- Cocaine ` long regarded as the drug of choice of the super wealthy. But today, it's stronger, cheaper, and more dangerous than ever before, with millions of users across the globe. - I don't remember the last time I've been even in a pub that people aren't doing it. - Now, four casual cocaine users are going on camera to talk about their cocaine use. - I'd usually take cocaine either off a key or off my hand itself. Yeah, just... - How much do they know about their drug of choice? - It actually started to cause their skin to rot. - (YELPS) - The reality of its journey from the Amazon rainforest in Colombia... - What is this? - (SPEAKS IN SPANISH) - (BLEEP) battery acid. - ...to a worldwide market. The human cost of the supply chain,... - (BLEEP) that people have to go through all this. - ...and what happens when it becomes more than just a party drug? - Basically, I'm lucky to be alive. - Will they still take drugs for fun, or will living with the cartels change their minds forever? - I haven't really got a reason to stop using cocaine. - I don't see that there's an issue in doing it. - I think it's going to be a real eye-opener. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021 (UPBEAT GUITAR MUSIC) - Despite it being an illegal drug, cocaine production is at its highest rate in history. - LAUGHS: Oh, my God. My parents are gonna kill me. - Our four casual cocaine users come from across the UK and have never met. - There's still so much that we don't know. - Exactly. - First up, public relations consultant Amber. - It's a pick-me-up. It makes you more alert, makes you more aware of what's going on, sobers you up a little bit if you've had too much to drink. Shouldn't have too much to drink in the first place, should you? (LAUGHS) - Airport load operator Louis. - I'd say taking cocaine in a massive sort of stadium, watching your football team ` it certainly does make the atmosphere better for yourself, but obviously that depends on the result. - Model and makeup artist Chanel. - The best thing about coke is, like, after parties and stuff, because everyone's, like, sat around and you're chatting and you get to know some real deep stuff about people. People open up. - And supermarket worker Troi. - The best time for me doing cocaine is just the moments with your mates when you're just all on the same level, sort of thing, and you just` you look around, you know, like, 'I'm having a banging time. This is going to make banging memories.' (DUCKS QUACK) (GENTLE CHIME MUSIC) - (CHUCKLES SOFTLY) - Amber is a 27-year-old public school-educated art history graduate. - Suppose it's quite a privileged upbringing. I was very lucky to have a private education from the age of 8. It's a nice area to live in ` I suppose quite well to do, (CHUCKLES) I guess. - Amber lives with her mum, Gail. - Why do you still go out and go, you know, 'Ooh, ooh, ooh.' You know, (SNIFFS). (BOTH LAUGH) - Why do you do that when you know... - I don't know. - ...that you... you run the risk? - I think it's just probably the amount of people that do it, and the different, um, like, social classes and things. It's everywhere. 'My mum has always been aware of my use of cocaine. 'She did it when she was my age.' I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of. I don't think doing drugs is anything to... feel like you're a bad person because you've tried it, or anything like that. - Nowadays, it just seems to be so much more open. People talk about it. It doesn't have that... stigma attached to it. - I don't actually` I mean, I don't know that they do ` not the way that we talk about it. I don't think... I don't know anybody else who has that kind of open relationship with their parents to be able to discuss these kinds of things. - Hmm. - I think it's good that we do because it's happening. (FUNKY DANCE MUSIC) - Amber works in London, and for her, cocaine is just as much about staying up as getting high. - You have a few drinks, and, like, I'm old now. I get tired. I want to go home by midnight. You don't want to miss out on anything, so someone will bring out a bag of coke and you do a little bit and it'll keep you going. I think the demographic of people using cocaine is huge. Cocaine is being used in the city, in the outskirts of the city, in the suburbs. It's... If anybody thinks it's not happening, then... they're blind, I think. - Depending on the quantity, penalties