[phone ringing] HOMEY: Hello? NARRATOR: 4:00 PM, Los Angeles,
a drug deal is going down. HOMEY: Alright,
text me the address. Alright, check it out. I just got an order in
from an A-list actor who has a premiere tonight. We about to do
a red carpet event. You're going to see how
Hollywood does it, baby. Celebrity style, all white,
pimped out, cocaine is the name. NARRATOR: LA gang member Homey
deals coke to some of the world's
most famous faces. HOMEY: He wants a quarter pound
of the purest cocaine money can buy. You can instantly even feel it,
it will get your fingers numb, make you gag, and make
your whole face numb. You got to keep this locked
at all times. NARRATOR: Homey's first move
is to visit the stash house... HOMEY: What's up, G? NARRATOR: ...that he shares with
his fellow gang-banging dealers. HOMEY: Have you got the scale
over there? My client needs a baby brick, and I know most of these bricks
are going to be right here, look at this [bleep] piece. He is going to pay
$4,800 for that. NARRATOR: With so much money
at stake, Homey's taking no chances. [gunshots] HOMEY: White gold,
it's not always yellow. NARRATOR: In the USA over
four million people regularly use cocaine. This powerful stimulant is
worth more than gold, and every year Americans spend
over $37 billion on the drug. [sniffs] Los Angeles, California, is one of the USA's
largest coke markets. HOMEY: Do you know
what is out there? Millions and millions of dollars from thousands and thousands
of users. Nice, nice, nice. NARRATOR: Today Homey is dealing
to a world famous actor. HOMEY: I got to go to
the red carpet right now, bro. MAN: You got another
movie premiere? HOMEY: Yeah, another
movie premiere. NARRATOR: His coke is supplied
by his gang on credit. HOMEY: I've known my suppliers
as far back as my childhood, so we're very close-knit, and I don't ever pay
for anything upfront. I have a certain amount
I have to work with and distribute weekly,
and I pay it off as I get it. NARRATOR: Homey makes $200
on every ounce. Tonight's deal is worth
big money. HOMEY: I'm dropping off
four ounces, so I will be walking away
with $800 for myself with nothing out of my pocket
other than gas and my time, and that's how
I like to work it. NARRATOR: But to get paid, Homey must deliver the coke
without getting busted. HOMEY: I don't know
what's going on here. We have a lot of
police presence here. The last thing we need to do is
[bleep] get pulled over. NARRATOR: The location of
tonight's deal is super high risk. HOMEY: Who in the hell would
tell you to do a deal at a red carpet for God's sakes? Only a [bleep] celebrity. And I'm supposed to hand him
his package on the red carpet in front of everybody
on the planet. And God knows what he is
going to do with it. He is buying a little more than
just enough for his head. NARRATOR: Cocaine has been
linked to the deaths of a number of Hollywood icons. From River Phoenix to Whitney Houston, and most recently,
Philip Seymour Hoffman. HOMEY: I don't use coke,
no, I don't. That will only make you
a liability, and there is no room for any
liabilities in this field, and I'm not there
to be their friend, so I'm not there to be
life of the party. I basically handle what I have
to handle and take off. This is what he chose to do,
not me. This is his meeting spot. I would have preferred to
meet him at his home. My adrenaline is pumping
right now. NARRATOR:
Homey's first challenge is to get into
tonight's premiere. HOMEY: Where the tickets at,
over there? WOMEN: Hi, are you buying
tickets? HOMEY: No, dear,
I'm on the guest list, I'm one of the actors
in the film. NARRATOR: Using a pre-arranged
false name, Homey is in. HOMEY: I just got my ticket, and now I'm going to give it
to him, handle my business, and then I'm going to expect him
to handle his business. NARRATOR: Now Homey needs
to find the buyer and get rid of the coke quickly. HOMEY: So now I got to run
around and look for this actor. So I don't know if it's
this way or up them ones. Yikes, [bleep]! NARRATOR: In front of a crowd,
the deal needs to be subtle. WOMAN: My friend was like,
'Say hi to him.' And I'm just like, okay,
but like, I did, and... NARRATOR: With one
quick movement, the coke changes hands. HOMEY: It went good,
it went good. Tomorrow he deposits what he has
to deposit in my account, and then we're good to go,
4,800 bucks. That's why we here in LA,
do it big, y'all. NARRATOR: Homey's coke is
produced over 4,500 miles away in the remote, lawless valleys
of the VRAE region of Peru. Here cocaine starts life
as coca leaves, worth just $3 a kilo. This valley is the coca capital
of the world. Peasant farmers grow over
47,000 tons every year. Today José and his family plan to reap many months
of hard work. They know the police could
swoop in at any moment. José risks growing coca because it's 20 times more
profitable than legal crops. But the family will
only make money if they can avoid
getting busted. The consequences
would be catastrophic. Peru's police destroy illegal
crops wherever they find them. They torch the makeshift labs used to process
the coca leaves... ...and arrest those suspected
of cocaine production. But today José is lucky,
the harvest is a success. And he's made cocaine's
base material, cocaine paste. The value has now shot up
from $3 a kilo for leaves to $900 a kilo for paste. José has 13 kilos, but
the family won't get a penny unless they can get it
to market. The coke's buyer
is 120 miles away across a valley full
of cops and thieves. Carlos will make
the coke run with his brother who is just 12. For his part,
Carlos will make $900-- cash he needs to support
his wife and child. The brothers set off. Ahead are three days of hills,
