ♪♪ 345 00:17:41,843 --> 00:17:45,413 Barbie's now working for Roberto Suárez. 346 00:17:45,455 --> 00:17:48,495 [ Speaking Spanish ] 347 00:17:48,545 --> 00:17:53,155 His team of Nazi mercenaries known as the Fiancés of Death 348 00:17:53,202 --> 00:17:56,162 help capture and torture Suárez's enemies -- 349 00:17:56,205 --> 00:17:59,115 other drug lords, anyone in the way. 350 00:17:59,165 --> 00:18:01,115 Levine: They were all serial killers. 351 00:18:02,385 --> 00:18:05,035 [ Coughing ] 352 00:18:05,084 --> 00:18:07,654 They were part of the Bolivian bloody revolution, 353 00:18:07,695 --> 00:18:09,175 they were killing, they were torturing. 354 00:18:09,218 --> 00:18:11,828 ♪♪ 355 00:18:11,873 --> 00:18:15,443 They're working for a guy who is powerful enough 356 00:18:15,485 --> 00:18:19,835 to take over his country that CIA is helping him. 357 00:18:19,881 --> 00:18:22,101 What do I do with it? Who do I turn to? 358 00:18:28,150 --> 00:18:30,110 [ Crying ] No lo sé. 359 00:18:30,152 --> 00:18:32,112 [ Speaking Spanish ] 360 00:18:32,154 --> 00:18:37,734 ♪♪ 361 00:18:37,768 --> 00:18:39,938 Levine: Roberto Suárez overthrows 362 00:18:39,988 --> 00:18:44,298 the Bolivian government with the help of CIA assets. 363 00:18:44,340 --> 00:18:46,080 [ Horns honking ] 364 00:18:46,125 --> 00:18:48,685 I'm going after the drug dealers that they were protecting 365 00:18:48,736 --> 00:18:51,296 for Central Intelligence. 366 00:18:51,347 --> 00:18:53,997 They were playing Russian roulette with our lives. 367 00:18:54,045 --> 00:18:56,785 People in the Bolivian government were murdered, 368 00:18:56,831 --> 00:18:58,441 raped, exiled. 369 00:18:58,485 --> 00:19:00,435 I would look up to heaven and say, 370 00:19:00,487 --> 00:19:02,397 "Is anybody keeping track of this [bleep]?" 371 00:19:02,445 --> 00:19:07,275 ♪♪ 372 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,190 Narrator: Suárez installs his own president 373 00:19:10,236 --> 00:19:13,056 and cocaine production goes into high gear. 374 00:19:13,108 --> 00:19:15,758 Farah: It was a seminal moment because it showed 375 00:19:15,806 --> 00:19:20,246 that these guys could actually take control of a country. 376 00:19:20,289 --> 00:19:22,809 Roberto Suárez essentially turned Bolivia into the first 377 00:19:22,857 --> 00:19:24,987 fully functional narco state. 378 00:19:25,033 --> 00:19:29,993 ♪♪ 379 00:19:30,038 --> 00:19:32,998 ♪♪ 380 00:19:33,041 --> 00:19:35,701 ♪♪ 381 00:19:35,739 --> 00:19:38,439 Narrator: Suárez plies children with cocaine cigarettes 382 00:19:38,481 --> 00:19:40,401 to stomp the coca leaves. 383 00:19:42,572 --> 00:19:46,972 Kerosene is used to isolate the active ingredients of cocaine. 384 00:19:47,011 --> 00:19:50,411 ♪♪ 385 00:19:50,450 --> 00:19:51,890 Once in a hard paste, 386 00:19:51,929 --> 00:19:54,539 Suárez uses Bolivian Air Force planes 387 00:19:54,584 --> 00:19:57,074 to fly it by the ton across the border 388 00:19:57,108 --> 00:20:00,368 and into the hands of Pablo Escobar and his partners. 389 00:20:00,416 --> 00:20:02,766 They needed a huge supply of cocaine, 390 00:20:02,810 --> 00:20:04,640 so when the coup takes place in Bolivia, 391 00:20:04,681 --> 00:20:06,471 perfect timing for them. 392 00:20:06,509 --> 00:20:10,209 Now they've got access to huge amounts of cocaine 393 00:20:10,252 --> 00:20:12,212 that they could then smuggle into the United States. 394 00:20:12,254 --> 00:20:14,344 ♪♪ 395 00:20:14,387 --> 00:20:18,167 [ Helicopter blades whirring ] 396 00:20:18,217 --> 00:20:20,827 Narrator: The Medellin Cartel is now out to take control 397 00:20:20,871 --> 00:20:22,351 of South Florida's drug trade 398 00:20:22,395 --> 00:20:25,435 from the Cubans and the Mafia, 399 00:20:25,485 --> 00:20:27,525 and one of their own is on the ground 400 00:20:27,574 --> 00:20:29,844 doing their dirty work. 401 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:31,880 Griselda Blanco, 402 00:20:31,926 --> 00:20:34,226 raised in the slums of Medellin, 403 00:20:34,276 --> 00:20:36,146 she made a name for herself designing 404 00:20:36,191 --> 00:20:39,281 and manufacturing undergarments to smuggle cocaine. 405 00:20:39,325 --> 00:20:41,935 July 4, 1976 -- 406 00:20:41,979 --> 00:20:44,199 when over 1,000 ships from around the world 407 00:20:44,243 --> 00:20:45,593 fill New York Harbor 408 00:20:45,635 --> 00:20:47,985 to celebrate America's Bicentennial, 409 00:20:48,029 --> 00:20:51,379 Blanco reportedly slips 6 kilos onto a ship 410 00:20:51,424 --> 00:20:54,214 sent by the Colombian Navy. 411 00:20:54,253 --> 00:20:55,993 ♪♪ 412 00:20:56,037 --> 00:20:58,077 She earns the nickname, the Black Widow, 413 00:20:58,126 --> 00:21:01,386 for allegedly killing two of her husbands. 414 00:21:01,434 --> 00:21:04,574 Levine: Griselda Blanco, from all my experience with her 415 00:21:04,611 --> 00:21:08,051 and her group, was an animal. 416 00:21:08,092 --> 00:21:11,752 Narrator: Blanco engineers a wave of violence across Miami. 417 00:21:11,792 --> 00:21:15,582 ♪♪ 418 00:21:15,622 --> 00:21:17,282 [ Woman screams ] 419 00:21:20,714 --> 00:21:25,334 [ Sirens wailing ] 420 00:21:25,371 --> 00:21:27,761 [ Police radio chatter ] 421 00:21:27,808 --> 00:21:31,198 Two men are dead, 422 00:21:31,246 --> 00:21:33,986 the shop clerk wounded, 423 00:21:34,031 --> 00:21:37,911 bullets are everywhere. 424 00:21:37,948 --> 00:21:41,298 Investigators make an alarming discovery 425 00:21:41,343 --> 00:21:44,693 when they inspect the van the shooters leave behind. 426 00:21:44,738 --> 00:21:48,348 The van's a killing machine -- 427 00:21:48,394 --> 00:21:51,014 armor-plated siding for protection, 428 00:21:51,048 --> 00:21:54,698 specially designed window slats for sniper fire, 429 00:21:54,748 --> 00:21:57,048 bulletproof vests, and an arsenal 430 00:21:57,098 --> 00:21:59,538 of high-caliber automatic weapons. 431 00:22:02,016 --> 00:22:06,456 Ovalle: The Dadeland shooting really jarred the public consciousness 432 00:22:06,499 --> 00:22:08,939 in Miami and the rest of the United States. 433 00:22:08,979 --> 00:22:11,499 [ Police radio chatter ] 434 00:22:11,547 --> 00:22:13,677 Levine: Anytime you've got that massive amount 435 00:22:13,723 --> 00:22:16,383 of drugs flowing into one geographical area, 436 00:22:16,422 --> 00:22:20,382 you're going to have war. 437 00:22:20,426 --> 00:22:22,426 ♪♪ 438 00:22:22,471 --> 00:22:25,001 [ Helicopter blades whirring ] 439 00:22:25,039 --> 00:22:27,479 Narrator: While the cocaine cowboy war body count 440 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:29,040 mounts in Miami, 441 00:22:29,086 --> 00:22:33,786 so does the money. 442 00:22:33,830 --> 00:22:36,960 The cocaine trade is now worth four times more 443 00:22:37,007 --> 00:22:40,007 than Florida's orange harvest. 444 00:22:40,054 --> 00:22:42,934 Grim: Miami's booming. 445 00:22:42,970 --> 00:22:45,490 It's just cash just flowing through that city 446 00:22:45,538 --> 00:22:49,188 like nothing you've ever seen. 447 00:22:49,237 --> 00:22:52,757 Wright: It's important to think about cocaine not as a drug. 448 00:22:52,806 --> 00:22:55,196 But what it really was was a currency. 449 00:22:55,243 --> 00:22:58,683 It's easily transportable, easily smuggled, 450 00:22:58,725 --> 00:23:02,635 and you can trade it for dollars anywhere in the world. 451 00:23:02,685 --> 00:23:06,035 It's one of the most universally convertible currencies 452 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:07,780 that exists in the world. 453 00:23:07,821 --> 00:23:11,091 Any valuable currency has an inherent power to it. 454 00:23:11,128 --> 00:23:15,738 And cocaine became that currency. 455 00:23:15,785 --> 00:23:17,085 Narrator: But their new wealth and fame 456 00:23:17,134 --> 00:23:21,144 has made the drug lords into targets. 457 00:23:21,182 --> 00:23:25,452 Farah: A private island, enormous mansions, 458 00:23:25,491 --> 00:23:29,021 unlimited amounts of women and booze and coke. 459 00:23:29,059 --> 00:23:31,669 You can't do that and not attract notice. 460 00:23:31,714 --> 00:23:35,244 [ Indistinct conversations ] 461 00:23:35,283 --> 00:23:37,023 Narrator: Deep in the jungle, 462 00:23:37,067 --> 00:23:39,807 leftist rebels known as M-19 463 00:23:39,853 --> 00:23:41,723 are desperate to finance their war 464 00:23:41,768 --> 00:23:44,768 against the Colombian government. 465 00:23:44,814 --> 00:23:48,384 They hatch a risky plot -- 466 00:23:48,427 --> 00:23:50,907 kidnap Martha Ochoa, 467 00:23:50,951 --> 00:23:54,651 the sister of three of the Medellin Cartel leaders. 468 00:23:54,694 --> 00:23:58,394 The rebels demand $12 million for her safe return. 469 00:23:58,437 --> 00:24:00,997 [ Man speaking Spanish ] 470 00:24:01,048 --> 00:24:05,438 ♪♪ 471 00:24:05,487 --> 00:24:09,667 ♪♪ 472 00:24:09,709 --> 00:24:12,319 Stratton: When Martha Ochoa gets kidnapped, 473 00:24:12,363 --> 00:24:15,503 the cartel guys get together and make things happen 474 00:24:15,541 --> 00:24:18,761 that even the government of Colombia couldn't do. 475 00:24:18,805 --> 00:24:21,325 Narrator: The Cartel leaders respond by putting together 476 00:24:21,372 --> 00:24:26,472 a team of assassins they call Death to Kidnappers. 477 00:24:26,508 --> 00:24:31,248 Cartel hit men hunt down and execute M-19 rebels one by one. 478 00:24:31,295 --> 00:24:35,995 When they can't find one, they kill their families. 479 00:24:36,039 --> 00:24:40,389 The brutality is shocking even by Colombian standards. 480 00:24:40,435 --> 00:24:42,175 Wright: When the Colombians had a grudge, 481 00:24:42,219 --> 00:24:43,959 they would break into the house, 482 00:24:44,004 --> 00:24:45,614 they would kill the guy they wanted, 483 00:24:45,658 --> 00:24:47,398 they would kill his family, 484 00:24:47,442 --> 00:24:49,972 they would kill the maid, they would kill the dog, 485 00:24:50,010 --> 00:24:52,670 they would even kill the fish. 486 00:24:52,708 --> 00:24:54,748 Narrator: The rebels finally back down 487 00:24:54,797 --> 00:24:56,577 and a deal is brokered. 488 00:24:56,625 --> 00:24:59,885 Martha Ochoa is set free unharmed. 489 00:24:59,933 --> 00:25:02,283 The kidnapping of Martha Ochoa 490 00:25:02,326 --> 00:25:05,026 also brings the cartel leaders together. 491 00:25:05,068 --> 00:25:06,768 ♪♪ 492 00:25:06,809 --> 00:25:08,509 [ Bird chirping ] 493 00:25:08,550 --> 00:25:10,940 [ All conversing in Spanish ] 494 00:25:16,558 --> 00:25:18,948 Narrator: Faced with the common threat of kidnapping, 495 00:25:18,995 --> 00:25:20,645 the Medellin Cartel leaders 496 00:25:20,693 --> 00:25:22,743 call a meeting with their main rivals, 497 00:25:22,782 --> 00:25:25,922 the cartel from the city of Cali. 498 00:25:25,959 --> 00:25:29,829 ♪♪ 499 00:25:29,876 --> 00:25:33,876 ♪♪ 500 00:25:33,923 --> 00:25:35,973 [ Paper rustling ] 501 00:25:42,192 --> 00:25:44,412 They sit down and they carve up the United States 502 00:25:44,455 --> 00:25:47,195 and they say, okay, you'll get Chicago and that area. 503 00:25:47,241 --> 00:25:50,421 We'll take New York City and the East Coast. 504 00:25:50,461 --> 00:25:52,291 Narrator: Cali will get New York. 505 00:25:52,333 --> 00:25:55,033 Medellin will get Florida and the Southern states. 506 00:25:55,075 --> 00:25:57,765 California is left up for grabs. 507 00:26:03,866 --> 00:26:05,956 Cartels generally don't make peace with each other. 508 00:26:05,999 --> 00:26:07,829 They're usually at war. But in some cases, 509 00:26:07,870 --> 00:26:09,220 they get together and decide 510 00:26:09,263 --> 00:26:10,573 that they've got more to gain 511 00:26:10,612 --> 00:26:12,352 by a cease-fire. 512 00:26:12,396 --> 00:26:14,746 [ All speaking Spanish ] 513 00:26:14,790 --> 00:26:18,880 ♪♪ 514 00:26:18,925 --> 00:26:20,615 Narrator: With the cartels aligned, 515 00:26:20,666 --> 00:26:22,796 cocaine distribution reaches new highs. 516 00:26:25,409 --> 00:26:29,629 ♪♪ 517 00:26:29,675 --> 00:26:33,805 Blanco has pushed the violence too far. 518 00:26:33,853 --> 00:26:35,903 Police say she might be responsible 519 00:26:35,942 --> 00:26:38,162 for more than 200 murders. 520 00:26:38,205 --> 00:26:42,115 Ovalle: Griselda, being the bloodthirsty person 521 00:26:42,165 --> 00:26:45,945 that she became also pioneered the methods of violence 522 00:26:45,995 --> 00:26:50,605 that really wreaked havoc in South Florida. 523 00:26:50,652 --> 00:26:52,922 Narrator: Blanco was known for repopularizing 524 00:26:52,959 --> 00:26:55,739 an old mob technique... 