for possession of cocaine range from a police caution to seven years in prison. Despite this, one million Brits take the drug, making the UK Europe's biggest consumer. Cocaine is no longer just sold by drug dealers in a dark corner of a nightclub. Dealers now offer delivery. Send them a text and they'll bring it to wherever you are faster than a pizza. A quarter of British cocaine users even order online, using the dark web to have it delivered through the post. - And getting ahold of it in London is pretty easy. You've usually got someone with you who's got a number. - I live in the middle of nowhere, but surprisingly enough, it's quite easy to get coke. It depends, really. If it's a weekend, you can get it piss easy. - In Manchester, it's like you can literally phone anybody, or somebody might have it around you ` about five, 10 minutes max. Like, you're waiting on it. - Louis is 26. He loves his city, loves his football,... (ALL EXCLAIM) ...and loves his job as an aircraft load controller. - My job entails dealing with the weight and balance of the aircraft, so obviously going into work is quite a serious thing for me, especially dealing with up to 400 passengers on a flight. It can be quite dangerous. I'd probably say Manchester is one of the worst for cocaine. If I knew that I was on shift the next day, I'd never take it the night before, just simply because of the safety of my job. The reason I take it is to basically enhance the night. Oh, we're just getting ready for the night out in town ` Manchester. See how it goes. Get in a club and just get on it, basically. Yeah. Go on a mad'un. (LAUGHS) Usually, I'd probably say, eh, half. Half a gram. That would personally do me. Obviously, if the night gets a bit more messy, then we see what happens. (HOUSE MUSIC PLAYS) I believe if you can handle cocaine, I don't see that there's an issue in doing it, as long as you do it in moderation and everyone is aware around you that you've done it and you're safe. I don't see it as a massive issue. (BRIGHT GUITAR MUSIC) - Lou, don't just pull them off the line, because you're going to ruin all the pegs. I first found out that Lou took cocaine when he went to a festival, cos he came home and he was slightly different, and his eyes weren't quite right, and I asked him the question, and he was quite open and honest about it. - Not bad. - 61. - When I found out, I was really shocked, purely because it's something I totally disagree with. It's something neither me or his dad would've never taken anything like that, cos we're totally against smoking, never mind drugs of any form. - I can see why some families see cocaine as a big deal. Certainly my family see it as a big deal, but I don't see the problem in taking it personally myself, as long as you're not overdoing it. - Overdoing it is riskier now than ever before. In 10 years, the average strength of cocaine on British streets has gone from 20% purity to nearly 80%. - Yeah, the coke in London I'd say does the job. (CHUCKLES) Well, what I get anyway. - We're testing samples from all over the country, including Manchester and London. - I want to know what's in it, so let's find out. - You personally think you're always going to be good, but I'm sure as soon as it gets tested, there might be a different story. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) - The 1g samples are being tested at a laboratory that carries out specialist narcotics analysis for the Home Office. - Nobody knows exactly how strong it is, eh? - And it depends who you're buying it from, I suppose. - Mm. - It's not something to be proud of, like, 'Yes, I got the best!' - (LAUGHS) - The drugs are undergoing two tests to identify the full contents of the powder and the exact percentage of pure cocaine in each sample. The higher the percentage, the stronger the drug, much like the percentage of alcohol in beer or wine. - I heard 10% - 11% usually. - Oh my God. I thought it would have been, like, 70%. - 70?! - Yeah! - (SCOFFS) - Honestly, I'm shocked that you said that. - I think if you did have 60%, 70% purity, then, yeah, you'd be... - Really? - ...on a different level. Senior chemist Dr Katayune Presland, a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, is an expert in the composition of cocaine. - In my spare time, I volunteer with an organisation called The Loop, where we go to festivals and test drugs. So, there's the option at some festivals that people can actually hand in their drugs and then we can test it and let them know what it actually is. So, dealing with drugs ` it is not the first time today, (LAUGHS) looking at these results numbers. - Amber's London sample cost �50. Louis' Manchester sample was �80 ` both enough for one or two nights out. But does price reflect a difference in strength? A decade ago, the average potency of cocaine was 20%. - So, do you reckon in the last 10 years it's gone up or down? - I reckon it's gone` I reckon it's higher. - Lower, definitely. 