It's hard to keep up with the pace of U.S. missile strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. When I began recording this it was 10 hits and 43 dead since September When I finished the edit a day later, it was 14 and 57 dead. This is new territory in the war on drugs. Or is it all about regime change in Venezuela? I break it down in this episode of CrashOut Podcast. For more info, go to: www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

The U.S. military on Sept. 2 used a missile to hit a boat of alleged Tren de Aragua gang members accused of moving drugs in international waters and killed the eleven people on board. This follows the designation of Tren de Aragua as terrorists and a directive by President Donald J. Trump for the military to go after such “narco-terrorist” targets. While it may not be the top story in the news, it’s a major development that takes us into new rough waters in the drug war but it could also be t...

Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada pleads guilty in New York. For more info, go to www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

The Medellin Cartel rose in the 1980s by flooding the United States with cocaine, providing dope to dance floors in Miami all the way to crack houses in Los Angeles. Forbes magazine once estimated the tidal wave of powder made the cartel’s top trafficker Pablo Escobar $9 billion and its No. 2, Carlos Lehder, another $2.7 billion. While these numbers are likely major over-estimates of how much individual narcos actually keep, the cocaine trade certainly served up billions of dollars to Colombi...

On Friday, Mexican troops shot dead Jorge Humberto Figueroa, a paramilitary commander of the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. Here is my update news report. For more info and to support the show, check out: www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

While all eyes are focuses on the U.S. southern border with Mexico, the United States has a northern border that is almost three times as long. I talk with journalist Katarina Szulc about cartels in Canada and how fzntanyl crosses south from there. For more on this and other stories and to support the podcast, please go to www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

Two weeks on from the macabre discovery of the training and alleged extermination camp of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the case continues to shake Mexico. But is there hope it will ever be resolved and justice will be delivered to the families of loved ones lost? Katarina Szulc and I go through all we know about the camp and the worrying developments. For more, go to www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

On Sunday, a U.S. flight packed with alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang flew to El Salvador to be sent to one of the world’s most feared prisons - despite an attempt by a U.S. judge to halt it. The measure fits in with a more radical approach to fight gangs and cartels across the Americas, but will face a legal fight as many of the measures of President Trump will. For more stories, got www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

A list of nine cartels and gangs was leaked to the New York Times of those that are supposedly going to be designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump White House. In this CrashOut Chronicle video, I go through who they are, how we got here and what impact the terrorist designation will have. Support the show

With on-the-ground reporting and analysis, I look at the brutal battle in Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel between the Mayos and Chapitos. Since it exploded in September, it has caused over 1,000 deaths and disappearances and shows no sign of stopping. Thanks to Omid Visua for editing. For full video, other reports and to support my work, please go to www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

I talk with journalist Guillermo Galdos about his latest documentary on the submarines full of cocaine that cross the Atlantic. For more stories and to support, go to: www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

I talk to Max Daly about his decades covering drxgs in the UK and his work as international drugs editor for Vice. Check out more on his work and books at: http://www.maxdaly.com/ Check out of my stuff at: www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

I look at the security strategy of new Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum. For more info, check out: www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

Ken Behr was a major smuggler of marijuana and cocaine into South Florida from the 1970s to the 1990s. When he finally got caught, he made a deal and worked undercover for the DEA for two years. He reveals all in his new book, "Confessions of a Marijuana Mercenary," which he talks about in this fascinating interview. For more info, go to: www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

I talk to anthropologist Angela Garcia about the "anexos" in Mexico City that keep dozens of so-called addicts locked up in a single room for years using harsh methods such as chaining them to the wall. She has written about these for her new book, "The Way That Leads Among The Lost." I also talk to her about addiction in the New Mexico where she is from and any hopes of breaking the cycle. For more stories and to support my work, go to: www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

Sometimes you find a story that just blows you away and makes you wonder how you hadn’t heard it before. Patrick Winn’s new book “Narcotopia” did just that in painting the first detailed portrait of the Wa State, an Asian territory the size of Belgium that is effectively run by a drug cartel. Wa State is officially in Myanmar but is self governed with its own army, supplied by Beijing. It churns out heinous quantities of crystal meth that floods the Asian markets, except China. Th...

I talk with bad ass journalist Hollie McKay who reported in Afghanistan about how the opium was trafficked massively under the Allied occupation and how the Taliban destroyed it. You can check out Hollie's Subtsack on: https://holliesmckay.substack.com/ To read more CrashOut stories and support the Chronicles go to: www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

I get into the seismic detention of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. For my full story please go to: https://www.crashoutmedia.com/p/exclu... You can also see more of my pieces and support my work at: www.crashoutmedia.com Support the show

Mexico's first female president smashes the election 2024 Check out: www.crashutmedia.com Support the show

In another tragic case, three surfers - two Australian and one American - took a trip to Baja California and didn’t make it back; their bodies were found in a well with bullet wounds. Baja California authorities were quick to find them and arrest suspects. But questions remain. How did they get to the alleged perpetrators? If it was a robbery why was the vehicle of the surfers burned out. To support my work, please go to www.crashoutmedia.com Or https://buymeacoffee.com/io...