525 00:26:55,788 --> 00:27:01,358 ♪♪ 526 00:27:01,402 --> 00:27:02,752 ...the drive-by shooting. 527 00:27:05,014 --> 00:27:08,454 [ Police radio chatter ] 528 00:27:08,496 --> 00:27:11,276 Narrator: The steady flow of cocaine coming into the city 529 00:27:11,325 --> 00:27:14,585 has turned it into the murder capital of America. 530 00:27:14,633 --> 00:27:19,253 By 1981, Miami really is a paradise lost, 531 00:27:19,289 --> 00:27:23,729 the burgeoning hot zone for the drug wars. 532 00:27:23,772 --> 00:27:26,082 Narrator: Over the last year, 533 00:27:26,122 --> 00:27:29,262 the murder rates reached an all-time high. 534 00:27:29,299 --> 00:27:32,089 By the end of July, the Medical Examiner's Office 535 00:27:32,128 --> 00:27:34,348 is forced to rent a refrigeration truck 536 00:27:34,391 --> 00:27:35,921 from a local Ryder. 537 00:27:35,958 --> 00:27:38,088 The morgue is overflowing 538 00:27:38,134 --> 00:27:41,184 and the public is in a state of panic. 539 00:27:41,224 --> 00:27:46,234 [ Cheers and applause ] 540 00:27:46,273 --> 00:27:49,763 Ovalle: When President Reagan takes office, this is a crisis. 541 00:27:49,798 --> 00:27:52,148 These types of things don't happen in the United States. 542 00:27:52,192 --> 00:27:54,282 You don't have bloodshed in the middle of the streets. 543 00:27:54,324 --> 00:27:57,724 Ronald: All the agencies and law enforcement 544 00:27:57,763 --> 00:28:00,033 will be brought together in a comprehensive attack 545 00:28:00,069 --> 00:28:02,029 on drug trafficking and organized crime. 546 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:10,430 O0 C1♪♪ 547 00:28:10,471 --> 00:28:15,351 ♪♪ 548 00:28:15,389 --> 00:28:17,739 ♪♪ 549 00:28:17,783 --> 00:28:20,923 ♪♪ 550 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:22,440 [ Sirens wailing ] 551 00:28:22,483 --> 00:28:24,053 Man #1: What kind of shape is this guy in? 552 00:28:24,093 --> 00:28:25,313 Man #2: He was hit once here in the groin area 553 00:28:25,355 --> 00:28:27,305 and another one down on the... 554 00:28:27,357 --> 00:28:29,447 Narrator: As cocaine trafficking and murder rates soar 555 00:28:29,490 --> 00:28:30,840 in South Florida, 556 00:28:30,883 --> 00:28:32,753 the new president is forced to confront 557 00:28:32,798 --> 00:28:34,888 a growing crisis. 558 00:28:34,930 --> 00:28:37,850 Parenti: Nixon, the '70s, that's the first stage. 559 00:28:37,890 --> 00:28:39,720 That kinda plateaus. 560 00:28:39,761 --> 00:28:44,551 In the 1980s, Reagan initiates a second war on drugs. 561 00:28:44,592 --> 00:28:47,642 One of the most critical duties that we faced upon taking office 562 00:28:47,682 --> 00:28:50,602 was controlling the influx of illegal drugs 563 00:28:50,641 --> 00:28:52,641 into this country. 564 00:28:52,687 --> 00:28:55,077 Narrator: Ronald Reagan -- a former actor 565 00:28:55,124 --> 00:28:58,434 who goes on to become the governor of California. 566 00:28:58,475 --> 00:29:02,475 As president, he promises to restore the crumbling economy, 567 00:29:02,523 --> 00:29:04,223 fight the communist threat, 568 00:29:04,264 --> 00:29:07,484 and relaunch Nixon's forgotten War on Drugs. 569 00:29:07,528 --> 00:29:09,658 This is the "Miami Vice" era 570 00:29:09,704 --> 00:29:11,314 of drugs running pretty freely 571 00:29:11,358 --> 00:29:13,268 between the Caribbean and Florida. 572 00:29:13,316 --> 00:29:15,706 And so President Reagan put George Bush in charge of it 573 00:29:15,754 --> 00:29:18,324 and told him to do his best. 574 00:29:18,365 --> 00:29:20,365 Narrator: George H.W. Bush, 575 00:29:20,410 --> 00:29:23,460 the blue-blood son of a powerful U.S. Senator. 576 00:29:23,500 --> 00:29:27,550 George Bush was a fighter pilot. 577 00:29:27,591 --> 00:29:30,381 Parenti: He later gets into the oil business 578 00:29:30,420 --> 00:29:33,160 and in the '70s under Gerald Ford 579 00:29:33,206 --> 00:29:37,506 is made head of Central Intelligence. 580 00:29:37,558 --> 00:29:40,258 Now Vice President Bush is put in charge 581 00:29:40,300 --> 00:29:42,080 of a special task force 582 00:29:42,128 --> 00:29:45,258 to stop the flow of cocaine into South Florida. 583 00:29:45,305 --> 00:29:47,085 Reporter: Those who have been asking for a fight 584 00:29:47,133 --> 00:29:49,093 are now going to get one. 585 00:29:49,135 --> 00:29:52,785 Now the war will be fought with a brain trust of expertise, 586 00:29:52,834 --> 00:29:55,324 with federal, state, and local resources 587 00:29:55,358 --> 00:29:56,928 pitted against the criminals 588 00:29:56,969 --> 00:30:00,839 and drug traffickers and hired assassins. 589 00:30:00,886 --> 00:30:02,576 Bush: It's a young task force, 590 00:30:02,626 --> 00:30:05,796 a task force that has just begun the battle 591 00:30:05,847 --> 00:30:08,847 of the drug war in South Florida. 592 00:30:08,894 --> 00:30:11,684 ♪♪ 593 00:30:11,722 --> 00:30:15,032 Narrator: Bush has elements of the Army, Air Force, 594 00:30:15,074 --> 00:30:18,124 Navy, DEA, FBI, Coast Guard 595 00:30:18,164 --> 00:30:20,604 and local police under his command. 596 00:30:20,644 --> 00:30:24,134 -Police force! -Put your hands up, man! 597 00:30:24,170 --> 00:30:26,740 Almost overnight, Miami starts to look like 598 00:30:26,781 --> 00:30:29,181 a military occupation. 599 00:30:29,218 --> 00:30:32,088 But the real battle will be fought in the shallow waters 600 00:30:32,134 --> 00:30:33,964 of the Caribbean. 601 00:30:34,006 --> 00:30:36,966 Wright: When Carlos Lehder bought Norman's Cay 602 00:30:37,009 --> 00:30:40,749 and was flying cocaine from Colombia into his island, 603 00:30:40,795 --> 00:30:45,575 a lot of that cocaine moved out into Florida via airplane. 604 00:30:45,626 --> 00:30:47,366 A lot of it also went by boats. 605 00:30:47,410 --> 00:30:49,940 ♪♪ 606 00:30:49,978 --> 00:30:53,628 Narrator: The Coast Guard's being outrun by the smugglers' speed boats, 607 00:30:53,677 --> 00:30:56,637 so Bush turns to an old friend for help. 608 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,160 George Bush had a fascination with boats, you know, 609 00:30:59,205 --> 00:31:02,205 that sort of blue-blood Connecticut lifestyle. 610 00:31:02,251 --> 00:31:05,561 And Don Aronow was the boat guy. 611 00:31:05,602 --> 00:31:09,782 Narrator: Don Aronow, a legend in South Florida. 612 00:31:09,824 --> 00:31:12,914 He builds some of the fastest speed boats in the world, 613 00:31:12,958 --> 00:31:16,088 popular with Miami's elite, Hollywood stars... 614 00:31:16,135 --> 00:31:18,745 We have Cary Grant running one of our Cigarettes, you know? 615 00:31:18,789 --> 00:31:20,179 [ Laughter ] 616 00:31:20,226 --> 00:31:24,486 ...and increasingly, cocaine smugglers. 617 00:31:24,534 --> 00:31:28,804 Wright: Don Aronow was the premiere race boat builder. 618 00:31:28,843 --> 00:31:32,463 He built race boats that George Bush enjoyed. 619 00:31:32,499 --> 00:31:35,499 They were fast, they could make round trips 620 00:31:35,545 --> 00:31:39,105 between Miami and the Bahamas in a matter of hours. 621 00:31:39,158 --> 00:31:43,468 And so all of the drug smugglers were gravitating to the fastest, 622 00:31:43,510 --> 00:31:45,690 most badass boats on the water, 623 00:31:45,729 --> 00:31:47,599 and these were built by Don Aronow. 624 00:31:47,644 --> 00:31:51,174 Narrator: Bush asks Aronow to build him a fleet of chase boats 625 00:31:51,213 --> 00:31:53,523 faster than the smugglers'. 626 00:31:53,563 --> 00:31:56,313 Aronow calls the boats Blue Thunder, 627 00:31:56,349 --> 00:32:00,089 and outfits them with two 650 horsepower engines, 628 00:32:00,135 --> 00:32:02,615 promising Bush they are the state of the art 629 00:32:02,659 --> 00:32:04,399 in pursuit watercraft. 630 00:32:04,444 --> 00:32:06,194 Reporter: When you want to look tough on drugs, 631 00:32:06,228 --> 00:32:08,228 having your picture snapped aboard Blue Thunder 632 00:32:08,274 --> 00:32:11,584 is one way to do it. 633 00:32:11,625 --> 00:32:13,365 ♪♪ 634 00:32:13,409 --> 00:32:15,849 Man: Recommended course -- 3-0 degrees. 635 00:32:15,890 --> 00:32:20,680 -Speed -- 20. -Side 8-4-0. 636 00:32:20,721 --> 00:32:22,511 Narrator: The Blue Thunder fleet is dispatched 637 00:32:22,549 --> 00:32:24,509 from the first-ever command center 638 00:32:24,551 --> 00:32:28,291 built exclusively for the War on Drugs. 639 00:32:28,337 --> 00:32:30,947 We have an unidentified vessel just west of West End, 640 00:32:30,992 --> 00:32:32,952 Grand Bahama. 641 00:32:32,994 --> 00:32:35,044 A state-of-the-art radar monitoring system 642 00:32:35,083 --> 00:32:37,353 tracks suspected smugglers. 643 00:32:37,390 --> 00:32:41,130 ♪♪ 644 00:32:43,657 --> 00:32:45,877 There's definitely a lot of stuff on the boat. 645 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:49,970 Looks like he might be dumping some more stuff here, yep. 646 00:32:50,011 --> 00:32:51,711 And he's changing course. 647 00:32:51,752 --> 00:32:52,672 Man #2: This guy's going to beach here 648 00:32:52,709 --> 00:32:56,319 pretty soon I think. 649 00:32:56,365 --> 00:32:59,845 The Coast Guard soon realizes they have a problem. 650 00:32:59,890 --> 00:33:02,110 Wright: Don Aronow had two sets of customers then. 651 00:33:02,154 --> 00:33:05,334 He was selling to both the federal government 652 00:33:05,374 --> 00:33:07,334 that was trying to interdict drugs 653 00:33:07,376 --> 00:33:09,986 and he was selling to the dopers 654 00:33:10,031 --> 00:33:11,771 who were bringing the drugs in. 655 00:33:11,815 --> 00:33:13,425 Narrator: While the Blue Thunder boats 656 00:33:13,469 --> 00:33:16,339 fly over the calm waters of Miami harbor, 657 00:33:16,385 --> 00:33:20,775 their wide hull design slows them down in the open ocean. 658 00:33:20,824 --> 00:33:25,264 The cigarette boats Aronow sells the narcos beat them every time. 659 00:33:25,307 --> 00:33:27,567 Ovalle: Was the flaw in Blue Thunder 660 00:33:27,614 --> 00:33:29,794 something that was intentional, 661 00:33:29,833 --> 00:33:32,843 to help sort of the other customer base, 662 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:34,620 or was it something that was unintentional 663 00:33:34,664 --> 00:33:36,544 and just pure happenstance 664 00:33:36,579 --> 00:33:39,189 that ended up putting a crimp in law enforcement efforts? 665 00:33:39,234 --> 00:33:40,764 It was just so Miami 666 00:33:40,801 --> 00:33:43,851 because here was this rich, colorful figure, 667 00:33:43,891 --> 00:33:46,721 seemingly playing both sides in law enforcement 668 00:33:46,763 --> 00:33:49,983 and with the dopers bringing in cocaine. 669 00:33:50,028 --> 00:33:52,068 Reporter: Don Aronow was gunned down near his boat yard 670 00:33:52,117 --> 00:33:53,417 in North Miami. 671 00:33:53,466 --> 00:33:55,026 Witnesses said a man in a Lincoln 672 00:33:55,076 --> 00:33:57,076 pulled alongside Aronow's Mercedes 673 00:33:57,122 --> 00:33:59,172 and shot him five times. 674 00:33:59,211 --> 00:34:01,561 Don Aronow ended up getting murdered 675 00:34:01,604 --> 00:34:04,874 and many of those questions that we may have about Blue Thunder, 676 00:34:04,912 --> 00:34:06,832 and sort of what was going on ended up, 677 00:34:06,870 --> 00:34:09,090 you know, dying with him. 678 00:34:09,134 --> 00:34:12,444 I am the first to admit that we have not shut down 679 00:34:12,485 --> 00:34:15,525 the drug smuggling into South Florida. 680 00:34:15,575 --> 00:34:19,965 But nobody denies that we've made it much more difficult 681 00:34:20,014 --> 00:34:22,504 for these smugglers to do business. 682 00:34:22,538 --> 00:34:24,798 Narrator: But with the heat on in South Florida, 683 00:34:24,845 --> 00:34:26,975 the Colombians look to find other routes 684 00:34:27,021 --> 00:34:30,291 to bring cocaine into the United States. 685 00:34:30,329 --> 00:34:33,509 ♪♪ 686 00:34:37,162 --> 00:34:41,082 A small plane has just crossed the Arkansas state border 687 00:34:41,122 --> 00:34:44,652 and a new era in the drug war is about to begin. 688 00:34:44,691 --> 00:34:49,091 Man: Logging the 316 delta bravo flight at 2:00. 689 00:34:49,130 --> 00:34:51,090 Narrator: The flight's manifest says the pilot 690 00:34:51,132 --> 00:34:53,792 took a pleasure trip to Florida for the weekend. 691 00:34:53,830 --> 00:34:55,090 See the lakes down there? 692 00:34:55,136 --> 00:34:58,266 He did in fact have fun, 693 00:34:58,313 --> 00:35:00,753 but he wasn't in Florida. 