10% now is probably good. - I think it would be higher. - So the actual amount in the London sample was 46.4%. Yeah. - What?! So, just less than half. - That's good. - That's quite good. - Mm. - Manchester, what do you think? You think higher or lower? - Lower. - Lower? - Yeah. (EXCLAIMS) - 78.5 - Wow! - I was thinking it'd be 5%, 10% max. - Yeah. - 78% is just... - That's impressive. - (LAUGHS) - I don't think there's anything to be proud of. - The �80 Manchester sample was just over 78% pure ` the current UK average. - Getting the result of 78%, or whatever it was ` I'd say I'm more happy than I thought I would be. - While less than half of the �50 sample from London was actually cocaine. - Very surprised, because actually, I thought London would be the purest. - I don't know why. - Mm. - Because everything revolves around London, apparently. - Next, Chanel's mum finds out her daughter uses cocaine. - Do you do that here? - Yeah. - What, the sniffy drugs? - Yeah. - Right. and four are discovering the truth about their favourite drug. - Different names of cocaine ` cocaine, coke. - You've got flake. - Charlie. - Gear. - Beak. - Chang. - Snow. - And then you got other names like pub grub. - Bag. (CHUCKLES) - Samples of cocaine from London and Manchester are being analysed at a licenced laboratory. - I want to know what's in it. - Cocaine expert Dr Presland has revealed the strength of the drug varies hugely. - I don't think it's anything to be proud of. - But even relatively pure cocaine is mixed with cheaper substances to bulk it up or mimic its effects. - What do you think might have been in your samples? - Baking soda. - Baking soda? - I feel like paracetamol or something like that. - I've heard that people put... (SCOFFS) literally everything in it ` petrol, creatine, cement. - You smash up glass into fine little dust and put it into the bag so it makes it seem like it weighs more than it actually is. - Yeah, I'd be really interested to know what I've been putting up my nose. (LAUGHS) - After analysing the samples from London and Manchester, Dr Presland has found signs of two additives that they may share. - Do you wanna try it? And keep your guesses to yourself for a minute. - I don't know what that is, but it tastes quite nice. - It's actually lactose. So, it's kind of like` - Oh! So, if you've got people that are, like, lactose` - Lactose intolerant. - Is that when you get bad belly? - Yeah. And also probably vegans probably don't want to be having lactose. - Lactose is a cheap white sugar found in milk. The second adulterant is just as common with a very bitter taste. - This is something you've all had today. - Oh, God! - Definitely had some of this today. - Yeah. - What did you have first thing this morning to help you wake up? - Coffee. Is that caffeine? - Caffeine. Take a little bit of that and a little bit of that at the same time and see what it tastes like. Does it reminds you of anything? - Tastes a little bit like the stuff, actually. - Does it really taste like cocaine? - Yeah. - Tastes exactly like cocaine. - Yeah? - It's weird. - (LAUGHS) - While a small quantity of caffeine and lactose aren't considered harmful, Amber's London sample contained a far more alarming substance. - God. Is that a worm? (GASPS) - Oh my God. It's got a cat on it. - All these different types of tablets are, like, dewormers for animals, and it was called levamisole. - Levamisole is a pet, cattle and sheep dewormer. Cocaine dealers mix it with the drug because it's a cheap way of increasing its potency. - 80% of most samples actually have it in. - What does it do to humans? (LAUGHS) - There's been a couple of cases of what have happened to, like, really heavy users. - OK. - It actually started to cause their skin to rot. - Oh. - What?! - It's just made it so real ` really real. - Because hearing