(MAGICAL TINKLING) Cocaine ` long regarded as the drug of choice of the super wealthy. (MAGICAL TINKLING) But today it's stronger, cheaper and more dangerous than ever before, with millions of users across the globe. - (SNIFFING) - 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. - (SNIFFING) - 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. - MAN: Oh! - (LAUGHTER) - The reality of its journey from the Amazon rainforest in Colombia... - What is this? (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. - (SNIFFING) - I don't see that there's an issue in doing it. - I think it's gonna be a real eye opener. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021 - (SNIFFING) - Despite it being an illegal drug, cocaine production is at its highest rate in history. - Is this gonna be my interrogation chat? - Our four cocaine users come from across the UK, have never met, and are on a potentially dangerous journey across Colombia to discover everything they don't know about the drug. First up, public relations consultant Amber. - When I take cocaine, it's energy, isn't it? It's just like a coffee! (LAUGHS) - Airport load operator Louis. - I think the difference in quality between cocaine in the UK and Colombia is probably like the difference between a Ford and a Ferrari. - Model and make-up artist Chanel. - I don't need cocaine to make my night better. It just means that I can just last a lot longer. If I don't sniff cocaine, I'll be going home at 3 in the morning. If I do sniff it, I'll be going home the next day. - And supermarket worker Troi. - Best thing about cocaine is just how easy it is to get hold of, and everyone does it sort of thing. It's like the norm to do cocaine on a night out. - Tests have already revealed what's in the cocaine they're snorting. - All these different types of tablets, they're dewormers for animals. - Oh my God! It's got a cat on it. - And how a single line can affect the heart. - Your heart rate shoots right up. - But now they're in Colombia, the main source of the world's cocaine, to understand the real cost of their drug taking. - Do your family know what you do for a living? (LIVELY SPANISH MUSIC) - Colombia is a vast country, and it now supplies nearly two thirds of the western world's cocaine. To find out how so much Colombian cocaine makes its way out of the country each year, PR consultant Amber and airport worker Louis are heading to the northern coast. - We're so far away from home. How do you think it does get there? - Discovering how cocaine is made,... - Way out in the sticks, aren't we, to be honest. - Yeah. (CHUCKLES) - ...Troi and Chanel are in the Amazon rainforest in the country's deep south. They're meeting a coca farmer who's agreed to take them to his secret cocaine laboratory far into the jungle. - Chanel. - (SPEAKS SPANISH) - Awesome. Let's go. - Ooh, yeah. - He's one of at least 120,000 Colombian farmers growing coca leaf in the Amazon jungle, each producing, on average, 11kg of cocaine a year. - So, Pedro, who's this young man on the back of your horse? - Over there's (BLEEP) slippery. - I'm definitely such a city girl. - After a two-hour trek, they arrive at the secret plantation. The coca leaves contain traces of a chemical alkaloid, the basis of the drug. - How many plants do you need to make, like, say, a gram of cocaine? - Cincuenta planta. - 50?! - Each leaf only contains a tiny amount of the substance used in cocaine, and farmers would need a plantation the size of two football pitches to make 1kg of the drug. - Is it worth it, though? - In 2015, the Colombian government began offering cash to farmers to ditch coca leaves and switch to growing legal crops. But the move backfired. Regular farmers cottoned on and began planting coca leaves to qualify for the pay-outs. So last year, rural farmers had the biggest crop in the country's history, covering an area larger than greater London. - It's like Alan Titchmarsh but of the cocaine world. - (LAUGHS) - Extracting cocaine alkaloid from the leaves requires a toxic mixture. - Oh my God. It smells like cat's (BLEEP). - (COUGHS) - (BLEEP) Ooh! That's like when you bleach your hair as well. It's a like really strong smell of, like, ammonia. - Cor (BLEEP). - Your eyes are going red. - Yeah. (WHIRRING) - The farmer's 8-year-old helps mix the leaves with noxious