694 00:35:00,794 --> 00:35:03,284 ♪ Reset your world 695 00:35:03,318 --> 00:35:05,098 ♪ Count to 10 696 00:35:05,146 --> 00:35:07,106 ♪ Replace the Zen 697 00:35:07,148 --> 00:35:09,018 ♪ You're ready for it 698 00:35:09,063 --> 00:35:10,283 ♪ Refloat the world, start again ♪ 699 00:35:10,325 --> 00:35:11,455 -Come on, come on! -Aaaah! 700 00:35:11,500 --> 00:35:17,160 ♪ Start again, my old friend 701 00:35:17,202 --> 00:35:22,252 Narrator: Barry Seal -- a legend in the world of drug smuggling. 702 00:35:22,294 --> 00:35:26,524 Seal becomes the youngest pilot ever for TWA, 703 00:35:26,559 --> 00:35:29,779 until he is arrested for attempting to smuggle explosives 704 00:35:29,823 --> 00:35:33,393 to anti-Castro Cubans, but he's never charged. 705 00:35:33,435 --> 00:35:35,785 Wright: Barry Seal had a long history of both 706 00:35:35,829 --> 00:35:39,489 working for the CIA, working as a commercial airline pilot, 707 00:35:39,528 --> 00:35:41,398 and also for smuggling drugs. 708 00:35:41,443 --> 00:35:43,753 He would fly weapons for the CIA. 709 00:35:43,793 --> 00:35:48,233 He would fly drugs for cartels. It didn't matter what. 710 00:35:48,276 --> 00:35:50,836 The exciting thing in life to me is to get into 711 00:35:50,887 --> 00:35:52,497 a life-threatening situation. 712 00:35:52,541 --> 00:35:54,761 Now, that's excitement. 713 00:35:54,804 --> 00:35:58,114 ♪♪ 714 00:35:58,156 --> 00:36:01,716 Narrator: In Colombia, Seal makes a deal with Pablo Escobar 715 00:36:01,768 --> 00:36:03,468 and the Medellin Cartel. 716 00:36:03,509 --> 00:36:05,819 Missed you last night, huh? [ Chuckles ] 717 00:36:05,859 --> 00:36:07,169 You should have come, man. Those chicas, 718 00:36:07,208 --> 00:36:08,508 they were fantastic. 719 00:36:08,557 --> 00:36:10,517 I can't thank you enough. 720 00:36:10,559 --> 00:36:12,689 ♪♪ 721 00:36:12,735 --> 00:36:15,475 It's hard to come up with a more colorful character 722 00:36:15,521 --> 00:36:19,261 than Barry Seal when it comes to smuggling. 723 00:36:19,307 --> 00:36:22,527 Narrator: With the Cartel looking to bypass South Florida, 724 00:36:22,571 --> 00:36:26,271 Barry Seal provides an answer using a small airport 725 00:36:26,314 --> 00:36:28,584 in the tiny city of Mena, Arkansas, 726 00:36:28,621 --> 00:36:31,321 where Bill Clinton's governor. 727 00:36:31,363 --> 00:36:34,633 Seal pilots his own plane to Colombia 500 times 728 00:36:34,670 --> 00:36:37,150 to ferry drugs to the United States, 729 00:36:37,195 --> 00:36:39,885 earning an average of $1.5 million a trip. 730 00:36:39,936 --> 00:36:43,976 ♪♪ 731 00:36:46,813 --> 00:36:49,513 With demand for cocaine growing across the country... 732 00:36:49,555 --> 00:36:51,905 [ Man speaking Spanish ] 733 00:36:51,948 --> 00:36:54,948 ...the U.S. government decides to take the fight 734 00:36:54,995 --> 00:36:57,555 directly to the source. 735 00:36:57,606 --> 00:37:00,436 Flying fast and low over the jungle, 736 00:37:00,479 --> 00:37:02,089 Colombian National Police 737 00:37:02,132 --> 00:37:04,182 narrow in on a remote drug lab 738 00:37:04,222 --> 00:37:06,092 called Tranquilandia. 739 00:37:06,136 --> 00:37:09,136 It's the size of a small town. 740 00:37:09,183 --> 00:37:13,883 It's owned by Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel. 741 00:37:13,927 --> 00:37:18,707 On one of its first major international raids is the DEA. 742 00:37:18,758 --> 00:37:22,498 [ Gunfire ] 743 00:37:22,544 --> 00:37:26,684 Wright: The DEA is part of the Department of Justice, 744 00:37:26,722 --> 00:37:29,552 sort of like international FBI agents 745 00:37:29,595 --> 00:37:32,635 trying to catch people that are breaking the law 746 00:37:32,685 --> 00:37:36,725 by smuggling or facilitating the illegal drug trade. 747 00:37:36,776 --> 00:37:38,816 Follis: The DEA is the only agency in the world 748 00:37:38,865 --> 00:37:41,345 that can enter into hostile zones 749 00:37:41,389 --> 00:37:44,869 and develop an investigation and a prosecution. 750 00:37:44,914 --> 00:37:47,574 Man: Patrol to all units. Please be advised. 751 00:37:47,613 --> 00:37:51,753 [ Indistinct conversations ] 752 00:37:51,791 --> 00:37:53,711 ♪♪ 753 00:37:55,447 --> 00:37:56,577 [ People screaming ] 754 00:38:01,061 --> 00:38:03,631 Narrator: The DEA and the Colombian National Police 755 00:38:03,672 --> 00:38:05,942 have carried out a raid on Pablo Escobar's 756 00:38:05,979 --> 00:38:09,159 jungle cocaine labs with deadly effect. 757 00:38:09,199 --> 00:38:11,459 ♪♪ 758 00:38:11,506 --> 00:38:17,686 11 are dead, 40 are arrested, including an American pilot. 759 00:38:17,730 --> 00:38:21,820 And they begin destroying the labs. 760 00:38:21,864 --> 00:38:24,394 Farah: The take down of the Tranquilandia drug labs, 761 00:38:24,432 --> 00:38:27,482 by far the biggest anyone had seen. 762 00:38:27,522 --> 00:38:30,742 It was a significant blow to the actual production of cocaine 763 00:38:30,786 --> 00:38:32,656 on a on a worldwide level. 764 00:38:32,701 --> 00:38:34,661 [ Indistinct conversations ] 765 00:38:34,703 --> 00:38:37,623 That just pissed Pablo off. 766 00:38:37,663 --> 00:38:41,413 Narrator: The DEA's growing role in Colombia's war on drugs 767 00:38:41,449 --> 00:38:45,239 is largely thanks to the country's Minister of Justice, 768 00:38:45,279 --> 00:38:48,149 Rodrigo Lara Bonilla -- 769 00:38:48,195 --> 00:38:51,365 a fearless crusader against the cartels. 770 00:38:51,416 --> 00:38:54,506 He's teamed up with American law enforcement to arrest 771 00:38:54,549 --> 00:38:57,549 and extradite cartel leaders to the U.S. 772 00:38:57,596 --> 00:38:59,596 Farah: Lara Bonilla grasped the magnitude 773 00:38:59,641 --> 00:39:02,121 of what Colombia was facing in ways 774 00:39:02,165 --> 00:39:06,075 that most of the political elite didn't or simply didn't care to. 775 00:39:06,126 --> 00:39:08,516 Stratton: He was a brave guy who took on the cartels, 776 00:39:08,563 --> 00:39:10,523 took on Pablo Escobar, 777 00:39:10,565 --> 00:39:13,525 and everybody knew that the cartels were going to get him. 778 00:39:13,568 --> 00:39:17,528 [ Horns honking ] 779 00:39:17,572 --> 00:39:19,532 [ Indistinct conversations ] 780 00:39:19,574 --> 00:39:21,534 [ Sirens wailing ] 781 00:39:21,576 --> 00:39:26,016 ♪♪ 782 00:39:26,059 --> 00:39:29,149 Narrator: Less than two months after the Tranquilandia raid, 783 00:39:29,192 --> 00:39:33,592 Lara Bonilla's car is ambushed. 784 00:39:33,632 --> 00:39:36,902 He's shot seven times and dies instantly. 785 00:39:36,939 --> 00:39:39,119 ♪♪ 786 00:39:39,159 --> 00:39:41,549 The young shooter arrested at the scene 787 00:39:41,596 --> 00:39:44,726 tells police Pablo Escobar promised him a payment 788 00:39:44,773 --> 00:39:47,303 of 2 million Colombian pesos -- 789 00:39:47,341 --> 00:39:51,131 the equivalent of just $650. 790 00:39:51,171 --> 00:39:53,831 [ Indistinct conversations ] 791 00:39:53,869 --> 00:39:55,869 Farah: Killing the attorney general of the country, 792 00:39:55,915 --> 00:39:57,695 that was unprecedented. 793 00:39:57,743 --> 00:39:59,883 It showed if you're going to mess with Pablo, 794 00:39:59,919 --> 00:40:01,399 you know, Pablo will kill you, 795 00:40:01,442 --> 00:40:02,842 and it doesn't matter really who you are. 796 00:40:02,878 --> 00:40:04,838 It doesn't matter if you're in Downtown Bogotá, 797 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:06,360 doesn't matter if you have bodyguards, 798 00:40:06,404 --> 00:40:07,674 doesn't matter if you have an armed car. 799 00:40:07,709 --> 00:40:09,409 We're going to get you. 800 00:40:09,450 --> 00:40:11,670 And that was a powerful message to the elites 801 00:40:11,713 --> 00:40:15,593 in ways that terrified them. 802 00:40:15,630 --> 00:40:18,070 Levine: There's no limits to which these guys won't go. 803 00:40:18,111 --> 00:40:20,291 And they have the money, they have the power, 804 00:40:20,330 --> 00:40:21,810 they have the weapons. 805 00:40:21,854 --> 00:40:23,254 So you either play along with them 806 00:40:23,290 --> 00:40:25,380 or you're gonna die. 807 00:40:25,423 --> 00:40:28,693 I actually met with Pablo Escobar Jr. years later. 808 00:40:28,730 --> 00:40:32,130 He went back to Colombia and met with Lara Bonilla's son 809 00:40:32,168 --> 00:40:35,958 to apologize for that murder, which is a pretty amazing story. 810 00:40:37,783 --> 00:40:40,613 Narrator: As the country mourns Lara Bonilla's death, 811 00:40:40,655 --> 00:40:43,175 the Colombian government doesn't back down, 812 00:40:43,223 --> 00:40:45,493 forming an alliance with the Americans 813 00:40:45,530 --> 00:40:47,360 to begin extraditing drug lords 814 00:40:47,401 --> 00:40:49,401 for trial in the United States. 815 00:40:49,447 --> 00:40:52,487 The United States decided that it wanted 816 00:40:52,537 --> 00:40:54,627 to begin extraditing people out of these countries 817 00:40:54,669 --> 00:40:56,929 because it was clear that the judicial systems 818 00:40:56,976 --> 00:40:59,536 of those countries couldn't handle the pressure. 819 00:40:59,587 --> 00:41:02,417 But it became a really hated by the narcos. 820 00:41:02,460 --> 00:41:04,510 ♪♪ 821 00:41:04,549 --> 00:41:06,119 [ Indistinct conversations ] 822 00:41:06,159 --> 00:41:08,549 Narrator: Escobar and the other cartel leaders 823 00:41:08,596 --> 00:41:11,466 band together, launching a public campaign 824 00:41:11,512 --> 00:41:13,342 against extradition. 825 00:41:13,383 --> 00:41:16,473 Stratton: There was so much power within this group of guys. 826 00:41:16,517 --> 00:41:19,687 Pablo Escobar had tremendous political ambitions. 827 00:41:19,738 --> 00:41:22,778 He he put together a group of drug dealers 828 00:41:22,828 --> 00:41:26,308 that were going to pay off the national debt of Colombia 829 00:41:26,353 --> 00:41:29,623 if they would agree to block any extradition 830 00:41:29,661 --> 00:41:32,451 of Colombian drug lords to the United States. 831 00:41:32,490 --> 00:41:34,360 Narrator: Escobar's head of logistics, 832 00:41:34,404 --> 00:41:37,454 Carlos Lehder, even starts his own political party 833 00:41:37,495 --> 00:41:39,665 and eventually runs for office. 834 00:41:39,714 --> 00:41:41,894 Stratton: Carlos Lehder began to hate the United States 835 00:41:41,934 --> 00:41:44,374 and became psychotic. 836 00:41:44,414 --> 00:41:47,034 [ Speaking Spanish ] 837 00:41:47,069 --> 00:41:50,679 Interpreter: Cocaine is the atom bomb of Latin America. 838 00:41:50,725 --> 00:41:55,025 Stratton: He ultimately saw cocaine as a way of destroying 839 00:41:55,077 --> 00:41:58,077 the society in the United States. 840 00:41:58,124 --> 00:42:00,564 Colombia could have been taken over by Escobar and his people. 841 00:42:00,605 --> 00:42:02,995 [ Gunfire, sirens wailing ] 842 00:42:03,042 --> 00:42:06,312 [ Explosion ] 843 00:42:06,349 --> 00:42:09,049 ♪♪ 844 00:42:09,091 --> 00:42:12,791 ♪♪ 845 00:42:12,834 --> 00:42:15,324 Narrator: 30 gunmen have launched an attack 846 00:42:15,358 --> 00:42:18,968 on the Colombian Supreme Court, 847 00:42:19,014 --> 00:42:21,894 and have taken 300 hostages. 848 00:42:21,930 --> 00:42:23,630 [ Gunshot ] 849 00:42:23,671 --> 00:42:27,111 The attackers are left-wing M-19 guerrillas... 850 00:42:27,153 --> 00:42:30,373 [ Machine-gun fire ] 851 00:42:30,417 --> 00:42:32,587 ...the same group who kidnapped the sister 852 00:42:32,637 --> 00:42:35,117 of Pablo Escobar's partners. 853 00:42:35,161 --> 00:42:37,951 Now they're fighting for the cartel. 854 00:42:37,990 --> 00:42:41,210 Escobar has allegedly paid them $2 million to wage war 855 00:42:41,254 --> 00:42:43,434 on the Colombian government. 856 00:42:44,997 --> 00:42:47,257 [ People screaming, shouting indistinctly ] 857 00:42:53,614 --> 00:42:55,624 [ Explosion ] 858 00:42:55,660 --> 00:42:58,400 [ Sirens wailing ] 859 00:42:58,445 --> 00:43:00,355 [ Fire roaring ] 860 00:43:01,666 --> 00:43:04,756 [ Whistle blowing ] 861 00:43:04,799 --> 00:43:07,629 Narrator: When the battle's over, more than 100 are dead, 862 00:43:07,672 --> 00:43:11,022 including 11 judges. 863 00:43:11,066 --> 00:43:13,766 And the court building is in flames -- 864 00:43:13,808 --> 00:43:16,288 along with all the evidence the government had compiled 865 00:43:16,332 --> 00:43:18,812 to extradite the cartel leaders. 866 00:43:18,857 --> 00:43:20,467 Farah: All of those documents were destroyed. 867 00:43:20,510 --> 00:43:23,640 That probably made Pablo Escobar 868 00:43:23,688 --> 00:43:27,738 and the Medellin Cartel extremely happy. 