it is a different thing. - Yeah. - But actually having, like, someone, like, put it out in front of you. - Yeah, and show you it. - Getting it out of, like, a packet, and being like, 'That was in that' ` it's like, that's disgusting. - Mm. - Chanel is 25, a model, and a professional makeup artist. - Cocaine is extremely easy to get hold of in Bristol ` about as easy as it is going to the shop to get cigarettes. (THUMPING BASS MUSIC) - In 2017, more cocaine per person was consumed in Bristol than in any other British city, and it's where Chanel lives with her mum, Kim. - This is when I used to do, um, (LAUGHS) riding when I was younger. Look how happy I am, dressed as a frog. Where I grew up, there wasn't very many ethnic people at all, so I was racially abused. Been spat at. I've had people put fags out on me. I've been treated in vile ways. But all those people that used to bully me when I was younger, ooh, they want to be my best friend now. - Chanel's mum doesn't know she takes cocaine, until now. - So what are you going to do? - To learn about drugs. Not the smoky drugs; the sniffy drugs. Yeah. - Do you do that here? - Yeah. - What, the sniffy drugs? - Yeah. - Right. OK. - Everyone does, really. Just, people aren't really open about it and don't really talk about it, cos` - Younger people. - No, everybody. You'd be very surprised at who does. People aren't really open about it because they think they're going to be judged by it. I think the law's got something to do with that. (FUNKY DANCE MUSIC) - Oh, hey, girl! - Hey, girl! - Go on up. Let's get your face beat, and let's go party! So, I'd say I do coke once every two weeks ` something like that. Cin, cin. - Oh, I can't wait for tonight. - Want the straw? - I'm gonna get (BLEEP) wasted. - So, I'd usually have about... half a gram on a night out. (DANCE MUSIC CONTINUES) I don't really know my limit, to be honest. I just kind of keep going until I think, 'Ooh, I'm not quite feeling 100%.' (CROWD CHATTERS) The best thing about coke, as strange as it sounds, is I made a lot of friends through it. So, like after parties and stuff, because everyone's, like, sat around and you're chatting and you get to know some real deep stuff about people. People open up. There's probably nothing out there that'd make me change my mind about doing cocaine. - With cocaine getting stronger, more and more people are showing up in hospital with problems from taking it. Cocaine-related admissions have gone up nearly 140% in the last five years. London's South Bank University has a whole department researching the harms of drug misuse on society and the effect on the human body. - Probably takes between five to 10 minutes to properly kick in. - It makes me a lot more out there. - It's a pick-me-up. - Feel really chatty. - A lot more comfortable. - Makes you more alert. Makes you more aware of what's going on. - Can last anything between an hour to two hours, depending on how much you've had. - Going to be getting pleasure from things... - For Professor of Addictive Behaviour Science Antony Moss, the key to understanding how cocaine works is to decipher the way our brains are wired to respond to pleasure. - I've never thought about what cocaine does to the brain, but... yeah, I'm pretty interested to find out what it actually does do. - We've got a sponge that represents the brain, or thereabouts. - Right. - So, your brain is full of various different neurotransmitters, and one of the neurotransmitters ` dopamine ` is the neurotransmitter in the brain, the chemical that signals when something rewarding is happening. So, just to give an example, if we were to put the brain in here, just soak up a little bit of our sort of fake dopamine. Something good happens in your life. You eat a bar of chocolate, for example. If you happen to like chocolate, then it will produce a rewarding effect, which is to release an amount of dopamine into the brain. But what then happens after it's been released into the brain is that it soaks it back up. It reabsorbs it. - This is where cocaine plays a trick on the brain. When the drug is inhaled, it enters the bloodstream through the nasal membranes and lungs, and within minutes, it triggers the brain to flood itself with dopamine. - Now, one of the effects of a drug like cocaine is that it stimulates more dopamine release than a sort of a natural reward might. But the other thing that cocaine