chemicals. - He's barefoot as well. Gotta watch out for the kid's feet. - Mm, true. - Pedro, do you think cocaine's stupid to take? - The next additive is gasoline, used to draw out the cocaine alkaloid from the leaves. - I don't really know what to say, to be honest. - Neither. - Not very often I get speechless about something. - (PEDRO SPEAKS SPANISH) - Do you find it weird, though, that cocaine in Britain and most places in the world, it's, quite a posh drug? It's quite... - Yeah. - ...expensive and you think it could be made in a laboratory,... - Yeah. - ...but it's made by some guy in a... - In a forest. - ...in a little box in a oil container. - In the forest, yeah. It literally looks like sewage. So no wonder why that gives you no` (EXHALES) That stinks. No wonder why that gives you nosebleeds. - Innit. - It's made me a lot more aware of what you're actually putting into your body. (IMITATES EXPLOSION) Pretty mind blowing, to be honest. It makes you feel a bit stupid, doesn't it, really. - I'm just curious how they get from that to... - Yeah, how does it go white? - Next ` on board with the Colombian Navy patrolling the Caribbean Sea for cocaine smugglers. - Oh, there's a speedboat just here. Can you see? - MAN: Cameras down. Cameras down. - I do coke at least once a week. Use it to lighten up a little bit. - And four Britons are admitting to being casual users. - So, the first time I took cocaine, I was at boarding school. - (EXHALES) Trying to think when the first time was now. - We were all drinking, smoking, as you do at that age. And, um, someone... brought out a bag of cocaine. - I think I was around 17, 18, and I didn't even think one second of what I was doing. - So in the same way that you have your first drink or you have your first cigarette, I had my first line of coke. - I was 13 when I first tried cocaine. - It was just, 'I'll try it, me mates are trying it. Let's have a go.' And, yeah, it did end up being a good time, to be honest. - Our four are in Colombia, where the vast majority of the world's cocaine comes from. In the south, Troi and Chanel discovering how primitive and toxic its production is. - No wonder why that gives you nosebleeds. - Innit. - It seems a far cry from the clean white powder they are partying on in the UK. (BASSY SYNTH MUSIC) - What is this? COUGHS: Oh... (BLEEP), you put battery acid in there? Oh my God! - I thought those` that stuff there was bad enough. - Nah. - When he whacked out the old battery acid bottle, I was just like, 'Wait a sec,' cos I thought the gasoline was bad enough. But when he added that in, I was just like, 'Pffft, Jesus Christ.' - Pedro is syphoning off the cocaine-infused water from the bottom of the barrel. If he's caught, he faces 20 years in prison. Last year, the authorities destroyed over 4000 labs like Pedro's, less than 4% of the estimated total. - How much do you reckon you'll get out of what you've done today? - How much will you get for this? - 45. - You are (BLEEP) joking. - 45 quid. Do you know much we pay for a gram at home? - No. - Per gram, it's �100. - Ah... - For every �100 spent on cocaine internationally, farmers like Pedro receive less than 50 pence. The rest of the money will go to the cartel, smugglers and dealers. - It's very confusing. You don't really know what to think, and, like, where you stand and stuff because, yeah, it's` it's painting a bigger picture than just something that's black and white. - Pedro is leading Troi and Chanel to his family home. - Literally boiling hot. - He point out how he cooks his cocaine base on the same stove they make the family dinner on. (SCRAPING) This brown liquid will eventually become 90 grams of cocaine, worth up to �9000 on the streets of Europe. - Tastes like` exactly like it, yeah. My mouth is numb. - Pedro will sell his cocaine base to the largest cartel in Colombia, the Gulf Clan. - It's so much hard work for someone just to piss up their nose, innit? - Innit. - To turn it into a white powder, the cartel will dissolve the base in solvents and apply heat to evaporate the chemicals before it's pressed into blocks and smuggled to affluent countries like Britain. - Today's definitely had a massive impact on the way that I now look at cocaine, um, massively. - And the fact that he makes barely nothing... - Mm. - ...and people that sell