869 00:43:27,779 --> 00:43:29,959 Narrator: But before the government can retaliate, 870 00:43:29,998 --> 00:43:34,178 the cartel leaders flee the country. 871 00:43:34,220 --> 00:43:37,750 Carlos Lehder finds sanctuary in Nicaragua 872 00:43:37,789 --> 00:43:39,919 where the M-19 rebels have connected him 873 00:43:39,965 --> 00:43:44,095 to their allies, the communist Sandinistas. 874 00:43:44,143 --> 00:43:46,673 Escobar goes to Panama, 875 00:43:46,711 --> 00:43:48,671 where he has long been laundering his money 876 00:43:48,713 --> 00:43:52,503 with the corrupt president Manuel Noriega. 877 00:43:52,542 --> 00:43:54,982 Central America 878 00:43:55,023 --> 00:43:59,163 increasingly becomes the cartel's transit hub. 879 00:43:59,201 --> 00:44:03,901 And Barry Seal is now one of the cartel's most trusted pilots. 880 00:44:03,945 --> 00:44:05,815 Wright: It was very easy for Barry Seal 881 00:44:05,860 --> 00:44:08,250 to fly drugs into North America 882 00:44:08,297 --> 00:44:12,557 throughout Central America for narco traffickers. 883 00:44:12,606 --> 00:44:16,696 That was one aspect of his life only. 884 00:44:16,741 --> 00:44:18,831 Narrator: What Pablo Escobar doesn't know 885 00:44:18,873 --> 00:44:23,233 is Seal has another, even more powerful, employer -- 886 00:44:23,269 --> 00:44:25,919 the United States Government. 887 00:44:25,967 --> 00:44:30,707 ♪♪ 888 00:44:30,755 --> 00:44:35,715 ♪♪ 889 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:38,720 ♪♪ 890 00:44:38,763 --> 00:44:42,113 ♪♪ 891 00:44:45,378 --> 00:44:47,638 [ Siren wails, police radio chatter ] 892 00:44:47,685 --> 00:44:50,165 Narrator: At home, President Reagan is waging 893 00:44:50,209 --> 00:44:52,729 a reinvigorated War on Drugs. 894 00:44:52,777 --> 00:44:54,737 [ Barking ] 895 00:44:54,779 --> 00:44:56,739 Narrator: Abroad, the administration's 896 00:44:56,781 --> 00:45:00,051 main focus is the communist threat. 897 00:45:00,088 --> 00:45:02,218 And Central America is the new battleground 898 00:45:02,264 --> 00:45:05,754 for Cold War covert operations. 899 00:45:05,790 --> 00:45:08,010 Moran: Central America in the early '80s 900 00:45:08,053 --> 00:45:09,973 is basically a hot mess. 901 00:45:10,011 --> 00:45:13,711 We've got atrocities, we've got insurgencies, 902 00:45:13,754 --> 00:45:15,764 counterinsurgencies, 903 00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:19,410 all kinds of nefarious groups with different motives, 904 00:45:19,455 --> 00:45:22,015 and we get elbow-deep in all of that. 905 00:45:22,067 --> 00:45:24,897 [ Birds chirping ] 906 00:45:24,939 --> 00:45:27,769 Narrator: Nicaragua is run by the Sandinistas, 907 00:45:27,812 --> 00:45:29,512 Marxist rebels who overthrew 908 00:45:29,552 --> 00:45:33,082 an American-backed dictator in 1979. 909 00:45:33,121 --> 00:45:35,991 Moran: Reagan almost immediately starts painting 910 00:45:36,037 --> 00:45:38,607 for the American public, a very vivid 911 00:45:38,648 --> 00:45:41,428 and very ominous picture -- 912 00:45:41,477 --> 00:45:44,697 this idea that if the Soviets gain influence 913 00:45:44,742 --> 00:45:47,352 in Central America and Nicaragua, 914 00:45:47,396 --> 00:45:50,876 a week from today, they could be on the -- the beaches in Texas. 915 00:45:50,922 --> 00:45:53,012 ♪♪ 916 00:45:53,054 --> 00:45:54,754 Narrator: The White House is eager to paint 917 00:45:54,795 --> 00:45:58,145 Nicaragua's communist leaders as drug traffickers. 918 00:45:58,190 --> 00:46:02,020 And they enlist an unlikely accomplice -- Barry Seal. 919 00:46:02,063 --> 00:46:03,853 The cartel smuggler has been busted 920 00:46:03,891 --> 00:46:06,201 and is now a government informant. 921 00:46:06,241 --> 00:46:08,901 ♪♪ 922 00:46:08,940 --> 00:46:12,510 Wright: One of the strangest missions that Barry Seal ever flew 923 00:46:12,552 --> 00:46:15,512 occurred when the Reagan Administration 924 00:46:15,555 --> 00:46:18,775 sent Barry Seal into Nicaragua 925 00:46:18,819 --> 00:46:21,129 in an airplane that had cameras, 926 00:46:21,169 --> 00:46:25,299 where he could film Nicaraguans handling cocaine 927 00:46:25,347 --> 00:46:28,737 that was being shipped to the U.S. 928 00:46:28,786 --> 00:46:30,656 Get those in the back, okay? 929 00:46:30,700 --> 00:46:33,660 The purpose of Barry Seal's mission was to frame 930 00:46:33,703 --> 00:46:37,843 the Nicaraguan government as narco traffickers. 931 00:46:37,882 --> 00:46:40,102 Schou: Barry Seal became a very important part of this 932 00:46:40,145 --> 00:46:42,095 because he claimed to have knowledge 933 00:46:42,147 --> 00:46:45,317 that Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel 934 00:46:45,367 --> 00:46:50,107 were actually supplying the Sandinistas with cocaine. 935 00:46:50,155 --> 00:46:52,675 Narrator: The CIA outfits a military transport plane 936 00:46:52,722 --> 00:46:54,162 with hidden cameras, 937 00:46:54,202 --> 00:46:55,942 and Seal takes off to record a deal 938 00:46:55,987 --> 00:46:59,597 with Sandinista officials and Pablo Escobar himself. 939 00:46:59,642 --> 00:47:03,862 ♪♪ 940 00:47:03,908 --> 00:47:08,648 Man: 10 seconds. Stand by, please, sir. 941 00:47:08,695 --> 00:47:11,825 My fellow Americans, I must speak to you tonight 942 00:47:11,872 --> 00:47:14,312 about a mounting danger in Central America 943 00:47:14,353 --> 00:47:16,923 that threatens the security of the United States. 944 00:47:16,964 --> 00:47:18,714 The communist government of Nicaragua 945 00:47:18,748 --> 00:47:21,578 has launched a campaign to subvert and topple 946 00:47:21,621 --> 00:47:23,671 its democratic neighbors. 947 00:47:23,710 --> 00:47:25,710 The Sandinistas have even involved themselves 948 00:47:25,755 --> 00:47:27,235 in the international drug trade. 949 00:47:27,279 --> 00:47:29,499 This picture, secretly taken 950 00:47:29,542 --> 00:47:32,112 at a military airfield outside Managua, 951 00:47:32,153 --> 00:47:34,553 shows Federico Vaughan, 952 00:47:34,590 --> 00:47:36,770 a top aide to one of the nine comandantes 953 00:47:36,810 --> 00:47:38,460 who rule Nicaragua, 954 00:47:38,507 --> 00:47:41,417 loading an aircraft with illegal narcotics 955 00:47:41,467 --> 00:47:44,117 bound for the United States. 956 00:47:44,165 --> 00:47:46,725 No, there seems to be no crime 957 00:47:46,776 --> 00:47:48,996 to which the Sandinistas will not stoop. 958 00:47:49,040 --> 00:47:53,000 This is an outlaw regime. 959 00:47:53,044 --> 00:47:57,444 Moran: They return to some of the original tactics of the CIA. 960 00:47:57,483 --> 00:48:02,923 We can back insurgency groups that are against our enemies. 961 00:48:02,967 --> 00:48:05,527 We can give them money. We can give them training. 962 00:48:05,578 --> 00:48:10,018 We can get them to conduct the dirty war. 963 00:48:10,061 --> 00:48:12,631 Narrator: The CIA starts training and funding 964 00:48:12,672 --> 00:48:16,462 a secret army to take back the country from communism. 965 00:48:16,502 --> 00:48:20,162 They're called the Contras. 966 00:48:20,201 --> 00:48:25,211 Moran: The Contras were people who had been disenfranchised. 967 00:48:25,250 --> 00:48:27,820 A lot of these people were elites, people with money, 968 00:48:27,861 --> 00:48:30,391 people with connections, sometimes people 969 00:48:30,429 --> 00:48:34,039 with a high level of corruption. 970 00:48:34,085 --> 00:48:37,085 Things start to go awry. 971 00:48:37,131 --> 00:48:40,531 It starts to emerge that they're committing 972 00:48:40,569 --> 00:48:43,489 a number of atrocities -- mining harbors, 973 00:48:43,529 --> 00:48:47,229 torturing people. 974 00:48:47,272 --> 00:48:50,142 Narrator: When the brutality of the Contras is made public, 975 00:48:50,188 --> 00:48:53,538 Congress passes the Boland Amendment. 976 00:48:53,582 --> 00:48:56,932 Parenti: The Boland Amendment says the U.S. can only give 977 00:48:56,977 --> 00:49:00,937 humanitarian, non-lethal support to the Contras. 978 00:49:00,981 --> 00:49:03,331 So, what develops out of this 979 00:49:03,375 --> 00:49:06,805 is an effort to covertly raise money 980 00:49:06,856 --> 00:49:10,426 to buy military supplies. 981 00:49:10,469 --> 00:49:12,989 Moran: Yet again, the Agency finds itself 982 00:49:13,037 --> 00:49:15,997 in that moral quagmire. 983 00:49:16,040 --> 00:49:20,260 "We need to find other ways to fund these operations." 984 00:49:20,305 --> 00:49:22,385 ♪♪ 985 00:49:28,487 --> 00:49:32,397 Narrator: Ilopango Air Base in El Salvador -- 986 00:49:32,447 --> 00:49:34,577 the American military's hub for its battle 987 00:49:34,623 --> 00:49:39,633 against communism across Central America. 988 00:49:39,672 --> 00:49:43,552 Arriving in this plane is an undercover DEA agent... 989 00:49:47,071 --> 00:49:49,861 Celerino Castillo -- 990 00:49:49,899 --> 00:49:53,119 a second generation combat veteran from South Texas. 991 00:49:53,164 --> 00:49:57,304 He earns a Bronze Star in Vietnam, 992 00:49:57,342 --> 00:49:59,612 then joins the DEA in New York 993 00:49:59,648 --> 00:50:02,648 and goes undercover as a trafficker, 994 00:50:02,695 --> 00:50:05,305 but when his fellow cops pocket seized drug money, 995 00:50:05,350 --> 00:50:08,220 Castillo refuses. 996 00:50:08,266 --> 00:50:10,216 Supervisor came up and says, "Look, 997 00:50:10,268 --> 00:50:12,098 everybody gets a handful." 998 00:50:12,139 --> 00:50:14,049 And, and I says, "I can't do that, man, 999 00:50:14,098 --> 00:50:17,278 because if I do that, then I am just like them." 1000 00:50:17,318 --> 00:50:20,708 ♪♪ 1001 00:50:20,756 --> 00:50:23,586 Narrator: Working undercover, Castillo infiltrates the base, 1002 00:50:23,629 --> 00:50:27,589 where he's heard rumors of large-scale cocaine trafficking. 1003 00:50:27,633 --> 00:50:31,123 The Ilopango airport in El Salvador 1004 00:50:31,158 --> 00:50:34,548 was like the O'Hare Airport. 1005 00:50:34,596 --> 00:50:37,986 The traffic was enormous, crisscrossing. 1006 00:50:38,035 --> 00:50:40,775 People would land with permission, without permission, 1007 00:50:40,820 --> 00:50:43,210 some of them crash-landed. 1008 00:50:43,257 --> 00:50:46,997 The safe houses were all over the place. 1009 00:50:47,044 --> 00:50:51,144 The girls were everywhere, the partying was huge. 1010 00:50:51,178 --> 00:50:53,088 [ People cheering ] 1011 00:50:53,137 --> 00:50:57,137 I had an informant, who I paid a lot of money, 1012 00:50:57,184 --> 00:51:00,754 who actually believed in what I was doing. 1013 00:51:00,796 --> 00:51:05,626 He was the tower controller at Ilopango, 1014 00:51:05,671 --> 00:51:08,721 and he was able to give me the tail numbers of the planes 1015 00:51:08,761 --> 00:51:10,461 that were coming in with the drugs. 1016 00:51:10,502 --> 00:51:12,502 Narrator: Castillo starts photographing the planes 1017 00:51:12,547 --> 00:51:16,457 the tower controllers identified. 1018 00:51:16,508 --> 00:51:20,988 Castillo: We started to identify the pilots. 1019 00:51:21,034 --> 00:51:23,864 He identifies one of the pilots as Barry Seal, 1020 00:51:23,906 --> 00:51:25,866 the cartel smuggler. 1021 00:51:25,908 --> 00:51:28,738 Barry Seal could fly his fleet of planes 1022 00:51:28,781 --> 00:51:32,261 without being questioned at all. 1023 00:51:32,306 --> 00:51:33,826 He was very well known. 1024 00:51:33,873 --> 00:51:37,313 He was just one of many American pilots 1025 00:51:37,355 --> 00:51:40,525 that were running out of Ilopango. 1026 00:51:40,575 --> 00:51:42,225 Narrator: When Castillo begins to identify 1027 00:51:42,273 --> 00:51:45,843 other known cocaine smugglers, he alerts his superiors. 1028 00:51:45,885 --> 00:51:47,885 When I got all the intelligence, 1029 00:51:47,930 --> 00:51:52,070 I went to see the U.S. ambassador. 1030 00:51:52,109 --> 00:51:54,499 "Ambassador, this is what we have. 1031 00:51:54,546 --> 00:51:56,976 You have a guy here in Salvador 1032 00:51:57,026 --> 00:52:00,636 who's running large amounts of drugs into the U.S." 1033 00:52:00,682 --> 00:52:02,122 Gave him the guy's name. 1034 00:52:02,162 --> 00:52:05,912 He says, "He works for Félix Rodríguez." 1035 00:52:05,948 --> 00:52:07,948 Narrator: Félix Rodríguez -- 1036 00:52:07,994 --> 00:52:11,654 His family was forced to flee Cuba after the revolution. 1037 00:52:11,693 --> 00:52:15,183 Rodríguez has devoted his life to killing communists. 1038 00:52:15,219 --> 00:52:17,789 He fights at the Bay of Pigs, 1039 00:52:17,830 --> 00:52:20,880 and helps in the hunt to kill Che Guevara. 1040 00:52:20,920 --> 00:52:23,880 He's on the front lines in Southeast Asia, 1041 00:52:23,923 --> 00:52:26,063 and now Central America. 