15 facts about the Cali Cartel

Step inside Colombia’s most powerful drug trafficking group

The AGC is Colombia’s most powerful drug trafficking organization. Founded by a paramilitary leader who dismissed the Colombian peace process, the AGC stands for the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. Self-described as “an army fighting...

Watch the craziest ways cartels traffic drugs

The war on drugs has forced cartels to be increasingly creative when it comes to smuggling drugs. As police develop methods to catch smugglers, drug traffickers come up with new ways to get their products from producer to seller to buyer. This cycle...

Cocainenomics

How did Pablo Escobar rise up out of the Medellin barrios to become the CEO of a $4 billion business? This immersive look at the global drug trade spawned by the notorious drug lord, who at his peak controlled 80% of the cocaine supply in the US. This deep dive includes visualizations showing how logistics of drug smuggling evolved over the years and traces the economic impact of the industry.

An overview of drugs, crime, and cartels in Mexico

In 2006, the Mexican government launched a war on the drug cartels. The cartels and the drug trade fuel rampant corruption and violence in Mexico, contributing to tens of thousands of homicides in the country each year. Mexican drug cartels are also...

Who are the FARC?

The FARC (or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) are Colombia’s largest rebel group. They have been fighting the longest-running armed insurgency in the Western Hemisphere against security forces in Colombia – one of the world’s main...

How El Chapo’s sons built a fentanyl empire poisoning America

Los Chapitos are the four sons of El Chapo, the infamous leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel. Once dismissed as “narco brats,” the Chapitos are now key figures in the Sinaloa Cartel, accused by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of pioneering the “manufacture and trafficking of the deadliest drug [the USA] has ever faced.” Read Reuters’ special report to chronicle the rapid rise of the Sinaloa Cartel’s new generation.

A map of global drug trafficking

The worldwide illegal drug trade continues to flourish. Accounting for almost 1% of the world’s financial revenue, the cocaine trade alone boasts an annual turnover of an estimated $85 billion. This infographic, from Around the World: An Atlas for...

Why is cocaine worth so much?

The global cocaine trade is worth an estimated $100B a year. But, where does that money go, who is spending it, and who is making it? Vice follows the money to understand why the cocaine business functions the way it does. From illicitly growing...

Meet a government agent who laundered millions of dollars for Pablo Escobar.

Get to know the five families that ran the NYC mafia

In the 1900s, there were five families in New York City who dominated the crime scene. These five families organized expansive criminal operations—ranging from prostitution and price extortion to money laundering—and have inspired stories like "The Godfather."

A video showing how drug dealing really works

What motivates people to sell drugs? The "News on Drugs" series asks how people get drawn into the drug trade, unpacking the different goals and aims involved in dealing drugs. While there is a lot of focus on cartels, traffickers, and gangs...

Visualize how Coca-Cola's secret formula has changed over time

Coca-Cola contained small amounts of cocaine until the early 1900s—but that's not the only time Coca-Cola has altered its recipe over the years. For instance, Coca-Cola transitioned from cane sugar to high-fructose corn syrup in the 1980s.

A Chinese-Mexican alliance marked one of history's largest nonviolent money laundering schemes

In 2019, Chinese-American gangster Xizhi Li was arrested for an expansive money laundering scheme spanning four continents. Li reportedly laundered hundreds of millions of dollars for cartel members, wealthy Chinese Americans, and other foreign countries.

Drug trafficking, violence, and politics in Northern Mali

Drug trafficking in northern Mali is fueling unparalleled regional violence and instability. In Mali, smuggling narcotics is not only a way armed groups gain funds, but also a source of conflict in itself. According to the International Crisis Group...

A podcast detailing the drug markets of East and Southern Africa

The African continent plays a critical role in the global illicit drug market. Often forgotten when discussing drug trafficking, organized criminal networks in Africa have established relationships with other criminal organizations around the world....

Why Belgium is now the cocaine capital of Europe

Belgium has become Europe's cocaine-trafficking capital. Recently, Belgian ports have seen record seizures of cocaine. In 2020, the port of Antwerp accounted for 40% of all cocaine seizures in the EU. And local authorities are struggling with the...