it back in the UK make loads... - Yeah, it's disgustin'. - It is, really ` when he's the one doing all the hard work. - Yeah. Like, risking his own life, risking his family's life, but also to give his family a life. - Yeah. - It's... It's mental. - Amber and Louis have arrived in Turbo, a port town on the Caribbean coast in the far north of Colombia. - Don't know which way it's gonna go. - It is here in Turbo that cocaine leaves the country via a major international supply route. - I think meeting people in the cocaine industry out in Colombia, I don't think they're gonna be bad people. I think the majority of them will be doing it for survival. I never like to judge people on what they do or on face value. It's always interesting to find out why, because everyone has a story. - The powerful Gulf Clan controls many of the international routes. Louis is meeting a member of the cartel who uses a speedboat to transport cocaine. - Give us a hug. - (CHUCKLES) - I'll see ya when I see ya. - See ya later. Good luck. - In an attempt to outsmart the authorities, Colombian traffickers are increasingly stashing cocaine in containerships. It's a tactic that is proving highly effective. - Just interesting. Obviously, sat in the middle of nowhere that people do actually export cocaine from this very place back to the UK. It's just mind blowing, really. It's a big, big ocean. I do feel out of me comfort zone, yeah. You never know who's gonna turn up, who they're gonna be. (DARK MUSIC) This must be our guy. - With the cartels frequently changing their smuggling tactics, divulging the smallest operational detail would be unforgivable in the eyes of smuggler Dario's cartel bosses. The Colombian Navy are the final defence in the battle to stop the Gulf Clan from exporting the drug. Amber is due to accompany them on a patrol. In late 2017, officers here captured 13 tons of pure cocaine in a single day, the largest haul in the country's history. It was hidden in hundreds of boxes of bananas, one of Colombia's main legal exports. (DARK MUSIC) Britain's SAS Border Force and National Crime Agency have been training and working with Colombia's armed forces for almost three decades to thwart the flow of cocaine. - Ola. - Ola. - Buenos dias. - Buenos dias. - Amber. - The Navy has intercepted 64 metric tons of product in the last year. On patrol missions like this, they look for boats just like the one Louis is on. - On a boat similar to this size, how much cocaine would you be able to fit on here? How is it packed? Have the police or navy never thought of upgrading their boats to get a boat the size of yours? - Oh, there's a speed boat just here. Can you see? Do you think that could be something with the Gulf Clan? - (MAN TRANSLATES IN SPANISH) - MAN: Cameras down. Cameras down. OK, just, um... We don't want them to see his thing. Do you wanna`? Cameras down, please. Cameras down. - Getting cocaine out of Colombia is a dangerous task, and being seen with a camera crew raises suspicion. - (BLEEP), I thought that was the police. Does your family know that you do this? - AMBER: So when you intercept the Gulf Clan on their boats, do they fight back? In Britain, people are quite blase about cocaine. It's the party drug on a Friday night. They have some drinks, have some cocaine. How do you feel about that? - The colonel has spotted a likely target. It's a transport vessel. Its cargo ` bananas. - What's going on here? We going to look on the boat or...? (MEN SPEAK SPANISH) - Me? Yeah? OK. - Stop and search operations like this happen daily. - Oh. Muchas gracias. - And they're like trying to find a needle in a haystack. - (MEN SPEAK SPANISH) - There's sort of a lot of hiding places where things could be stashed. (DARK MUSIC) - Definitely starting to get a bit of adrenaline and the nerves are going a little bit. - They're looking at their documentation now, I think, to make sure they are who they say they are. - There is a possibility that I've probably try some of the drugs that you've smuggled. I have took drugs. Whether it's from your department, I don't know, but I've got friends personally, no money, and they're getting in to big debts because of it. Does that not bother you you're helping or causing towards that? - The colonel's platoon may not have uncovered any cocaine today, but last year the combined