1042 00:52:26,099 --> 00:52:28,879 ♪♪ 1043 00:52:28,928 --> 00:52:32,448 Many of the characters who had shown up in Southeast Asia, 1044 00:52:32,497 --> 00:52:36,537 like Félix Rodríguez, now appear in Central America. 1045 00:52:36,588 --> 00:52:39,718 [ Engines rumbling ] 1046 00:52:39,765 --> 00:52:42,325 Narrator: But Castillo begins to suspect Rodríguez 1047 00:52:42,376 --> 00:52:45,286 is part of a larger covert operation. 1048 00:52:45,336 --> 00:52:50,646 ♪♪ 1049 00:52:50,689 --> 00:52:53,129 Castillo: He went around bragging that he was connected 1050 00:52:53,170 --> 00:52:56,260 to the Vice President, George H.W. Bush, 1051 00:52:56,303 --> 00:52:59,313 and that he only answered to him. 1052 00:52:59,350 --> 00:53:02,530 ♪♪ 1053 00:53:02,570 --> 00:53:08,400 Narrator: Castillo develops a source close to Rodríguez. 1054 00:53:08,446 --> 00:53:10,616 Castillo: The best places to get my intelligence 1055 00:53:10,665 --> 00:53:12,795 were the whorehouses where Sandra worked. 1056 00:53:12,841 --> 00:53:15,841 ♪♪ 1057 00:53:15,888 --> 00:53:20,758 Sandra was Félix's regular girlfriend. 1058 00:53:20,806 --> 00:53:22,586 Narrator: Sandra allegedly tells Castillo 1059 00:53:22,634 --> 00:53:25,254 when Rodríguez leaves town and when he returns. 1060 00:53:25,289 --> 00:53:28,729 ♪♪ 1061 00:53:28,770 --> 00:53:31,250 He compares Rodríguez's travel with the flights 1062 00:53:31,295 --> 00:53:35,595 of suspected cocaine smugglers. 1063 00:53:35,647 --> 00:53:38,257 Castillo: The pilots were running drugs all the way 1064 00:53:38,302 --> 00:53:40,222 from Colombia into Central America. 1065 00:53:40,260 --> 00:53:42,520 Ilopango turned out to be the trampoline. 1066 00:53:42,567 --> 00:53:44,997 The drugs coming in, they bounce right there 1067 00:53:45,047 --> 00:53:49,047 and go to every part of the United States. 1068 00:53:49,095 --> 00:53:51,835 Narrator: Castillo believes he's discovered something shocking. 1069 00:53:51,880 --> 00:53:56,540 Some CIA contract pilots illegally arming the Contras 1070 00:53:56,581 --> 00:54:00,061 in violation of the Boland Amendment 1071 00:54:00,106 --> 00:54:04,276 are also smuggling cocaine to help the cause. 1072 00:54:04,328 --> 00:54:06,328 Castillo believes much of the operation 1073 00:54:06,373 --> 00:54:09,423 is under the command of Félix Rodríguez. 1074 00:54:09,463 --> 00:54:11,993 It turned out to be arms coming south 1075 00:54:12,031 --> 00:54:16,511 and cocaine going north in the C-130s. 1076 00:54:16,557 --> 00:54:20,517 Parenti: In a shadowy war, you're moving supplies 1077 00:54:20,561 --> 00:54:23,481 and personnel into these theaters of war, 1078 00:54:23,521 --> 00:54:26,311 so you're establishing smuggling routes. 1079 00:54:26,350 --> 00:54:29,270 And you have a group of armed men 1080 00:54:29,309 --> 00:54:32,749 who are ready to do illegal and dangerous things, 1081 00:54:32,791 --> 00:54:36,931 so layering drugs on top of that is very easy. 1082 00:54:36,969 --> 00:54:40,489 I started getting intelligence from U.S. Customs. 1083 00:54:40,538 --> 00:54:42,318 They were getting the same information. 1084 00:54:42,366 --> 00:54:43,576 We were sharing information. 1085 00:54:43,628 --> 00:54:46,068 The FBI was doing the same thing. 1086 00:54:46,108 --> 00:54:49,418 And when I questioned the CIA, they would say, 1087 00:54:49,460 --> 00:54:53,120 "It's a covert operation being run by the White House." 1088 00:54:53,159 --> 00:54:55,769 Narrator: According to Castillo, his superiors refuse 1089 00:54:55,814 --> 00:54:59,514 to follow up on his allegations about Ilopango. 1090 00:54:59,557 --> 00:55:02,777 And to this day, Rodríguez denies any involvement 1091 00:55:02,821 --> 00:55:05,081 with drug trafficking at the base. 1092 00:55:05,127 --> 00:55:08,087 My supervisor says, "Don't get involved, man, 1093 00:55:08,130 --> 00:55:10,870 because we got orders to stay away from it." 1094 00:55:10,916 --> 00:55:13,786 I say, "This is not what I signed up for. 1095 00:55:13,832 --> 00:55:16,362 I became a federal agent because I was gonna fight. 1096 00:55:16,400 --> 00:55:19,970 I don't care who's involved." 1097 00:55:20,012 --> 00:55:25,022 I was in Guatemala at the ambassador's cocktail party. 1098 00:55:25,060 --> 00:55:28,150 I didn't want to go because I'm not that type of guy 1099 00:55:28,194 --> 00:55:30,894 to mingle with people like that. 1100 00:55:30,936 --> 00:55:35,286 Narrator: But when the guest of honor arrives, 1101 00:55:35,332 --> 00:55:40,512 Castillo sees the opportunity to reveal what he's uncovered 1102 00:55:40,554 --> 00:55:44,734 to highest level of the American government. 1103 00:55:44,776 --> 00:55:48,166 Castillo: I was standing there, and he comes up to me. 1104 00:55:48,214 --> 00:55:52,834 And he says, "So what do you do here?" 1105 00:55:52,871 --> 00:55:55,221 And I explained to him that I was a DEA agent 1106 00:55:55,264 --> 00:55:57,144 assigned to Central America. 1107 00:55:57,179 --> 00:55:59,049 And he says, "Well, that's good for you." 1108 00:55:59,094 --> 00:56:03,404 And I say, "By the way, we have received intelligence 1109 00:56:03,447 --> 00:56:08,797 that the Contras are heavily involved in the drug trade." 1110 00:56:08,843 --> 00:56:14,463 And he smiled at me and just walked away from me. 1111 00:56:14,501 --> 00:56:18,071 It was right there and then that I knew that it went 1112 00:56:18,113 --> 00:56:21,163 all the way to the White House. 1113 00:56:21,203 --> 00:56:25,903 ♪♪ 1114 00:56:25,947 --> 00:56:30,817 ♪♪ 1115 00:56:30,865 --> 00:56:33,475 ♪♪ 1116 00:56:33,520 --> 00:56:35,910 ♪♪ 1117 00:56:39,047 --> 00:56:41,917 ♪♪ 1118 00:56:41,963 --> 00:56:43,493 Narrator: By the mid-1980s, 1119 00:56:43,530 --> 00:56:45,400 cocaine has spread from Miami 1120 00:56:45,445 --> 00:56:48,485 and is now flooding America's inner cities. 1121 00:56:48,535 --> 00:56:51,055 [ Siren chirps ] 1122 00:56:51,103 --> 00:56:53,113 In South Central Los Angeles, 1123 00:56:53,148 --> 00:56:55,498 an up-and-coming cocaine dealer 1124 00:56:55,542 --> 00:56:58,552 is about to make a deal that will change his life 1125 00:56:58,589 --> 00:57:00,499 and the war on drugs forever. 1126 00:57:00,547 --> 00:57:02,717 ♪♪ 1127 00:57:07,728 --> 00:57:09,248 Rick Ross -- 1128 00:57:09,295 --> 00:57:11,905 also known as "Freeway Rick." 1129 00:57:11,950 --> 00:57:16,040 Raised in the projects, he was a teenage tennis prodigy. 1130 00:57:16,084 --> 00:57:18,174 Ross: My dream was to go to a four-year university. 1131 00:57:18,217 --> 00:57:19,737 [ Chuckles ] 1132 00:57:19,784 --> 00:57:22,224 It's crazy how somebody can fool themselves 1133 00:57:22,264 --> 00:57:24,444 into believing that they're going to a four-year university 1134 00:57:24,484 --> 00:57:25,794 when they can't read or write, 1135 00:57:25,833 --> 00:57:28,493 so I found myself on the streets. 1136 00:57:28,532 --> 00:57:31,322 Narrator: And it's there where a friend first introduces Ross 1137 00:57:31,360 --> 00:57:35,150 to a drug few in his neighborhood had ever seen. 1138 00:57:35,190 --> 00:57:36,320 I couldn't believe... 1139 00:57:36,365 --> 00:57:37,885 a small amount of cocaine, 1140 00:57:37,932 --> 00:57:42,112 it was probably about the size of a match head, 1141 00:57:42,154 --> 00:57:43,944 and he was telling me that it was worth 50 bucks, 1142 00:57:43,982 --> 00:57:45,902 and it was really hard for me to fantasize 1143 00:57:45,940 --> 00:57:49,070 that something so small could be so valuable. 1144 00:57:49,117 --> 00:57:53,027 It was like, this is what I was made for. 1145 00:57:53,078 --> 00:57:55,518 ♪♪ 1146 00:57:55,559 --> 00:57:58,559 Narrator: Ross finds he is a natural at selling cocaine, 1147 00:57:58,605 --> 00:58:01,125 and soon business is booming. 1148 00:58:01,173 --> 00:58:04,523 ♪♪ 1149 00:58:04,568 --> 00:58:06,178 His only problem -- 1150 00:58:06,221 --> 00:58:10,441 getting his hands on enough supply. 1151 00:58:10,487 --> 00:58:15,667 ♪♪ 1152 00:58:15,709 --> 00:58:17,669 Schou: Everybody liked Freeway Rick. 1153 00:58:17,711 --> 00:58:20,281 He was someone that didn't have to rely on violence 1154 00:58:20,322 --> 00:58:21,592 in order to sell his product. 1155 00:58:21,628 --> 00:58:25,108 It was just relationships that he had. 1156 00:58:25,153 --> 00:58:29,163 Narrator: Ross is meeting with a man he only knows by the name Danilo. 1157 00:58:29,201 --> 00:58:31,551 I would always see Danilo lurking around, 1158 00:58:31,595 --> 00:58:33,025 you know, kinda like, in the shadows. 1159 00:58:33,074 --> 00:58:34,824 Every now and then, he would give me a nod. 1160 00:58:34,859 --> 00:58:36,299 I've heard good things about you, too. 1161 00:58:36,338 --> 00:58:38,648 Narrator: He offers to sell Ross large quantities 1162 00:58:38,689 --> 00:58:41,819 of high-quality cocaine at a heavy discount. 1163 00:58:41,866 --> 00:58:44,996 I got like a $2,000 discount per kilo, 1164 00:58:45,043 --> 00:58:48,443 which for me was, like, unheard of. 1165 00:58:48,481 --> 00:58:50,611 You know, my profit margin just -- just skyrocketed. 1166 00:58:50,657 --> 00:58:52,877 ♪♪ 1167 00:58:57,185 --> 00:59:00,355 Narrator: Ross soon realizes he can make even more profit 1168 00:59:00,406 --> 00:59:03,056 if he uses a new way of processing cocaine 1169 00:59:03,104 --> 00:59:05,764 that is increasingly popular on the streets. 1170 00:59:05,803 --> 00:59:07,943 Ross: I run into a guy who was a pimp. 1171 00:59:07,979 --> 00:59:09,759 What he was doing is he was making it into 1172 00:59:09,807 --> 00:59:13,847 what we call rock form. 1173 00:59:13,898 --> 00:59:16,598 Narrator: Rock, or what will soon be known as crack, 1174 00:59:16,640 --> 00:59:19,600 is a mixture of baking soda and powder cocaine 1175 00:59:19,643 --> 00:59:23,123 that delivers an instantaneous and euphoric high. 1176 00:59:23,168 --> 00:59:24,948 ♪♪ 1177 00:59:24,996 --> 00:59:28,516 [ Thunder rumbling ] 1178 00:59:28,565 --> 00:59:30,955 But the high wears off quickly 1179 00:59:31,002 --> 00:59:33,922 and soon the user needs another hit. 1180 00:59:33,961 --> 00:59:36,791 Powder cocaine. It's the cocaine base 1181 00:59:36,834 --> 00:59:40,014 along with a hydrochloride group attached to it. 1182 00:59:40,054 --> 00:59:42,754 Remove that hydrochloride group that's attached, 1183 00:59:42,796 --> 00:59:44,926 then that's just the cocaine base. 1184 00:59:44,972 --> 00:59:46,842 That's the freeing of the base. 1185 00:59:46,887 --> 00:59:48,717 You can smoke that. 1186 00:59:48,759 --> 00:59:51,539 Narrator: Crack changes the economics of cocaine --- 1187 00:59:51,588 --> 00:59:55,288 crack rocks are sold for as little as $10 a hit. 1188 00:59:55,330 --> 00:59:59,420 Cheap to produce and cheap to distribute, cheap to purchase. 1189 00:59:59,465 --> 01:00:01,635 It also created, in some ways, more of an addiction 1190 01:00:01,685 --> 01:00:03,595 because it wasn't really strong enough 1191 01:00:03,643 --> 01:00:05,303 to get you high for very long, 1192 01:00:05,340 --> 01:00:07,600 so you needed more of it. 1193 01:00:07,647 --> 01:00:11,647 [ Horns honking ] 1194 01:00:11,695 --> 01:00:14,645 Narrator: Thanks to his source's cut-rate cocaine, 1195 01:00:14,698 --> 01:00:18,008 and rising demand on the streets, 1196 01:00:18,049 --> 01:00:19,789 Ross expands his operation, 1197 01:00:19,833 --> 01:00:23,103 building industrial-size labs to cook crack. 1198 01:00:23,141 --> 01:00:27,581 We cookin' in pots big enough to cook me in. 1199 01:00:27,624 --> 01:00:29,804 [ Laughs ] 1200 01:00:29,843 --> 01:00:33,673 It became kind of like an assembly line of production. 1201 01:00:33,717 --> 01:00:37,497 ♪♪ 1202 01:00:37,546 --> 01:00:42,986 The demand just kept coming, kept coming, kept coming. 1203 01:00:43,030 --> 01:00:46,730 Narrator: His cooks are capable of making 50-kilogram rocks at a time. 1204 01:00:46,773 --> 01:00:48,303 Hm. 1205 01:00:48,340 --> 01:00:51,650 It takes a pickaxe to break them up. 1206 01:00:51,691 --> 01:00:54,301 We went from $300 a day, next thing you know, 1207 01:00:54,346 --> 01:00:55,906 we're making a million dollars a day, 1208 01:00:55,956 --> 01:00:57,346 sometimes $3 million dollars. 1209 01:00:57,392 --> 01:00:59,792 And the rest is history. 1210 01:00:59,830 --> 01:01:01,790 Schou: He became the most successful coke dealer 1211 01:01:01,832 --> 01:01:03,702 in South Central Los Angeles. 