does is to effectively... create a barrier, which means that it can't reabsorb, and so that dopamine is left circulating around the brain. - Cocaine prevents the dopamine from being quickly reabsorbed, giving an extended feeling of pleasure that typically lasts 30 to 60 minutes. - So it's kind of a double whammy. The first thing that it's doing is causing an increase in the release of dopamine. The second thing that it's doing is stopping the dopamine from being naturally reabsorbed into the brain. - What's happening inside the brain concerns the trillions of microscopic synaptic gaps between nerve cells. Cocaine increases the production of the pleasure neurotransmitter dopamine, which flows between the gap. Once the stimulus has passed, the dopamine would normally be sent back to be recycled, but cocaine blocks the receptors, allowing dopamine to remain in the brain until it dissipates naturally, often leaving the user with a craving for more. - Is that why it makes you possibly want it again? - Yes, absolutely. - Cos you've released so much. - Yeah. Yeah. - The brain thinks, 'This is good. I want to do this again.' - But the brain can only produce a finite amount of dopamine, so taking more cocaine won't always feel as good as the first time. - So, by that point, your brain is likely to be sort of largely depleted of dopamine. It's not going to be entirely depleted, but most of it's going to have been used up during the course of the night. So you're kind of squeezing and squeezing and squeezing, but you're getting a sort of diminishing return. It's less of a positive impact at that point. The next morning, you're going to feel a real downer, particularly if you've used quite a lot during the course of the night. You're going to feel really low until your body manages to replenish the dopamine. (GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC) - 20-year-old Troi comes from a quiet country village in Somerset. - There's a mended transmitter. - Troi works in a supermarket and lives with his mum, Emma. - Have you got any overtime this week? - I'm going to be doing 30-hour shifts on Friday and Saturday. - That's good, then. Think of all the money you'll be getting. - Yeah, exactly. My first time doing cocaine was quite unexpected. We'd gate-crashed this party in a neighbouring village, and then we just looked at the floor ` or a mate did ` and we found probably like half a gram of coke. But because we were drunk, we were just like, 'Ah, (BLEEP).' (LAUGHS) - That was three years ago. Now, cocaine is as regular in Troi's life as having a weekend beer. - I do coke about once a week or once a fortnight, sort of thing, just to lighten up the night a little bit. - According to the Home Office, the majority of Brits who take cocaine do so once or twice a year. Troi would be classified as a frequent user. - We usually just sit in my room or go to my mate's house, whack on the drum and bass, and just chat complete shit. (CHUCKLES) Well, you have to crush it up to make it all, like, smooth. That makes it nicer to sniff, and you get a better experience off of it. - When kids are doing drugs, I think it's better if they are doing them not under your supervision, but maybe that that you're aware of what they're doing and how they're doing it and where they're doing it. - I can probably get maximum four lines out of this. The reason why I like cocaine is the fact that it's so controllable. Like, say if you want to get messy, you can take loads, sort of thing. (SNIFFS, CLEARS THROAT) (SNIFFS DEEPLY) (WOOZY ELECTRONIC MUSIC) (SIGHS, SNIFFS) In moderation, cocaine is great. Cocaine is absolutely fine to do. (SNIFFS) - But what does getting messy in your bedroom do to your heart? - If I do a lot, I sort of get heart fluctuations, like palpitations, which is not good at all. (LAUGHS) - When I take cocaine, yeah, heart rate increases. (CHUCKLES) - You would get maybe a bit hotter. Your heart rate's starting to go a bit more. You're starting to move a bit more. - I do get heart palpitations a bit, yeah, when I do sniff cocaine, but... you've just got to ride on through it, (LAUGHS) to be honest. - A heart rate monitor reveals that taking cocaine increases the heart rate significantly, even while sat down. - The interesting point I wanna draw your attention to here ` your heart rate shoots right up and hits a peak of just below 120. So, it's a 50% increase, and