The supply chain of cocaine stretches around our world, bringing vast wealth to a few ... and misery to millions. Follow its trail through the eyes of peasant farmers producing cocaine paste, a trafficker tied to Mexican cartels and a 28-year-old crack dealer in Miami's poorest neighborhood. And literally see the true nature of cocaine addiction via revolutionary brain photography in a leading lab in Brookhaven, N.Y.
Some call methamphetamine the "Devil's Drug." Often made in less than an hour from a common cold remedy, this powerful stimulant is sweeping across the U.S. and Asia. Follow a raid on a suspected meth lab, stake out a neighborhood pharmacy where addicts attempt to accumulate cold and flu pills, and meet a neuroscientist urgently searching for a cure for addiction. See the dangers of meth and the unexpected physical damages caused by the drug.
Heroin can be life threatening, claiming the lives of numerous victims. Follow this opium derivative as it begins in a remote Afghan heroin lab that processes the raw materials and then on to Chicago, where a dealer demonstrates its final preparation for street sale. Gain insight into its insidious powers from users, and witness a police raid on a heroin distribution network in New Jersey. Plus, go inside one radical attempt to combat heroin's social costs by supplying it free to addicts.
Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug on the planet. To many, it's an evil weed, but to some, it's a sacred herb, even a lifesaver. For decades the global supply was controlled by criminals, but now a quasi-legal industry worth billions of dollars is booming. Visit growers who are leading a horticultural revolution, hear from users consuming for medicinal purposes, go inside the "Green Rush" of medical marijuana in cities across the U.S. and the violent marijuana cartels in Mexico.
Inside the world of producers, traffickers, dealers, users, doctors, and cops who make up the multi-billion-dollar industry.
A former British gangster serves as guide into this illicit underworld, visiting a secret hash-making location nestled in the mountains.
Known by users as the ultimate “love drug,” ecstasy’s euphoric high comes with major lows: Ravers have died from it and organized crime gangs will kill for it.
Deep in the Amazon, Rob—a former Wall Street broker turned healer—has created a free clinic of sorts, administering the highly potent narcotic ayahuasca to trauma patients.
Ketamine—chemically, a compound called ketamine hydrochloride—is a drug that was developed in the 1960s to sedate animals and humans for surgery, though it eventually was replaced by medications that worked faster with less risk. Beginning in the 1990s, initially to the puzzlement of police, burglars began breaking into veterinary clinics and stealing ketamine. They soon learned that recreational drug users had discovered ketamine and were turning it into the new hallucinogenic party drug. In its standard powdered form, ketamine looked like cocaine, and could be snorted in the same way. But it also could be easily modified for injecting, smoking or even mixing into drinks.
Known as Hillbilly Heroin, Opiate pain pills can be found in every town and city across the United States. From the poorest trailer home to the most expensive mansion, they are tearing apart the fabric of American society.
For a few dollars, users can access dozens of compounds that mimic cocaine, ecstasy or marijuana. Sold as “Bath Salts” or “Spice,” these drugs are entirely legal.
Auto crime is the tip of a sinister global iceberg where a car stolen in LA could end up on the Russian black market or a truck taken in Laredo, Texas could become a heavily armored 'narco tank' used in Mexican Cartel gun battles.
Dealers, gangs and the Mexican cartel traffickers make millions from Las Vegas tourists' demand for illegal drugs.
Alaskan dealers make vast profits from crack, heroin and illicit alcohol; street gangs battle for control of the Anchorage drug market.
Hawaii has one of the highest rates of crystal meth users in the nation.
As America's largest city, New York is a distribution hub for narcotics.
New Orleans drug trade booms in the era following the Hurricane Katrina devastation.
Mexican and Canadian drug gangs compete for customers in the isolated terrain in Montana as officers patrol the vast region hoping to stem the tide.
Heroin, cocaine and prescription pills in plentiful supply makes Los Angeles one of the biggest drug distribution hubs in the U.S.
Drug dealing in Puerto Rico is examined.
The most dangerous city in the USA, Detroit, is a perfect mark for today's growing drug industry. Dealers are learning cater to inner city clientele by selling smaller amounts of hard drugs like heroin and cocaine for single-digit prices.
Cocaine and marijuana drug fueled 24-hour lifestyle for Londoners.
