When Pablo Escobar escaped from prison in 1992, a lot of people in Colombia began to lose sleep. Some of these people formed Los Pepes - People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar - a collection of Escobar's fiercest narco competitors, paramilitaries and columbian authorities with perhaps even american intelligence assisstance. After taking care of Escobar the victorious narcos, as the Cali Cartel, went on to rule the world of cocaine. For about three years. A younger, more ruthless crew inside the Cali Cartel quickly did away with the old guard and established what is still today considered the largest supplier of cocaine in the world, the North Valley Cartel.With many former police officers in its upper ranks and the assisstance of one of the Colombian military's top antinarcotics officers, the North Valley Cartel was more likely to run a wiretap than be caught on one.Still, as to the whole omerta thing? North Valley Cartel bigshot Andres Lopez AKA Florecita (little flower?), after turning himself in to american authorities, cooperating and serving about 2 years in prison, wrote a book. El Cartel de los Sapos (Cartel of the Snitches) was then made into the most popular telenovela ever by Colombia's Caracol and dominated just about every market its played in. Oh yeah, and telemundo is streaming them all for free with subtitles as we speak. Not quite The Wire, but still a must see.
posted by jake1 on Jan 28, 2010 - 37 comments

In his autobiography, published in 2007, Blur bassist Alex James admitted to blowing a million pounds on champagne and cocaine. This confession led to an invitation from Colombia's President Uribe to visit the country and see the damage being caused by the drug trade. He went, and the BBC filmed it (one, two, three).
posted by jontyjago on Jun 14, 2009 - 64 comments

Go to Spain, breathe, get high Scientists have recently discovered that there is a small amount of cocaine and LSD in the air of the Spanish cities Madrid and Barcelona.
posted by CaptKyle on May 14, 2009 - 42 comments

Captain Nemo helped invent narco submarines as a way of evading drug enforcement agencies.
posted by gman on Dec 15, 2008 - 63 comments

The Mumbai terrorists took cocaine, acid, and other drugs to stay awake during the attacks. Not the first.
posted by gman on Dec 3, 2008 - 107 comments

Teapot Dome 2008 -- "The report also detailed cozy relationships between energy companies and other officials in the royalty-in-kind program office. Some 19 officials — a third of the staff — took gifts from oil and gas executives, some with “prodigious frequency,” it said." [more inside]
posted by vhsiv on Sep 10, 2008 - 27 comments

Blow is an energy drink.
posted by gman on May 12, 2008 - 60 comments

"I found these in a red photo album marked "Darlene" at a swap meet in Huntington Beach, California." The Cocaine Photos. Images from a more innocent time.
posted by oneirodynia on Mar 27, 2008 - 91 comments

Cocaine vaccine in the works [more inside]
posted by selfmedicating on Jan 5, 2008 - 44 comments

Crack Is Whack (nsfw)
posted by Xurando on Nov 13, 2007 - 33 comments

The US Sentencing Commission has recommended that Federal sentencing guidelines be reduced for crimes involving crack cocaine -- and is now deliberating making the new guidelines retroactive for prisoners already incarcerated. [WaPo] If taken into effect, about 3,800 inmates could be released by this time next year. [more inside]
posted by Avenger on Nov 12, 2007 - 29 comments

Here's an odd unforeseen consequence of the Columbian drug trade: fishermen along Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast have been been getting rich off of "white lobster"—cocaine dumped overboard by Columbian drug traffickers that, through a fortuitous arrangement of sea currents, washes ashore. [more inside]
posted by Weebot on Oct 31, 2007 - 17 comments

Jessica Dimmock: I was approached by a cocaine dealer who made it clear that he was a dealer. Over the course of the conversation he made it clear that if I wanted to follow him and photograph him I could. He took me to a variety of places - parties, people's apartments, the owner of an escort service. The last place he ever took me was the apartment where the project starts. Jessica Dimmock is the 2006 recipient of the Inge Morath Award to encourage young female photojournalists. Her series, The Ninth Floor is epic in its savage and true depiction of the reality of drugs in New York City. NSFW.
posted by parmanparman on Jul 9, 2007 - 160 comments

I fought the law and the wheat won
posted by Stynxno on Jul 3, 2007 - 22 comments

Brent Kovar got investors and employees to believe his invention was the next big thing, but nobody's ever seen it. Mister Kovar had also been appointed in 2003 to the Business Advisory Council of the National Republican Congressional Committee by then-Congressional Majority Leader Tom Delay. Apparently, a DC-9 they co-owned (painted to resemble aircraft from the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security) was busted in Mexico with 5.5 tons of cocaine on board. First link via fark
posted by The Deej on Jul 1, 2007 - 41 comments