that happens in the space of just under two minutes. - When relaxed, the arteries around the heart are a healthy round circle, allowing blood to flow freely around the body. When cocaine enters the bloodstream, the arteries go into spasm, changing them to a tight, constricted shape. This impedes normal blood flow, forcing the heart to pump harder, increasing heart rate and blood pressure. Repeated use over time can weaken the arteries, and in worst case scenario, can halt the blood flow altogether. This causes the platelets in the blood to clot, leading to a heart attack. - In effect, your body's getting into a kind of a ready state of alert. That's a sort of a stress state on your body. It's putting your body under stress when you're in that situation. And essentially, what cocaine is doing is replicating that sort of stressful experience, and as we saw looking at the increase in your heart rate, it happens in a really short space of time from the point that you take the drug to the point that your heart rate reaches quite a high point. - Just one line of cocaine can instantly raise the heart rate, sometimes to alarming levels. - (SIGHS) Quite scary, really. - It's crazy, isn't it? - Yeah, innit? - Really. - Mm, and that was only a little bit of cocaine. Like, what would a big bit do? - Next, the truth about drugs on the streets of Colombia ` the number one source of Britain's cocaine. - So how much would you say, like, a gram of cocaine costs? - That would be like �7. - Oh! - Police wandering about everywhere, but nobody seems to give a shit. (CHUCKLES) - LAUGHS: I think I have had sex on cocaine. I'm not sure when. - (CHUCKLES) Yes, I've had sex on cocaine. - OK. Yeah, I'm not gonna be talking about that. (LAUGHS) - You just go a lot longer ` a lot longer. - But the downside is I might not be able to get it up. - It gets a little bit flaccid. - LAUGHS: You lost far too long. - (CHUCKLES) (DRAMATIC ELECTRONIC MUSIC) - Nearly 30 tons of cocaine are smuggled into Britain every year, with a street value of between �2 billion and �3 billion; most of it from one country ` Colombia. In 2017, this South American country produced nearly 1400 tons of cocaine. Almost a third of Colombia is in the Amazon rainforest, where the humid conditions are perfect for growing the coca plant, whose leaves are the base ingredient of all cocaine, making it the centre of world production. - Guys, we're going to Colombia. - These casual cocaine users are travelling to Colombia ` the source of their supply ` to investigate the impact of their drug taking. - I think once we're over to Colombia and actually ask the people there what it's like to live among so much cocaine and see what they have to say, it's going to be an eye-opener. - God, this is going to be good, isn't it? - Here's my little case (!) Two weeks in Colombia. - That it? - Yeah. - It's a 14-hour, 5000-mile journey. - Troi, how are you feeling? - Pretty excited, to be fair. Just want to land. - Tourism is booming in Colombia. It now welcomes six and a half million visitors a year ` two million more than the year before. Amber, Louis, Troi and Chanel are heading to the city of Medellin in the northwest of Colombia, internationally known as the epicentre of their cocaine trade. (SUSPENSEFUL ROCK MUSIC) Medellin was once labelled the most dangerous city on earth due to the legacy of its most famous former resident. - 'Medellin has left Pablo Escobar in the past and is now evolving, 'growing in values and living for you.' Love it. Very cool, innit? - Oh my God. (MYSTERIOUS WOODWIND MUSIC) - Pablo Escobar ` the godfather of cocaine. - At the peak of his reign, his Medellin cartel was responsible for 80% of the global market. - What do I know about Pablo Escobar? Obviously, he was a drug lord. He was respected in Colombia. He was known as a bit of a god. I believe that's still the case now. - Before being shot dead by cops in 1993, Escobar was said to be worth �23 billion, some of which he spent building hospitals and churches for the people of Medellin. - Even though he was doing bad things and killing people, he also did good things for the community as well ` built hospitals, homes. - It's widely believed he was responsible for the deaths of at least 4000 civilians, police, government officials, and rival gang members. - I don't even know how I came to know about Pablo Escobar as a person, but I know that I