San Francisco, Calif. the epicenter of the 1960s' psychedelic revolution is notorious for drugs. But in the new millennium, the city, especially the gay community, is struggling to recover from a meth epidemic. The enabler of this situation is the Asian cartel, which has been poisoning San Francisco with high quality meth for almost 25 years but the Mexican cartels are intent on taking over. Nat Geo goes inside one of the worst drug ghettos in America the heart of the drug trade.
Kingston, Jamaica, is under the control of sophisticated and warring drug gangs who manage drug trafficking and distribution at all levels.
Chicago has one of the largest, most-saturated markets in crack and heroin in America.
In the Fifth Ward, a drug hub of Huston, Tex., see firsthand how drugs are dominating the area's economy and populous. We'll talk to a major crack cocaine dealer, a Hispanic street gang member, addicts, a pimp who claims to rule the streets and a full-patch member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas white supremacist prison gang. Learn about a prescription cough remedy that abusers call lean named because if you take enough of it, you lean or fall over.
Denver's legalization of recreational use of marijuana in January 2014,could be the downfall of the city's gang-banger dealers who have seen falling profits since medical marijuana became legal in 2001.
Miami has been used to traffic drugs into the United States from Latin America.
A northern Philadelphia community is rampant with heroin, crack cocaine and PCP.
Seattle attracts gangsters and dealers with its liberal laws and high demand for drugs.
Phoenix, Arizona is the de facto wholesale drug capital of America.
Music and drugs go hand in hand in Nashville.
See the underground world of drugs through the eyes of its makers. A former British gangster serves as guide into this illicit underworld, visiting a secret hash-making location nestled in the mountains. Check out growers in Holland who are leading a horticultural revolution in high-grade cannabis. Follow a batch of raw opium from an Afghan poppy field to an Iranian heroin lab. Follow the supply chain of cocaine through the eyes of Colombian peasant farmers producing the drug in a paste.
The sale of drugs accounts for billions of dollars in illegal commerce across the globe, bringing untold wealth to a select few. But these men and women who live lavish lifestyles off the sale of drugs rarely associate themselves with the ugly underbelly where their products hit the streets with users. These stories show that wherever people use be it an island paradise or a cold city street they can get lost in the shuffle. This episode will go deep into the stories of the users.
Every pill popped, pipe smoked and shot injected comes with a price tag. Some dealers focus their efforts on high society users paying top dollar for the best quality stuff, while others focus on quantity selling users just enough to scratch the itch and come back for more. Either way, the smuggling and selling of drugs brings in big money. And some of the people handling it are the best in the business.
This episode takes a look at law enforcement's fight against the country's most dangerous dealers and biggest producers and their attempts to break down notorious drug trafficking organizations. From drug smuggling at New York's JFK International Airport to the dangerous cartel kingpins of Arizona, law enforcement goes on the offensive to thwart the global economic drug trade.
Behind the idyllic veneer of being one of the safest cities in the U.S, Salt Lake City is suffering from a massive drug epidemic. National Geographic pulls back the curtain and reveals the secret world of drug addiction in the Mormon community, the arrival of the cartels, and the dangers to the officers trying to control it.
After being rocked by a corruption scandal and a budget deficit in the range of 58 million dollars, the city's police department's staffing and morale are in bad shape. National Geographic follows an elite team of detectives who are trying to establish some control over the free for all drug market. Using their access to the dealers, users, and gang members at the heart of the problem NGC gives us a inside look at the drug infested city.
Washington, D.C., was once Crack City and the murder capital of the U.S. But an increased police presence following Sept. 11 made drugs scarce. In the neighborhoods of southeast D.C., one drug remained PCP. And it's causing havoc. NGC goes inside the chaotic world of PCP where users think they're invincible and can be driven to insane acts of depravity. Visit the emergency room unit where doctors treat up to 80 psychotic patients high on PCP each month.
Portland's progressive attitudes have made it a mecca for America's homeless and they're helping fund the deadliest drug market in the Pacific Northwest. Here, pushers prey on the young, handing them free sample bags of narcotics to turn them into new customers. With thousands of Portland's youths succumbing to heroin's powerful allure, local police have made it their No. 1 priority to disrupt the flow into the city by smashing the local distribution networks.