The story of Olympian Ryan Wedding's rise and fall as drug kingpin

After a disappointing finish representing Canada in the slalom at the 2002 Winter Olympics, Wedding turned to growing cannabis and selling cocaine. After serving prison time, he upped his game and came to control major drug routes in North America, finding himself on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List. He was captured in Mexico City in January 2026.

The US dollar is the most popular note to counterfeit

Counterfeit operations are often controlled by rogue governments, drug cartels, and more. These organized crime rings often sell counterfeit bills wholesale, for anywhere between 40 and 70 cents per dollar.

A podcast uncovering drug killings in the Philippines

This podcast investigates how many people have been killed in the Philippines since its War on Drugs began. In 2016, Rodrigo Duterte became the President of the Philippines, framing drugs as an existential threat and the root of all crime, saying...

An eye-opening interactive journey into the global drug trade

POPPY Interactive reveals how drug money destabilizes entire countries, fuels global conflicts, and allows a worldwide illegal economy to grow. Navigating the site involves diving into three major routes—the Northern Route, the Balkan Route, and...

How drug trafficking undermines West Africa

The rise of drug trafficking is undermining institutions, public health, and development efforts in West Africa. According to the West African Commission on Drugs, civil wars have receded, democracy has gained ground, and economies are growing in...

How the Montreal Protocol made CFCs the most valuable Miami contraband after cocaine

Following the 1990s production ban, smugglers flooded Miami with illegal chlorofluorocarbons used in air conditioning. A 15-kilogram cylinder bought for $70 in Europe could sell for $242 in the US, fueling multimillion-dollar black-market trade. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

The Indigenous people of the central Californian coast made many advancements

The Indigenous people of the central Californian coast made advancements in basketry, small stone tools, the use of shell beads as currency, and plank canoes for seafaring. In the years before European contact, their numbers reach 25,000 across 150 settlements.

Cocaine financed Uruguayan soccer player Sebastián Marset's childhood dream

Sebastián Marset was one of the most successful drug traffickers in South America. In order to launder the profits from his cocaine empire, he bought and sold professional soccer teams—which he played on.

How America's cocaine habit fueled its migrant crisis

The United States has been facing a migration crisis along its southern border. Thousands of people have been fleeing their homes in Central America, traveling north through Mexico, and claiming asylum in the USA. Much of this crisis can be traced...

An interactive history of Calypso, the Caribbean protest music genre

Before reggae and ska in the US, there was calypso, a protest genre developed in Trinidad and Tobago in the 1800s. This resource brings together images, descriptions, audio, and videos to teach you the origins of a massively influential musical genre.

The negative effects of cannabis use

After decades of criminalization, cannabis is a legalized drug in an increasing number of countries around the world. This allows for accurate, robust research on the drug's effects on humans . While weed isn't as harmful as alcohol, regular usage has its negative effects. As strains of the drug become stronger, so does its consequences. Watch this video for a lucid look at the effects of cannabis on its users.

See the increase in financial crimes globally on a map

The Global Organized Crime Index tracks annual shifts in organized crime, ranging from drug and human trafficking to financial crimes. The map shows crime levels for each country, as well as a profile of the country's annual shifts.

The US war on drugs, explained

The United States has been fighting a global war on drugs for decades. By making drugs more expensive and less available, the US has sought to reduce drug use and inhibit the international drug trade. However, increasing prison populations,...

'The Chinatown Sting': Unraveling an international drug smuggling ring

In the late 1980s, a group of women connected through the mahjong parlors in Manhattan's Chinatown were caught in a massive undercover drug bust. But this bust was just the beginning of an even bigger case.

An interactive investigation into drugs and migration in San Francisco

This interactive article investigates the connection between the boom in US migration from Honduras and drug dealing in San Francisco. A high concentration of Hondurans are fleeing Siria Valley, where poverty and national murder rates run high...

Commodity traders are the most powerful people you've never heard of

Just beneath the surface of the global economy is a hidden layer of dealmakers for whom war, chaos, and sanctions can be a great business opportunity—they're called commodity traders. Their power partly stems from the fact that commodities are essentially the building blocks of the economy at large.

A podcast about Honduras' narco-Presidente

The former President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, was once a US ally in the war on drugs, but he now stands accused of overseeing a narco-state. Hernandez served as Honduran president for eight years, once considered one of the United...

Organized crime, including money laundering, drains $1.96T from the global economy annually

Overall, financial crime drains $3T from the global economy, with organized crime making up nearly $2T of that total. Drug trafficking is the second-largest drain on the global economy.