armed forces seized 395 metric tons. - Even all of the Navy guys, there's only so much you can keep an eye on, clearly if one of the Navy guys was killed not that long ago. Definitely starting to understand the seriousness of this, sort of` of this war, I guess. - The risks taken by the cartel to export cocaine and the efforts made by the Navy to stem the flow of the drug have prompted Louis and Amber to re-evaluate their preconceptions about the war on drugs. - The colonel's take on it was, you know, they're all bad guys. Like, you've gotta catch them because they're doing such bad things. - I kind of felt sorry for the speedboat man. Somebody's gotta go out and deliver drugs by a boat... - Someone's gotta, though. - ...to feed the family. - Yeah. - There's always a choice of doing it or not doing it, but` - I dunno. Maybe not, though. But I guess` Such a complex situation. And I think the truth is just somewhere in the middle. - Mm. - The truth is that millions of ordinary Colombians have been caught in the middle of a cocaine war for decades. - (BLEEP) that people have to go through all this. behind their favourite drug. (SNIFFING) - It's just a little icing on the cake when you're having a night out. Keep you going all night. - How else do you party for that long? - Gram for gram, cocaine is the most expensive commonly used drug in the world. (SNIFFING) - If people knew that people that do cocaine aren't, you know, your back alley prostitutes and your junkies and stuff like that, people would be a lot more willing and open to talk about it. - So many people are doing it. Why would you not feel comfortable talking about it? People go out on the weekends and get absolutely smashed on alcohol. And that's cos it's legal. That must be why it is, because it's illegal. - These casual users are back in the city of Medellin, Colombia ` the former home of cocaine baron Pablo Escobar, when it held the unsavoury distinction of being the murder capital of the world. - Quite funny. I've never been to this place before, but I feel so at home. - TROI: Yeah, I know. - AMBER: Everyone's so friendly. - But times have changed, and the city is enjoying tumbling crime rates and thriving tourism. Though away from the skyscrapers of downtown, cocaine gangs still loom large over Medellin's slums. - Is this him? - Yeah, this is him. - Where? Oh yeah! - Oscar Avendano runs a charity in a notorious neighbourhood called Manrique, one of the cartel-controlled slums. He's taking the team off the tourist trail and into the heart of that slum. - It definitely looked like the higher we're going up the mountain, the poorer it's getting, by the looks of things. - The Colombian cartels don't just make and sell cocaine. In 2017 alone, 70,000 men, women and children were trafficked into forced labour and many into prostitution. - Is prostitution for women around these areas, is it known? - Do you have the women that are vulnerable being put into something like that, you know, it's quite` it's quite sad. - Oscar's charity works to try and keep the neighbourhood's children away from the cocaine gangs. - Where is it that you're taking us, exactly? - But families here live in poverty, and the gangs have plenty of cash to offer would-be recruits. Kids as young as 10 are targeted. - There is a huge sense of community here. Like, you can notice that everyone's keeping an eye out to make sure that people are safe and stuff. It's nice. You feel very safe and very welcome. You don't feel like you're not allowed to be here. (MINOR ACOUSTIC MUSIC) - This is a sanctuary for 125 children who live in the neighbourhood. - Ohhh! Ola! (LAUGHS) - Ola! - It's one of the few places they can play freely, safe from the reach of the gangs. - Living around this area, do you ever get scared? You do get scared? Cos of gangs or...? - Do you have to go quite careful with what you what you do around here? (CHILDREN SHOUT) - Watching over the children are two teenagers from the neighbourhood who the gangs tried but failed to recruit. - So how do you find living in this area? - How do you get into the gangs? - How many children here do you think roughly are going to end up in with the gangs? (CHILDREN SCREAM, LAUGH) - It just goes to show that cocaine is not just sniffing, having a good time. - Yeah. - There's also this whole` this whole