1212 01:01:03,747 --> 01:01:05,357 Everybody wanted to be Rick Ross. 1213 01:01:05,400 --> 01:01:07,840 Everybody wanted to be this big baller. 1214 01:01:07,881 --> 01:01:11,281 You know, something that you dream of becoming. 1215 01:01:13,713 --> 01:01:15,853 Narrator: But what no one at the time in L.A. knows, 1216 01:01:15,889 --> 01:01:17,719 including Ross himself, 1217 01:01:17,761 --> 01:01:22,721 is that his main supplier has a dark secret. 1218 01:01:22,766 --> 01:01:27,286 His full name -- Oscar Danilo Blandón. 1219 01:01:27,335 --> 01:01:30,725 He's a former Nicaraguan government official, 1220 01:01:30,774 --> 01:01:34,214 who's now part of the CIA-backed Contra war effort 1221 01:01:34,255 --> 01:01:37,685 to overthrow the communist Sandinista government. 1222 01:01:37,737 --> 01:01:39,907 Danilo Blandón ended up in California 1223 01:01:39,957 --> 01:01:42,737 as part of the political wing of the Contras. 1224 01:01:42,786 --> 01:01:45,046 It was very difficult for the organizers 1225 01:01:45,092 --> 01:01:47,362 of the political wing of the Contras 1226 01:01:47,399 --> 01:01:50,319 to get any type of support for their cause. 1227 01:01:50,358 --> 01:01:51,798 And so some of these guys resorted 1228 01:01:51,838 --> 01:01:54,748 to very controversial means. 1229 01:01:54,798 --> 01:01:57,408 Ross: Danilo had connections all over the country. 1230 01:01:57,452 --> 01:01:58,802 It was kind of like this whole 1231 01:01:58,845 --> 01:02:01,145 little Nicaraguan connect, you know? 1232 01:02:01,195 --> 01:02:02,845 Blandón told me that money 1233 01:02:02,893 --> 01:02:05,203 that he made went toward fighting this war. 1234 01:02:05,243 --> 01:02:07,333 They wanted this war to be won. 1235 01:02:07,375 --> 01:02:09,195 That was as far as I went with it. 1236 01:02:09,247 --> 01:02:12,207 The less you know about somebody, the better. 1237 01:02:12,250 --> 01:02:15,950 And Blandón starts offering Ross more than just coke. 1238 01:02:15,993 --> 01:02:21,223 He started bringing Uzis and MAC-10s and Thompsons, 1239 01:02:21,259 --> 01:02:27,129 AKs, and just an arsenal of weapons, 1240 01:02:27,178 --> 01:02:28,918 that that we had never saw before. 1241 01:02:28,962 --> 01:02:33,532 Okay, but the real surprise -- this. 1242 01:02:33,575 --> 01:02:35,265 Narrator: Blandón even provides Ross 1243 01:02:35,316 --> 01:02:38,316 sophisticated police radio scanners. 1244 01:02:38,363 --> 01:02:40,413 You know when they're coming, 1245 01:02:40,452 --> 01:02:43,242 where they're coming from, how many. 1246 01:02:43,281 --> 01:02:46,021 So Rick and his henchmen, any time the police 1247 01:02:46,066 --> 01:02:47,976 started closing in on his network, 1248 01:02:48,025 --> 01:02:50,105 he was able to find out about it. 1249 01:02:50,157 --> 01:02:53,897 And every time they did a raid, there was nothing there. 1250 01:02:53,944 --> 01:02:57,384 Narrator: By 1986, crack has spread across the country 1251 01:02:57,425 --> 01:03:00,245 and Freeway Rick Ross is running a drug empire 1252 01:03:00,298 --> 01:03:02,468 that stretches across 20 states -- 1253 01:03:02,517 --> 01:03:06,257 with an alleged income of $900 million. 1254 01:03:06,304 --> 01:03:08,004 Well, the thing that made Freeway Ricky Ross 1255 01:03:08,045 --> 01:03:10,655 such a successful crack kingpin 1256 01:03:10,699 --> 01:03:13,139 is the fact that he had a very reliable supply 1257 01:03:13,180 --> 01:03:14,970 of cheap cocaine. 1258 01:03:15,008 --> 01:03:17,138 He was selling everything that he was getting 1259 01:03:17,184 --> 01:03:18,974 as quickly as he got it. 1260 01:03:19,012 --> 01:03:21,712 Narrator: And thanks to Blandón's never-ending supply 1261 01:03:21,754 --> 01:03:23,414 of discount cocaine, 1262 01:03:23,451 --> 01:03:26,371 Ross helps change the demographics of the drug -- 1263 01:03:26,411 --> 01:03:29,981 from a rich man's party favor to a cheap street high. 1264 01:03:30,023 --> 01:03:31,593 [ Coughs ] 1265 01:03:31,633 --> 01:03:34,463 ♪♪ 1266 01:03:34,506 --> 01:03:36,326 Sherrills: For many of us who fell through the cracks 1267 01:03:36,377 --> 01:03:38,507 of society, crack was a way out. 1268 01:03:38,553 --> 01:03:40,863 But it had a devastating effect. 1269 01:03:40,904 --> 01:03:44,524 It was more like a bomb that was dropped on the black community. 1270 01:03:44,559 --> 01:03:47,479 Hands behind your back! 1271 01:03:47,519 --> 01:03:51,869 That drug destroyed families, communities, 1272 01:03:51,915 --> 01:03:55,695 and eventually it destroyed part of the black race. 1273 01:03:55,744 --> 01:03:57,624 Wright: The people that were most involved 1274 01:03:57,659 --> 01:04:02,009 in cocaine trafficking in the early 1980s to mid-1980s 1275 01:04:02,055 --> 01:04:06,275 were the very same people that the CIA was employing 1276 01:04:06,320 --> 01:04:09,240 to help channel weapons to the Contras 1277 01:04:09,280 --> 01:04:12,110 and support those operations. 1278 01:04:12,152 --> 01:04:15,422 Jordan: We had three or four cases where we arrested 1279 01:04:15,460 --> 01:04:18,770 CIA contract workers with cocaine, 1280 01:04:18,811 --> 01:04:23,381 and I get a phone call that the charges have been dismissed. 1281 01:04:23,424 --> 01:04:26,864 You know, we are risking our lives, 1282 01:04:26,906 --> 01:04:31,996 making cases against significant drug traffickers. 1283 01:04:32,042 --> 01:04:34,912 Then on the other hand, you got another government agency 1284 01:04:34,958 --> 01:04:38,568 allowing the drugs to come in. 1285 01:04:38,613 --> 01:04:41,273 And we're not talking about 100 pounds, 1286 01:04:41,312 --> 01:04:44,492 we're talking about tons. 1287 01:04:44,532 --> 01:04:47,192 I don't care if you call it national security or whatever. 1288 01:04:47,231 --> 01:04:50,361 That introduction 1289 01:04:50,408 --> 01:04:54,718 of white powder 1290 01:04:54,760 --> 01:05:00,550 was killing black people. 1291 01:05:00,592 --> 01:05:04,602 ♪♪ 1292 01:05:04,639 --> 01:05:07,029 ♪ Oooooohh, yeah, haah-ah! 1293 01:05:07,077 --> 01:05:10,727 ♪ Say no, oh, oh! 1294 01:05:10,776 --> 01:05:13,206 Narrator: As the crack cocaine epidemic spreads, 1295 01:05:13,257 --> 01:05:15,347 the White House creates one of the most memorable 1296 01:05:15,389 --> 01:05:18,569 public-relations campaigns in history. 1297 01:05:18,610 --> 01:05:21,790 What should you do when someone offers you drugs? 1298 01:05:21,830 --> 01:05:24,830 Children: Just say no! 1299 01:05:24,877 --> 01:05:27,177 Grim: Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" symbolized 1300 01:05:27,227 --> 01:05:29,487 the kind of zero tolerance, 1301 01:05:29,534 --> 01:05:32,284 puritanical approach that America has always taken. 1302 01:05:32,319 --> 01:05:34,629 America is not good doing nuance. 1303 01:05:34,669 --> 01:05:37,319 We don't do grays. 1304 01:05:37,368 --> 01:05:39,668 Narrator: Hollywood also gets involved, 1305 01:05:39,718 --> 01:05:43,288 with celebrities joining the anti-crack chorus. 1306 01:05:43,330 --> 01:05:47,200 This is crack -- rock cocaine. 1307 01:05:47,247 --> 01:05:52,117 It isn't glamorous or cool or kid's stuff. 1308 01:05:52,165 --> 01:05:56,255 It's the most addictive kind of cocaine, and it can kill you. 1309 01:05:56,300 --> 01:05:58,820 What will you do when someone offers you drugs? 1310 01:05:58,867 --> 01:06:01,907 Children: Just say no! 1311 01:06:01,958 --> 01:06:03,478 Nancy: I can't hear you! Louder! 1312 01:06:03,524 --> 01:06:06,404 Children: Just say no! 1313 01:06:06,440 --> 01:06:08,530 Nancy: [ Chuckles ] That's wonderful. 1314 01:06:08,573 --> 01:06:10,843 [ Cheers and applause ] 1315 01:06:10,879 --> 01:06:14,059 Moran: What's really ironic is the fact that Nancy Reagan 1316 01:06:14,100 --> 01:06:17,360 was waging this huge just say no to drugs campaign 1317 01:06:17,408 --> 01:06:21,628 and making drug use a national moral issue, 1318 01:06:21,673 --> 01:06:24,633 at the same time that her husband's administration 1319 01:06:24,676 --> 01:06:27,716 was elbow-deep in the drug trade. 1320 01:06:27,766 --> 01:06:30,676 Man: Down with dope. Up with hope. 1321 01:06:30,725 --> 01:06:32,465 Down with dope. 1322 01:06:32,510 --> 01:06:37,730 Dr. Hart: Fast forward into the summer of 1986... 1323 01:06:37,776 --> 01:06:40,206 Len Bias, the basketball player, 1324 01:06:40,257 --> 01:06:45,437 the second overall draft pick of the 1986 draft dies. 1325 01:06:45,479 --> 01:06:48,219 Initial reports were that Len Bias 1326 01:06:48,265 --> 01:06:50,395 had taken crack cocaine. 1327 01:06:50,441 --> 01:06:53,621 And so the reports were, "This drug is so unpredictable 1328 01:06:53,661 --> 01:06:57,061 and so addictive that it killed this athlete 1329 01:06:57,100 --> 01:06:59,320 at the height of his powers." 1330 01:06:59,363 --> 01:07:01,373 Then a week later, Don Rogers, 1331 01:07:01,408 --> 01:07:04,798 a Cleveland Brown, dies. 1332 01:07:04,846 --> 01:07:06,976 In both cases, it was powder cocaine, 1333 01:07:07,023 --> 01:07:08,503 but it didn't matter. 1334 01:07:08,546 --> 01:07:11,506 In the American people's conscience, it was crack. 1335 01:07:11,549 --> 01:07:14,289 And crack was so unpredictable and so addictive 1336 01:07:14,334 --> 01:07:16,904 that it took down these two great athletes 1337 01:07:16,945 --> 01:07:19,595 at the peak of their powers. 1338 01:07:19,644 --> 01:07:24,084 Jesse Jackson gives the eulogy at Len Bias's funeral. 1339 01:07:24,127 --> 01:07:27,297 He says that crack has killed more black people 1340 01:07:27,347 --> 01:07:31,867 than Klu Klux Klan ropes. 1341 01:07:31,917 --> 01:07:34,957 Congressman in Harlem, Charlie Rangel, 1342 01:07:35,007 --> 01:07:40,187 was on President Reagan about not doing enough for drugs. 1343 01:07:40,230 --> 01:07:42,930 All of these forces are coming together. 1344 01:07:42,971 --> 01:07:45,931 And so Congress did the only thing that they could do 1345 01:07:45,974 --> 01:07:48,064 and President signed the legislation, 1346 01:07:48,107 --> 01:07:54,197 and that's the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. 1347 01:07:54,244 --> 01:07:59,644 Well, today it gives me great pleasure to sign legislation 1348 01:07:59,684 --> 01:08:01,384 that reflects the total commitment 1349 01:08:01,425 --> 01:08:03,855 of the American people and their government 1350 01:08:03,905 --> 01:08:06,725 to fight the evil of drugs.[ Applause ] 1351 01:08:06,778 --> 01:08:08,738 Narrator: Under these new sentencing guidelines, 1352 01:08:08,780 --> 01:08:11,000 five grams of crack cocaine, 1353 01:08:11,043 --> 01:08:14,353 often sold by and to African-Americans, 1354 01:08:14,394 --> 01:08:18,094 carries a mandatory five-year sentence. 1355 01:08:18,137 --> 01:08:22,227 For powder cocaine, often sold by and to white Americans, 1356 01:08:22,272 --> 01:08:25,712 it would take 100 times that amount for the same sentence. 1357 01:08:25,753 --> 01:08:28,103 ♪♪ 1358 01:08:28,147 --> 01:08:30,797 [ Police radio chatter ] 1359 01:08:30,845 --> 01:08:32,405 Stratton: All of a sudden, they just started locking up 1360 01:08:32,456 --> 01:08:36,236 basically these kids. 1361 01:08:36,286 --> 01:08:39,766 These guys were coming in for small amounts of crack 1362 01:08:39,811 --> 01:08:41,681 and getting more time than a guy who's busted 1363 01:08:41,726 --> 01:08:44,076 with a kilo of pure cocaine. 1364 01:08:44,120 --> 01:08:46,860 [ Siren wailing ] 1365 01:08:46,905 --> 01:08:50,515 Dr. Hart: Removing them from the community, what does that do? 1366 01:08:50,561 --> 01:08:53,481 Now you don't have the people who are bread winners 1367 01:08:53,520 --> 01:08:56,780 to support families. 1368 01:08:56,828 --> 01:09:00,398 The protectors of the communities, they're gone. 1369 01:09:00,440 --> 01:09:02,270 [ Indistinct conversations ] 1370 01:09:02,312 --> 01:09:04,662 Parenti: What does the Reagan War on Drugs do? 1371 01:09:04,705 --> 01:09:07,095 Well, consider this -- in 1980, 1372 01:09:07,143 --> 01:09:09,843 African-Americans are 12% of the American population, 1373 01:09:09,884 --> 01:09:15,194 and they constitute 23% of people arrested for drugs. 1374 01:09:15,238 --> 01:09:18,068 10 years later, they're still 12% of the overall population, 1375 01:09:18,110 --> 01:09:20,070 but now they constitute 40% 1376 01:09:20,112 --> 01:09:21,902 of everyone arrested for drugs, 1377 01:09:21,940 --> 01:09:25,070 and 60% of everyone convicted. 