named one of my cars after him once. (LAUGHS) My Polo. Weird. - By the late 1980s, Escobar controlled 80% of the cocaine entering Britain, creating a demand that lingers today. - Oh, yeah. Look at this Pablo Escobar shirt. - Now, you can get his face on a T-shirt. - ...he'd been arrested. - How cool is that? - Cool, or... (LAUGHS) These t-shirts of Escobar ` are they popular? - Si. (SPEAKS IN SPANISH) - Medellin is a city recovering from its past. A 24% increase in tourism here is partly driven by the world's fascination with the Escobar legacy. - Like, it's so obvi` Like, the contrast between the richer areas and the poorer areas ` it's just, like, so there. - It's completely different to home. - Yeah. - None of it looks fully finished, does it? - No. - In the last five years, British tourists to Medellin have gone up by almost 40%. Part of the appeal is the city's legendary nightlife. - First thing that I'll do when I get out is... see the people, innit? Obviously. - Yeah. I can't wait. - I think it's` - It's going to be a really good night. - Yeah. - And, like, it'll be interesting to see how, like... If people offer us stuff. - Yeah, if we can get anything as well. (FUNKY LATIN MUSIC) - For 25 years, it was legal to carry up to a gram of cocaine here. - And a Coca-Cola y vodka. - But in 2018, Ivan Duque, the new Colombian president, banned possession completely. (MUSIC CONTINUES) But in practise, is it still easy to get hold of? (CHEERING) - (MAN SHOUTS IN SPANISH) - Louis and Troi make contact with journalist Oliver Schmieg, who's been reporting on Colombia's cocaine trade for over 20 years. - Is it easy to pick up cocaine round here? - It is definitely easy here. - Originally from Germany, Oliver's been watching the crackdown closely. - There are quite a lot of changes right now because the new president changed the law. So, it was allowed to have a personal possession before. Now it's forbidden. Being a tourist would get arrested by police, at least you could get` you can get jail for a couple of days. I mean, we don't know. It's a recent law, so we don't know how charges, um, will answer. - Yeah. - So, how much would you say, like, a gram of cocaine costs? - Between 15,000 and 20,000 pesos. - How much is that in British pounds? - Um, that would be like �7. - Wow! Back home, it's like it can be anything up to �100 for one gram. - Yeah. What are you going out to do now? - Gonna go and have a few beers. - Yeah. - Meet some ladies. - (CHUCKLES) - Meet some ladies. - Have a salsa. - And see what happens. (ALL LAUGH) (ENERGETIC HOUSE MUSIC) - After 10 pm, Medellin street sellers come out offering cigarettes and sweets to revellers, and sometimes more. - Hey! - Hola! Si? - Si. - Muy bien. - Good? - A short distance away, another local has cocaine for sale. - He was offering it as well! - Was he? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - He's had it. He offered us some marijuana and cocaine. - Marijuana. Yeah. - And everywhere you go, it's like, 'Marijuana, cocaine.' - A common thing to do, innit? - Yeah. Every street corner. You only need to walk 10m, 15m, and you'll probably get offered something. Police wandering about everywhere, but nobody seems to give a shit. (SCOFFS) - Hola! - (MAN SPEAKS IN SPANISH) (GROOVY HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYS) - So, despite the new crackdown, cocaine is still freely available on the streets of Colombia. Next, the violent cost of the cocaine trade will be laid bare when they come face to face with an assassin for the biggest drug cartel in Colombia. - Do your family know what you do for a living? - (MAN SPEAKS IN SPANISH) - Do you have a picture of your kids that I could see? - MAN: Guys, I'll step in here. You can't ask him for (BLEEP) pictures. I will die for that. - Four casual cocaine users are in Colombia, where the drug cartels are producing more cocaine than ever before and a presidential crackdown is in force. - (PERSON SNIFFS) - I think trying to stop cocaine in Colombia is pretty much impossible. - Everyone associates Colombia with cocaine and Pablo Escobar. It just doesn't seem like a safe place. - People think that Colombia is a very dangerous country. I think it's more of the fear of the unknown. - I'm very ready to see the very dark side and the devastation that potentially cocaine is causing. - For months, local journalists have been seeking insiders willing to