back story that when you're doing it, most people wouldn't even consider. Quite an upsetting sort of thing. It's just... (SNIFFS) Sorry. Um... (CHUCKLES) - You OK? - Yeah. - To know that 75% of those kids could possibly end up in the drug game and the girls that were what, they could` even worse potentially, though, is horrific. It's horrible. - The cartel that runs this neighbourhood and recruits its children is called the Oficina de Envigado,... - (CHILDREN SHOUT) - ...founded as an enforcement arm of Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel. Chanel and Troi have been granted a rare meeting with two members of this cartel who themselves were recruited as children and have since risen through the ranks. Security guard Ivan is a retired antinarcotics agent who has seen how the Oficina de Envigado use cocaine cash to fund their brutal operation. But at the same time, a bit like, 'What happens if it all goes tits up? What's gonna happen?' Like... - You better hope that you can run fast. - LAUGHS: Yeah. (DARK MUSIC) - Troi will talk to a high ranking cartel leader, while Chanel will meet with one of their assassins. - (KNOCKS) Oh. Is she coming over? Or do I go over? - MAN: Um, I think you can go. - Hello. - Chanel. - (MAN TRANSLATES IN SPANISH) - Having seen the children in the sanctuary, Chanel wants to know how young the assassin was when she was forced into a life of crime. - How long have you been doing this? Wow. - (CLEARS THROAT) So I take it you're a drug dealer. What made you start selling drugs? Oh, um, do you mind if the gun's pointed away from me, please? A bit nervous. - (SPEAKS SPANISH) - CHUCKLES: Gotcha. - So how pure's the cocaine? - When was the last time that you` you took a hit out on someone? Have you taken out anyone that you've been close to before, like family or anything? It's a little bit intense, isn't it? - Kill or be killed. This is the bleak future awaiting many of Colombia's young, like those in Oscar's sanctuary. As Pablo Escobar famously put it, many will be forced to take the cocaine cartel silver or take their lead. In the last six decades, nearly 18,000 children have been recruited to fight in the cocaine wars. - Do you ever get caught up in, um, gang wars? (BLEEP). Scary stuff. - Are there any rules to being a hit woman? Ooh... - Then also I guess you've got a lot to lose if it all goes wrong. - For the children forced into this way of life, the future is bleak. - When she said that she killed a pregnant woman, that was... What can you say, really? Obviously it's (BLEEP) disgusting. - I wouldn't like to be in his shoes, to be honest, even though he's making loads of money and stuff. But the lifestyle he lives is pretty (BLEEP) scary, in my perspective. - If there weren't cartels running the streets of Colombia, people like her wouldn't exist. She would have a completely different career route. If she turned her pain into power instead of using it to take people's lives, sure. - But, um, after that interview, it was a big sigh of relief. It was like, '(BLEEP), I came out alive. Well happy with that.' (LAUGHS) (DARK MUSIC) - After leaving the meeting, Troi begins to experience severe chest pains. - So, basically, at the moment, we're off to hospital. I just got a really sharp pain when I started breathing in my chest. And I've had a pneumothorax, which is a collapse of the lung. But I'm really hoping I haven't got a collapsed lung. When you sniff it, cocaine can be one of the causes from collapsed lungs. I've still been taking cocaine. But, yeah, (CHUCKLES) a bit stupid of me, to be honest. - If Troi's worst fears are realised and he suffered a collapsed lung again, it will spell the end of his journey to discover the truth about cocaine. - Fingers crossed. Hopefully it will be just muscle pains or something. - While Troi is examined, Amber and Louis are travelling to a downtrodden neighbourhood in the centre of town. It's gained a reputation as the epicentre of cocaine addiction in Medellin. - We see at home people sniffing cocaine, but I think in these type of places, it's not just gonna be sniffing. It's probably injecting it, smoking it. - I kind of haven't thought about that whole addiction side of it. - Yeah. - I couldn't imagine being addicted to it. - They're here to meet one Juan David Toro Duarte, who works as a