1378 01:09:27,772 --> 01:09:30,082 ♪♪ 1379 01:09:30,122 --> 01:09:32,862 [ Helicopter blades whirring ] 1380 01:09:32,907 --> 01:09:35,907 [ Beeping ] 1381 01:09:35,954 --> 01:09:38,394 Reporter: Authorities believe last night's machine-gun killing 1382 01:09:38,435 --> 01:09:40,515 of top drug informant Barry Seal 1383 01:09:40,567 --> 01:09:43,477 was ordered by drug bosses in Medellin, Colombia, 1384 01:09:43,527 --> 01:09:47,787 who sent five men to Baton Rouge to kill Seal. 1385 01:09:47,835 --> 01:09:51,095 Wright: Barry Seal met an ignoble end. 1386 01:09:51,143 --> 01:09:55,673 He was gunned-down in the streets. 1387 01:09:55,713 --> 01:10:00,943 Questions linger over exactly who killed him. 1388 01:10:00,979 --> 01:10:02,809 Reporter: Seal was a tough-guy pilot 1389 01:10:02,850 --> 01:10:05,460 who became one of the most important and daring 1390 01:10:05,505 --> 01:10:07,455 undercover operatives infiltrating 1391 01:10:07,507 --> 01:10:09,937 the top Colombian drug operations. 1392 01:10:09,988 --> 01:10:14,118 Barry Seal was supposed to be a highly protected witness 1393 01:10:14,166 --> 01:10:15,816 at the time of his death 1394 01:10:15,863 --> 01:10:19,483 and yet, the gunmen were very easily able to find him 1395 01:10:19,519 --> 01:10:22,909 and shoot him down in public. 1396 01:10:22,957 --> 01:10:24,737 Reporter: It was Seal who posed as a smuggler 1397 01:10:24,785 --> 01:10:27,565 and flew into Nicaragua and took these pictures 1398 01:10:27,614 --> 01:10:30,704 showing Colombian drug dealers and Sandinista officials 1399 01:10:30,748 --> 01:10:32,618 loading cocaine on his plane. 1400 01:10:32,663 --> 01:10:34,583 Seal was scheduled to be the key witness 1401 01:10:34,621 --> 01:10:37,361 against this man -- Jorge Ochoa, 1402 01:10:37,407 --> 01:10:39,317 the top Colombian drug boss 1403 01:10:39,365 --> 01:10:41,235 responsible for the assassination 1404 01:10:41,280 --> 01:10:45,200 of Colombia's attorney general and now the murder in Louisiana. 1405 01:10:45,241 --> 01:10:47,771 There were a number of people that Seal 1406 01:10:47,808 --> 01:10:51,768 had begun to infuriate. 1407 01:10:51,812 --> 01:10:55,952 Barry Seal began telling people that he was flying weapons 1408 01:10:55,990 --> 01:11:00,040 for the Central Intelligence Agency into Central America 1409 01:11:00,081 --> 01:11:03,521 in support of the Contras. 1410 01:11:03,563 --> 01:11:06,313 He also talked about Pablo Escobar, 1411 01:11:06,349 --> 01:11:10,609 and a lot of people believe that Barry Seal's death 1412 01:11:10,657 --> 01:11:12,527 was basically a collusion 1413 01:11:12,572 --> 01:11:16,922 between the U.S. government and the cartels. 1414 01:11:16,968 --> 01:11:20,798 What's interesting is that a year after Barry Seal's death, 1415 01:11:20,841 --> 01:11:23,711 the Contra operation unraveled. 1416 01:11:27,370 --> 01:11:29,940 [ Engine rumbling ] 1417 01:11:29,981 --> 01:11:32,641 Narrator: Deep in the jungles of Nicaragua, 1418 01:11:32,679 --> 01:11:35,069 Marxist Sandinistas soldiers 1419 01:11:35,116 --> 01:11:37,676 just shot down a military cargo plane. 1420 01:11:37,728 --> 01:11:40,338 [ Indistinct conversations ] 1421 01:11:40,383 --> 01:11:44,433 Parenti: Lo and behold, out of the jungle comes this guy. 1422 01:11:44,474 --> 01:11:48,524 ♪♪ 1423 01:11:48,565 --> 01:11:50,915 His plane has been shot down, 1424 01:11:50,958 --> 01:11:52,658 the two other crew members are killed, 1425 01:11:52,699 --> 01:11:55,349 and a 17-year-old Sandinista soldier 1426 01:11:55,398 --> 01:11:57,268 has him bound by the hands 1427 01:11:57,313 --> 01:11:59,363 and is leading him out of the forest 1428 01:11:59,402 --> 01:12:03,192 with a rifle over his shoulder. 1429 01:12:03,231 --> 01:12:05,631 And from that totally spectacular 1430 01:12:05,669 --> 01:12:07,979 and unexpected moment, 1431 01:12:08,019 --> 01:12:11,499 a whole series of revelations unfolds. 1432 01:12:11,544 --> 01:12:14,334 Narrator: The lone survivor of the crash, 1433 01:12:14,373 --> 01:12:20,383 Eugene Hasenfus, is no stranger to covert operations. 1434 01:12:20,423 --> 01:12:22,513 He's a veteran of Air America, 1435 01:12:22,555 --> 01:12:26,295 the CIA airline that allegedly helped fuel the heroin trade 1436 01:12:26,342 --> 01:12:30,482 during the Vietnam War. 1437 01:12:30,520 --> 01:12:34,440 If you told the average person that there were Americans 1438 01:12:34,480 --> 01:12:37,000 who had fought in a secret war in Laos 1439 01:12:37,048 --> 01:12:38,918 doing the same thing in Central America, 1440 01:12:38,963 --> 01:12:40,623 most people would've thought you were crazy. 1441 01:12:40,660 --> 01:12:42,400 [ Man shouting commands in Spanish ] 1442 01:12:42,445 --> 01:12:46,055 Schou: The very same allegations ended up surfacing 1443 01:12:46,100 --> 01:12:49,320 that not only were weapons being brought down to Central America 1444 01:12:49,365 --> 01:12:52,455 to secret bases that the CIA had involvement 1445 01:12:52,498 --> 01:12:53,928 with protecting and controlling, 1446 01:12:53,978 --> 01:12:55,238 but also these flights 1447 01:12:55,283 --> 01:12:57,163 were returning to military bases 1448 01:12:57,198 --> 01:12:59,158 and drugs were being brought into the country. 1449 01:12:59,200 --> 01:13:04,550 It probably would've been better if I would've been... 1450 01:13:04,597 --> 01:13:06,157 if I wouldn't of made it out of that plane. 1451 01:13:06,207 --> 01:13:09,297 -Why? -Dead people don't talk. 1452 01:13:09,341 --> 01:13:11,301 ♪♪ 1453 01:13:11,343 --> 01:13:13,783 Narrator: In the wreckage, the Sandinistas find evidence 1454 01:13:13,824 --> 01:13:16,174 linking the plane to the illegal operation 1455 01:13:16,217 --> 01:13:20,047 to arm the CIA backed right-wing Contra army. 1456 01:13:20,091 --> 01:13:24,791 Congress very plainly stated to the Reagan administration, 1457 01:13:24,835 --> 01:13:27,925 "You can't send weapons to the Contras." 1458 01:13:27,968 --> 01:13:30,798 [ Indistinct conversations ] 1459 01:13:30,841 --> 01:13:33,541 But this plane's loaded with weapons, 1460 01:13:33,583 --> 01:13:37,593 and it began to expose the Contra operation. 1461 01:13:37,630 --> 01:13:41,460 The plane actually had a more interesting history than that. 1462 01:13:41,504 --> 01:13:45,294 The very same plane that had been shot down over Nicaragua 1463 01:13:45,333 --> 01:13:47,253 carrying weapons for the CIA 1464 01:13:47,292 --> 01:13:49,862 was the plane that had belonged to Barry Seal. 1465 01:13:49,903 --> 01:13:52,383 ♪♪ 1466 01:13:52,428 --> 01:13:55,388 This was an unprecedented event in American history, 1467 01:13:55,431 --> 01:14:00,701 where you basically have a secret CIA operation 1468 01:14:00,740 --> 01:14:03,790 laid bare for everyone to look at and to dissect 1469 01:14:03,830 --> 01:14:05,830 and to criticize. 1470 01:14:05,876 --> 01:14:07,786 ♪♪ 1471 01:14:07,834 --> 01:14:09,314 Reporter" Today, Colonel Oliver North's 1472 01:14:09,357 --> 01:14:12,397 the key witness in the Iran arms scandal, 1473 01:14:12,448 --> 01:14:14,928 is due to give evidence in public for the first time. 1474 01:14:14,972 --> 01:14:17,022 ♪♪ 1475 01:14:17,061 --> 01:14:18,981 Narrator: Congressional hearings are called, 1476 01:14:19,019 --> 01:14:21,409 and the illegal operation to arm the Contras 1477 01:14:21,457 --> 01:14:24,677 is revealed to be part of a larger conspiracy. 1478 01:14:24,721 --> 01:14:26,071 The Iran-Contra scandal 1479 01:14:26,113 --> 01:14:27,553 is one of the most complicated scandals 1480 01:14:27,593 --> 01:14:29,203 in the history of American politics. 1481 01:14:29,247 --> 01:14:31,077 It's not just one scandal. 1482 01:14:31,118 --> 01:14:33,118 It's several scandals wrapped into one. 1483 01:14:33,164 --> 01:14:35,994 On the one hand, a secret war in Nicaragua, 1484 01:14:36,036 --> 01:14:38,686 but on the other hand, America's arch enemy, Iran, 1485 01:14:38,735 --> 01:14:41,165 actually receiving missiles from the U.S. government, 1486 01:14:41,215 --> 01:14:43,865 the profits of which were used to purchase supplies 1487 01:14:43,914 --> 01:14:46,574 for the war in Nicaragua. 1488 01:14:46,612 --> 01:14:48,882 Narrator: The elaborate operation is run 1489 01:14:48,919 --> 01:14:52,789 by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North -- 1490 01:14:52,836 --> 01:14:56,186 A highly-decorated platoon commander in Vietnam, 1491 01:14:56,230 --> 01:14:58,450 now a National Security Council staffer 1492 01:14:58,494 --> 01:15:01,154 for the Reagan White House. 1493 01:15:01,192 --> 01:15:04,982 Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North was a nobody effectively 1494 01:15:05,022 --> 01:15:06,762 at the beginning of the Contra war. 1495 01:15:06,806 --> 01:15:08,416 Man: It's with great pleasure that I present to you 1496 01:15:08,460 --> 01:15:10,290 Oliver North.[ Applause ] 1497 01:15:10,331 --> 01:15:13,551 Schou: But he got very lucky because he was known 1498 01:15:13,596 --> 01:15:16,686 by a select group of superiors in the National Security Council 1499 01:15:16,729 --> 01:15:18,209 as a guy that would pretty much do anything 1500 01:15:18,252 --> 01:15:20,692 and not ask any questions whatsoever. 1501 01:15:20,733 --> 01:15:24,043 And so there's, literally, a very narrow chain of command 1502 01:15:24,084 --> 01:15:27,834 from the highest levels of power out of the vice-president office 1503 01:15:27,871 --> 01:15:30,661 down to one guy, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, 1504 01:15:30,700 --> 01:15:32,220 that was given free license 1505 01:15:32,266 --> 01:15:35,226 to run a secret war in Nicaragua. 1506 01:15:35,269 --> 01:15:38,189 The National Security Council during the Reagan administration 1507 01:15:38,229 --> 01:15:40,669 was very powerful. 1508 01:15:40,710 --> 01:15:43,280 -Okay, well, let me ask you -- -I don't have a comment. 1509 01:15:43,321 --> 01:15:46,891 Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North was really the one directing 1510 01:15:46,933 --> 01:15:49,073 a lot of these CIA operations. 1511 01:15:49,109 --> 01:15:51,629 ♪♪ 1512 01:15:53,853 --> 01:15:55,643 Narrator: The nation is transfixed 1513 01:15:55,681 --> 01:15:57,771 when North is forced to testify. 1514 01:15:57,814 --> 01:16:01,434 You had the spectacle of this ramrod, 1515 01:16:01,469 --> 01:16:04,429 straight patriotic American -- 1516 01:16:04,472 --> 01:16:09,092 true believer, boy-scout Oliver North raising his hand. 1517 01:16:09,129 --> 01:16:14,569 When I saw Oliver North raise his hand to be sworn in, 1518 01:16:14,613 --> 01:16:17,623 you know, he hadn't worn the uniform in 10 years, 1519 01:16:17,660 --> 01:16:19,530 and that day, he put it on 1520 01:16:19,575 --> 01:16:22,095 to make it look like he was a patriot. 1521 01:16:22,142 --> 01:16:24,842 [ Camera shutters clicking ] 1522 01:16:24,884 --> 01:16:28,454 Narrator: While North denies working with or protecting drug traffickers, 1523 01:16:28,496 --> 01:16:30,756 he admits to shredding classified documents. 1524 01:16:30,803 --> 01:16:34,943 I do not deny that I engaged in shredding on November 21st. 1525 01:16:34,981 --> 01:16:37,851 I will also tell this committee that I engaged in shredding 1526 01:16:37,897 --> 01:16:39,987 almost every day that I had a shredder. 1527 01:16:40,030 --> 01:16:43,730 But some of his diary entries survive, 1528 01:16:43,773 --> 01:16:46,563 including several in which North appears to be aware 1529 01:16:46,602 --> 01:16:50,782 the Contras were involved in cocaine trafficking. 1530 01:16:50,823 --> 01:16:53,003 North ended up taking the fall 1531 01:16:53,043 --> 01:16:55,653 for a lot of the things that happened, 1532 01:16:55,698 --> 01:16:58,958 but there were people higher-up that were never prosecuted. 1533 01:16:59,005 --> 01:17:00,915 Narrator: Vice President Bush 1534 01:17:00,964 --> 01:17:04,664 denies he knew about any Contra drug trafficking. 1535 01:17:04,707 --> 01:17:06,927 When Bush is elected president, 1536 01:17:06,970 --> 01:17:09,410 he pardons six high-ranking officials -- 1537 01:17:09,450 --> 01:17:11,670 including the Secretary of Defense 1538 01:17:11,714 --> 01:17:14,414 and the CIA's head of covert operations -- 1539 01:17:14,455 --> 01:17:17,755 over their involvement in illegal arms sales. 1540 01:17:17,807 --> 01:17:20,677 When North is convicted of lying to Congress, 1541 01:17:20,723 --> 01:17:23,163 he never spends a day in prison. 1542 01:17:23,203 --> 01:17:27,693 ♪♪ 1543 01:17:27,730 --> 01:17:32,130 But beneath the Iran-Contra affair lies a deeper scandal. 