Grandmaster Flash - White Lines. A strange video for a strange song. Allegedly directed by Spike Lee and starring Laurence Fishburne.
posted by grouse on Mar 4, 2007 - 66 comments

Flour in Condoms Sent Her to Jail. An arguably boneheaded move combined with faulty field test results sent a Bryn Mawr College student to jail for three weeks for carrying a flour filled condom through airport security. A year later she has settled her case with the Philadelphia police department for $180,000.
posted by The Straightener on Jan 4, 2007 - 168 comments

Cocaine: Ever wonder how it's made? Matthew Bristow, a journalist working in Columbia produced two fascinating videos (1 | 2) that detail the job of several actual Columbian producers, without delving too far into the chemistry nonsense: from harmless leaf to unprocessed brick to that familiar white powder. [via]
posted by jckll on Nov 28, 2006 - 30 comments

For most musicians, it's difficult to pinpoint a particular event that forever sullied their image and destroyed their popularity. For 80's rocker Billy Squier, however, the reason is clear. [YouTube]
posted by starkeffect on Aug 11, 2006 - 79 comments

Fox pussies out. Recently a bill passed in mexico legalizing all drugs under certain specified quantities. The bill was promoted By Vincente Fox's party, and came from his offices. However he decided not to sign it under U.S. pressure.

There go my vacation plans.
posted by Paris Hilton on May 4, 2006 - 57 comments

New York coke dealers like finance types like finance types like New York coke dealers. Not the best written piece of journalism, and at times sharing in the narcissitic delusions of the dealer, but a good look into "the game" -- even if they couldn't find a more cliche dealer (and a good way to throw in slight jabs at rap music, Washington Heights and GTA).
posted by geoff. on Apr 11, 2006 - 30 comments

Drug policy reform in Colombia [via]
posted by daksya on Jan 3, 2006 - 13 comments

Got that snow, man? Hottest holiday shirt is a snowman. But activists alarmed by hidden message of t-shirt. Meanwhile schools expel evil frosty.
posted by dingobully on Nov 21, 2005 - 34 comments

He's young, telegenic, bilingual, a Harvard grad... and now André Boisclair, the youngest person ever elected to a seat in Quebec's National Assembly, is the new leader of the Parti Quebecois, the nationalist -- as in Quebec nationalist -- left-leaning party founded to take Canada's mostly french-speaking province out of the federation. Oh, and he's gay. And an admitted (former) cocaine user (although that might be a good thing.) Oh, and, according to the polls, the next Premier Ministre of Quebec.
posted by docgonzo on Nov 16, 2005 - 116 comments

Strange Findings, circa 1985: "Please welcome our very charming guest host—Mr. Corey Feldman!" (Quicktime req.)(NSFA: Not Safe for Anyone)
posted by dhoyt on Apr 7, 2005 - 14 comments

must drive fast faster faster The use of cocaine is widespread among Formula One drivers, a former Ferrari team doctor has claimed. Although random FIA tests have never returned a positive result, Benigno Bartoletti said in Rome that 'as many as one third' of the current field take the drug as a stimulant prior to grands prix.
posted by halekon on Jan 3, 2005 - 29 comments

Tired? Need a boost? Everything you ever wanted to know about one of America's favourite energy boosters. This website contains 25 pages covering the history, uses (both legitimate and illegitimate), and biological characteristics of cocaine and the coca plant. An interesting read for those with time to kill (like me). Possibly NSFW.
posted by LunaticFringe on Dec 17, 2004 - 10 comments

Addiction to porn is destroying lives, Senate told. Experts compare the effect on the brain to that of heroin or crack cocaine.
posted by travis vocino on Nov 19, 2004 - 118 comments

New super strain of coca plant stuns anti-drug officials DRUG traffickers have created a new strain of coca plant that yields up to four times more cocaine than existing plants and promises to revolutionise Colombia’s drugs industry.
posted by Postroad on Aug 29, 2004 - 22 comments

Rick James dead. Big red breaking news box at CNN.com, also here. :(
posted by adampsyche on Aug 6, 2004 - 64 comments

Cocaine Country, Sights & Sounds. An 8 minute Flash movie from National Geographic's story, Cocaine Country, by Carlos Villalón, about cocaine in Colombia and what the crop means to the people. [Via TalkLeft.]
posted by homunculus on Jul 2, 2004 - 3 comments

Cartoons act like cocaine. *snort* (via PVP)
posted by jozxyqk on Dec 5, 2003 - 3 comments