mediator between residents and the cartel that controls this area. Many of the residents here live in dilapidated hostels owned by the cocaine gangs. Failure to pay rent daily can be fatal. - (SPEAKS SPANISH) - (OTHERS SHOUT IN SPANISH) - Juan David wants to introduce Amber and Louis to one of the tenants. - What is your name? - Six years ago, Luz was a wealthy business owner living in an affluent part of Medellin. But when a different cocaine gang moved into her area, she was forced to leave her possessions and life behind. - What do you`? Oh. - Must be so difficult to live in a place like this. What happens if you don't pay the rent? - SOBS: It's horrible. So sorry for you. - Give me a hug. - (BLEEP) that people have to go through all this. And we sit at home and we don't have, like, any worries. - Luz is just of 7 million Colombians who've had to flee from their homes due, in part, to the cocaine trade and the global thirst for a party drug. - (WOMAN YELLS, WHISTLES) - There's absolutely nothing I can compare to what she's been through. - Obviously, with some of the things she said as well, it was difficult to take, really. I think at home as well, uh` - MAN: OK, guys. Sorry, we've gotta go. - OK. - Gotta go. Gotta get in the van. Come on. Go, go, go. - The security team have spotted gang members too close for comfort, and Amber and Louis now realise the total power the cartel have over so many Colombian communities. Four recreational cocaine users are discovering the reality of the illegal drug trade. - My views on decriminalising cocaine is that it should happen. - It's each to their own, and if you want to do drugs, then you should be allowed to do drugs. - It would stop a lot of people hiding in the shadows and being scared. - Personally, I think cocaine should stay the way it is. Obviously, I've seen people in the past who have been damaged off it. So legalising it, I don't see how it would help anybody. - If you give someone the option, they can do it if they wanna do it. You may even find that there's more people that won't wanna do it because it's not as much of a taboo. - Supermarket worker Troi has been in hospital with severe chest pains, and he's worried that his lung has collapsed. The doctor has just given him the prognosis. - They said all good, good news. Nothing wrong with me. They think it's just muscle spasm. I need to have a bit of a rest, they said. The doctor asked if I'd taken any cocaine, and I said no. And he said that if I did take cocaine, that would be one of the reasons for me to have a collapsed lung. But I didn't, so that's a good sign. - AMBER: Troi's here. (CHUCKLES) - LOUIS: All right, mate? - How are you feeling? - Yeah, not bad. - We've missed ya. So you're all good? - Yeah, I'm all good. - Good to go? - Good to go. (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) - Back on the Pablo Escobar tourist trail, our team visit the street art which has transformed what was once one of the most dangerous places on Earth. But for security guard Ivan, the violent memories are still very real. - You all right, mate? (DISTANT MUSIC BLARES) (SOLEMN MUSIC) (SOLEMN PIANO MUSIC) - (SPEAKS SPANISH) (SOLEMN PIANO MUSIC SWELLS) - Are you`? Are you sure? - (MAN TRANSLATES IN SPANISH) - Si claro. - Good man. - Thank you. - Thank you. Gracias. I'm gonna treasure it forever. I really am. It means a lot. It means a lot. (SOLEMN MUSIC) When I go out and do cocaine, this` And like I wouldn't have thought about any of this in my life, sort of thing. And the fact that just cocaine has caused devastation to Ivan and loads of other people, it makes you think. It's gonna make me think twice about doing cocaine. (DARK MUSIC) How the influx of high-strength Colombian cocaine is overwhelming Britain. - Hello. Send me your postcode. I'll give you an ETA. - So, that's how it works. - Cocaine is a very, very intense blood vessel constrictor. - When was the last time you brought something in? - It comes in a couple times a week. - We had a seizure earlier on this year of nearly a ton of cocaine that had come into the docks. - It started off at around a couple of grams a day. About a week before I came into here, I was three and a half days up and I had done 25. - Don't play with your life. Captions by Jake Ebdale. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021