In Memphis, Tenn., drug habits are changing. Along Elvis Presley Blvd., addicts are switching to heroin as supplies of cocaine dry up following a successful kingpin takedown. Now, dealers with pockets stuffed full of cash are attracting deadly stick-up crews who roam the streets looking for easy targets. Ride alongside Memphis cops as they find themselves confronted by paranoid and trigger-happy dealers as they try to stop a heroin epidemic from engulfing the city.
Minneapolis and St. Paul the Twin Cities of Minnesota are home to some of the purest heroin anywhere in the United States. Here, mobile drug dealers have taken to their cars and check in and out of cheap hotels every few days to make themselves harder to track down. The police are now turning to confidential informants to hunt down the dealers and then need to flip the dealers on their suppliers to get closer to the cartels.
Molly, a powdered form of the drug MDMA, is exploding in popularity across the United States. Formerly marketed in pill form as Ecstasy, Molly is a total rebrand. Marketed as purer, cleaner and without the additives, this powder has become the most fashionable new drug for young people. But as the consumer demand for Molly has exploded, the production of pure MDMA has struggled to keep up with supply. As a result new, dangerous chemicals are finding their way into the market.
The southwest border of the U.S. is the main gateway for illegal drugs, and Dallas, Texas, is often the first port of call for the Mexican cartel drug trade. In this episode, witness how the Mexican cartels have tainted Dallas by turning it into their command and control center for the trade of their narcotics. Buyers desperate to get a hold of the cartel's high-quality product flock to Dallas from all over the country, giving local dealers the chance to make big money
Baltimore, a once prosperous city, lost many of its jobs along with its steel mills. In return, the city developed one of the biggest heroin problems in the country. For many of those that remain amid the poverty and abandoned homes, the Heroin Hustle is the way of life. One strip of Pennsylvania Avenue alone is estimated to take in $10 million a year from heroin sales. With the business booming, the heroin market is expanding outward to the suburbs, and the authorities are struggling to cope.
Dominican drug networks tied directly to the Mexican cartel are distributing countless amounts of narcotics in the historic city of Boston, fueling a widespread epidemic that law enforcement and emergency services can hardly contain. The Dominican drug organizations are increasingly using Puerto Rican dealers as their middlemen to flood the city with heroin. The epidemic touches all communities, making Boston one of the leading cities for heroin distribution.
Raw. Unscripted. Genuine. This Drugs, Inc. one-hour special not only walks in the shoes of dealers but looks through their eyes. Drug crews in New York, Atlanta and Portland take us on a roller-coaster journey through their daily lives. From firing a shot at a rival gang, to debt collecting, to avoiding cops by diving into an open elevator shaft, this special offers an entirely new viewing experience.
A look at how drug enforcement agencies utilize confidential informants and undercover agents to take down illegal drug operations.
Heroin users in America began showing symptoms associated with Krokodil, a home-cooked opiate, including raw lesions, decaying skin and grotesque sores.
The drug game is filled with those fighting for good and bad. Each side needs weapons to fight for their cause. These are the men and women who profit from the sale and use of the arms sold under the table.
With more than 4 million regular users in the United States alone, cocaine has become worth more than gold. Join Nat Geo Channel as we go inside one of the largest markets in the country, Los Angeles, Calif.
The most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world, the Sinaloa Cartel, has found a new way to exploit American drug demand with Mexican super meth, a stronger and more addictive form of crystal meth.
The rapidly growing appetite for California Sour Diesel, a potent strain of marijuana said to induce an instant high, is helping fuel a violent drug underworld that stretches from coast to coast.
Ecstasy rebranded as pure MDMA is exploding in popularity while new-wave dealers try to distribute a molly alternative.
A look at the gangs that supply party goers with illegal drugs during New Year's Eve celebrations in New York City.
From big-time distributors to small-time dealers, cartels play a significant role in the drug game. Some reap the financial rewards within cartel rules, while others work hard for scraps. Either way, life under the thumb of the cartels is dangerous.
In Columbus, Ohio, the purity of heroin is on the rise. It’s more deadly than ever before and local paramedics are fighting to save the lives of struggling addicts.
As tourists flood New Orleans, so do drug dealers eager to make a profit; in a fierce competition one dealer becomes a target when he sells fake drugs.