1544 01:17:32,169 --> 01:17:35,169 What you ultimately had was a very dark chapter 1545 01:17:35,215 --> 01:17:37,165 in the United States involvement 1546 01:17:37,217 --> 01:17:40,917 with drug trafficking. 1547 01:17:40,960 --> 01:17:42,700 Castillo: The Iran-Contra investigation 1548 01:17:42,745 --> 01:17:45,695 has really, really never been told. 1549 01:17:45,748 --> 01:17:48,318 You have the bipartisan investigations, 1550 01:17:48,359 --> 01:17:51,449 people will read, and then they'll forget. 1551 01:17:51,492 --> 01:17:54,232 They know that nothing's going to happen, 1552 01:17:54,278 --> 01:17:56,188 and you saw it with Oliver North. 1553 01:17:56,236 --> 01:18:00,846 He got indicted, he was convicted, and they let him go. 1554 01:18:00,893 --> 01:18:05,033 Parenti: It was in no way hidden that this mercenary force 1555 01:18:05,071 --> 01:18:07,601 that was being funded with U.S. tax money 1556 01:18:07,639 --> 01:18:12,729 was also, apparently, importing drugs to the U.S. 1557 01:18:12,775 --> 01:18:16,425 That fact was established even as it was quickly brushed aside. 1558 01:18:19,259 --> 01:18:20,999 ♪♪ 1559 01:18:21,044 --> 01:18:22,794 Narrator: Luck has finally run out for the man 1560 01:18:22,828 --> 01:18:27,048 who helped Pablo Escobar revolutionize the cocaine trade. 1561 01:18:27,093 --> 01:18:31,013 Carlos Lehder is captured by the Columbian National Police 1562 01:18:31,054 --> 01:18:37,154 and extradited to the United States. 1563 01:18:37,190 --> 01:18:39,580 He's convicted of drug smuggling 1564 01:18:39,627 --> 01:18:42,807 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. 1565 01:18:42,848 --> 01:18:48,458 plus an additional 135 years. 1566 01:18:48,506 --> 01:18:50,286 After testifying against 1567 01:18:50,334 --> 01:18:53,124 Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, 1568 01:18:53,163 --> 01:18:57,783 his sentence is reduced to 55 years. 1569 01:18:57,820 --> 01:19:02,040 Lehder also tells the government that the Medellin Cartel 1570 01:19:02,085 --> 01:19:05,605 had given $10 million to the CIA-backed Contra Army 1571 01:19:05,653 --> 01:19:07,923 in Nicaragua. 1572 01:19:07,960 --> 01:19:11,180 It's the first public indication that the cartel was connected 1573 01:19:11,224 --> 01:19:14,454 to the CIA's secret war. 1574 01:19:14,488 --> 01:19:16,928 ♪♪ 1575 01:19:18,971 --> 01:19:23,801 The hearing will come to order, please? 1576 01:19:23,846 --> 01:19:27,276 What is the definition of national security 1577 01:19:27,327 --> 01:19:30,807 which permits us to sacrifice the war on illegal drugs 1578 01:19:30,853 --> 01:19:34,033 to support the illegal war of Contras? 1579 01:19:34,073 --> 01:19:35,863 Narrator: After the Iran-Contra hearings, 1580 01:19:35,901 --> 01:19:38,431 Senator John Kerry conducts a separate 1581 01:19:38,469 --> 01:19:41,729 and often secret investigation of the government's involvement 1582 01:19:41,777 --> 01:19:45,687 with drug smugglers during the 1980s. 1583 01:19:45,737 --> 01:19:47,827 Schou: Right on the heels of the Iran-Contra scandal, 1584 01:19:47,870 --> 01:19:50,000 you had John Kerry -- the lone politician 1585 01:19:50,046 --> 01:19:52,176 willing to try to take this on. 1586 01:19:52,222 --> 01:19:54,352 In testimony before this committee last year, 1587 01:19:54,398 --> 01:19:55,748 we heard how it's possible 1588 01:19:55,791 --> 01:19:58,231 to literally rent an island overnight 1589 01:19:58,271 --> 01:20:00,361 so that drug planes can land, unload, 1590 01:20:00,404 --> 01:20:04,104 and transfer their drugs to boats that come into Florida. 1591 01:20:04,147 --> 01:20:07,587 We will hear testimony about the destabilization 1592 01:20:07,628 --> 01:20:11,548 of whole countries, regions, the support for terrorism, 1593 01:20:11,589 --> 01:20:15,769 and the subversion of our own laws and institutions. 1594 01:20:15,811 --> 01:20:19,861 Narrator: Contra pilots testify under oath. 1595 01:20:19,902 --> 01:20:22,082 After the guns were unloaded, 1596 01:20:22,121 --> 01:20:24,601 was something loaded into the airplane? 1597 01:20:24,645 --> 01:20:27,165 Uh, yes. I loaded about 17 duffel bags 1598 01:20:27,213 --> 01:20:29,833 and, uh, five or six boxes. 1599 01:20:29,868 --> 01:20:32,038 And what was in the duffel bags? 1600 01:20:32,088 --> 01:20:33,788 Coke -- cocaine. 1601 01:20:33,829 --> 01:20:34,739 And in the boxes? 1602 01:20:34,786 --> 01:20:36,876 Cocaine. 1603 01:20:36,919 --> 01:20:39,969 Anybody explain to you what you were loading or did you know? 1604 01:20:40,009 --> 01:20:42,319 I knew. 1605 01:20:42,359 --> 01:20:44,359 So we stand in recess for 10 minutes. 1606 01:20:44,404 --> 01:20:46,844 Narrator: Despite the admission Contra pilots 1607 01:20:46,885 --> 01:20:50,105 were running drugs to finance an illegal CIA war, 1608 01:20:50,149 --> 01:20:53,809 few in the media pick up on the story. 1609 01:20:53,849 --> 01:20:55,419 In 1992, 1610 01:20:55,459 --> 01:20:57,499 Contra supporter Danilo Blandón 1611 01:20:57,548 --> 01:20:59,718 is charged with cocaine distribution, 1612 01:20:59,767 --> 01:21:01,417 but to reduce his sentence, 1613 01:21:01,465 --> 01:21:04,415 he agrees to help the government in a sting operation 1614 01:21:04,468 --> 01:21:06,988 to bring down his old customer Rick Ross. 1615 01:21:07,036 --> 01:21:09,726 ♪♪ 1616 01:21:09,777 --> 01:21:12,127 I just need to keep staring right into the thing, right? 1617 01:21:12,171 --> 01:21:14,171 Narrator: It's not until 1996 1618 01:21:14,217 --> 01:21:16,607 that a little known reporter named Gary Webb 1619 01:21:16,654 --> 01:21:19,704 will expose Blandón's Contra connections. 1620 01:21:19,744 --> 01:21:21,354 We've got all the DEA undercover tapes, 1621 01:21:21,398 --> 01:21:22,918 we got the FBI reports. 1622 01:21:22,965 --> 01:21:24,305 What we found that it was connected 1623 01:21:24,357 --> 01:21:26,657 to this Nicaraguan cocaine pipeline. 1624 01:21:26,707 --> 01:21:31,497 ♪♪ 1625 01:21:31,538 --> 01:21:33,018 Narrator: With controversy swirling, 1626 01:21:33,062 --> 01:21:36,762 the CIA director himself, John Deutch, 1627 01:21:36,804 --> 01:21:38,814 agrees to a town hall meeting 1628 01:21:38,850 --> 01:21:43,550 with the citizens of South Central L.A. 1629 01:21:43,594 --> 01:21:45,424 You, the President, and everybody else 1630 01:21:45,465 --> 01:21:48,075 should be highly upset and say, 1631 01:21:48,120 --> 01:21:51,300 "How did this cancer get here? 1632 01:21:51,341 --> 01:21:53,431 How did it happen?" 1633 01:21:53,473 --> 01:21:57,173 Parenti: The African-American community really picked it up 1634 01:21:57,216 --> 01:21:59,216 and felt that this was confirmation 1635 01:21:59,262 --> 01:22:01,572 of what they had been suffering, 1636 01:22:01,612 --> 01:22:05,142 through the war on drugs and the epidemic of addiction. 1637 01:22:05,181 --> 01:22:07,401 The drugs have been coming in this country 1638 01:22:07,444 --> 01:22:09,794 and they have been sanctioned by our government. 1639 01:22:09,837 --> 01:22:13,617 [ Cheers and applause ]Thank you. 1640 01:22:13,667 --> 01:22:14,967 Narrator: Rick Ross' co-defendant 1641 01:22:15,017 --> 01:22:17,627 confronts the CIA director. 1642 01:22:17,671 --> 01:22:19,021 Rick lookin' at life. 1643 01:22:19,064 --> 01:22:21,334 My first offense, I'm looking at 20. 1644 01:22:21,371 --> 01:22:25,111 And Blandón is out of jail and you paid him $166,000. 1645 01:22:25,157 --> 01:22:30,287 [ Cheers and applause ] 1646 01:22:30,336 --> 01:22:32,856 The co-defendant of Ricky Ross. 1647 01:22:32,904 --> 01:22:35,524 Ricky Ross is doing George Bush's time. 1648 01:22:35,559 --> 01:22:39,559 [ Cheers and applause ] 1649 01:22:39,606 --> 01:22:41,826 The purpose of the investigation 1650 01:22:41,869 --> 01:22:45,479 that I described to you was exactly to find out 1651 01:22:45,525 --> 01:22:50,745 whether CIA officers allowed that kind of trafficking 1652 01:22:50,791 --> 01:22:54,231 take place knowingly or conspired to do so. 1653 01:22:54,273 --> 01:22:56,453 That is the purpose of the investigation. 1654 01:22:56,493 --> 01:22:59,103 If we find anybody who did it, we will bring them to justice. 1655 01:22:59,148 --> 01:23:02,538 [ People clamoring ] 1656 01:23:02,586 --> 01:23:03,666 Narrator: After the town hall, 1657 01:23:03,717 --> 01:23:05,627 the CIA's Inspector General 1658 01:23:05,676 --> 01:23:09,106 launches an internal investigation. 1659 01:23:09,158 --> 01:23:12,898 He finds numerous allegations that CIA-backed Contras 1660 01:23:12,944 --> 01:23:16,124 were involved in cocaine trafficking, 1661 01:23:16,165 --> 01:23:19,115 but he concludes the operations were never sanctioned. 1662 01:23:19,168 --> 01:23:21,648 ♪♪ 1663 01:23:21,692 --> 01:23:24,742 The U.S. media just completely ignored this story. 1664 01:23:24,782 --> 01:23:29,402 It portrayed Kerry as a conspiracy theorist. 1665 01:23:29,439 --> 01:23:32,959 Gary Webb loses his job and then his career 1666 01:23:33,008 --> 01:23:35,838 over the backlash to his story 1667 01:23:35,880 --> 01:23:38,100 and later commits suicide. 1668 01:23:38,143 --> 01:23:40,023 ♪♪ 1669 01:23:40,058 --> 01:23:44,058 Rick Ross serves 16 1/2 years in prison. 1670 01:23:44,106 --> 01:23:45,926 Ross: I'm sitting in prison, and here they are saying 1671 01:23:45,977 --> 01:23:48,147 that I was connected to the CIA. 1672 01:23:48,197 --> 01:23:50,897 How can I be tied to the CIA, you know, 1673 01:23:50,938 --> 01:23:53,198 little old me, Ricky Ross. 1674 01:23:53,245 --> 01:23:55,675 It was just a crazy situation to find myself in. 1675 01:23:58,424 --> 01:24:01,254 ♪♪ 1676 01:24:01,297 --> 01:24:03,907 Grim: Cocaine lives parallel lives throughout the 1980s. 1677 01:24:03,951 --> 01:24:07,611 It starts this fun player drug in the early 1980s, 1678 01:24:07,651 --> 01:24:09,351 and by the end of the 1980s, 1679 01:24:09,392 --> 01:24:12,182 it's a fun player drug for a lot of fun players 1680 01:24:12,221 --> 01:24:15,961 who mostly happen to be white and rich. 1681 01:24:16,007 --> 01:24:20,187 Wright: The Reagan War on Drugs had really been dominated 1682 01:24:20,229 --> 01:24:23,149 by the idea of these foreign bogeymen 1683 01:24:23,188 --> 01:24:25,628 who were harming America, 1684 01:24:25,669 --> 01:24:27,629 even though there's this long history 1685 01:24:27,671 --> 01:24:29,981 since the very beginning of the CIA, 1686 01:24:30,021 --> 01:24:32,071 of operating in countries 1687 01:24:32,110 --> 01:24:35,940 where they ally themselves with people 1688 01:24:35,983 --> 01:24:37,943 that are involved in drugs. 1689 01:24:37,985 --> 01:24:40,545 Levine: If you took every single cartel leader -- 1690 01:24:40,597 --> 01:24:42,727 Pablo Escobar, Carlos Lehder, 1691 01:24:42,773 --> 01:24:46,123 line them up on the walls and you killed them, 1692 01:24:46,168 --> 01:24:47,688 there would be a line tomorrow 1693 01:24:47,734 --> 01:24:50,614 of a hundred deep to replace each one. 1694 01:24:50,650 --> 01:24:54,310 Castillo: There has never been and there will never be a War on Drugs 1695 01:24:54,350 --> 01:24:58,700 because America is more addicted 1696 01:24:58,745 --> 01:25:00,825 to drug money than they are to drugs. 1697 01:25:00,878 --> 01:25:03,918 ♪♪ 1698 01:25:05,883 --> 01:25:07,583 O0 C1♪♪ 1699 01:25:07,624 --> 01:25:09,104 Narrator: As America's War On Drugs 1700 01:25:09,147 --> 01:25:10,887 enters its third decade... 1701 01:25:10,931 --> 01:25:12,851 Stratton: He was owned lock, stock, and barrel 1702 01:25:12,890 --> 01:25:14,410 by drug dealers. 1703 01:25:14,457 --> 01:25:16,627 Gates: Do you know who is supporting the enemy? 1704 01:25:16,676 --> 01:25:18,676 The casual drug user. 1705 01:25:18,722 --> 01:25:21,592 Parenti: The militarization begins in Los Angeles. 1706 01:25:21,638 --> 01:25:23,548 Is it good? 1707 01:25:23,596 --> 01:25:25,816 Arnold: We had been partying like a week straight. 1708 01:25:25,859 --> 01:25:29,469 I've got FBI, I've got DEA, I said "Where's AC/DC at?" 1709 01:25:29,515 --> 01:25:31,295 Clinton: I experimented with marijuana a time or two 1710 01:25:31,343 --> 01:25:33,173 and I didn't like it. 1711 01:25:33,215 --> 01:25:35,295 St. Pierre: The perfect answer became "I didn't inhale." 1712 01:25:35,347 --> 01:25:39,087 De La Cruz: Drugs is big money and NAFTA was big money. 1713 01:25:39,134 --> 01:25:40,834 Carrillo: El futuro es la frontera. 1714 01:25:40,874 --> 01:25:42,964 Clinton: Let us stick with the strategy that's working 1715 01:25:43,007 --> 01:25:45,007 and keep the crime rate coming down.