forests and danger. From the center
of the VRAE region, the brothers must travel
120 miles west through treacherous
jungle terrain to reach their cocaine buyer. The brothers want to
stay off the roads and out of sight, but there is
a river in their path, and the only way to cross it
is by bridge. Today the brothers
have walked 40 miles. But as night falls,
they can't afford to relax. Carlos and Pablo hide the coke to prevent police busting them
in their sleep. And to stop thieves
robbing them. Over the next 40 hours
the brothers cover 70 miles of jungle. The buyer is now close. [phone ringing] The race is on to
get to the buyer in time. But suddenly
there's a noise-- a vehicle is approaching. And it could be a threat. NARRATOR: Brothers Pablo and
Carlos are dodging police and thieves on a coke run
that could kill them. They have heard a noise
and taken cover. But it's only a farmer. The brothers now have less than
an hour to reach their buyer. Finally Pablo and Carlos
spot him. The brothers receive the money that will keep
their family going... until they have to make
the next coke run. The cocaine paste has just
entered the supply chain of a Peruvian drug cartel. Having made it
out of the jungle, the paste is refined
into cocaine, and its value rises from $900
to $1,300 a kilo. The next stage is to get it
out of the country. Manuel is in charge of
transporting his cartel's coke out of the VRAE region. Today he needs to move
over 800 kilos to an airfield due north. Such a huge shipment of coke
is a target for those on both sides
of the law. It's even a temptation
for Manuel's drivers. Today's journey passes
without problems. The coke has made it
to an airfield in the Pichis-Palcazu area
of central Peru. But in the region's center,
Constitucion City, Peruvian police are on the move. Colonel Zanabria's unit
is trained to kill. 20 tons of coke are flown out of
this valley every month. The terrain is well suited
for illegal airfields. As they approach today's target,
the helicopters hug the terrain to reduce the risk of locals
spotting them. The coke traffickers' airfield
is now directly below. The unit has no idea who or what
is waiting for them. Colonel Zanabria and his men
could come under fire at any moment. NARRATOR: Peru's police
have just landed on a coke trafficker's
jungle airfield. A burnt-out plane is the only
sign of the traffickers. But that could change
at any moment. Colonel Zanabria sets up
his perimeter guard. The plan is to blow huge craters in the airfield's earth
and timber runway. The unit buries hundreds
of kilos of explosives. The airfield is now
rigged to blow. The team is ready
to take to the air. With the fuse lit,
the countdown is on. Now the unit needs to
inspect the damage. The blast has smashed
the runway's timbers. And the rest of
the airstrip is also unusable. This airfield is out of action, but with countless other active
airstrips in this region, the coke traffickers still have
multiple export options. And one plane has
just taken off. Having got past the police
and into the air, the value of the coke on board has soared from $1,300
to $10,000 a kilo. From Peru it's headed north
to Central America. But the traffickers can't count
on it getting there, because US Customs and
Border Protection have received a tip-off. And a high-tech P3 surveillance
plane has been scrambled to intercept. The P3 has a range
of 5,000 miles, allowing it to find and follow
drug planes over vast areas. Its four-bladed turbo props are
much quieter than jet engines, and operating at night, the
air frame is nearly invisible. Tonight the crew's
first challenge is to find
the coke traffickers' plane. All they know is that
it's over Venezuela. But they have state-of-the-art
technology, three advanced radar systems,
and a camera so powerful it could read the name on
a vessel stern from the air. Suddenly the traffickers' plane
is in their sights. The pilot turns
into close pursuit. The P3 needs to be near enough
to track the plane. But not so close
tha0t they get spotted. The crew must follow the plane
until it lands. Its destination could be
thousands of miles away. But it's not going to be easy. Four hours in,
and there's a problem. PILOT: Ahh. [thunder] NARRATOR: Flying in
total darkness, the P3 tracks the plane
through the storm. After an hour of
extreme turbulence, the weather subsides. But 25 minutes later, there is another
even bigger problem. They don't have permission
to fly over Belize's airspace. The P3 can't follow. NARRATOR: US Customs has
lost contact with the coke plane
they're tracking. ORIE: You got to get him here,
guys. OPERATOR:
Yeah, I'm looking for him. NARRATOR: Based on the plane's
last known course, the crew are gambling that
it's headed for Guatemala. PILOT: We should be able to get
him on the radar if he's there. I don't got anything. OPERATOR: Oh, look at this.
Absolutely. PILOT: We got lucky. OPERATOR: That's not luck. Nice work, dude. He's passing into Guatemala,
and I got him. PILOT: See if we can lock
that bad boy up. Stay, stay with him
while we can now. PILOT: Okay. NARRATOR: The coke bust
is back on, and local police helicopters
are scrambled. PILOT: I am going to recommend
the helicopters turn west to follow this guy. NARRATOR: But then after another
hour of pursuit, the plane takes an evasive turn
to lose any potential tails. PILOT: What is he doing? PILOT: I don't know. Looks like he's going to be on
the border of Mexico, Guatemala. NARRATOR: The P3 has the range
to follow the new course. PILOT: Helicopters
cannot refuel. NARRATOR: But local
law enforcement has to return to base. OPERATOR: [bleep], not after
all this. PILOT: He's dropping lower.