Its spring break in Florida and the wave of students means the demand for drugs is flooding the streets. In a month-long party, springbreakers’ drug of choice is “molly.” For local dealers, spring break is the busiest time of year.
Chicago, Illinois, is the drug hub of the Midwest and one of the most dangerous large cities in the United States. The Fourth of July is one of the bloodiest nights of the year and a time when the demand for drugs booms. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/drugs-inc/episodes/sin-dependence-day/
The culture of cocaine is deeply entrenched on Wall Street and some will pay more than its worth for the purest quality available. It’s a buyer’s market and dealers must compete to deliver first and close the sale, while keeping up with the changing Wall Street appetite. A new generation of brokers and traders are turning to a drug that keeps them performing at work. And police are coming down on a drug that they regard as Wall Street’s dirty little secret — which is quickly turning into an epidemic.
The relationship between the million-dollar hip-hop industry and the billion-dollar drug industry; rappers in Calif. use drug money to pay for their studio time.
Delving into the Los Angeles porn industry, where a reputation for illegal drugs is under more scrutiny than ever after a number of HIV scares are changing the toleration of narcotics on set.
Thousands of students head to Cancun, Mexico for Spring Break and some have only one thing on there mind: to get wasted.
Enterprising inmates in two jails with tough drug policies, one in Calif. and the other in N.J., still find ways to get drugs inside.
As trafficking drugs through the Caribbean increases in preference to the land route across the Mexican border, gangs in the Dominican Republic have become a key players in the transhipment of cocaine.
Follow Detroit’s dealers, cops and feds as they take on the city’s wild rave scene in the frantic 48 hours leading up to Halloween. Anarchy rules the Motor City: Around the notorious 8 Mile Road, street slingers stock up and look for new opportunities downtown. In the suburbs, middle-class dealers bring party drugs to raves.
When Pittsburgh police crack down on heroin, they inadvertently open the door for wannabe dealers that see a chance to muscle their way into the market with a killer brand.
The side effects of drug use can be disastrous, but the people living in the world of the living dead fight an epic battle.
The drug of choice in Silicon Valley is cocaine, but a cop crackdown is pushing dealers and their programmer clients to meth.
From the DEA and dealers to users and doctors, Grim Reaper explores the deadliest drugs across the globe.
Follow the rise in demand for narcotics during Mardi Gras, Spring Break, Independence Day, and New Years Eve, through the eyes of dealers, law enforcement and users
Heroin on Staten Island is reaching epidemic proportions as dealers from New Jersey take advantage of a crackdown on prescription pills that's leaving teenagers desperate for a soporific high.
Cocaine is Europe-bound and which means a white-knuckle ride along the Amazon, to the docks of Ghana and Nigeria and all the way to Amsterdam.
Arresting drug dealers is just the beginning for some in the drug game, as some inmates continue to do business behind bars.
Outlaw bikers fight cops and Chinese Triads to keep control of the crystal meth trade.
Meet the network of traffickers, runners and smugglers delivering meth to the masses in Austin. At the Tex-Mex border, officials do everything they can to cut off supply.
Marijuana is widespread amongst the student population in Boston and, with National Weed day on the horizon, dealers and students are gearing up.
Thai police battle an addiction epidemic as popularity of meth pill Yaba spins out of control. Dealers continue to find ways to dodge the authorities and keep profits rolling in.
In Vancouver, a suburban gang war and heavy police presence drives some dealers and their customers to move downtown. But the cops are in hot pursuit.
From the Silicon Valley to international cities across the globe, dealers balance the need to hold enough merchandise to make a profit with keeping the law at bay. But with the overwhelming demand for drugs, it’s not just the cops chasing down dealers - it’s the users too. Chasing the High sheds light on this perfect storm of supply and demand at the heart of a business we call Drugs, Inc.
The drugs that make it from international and rural areas to the hardened city streets have to pass through a plethora of gambits and decoys to be profitable. Cartel Games gives first hand accounts of the strategy behind the moves made, from pawns to kingpins, in the drug battle we call Drugs, Inc.
Exploring the connection between drugs and the oldest profession in the world.
Cocaine is claiming thousands of lives in the U.S. each year.
Meth claims thousands of lives each year in the U.S. Included: Why it's so deadly and addictive.
Heroin is deadly addictive, but new drugs like krokodil and fentanyl may be even worse.