The Stepan Company is the only US company with legal permission to import coca leaves

The Stepan Company works closely with Coca-Cola so that the soda giant can continue to use coca leaves for its beverages. Today, the cocaine from the coca leaves is removed before they are used to create Coca-Cola.

The Spanish consolidated power in California with 21 strategic missions

This map shows the order of establishment of the Franciscan-led missions whose saintly names still grace contemporary maps, from Santa Rosa in the north to San Diego in the south.

See a timeline of the Cuban Revolution

A small rebel force toppled Batista through a series of unlikely breaks, including a decisive 1958 ambush in which Castro’s fighters seized an arms train bound for Santa Clara. This timeline charts the revolution’s causes, key turning points, and enduring legacy.

The seven major US freight rail companies

The US railroad industry is dominated by seven long-running freight conglomerates. Get the basics on each of these companies with this brief overview.

OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) has grown from five to 12 members since 1960.

How the Myanmar coup fueled a rise in illegal drugs

According to the UN, Myanmar remains the world’s second-largest producer of heroin. Inside Myanmar, almost all the drugs come from one place: Shan state in the Golden Triangle region, south of China, where Myanmar meets Thailand and Laos. The...

Coffee production took off in the 1800s

Coffee production in South America took off in the 1800s, with Brazil establishing itself as the largest global producer in the 1840s. Today, the country grows over one-third of the world's beans and consistently leads in global coffee production, with other Latin American countries like Colombia and Guatemala.

Mapping where the drug captagon is seized worldwide

In the 1960s, Captagon was patented in Germany as a stimulant similar to amphetamines. It was prescribed for a time to address narcolepsy, ADHD, and other conditions. As its addictiveness and psychosis-inducing quality became more apparent, the drug has been banned in many countries. A robust illicit manufacturing of the drug endures in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Lebanon. Track locations where the drug has been seized on this updated map.

A former financial crime investigator says Hollywood has done a pretty good job depicting money laundering

A former financial crime investigator says "Narcos" and "Ozark" have pretty realistic scenes, but other well-known financial crime depictions like "The Wolf of Wall Street" are off base. Some of the main inconsistencies include overly dramatic gunfights and unrealistic cash amounts.

A Bay Area lab was supplying MLB players with steroids

The Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, also known as BALCO, began as a modest vitamin shop, but by the 1990s it was at the center of a doping scheme that rocked Major League Baseball and other professional sports.

From prescriptions to street drugs: Opioids trajectory across America

Exclusive data obtained by The Washington Post from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows how individual counties moved through three waves of the opioid crisis, each wave paving the way for the next. Between 2011 and 2017, the drug responsible for the majority of overdose deaths shifted from prescription pills to heroin to fentanyl. Together, oxycodone, hydrocodone, heroin, and fentanyl have been major drivers in declining life expectancy in the US.

A quick overview of Santa Barbara

The central California city with the year-round Mediterranean climate weaves a fascinating history of indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, and then US history. This three-minute overview touches on the city's layered story, distinct architecture, and many celebrities.

The largest jewelry heist in US history resulted in $100M of jewelry stolen

Robbers stole the gems from a Brinks truck in Lebec, California, in July 2022. The truck was transporting the jewels to different jewelry shows in the state, and thieves stole diamonds, emeralds, gold, rubies, and designer watches while one driver was asleep and the other was getting food. Some of the stolen jewelry has been recovered.

Seventeen strange historical heists

High-dollar chocolate and cheese robberies to art thefts and audacious train robberies. Explore history's most peculiar stories of stealing with this list of seventeen tales of burglaries.

The story of the Sackler empire behind highly addictive OxyContin

This investigative report examines how the Sackler family built its fortune through Purdue Pharma’s aggressive marketing of OxyContin, a highly addictive painkiller. Through 2017, the drug had generated more than $30B in sales for Purdue Pharma, controlled by the Sacklers.

Fast, cheap, and deadly: How fentanyl replaced heroin and hooked America

This interactive article details how fentanyl has largely replaced heroin in the drug trade, with fatal results. Fentanyl was first developed in 1959 as an anesthetic for pain relief, but the drug took hold in the US black market in 2014 and has since exploded in the intervening decade.