Top Court Rejects Baby Death Conviction Appeal
"The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Monday an appeal by a South Carolina woman convicted of homicide and sentenced to 12 years in prison for causing her baby to be stillborn by using cocaine."
posted by jpoulos on Oct 6, 2003 - 47 comments

"Vancouver has opened North America's first legal shooting gallery for drug addicts." -for all you poor saps where guns are a part of your everyday vocabulary, NO that's not a place where drug addicts shoot guns.- this is a pilot program supported by all levels of government in BC and in Canada, where addicts can inject drugs in a supervised, clean environment. The purpose of which ultimately I think is to bridge the huge gap between "them" and "us" and possibly shrink the distance addicts have to reach through for help. Does my heart bleed for "them"? Absolutely not. You choose your weapon, you suffer the consequences. But what this could lead to is less addicts and therefore less reason for addicts to commit crimes to support their addictions...
posted by giantkicks on Sep 16, 2003 - 71 comments

Just what exactly was Calvin Klein, the Fashion Designer, saying To Latrell Sprewell, the Basketball Player? [Photo and more inside.]
posted by Carlos Quevedo on Apr 6, 2003 - 11 comments

Jeb Bush's daughter found with crack cocaine, did rehab employees hide it? As this transcript of a 911 call indicates, Noelle Bush received special treatment that kept her in rehab and out of jail, at the same time her father opposes the Florida Right-to-Treatment Initiative, which encourages handling non-violent drug offenses with treatment rather than incarcertation. Strangely enough, the 911 transcipt indicates that Noelle Bush's rehab center was primarily targeted to drug-addicted women with children, which begs the question of why the childless Noelle Bush was in there in the first place. The hypocrisy of this branch of the Bush clan does not cease to amaze me
posted by jonp72 on Sep 22, 2002 - 45 comments

Orlando police find crack cocaine on Gov. Bush's daughter Knowing that W struggled as an alcoholic and with cocaine, and seeing his daughters hit the headlines with their excesses, I wondered if there was a genetic pre-disposition toward addiction. Apparently, this theory is not new.
posted by stevis on Sep 10, 2002 - 30 comments

Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion "This is a reproduction of the award-winning Dark Alliance website, which first appeared Aug. 18, 1996, as part of a series I wrote for the San Jose Mercury News. This innovative website was seen by millions worldwide and acclaimed as the first Internet-based expose in journalism history. In the wake of a furious controversy, the site vanished from the Web in 1998. It has been reproduced here for historical purposes and is in no way affiliated with the San Jose Mercury News. -- Gary Webb" (via disinfo)
posted by kliuless on Sep 4, 2002 - 6 comments

Right. Let me get this straight. A security guard found a handbag unattended in a night club. He then searched the bag, supposedly looking for ID, and found a small packet containing a white powdery substance, which he handed over to the Central Narcotics Bureau. A woman, Ms. Low, later says the handbag belongs to her. The Judge notes that "There was no denial that this was her handbag. She claimed it was hers." Ms. Low's friend, after being offered immunity from prosecution, then says they both snorted cocaine earlier on in the evening. On the basis of the evidence presented, Ms. Low is sentenced to 18 months in prison.
posted by netsirk on Aug 6, 2002 - 46 comments

Tech secrets of Cocaine, Inc. - a look at the IT infrastructures of Colombian drug cartels. "I spent this morning working on the budget," the head of DEA intelligence, Steve Casteel, said recently. "Do you think they have to worry about that? If they want it, they buy it."
posted by edlundart on Jul 17, 2002 - 24 comments

dRuGs. no really i can handle it....
posted by Spoon on Mar 1, 2002 - 12 comments

Who needs money, chocolate or cocaine when you've got women?
posted by yevge on Nov 11, 2001 - 33 comments

Deputy Dawg Cracking cases with his service glock, crackhead Bucks County Barney Fife is the new face of law enforcement
posted by Perigee on May 26, 2001 - 5 comments

Was Shakespeare a doper? It doesn't matter. But it's in the news because it's not often you can dig up (literally) some juicy celebrity gossip involving mood-altering substances.
posted by pracowity on Mar 1, 2001 - 9 comments

Tale of the Coke Monkeys. GAH! Coke may lead to Cannabis! It's Salon, but it's hilarious.
posted by snakey on Nov 29, 2000 - 4 comments

My grandma likes to cook, sew, and smoke a lot of crack. This tiny article intrigues me, not for the cocaine information, but rather the cliffhanger of an ending sentence... Apparantly that part wasn't as newsworthy.
posted by Hankins on Oct 13, 2000 - 6 comments