lift the veil of the cocaine trade. (TENSE MUSIC) One individual has now come forward ` a contract killer, known here as a sicario, who's prepared to meet two of the British tourists. (KNOCK ON DOOR) (DOOR UNLATCHES) - Heyo. Come in. - Thank you. - First, expat security attachment Gordon must run through tonight's protocol. - The Gulf Clan are a very serious organised armed group, OK? They make their money from money extortion and cocaine trafficking. They're killers, they're kidnappers, they're cocaine traffickers. Just remember that tonight. Don't get complacent with who you're speaking to. - The Gulf Clan are the most powerful cartel in Colombia. It's estimated they're responsible for over 40% of the cocaine on British streets. It's likely Amber and Louis will have consumed Gulf Clan cocaine. - If at any time you feel the atmospherics in a room could be an issue, I'll give you a code word. The code will be, 'Let's go for a beer.' So that'll mean we're going to extract immediately out of the room. I'll have the vehicles waiting outside, and we'll get in the vehicles and go. OK. Perfect. Let's, uh` Let's go. - Sweet. - The Gulf Clan often requires its assassins to leave a signature message when they kill. A stripped corpse implies that the person had unpaid debt. A tongue removed from a body suggests the victim talked too much. It's no wonder, then, that the word sicario comes from the Latin 'to slice'. (TENSE STRING MUSIC) - I'm nervous, to be fair. - Yeah, I'm starting to feel a little bit on edge now. - This guy could turn up and just... (POPS) pop us both, to be fair. - Do you reckon he'll be armed? - Obviously, we got the briefing, but a briefing's not gonna help if someone's putting a gun to your head, do you know what I mean? - (SNICKERS) Dodgy, isn't it? - Should we go? (TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES) (MUSIC FADES) (EERIE MUSIC) - So, am I just going straight in or am I asking him to introduce? - PRODUCER: Yeah. Ask him who he is. - Um, so, who are you and what do you do for a living? - (TRANSLATOR SPEAKS IN SPANISH) - (MAN SPEAKS IN SPANISH) - How does your boss tell you who to kill and when? (DRAMATIC MUSIC) - Do your family know what you do for a living? Do you have a picture of your kids that I could see? - Guys, I'll step in here. You can't ask him for (BLEEP) pictures. I will die for that. - OK. Sorry. - OK. Don't worry. - I'll be dead out of it. - OK. It's OK. - Don't worry. Don't worry. Don't worry. - The team's local guide, Oliver, who set the meeting up, makes it clear Amber has crossed the line. - OLIVER: He will be dead and I will be dead as well. - LOUIS: - AMBER: - LOUIS: - AMBER: - It's not just getting caught by police that concerns the sicario. It's his own bosses. - Would you be in trouble if anybody found out you were here? - (SPEAKS IN SPANISH) - Does the Gulf Clan run Colombia? How did you get involved, um, in working with the gang? Did you` Were you a hitman straight away, or did you do another job within the gang to begin with? - (SPEAKS IN SPANISH) - Would it be possible to leave? What would happen if you did leave? In a way, I` I` It's hard to say, but I do feel sorry for you, because obviously, you didn't want to do it, and you was kind of put in this situation and they given you a gun and basically said you have to do it. How do you feel about that? - What are your hopes for the future of Colombia? (SOMBRE PIANO MUSIC) - By taking cocaine on a Friday or Saturday night, you are involved in what is going on out in Colombia, because if the trade wasn't there, then these people wouldn't be doing these things. - People are getting killed daily for this drug, and it's affecting the whole country. But back in the UK, we're not seeing that at home. Yeah, it's definitely made me think. - Next time ` - Ooh, um, do you mind if the gun's pointed away from me, please? (CHUCKLES AWKWARDLY) - There is a possibility that I've probably tried some of the drugs that you've smuggled. - our four Brits in bed with the Colombian Navy... - Oh, there's a speed boat just here. - ...on a deadly mission to stop cocaine leaving their shores. And deep in the Amazon rainforest, they see the toxic chemicals used to make their favourite party drug. - No wonder why that gives you nose bleeds. - Does it? - It literally looks like sewage. Captions by Cameron Grigg. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021