PILOT: He's across the beach. NARRATOR: As the plane descends
in southwest Guatemala, all the crew can do is watch. PILOT: He's landed.
He's on the ground. PILOT: He's on the ground. PILOT: That looked like
a crash landing. PILOT: Oh, what was that? PILOT: Trucks pulling up. NARRATOR: Within seconds, a
fleet of trucks offload the coke and drive off... PILOT: They're moving off,
they're moving. NARRATOR: ...where even
the P3 can't track them. OPERATOR: I lost them
behind tree. Could they have stopped
at that house? Hard to tell. NARRATOR: Despite seven
and a half hours of successful tracking,
the mission has failed. PILOT: Let's RTB,
just get out of here. ORIE: Part of the problem
with us is we can stay out
for a good while, we can stay longer than
just about anybody else. You run out of good guys, and
that's kind of the case tonight. That's it. NARRATOR: As the crew return to their secret
Central American base... PILOT: Magenta line is
the road home. PILOT: Gotcha. NARRATOR: Everyone knows
where the coke is headed. PILOT: He's going to go to
Mexico, man, I bet you. ORIE: The trucks were moving
towards Mexico. That's definitely
where it's going. NARRATOR: From Guatemala,
the coke is headed to Mexico into the hands of the cartels. Having got past Peruvian police
and US surveillance planes, the coke's value has shot up
from $10,000 to $14,000 a kilo. But it's worth twice that
in the USA. To get it there, drug runners
have a tunnel running from Tijuana all the way under
the border to San Diego. LENOIR: We are actually heading
over to a discovered tunnel. We are going to get in there, and we are actually working into putting the tunnel
out of action. NARRATOR: Agent Lenoir's team
has uncovered the entrance to a 1,600-foot tunnel hidden
inside a warehouse. It's his job to discover
what's inside. LENOIR: The noise you hear are
air handlers in there that are to establish our own
air ventilation in there to get enough oxygen in there so we can actually map this
thing and see where it goes. NARRATOR: He needs to map the
tunnel so it can be demolished. But this tunnel could be deadly. LENOIR: And we're going in. The worst part in there is
we are at risk of a collapse. Obviously, running out of air is
a critical concern as well. NARRATOR: The Sinaloa Cartel
built this tunnel with little regard
for human life. LENOIR: The actual laborers
or workers, they are worried about
the same thing we are. It is probably a safe assumption that several people have
actually perished in the construction of
these particular tunnels. NARRATOR: To stay alive,
Agent Lenoir must rely on his wits and his
emergency gas meter. LENOIR: We are always equipped
with a four gas meter. It tells us what
our oxygen levels are. It also indicates any other
dangerous atmospheric conditions we may encounter. NARRATOR: The further he gets
from the surface... LENOIR: I can feel it getting
a little bit cooler. Watch your step right here. NARRATOR: The less air he has... LENOIR: We're up to 20% oxygen
right now. NARRATOR: ...and the further
he is from help if the tunnel collapses. LENOIR: We know that the tunnel
is going to collapse, it's just a question of when. NARRATOR: 35 feet down, he
finally reaches a flat stretch. LENOIR: We are in the guts of
the tunnel right now, we got a rail system right here, and there is the cart that
they were actually using to push tons of narcotics
through. NARRATOR:
For the Sinaloa Cartel, this tunnel was
a huge investment in time, money and resources. LENOIR: Alright, we are just now
passing the 100-meter mark. NARRATOR: As he takes
the measurements needed to take down their operation... LENOIR: That will give us
a fairly accurate idea on where the tunnel is
in relation to the surface. NARRATOR: Agent Lenoir knows
he's vulnerable. LENOIR: There is nobody actually
guarding the south side, because that end is
actually vacant. NARRATOR: At any moment,
he could have company. NARRATOR: Agent Lenoir is
in a cartel tunnel getting the coordinates
he needs to take it out. The job could kill him
if he suffocates... LENOIR: We used up quite
a bit of oxygen already. NARRATOR: ...or gets crushed
by a collapse. LENOIR: This might actually
might be a fault right here. You can see it differs from
the more cemented sandstone we have on either side of it. NARRATOR: 1,000 feet in,
he finally reaches the last stretch of the tunnel
under US soil. LENOIR: Alright, I am going to
take one last compass reading. We got everything we need
inside this tunnel, so we are going to actually
travel, head back north. NARRATOR: Agent Lenoir is
heading back to safety. But with billions of dollars
to be made moving coke across the border, he knows this tunnel
won't be his last. LENOIR: Officially there have
been 169 tunnels throughout both our borders. When you have suitable areas
in which to tunnel and you have the willingness
on somebody to do that work, the threat of tunneling is
always going to be there. Voilà. NARRATOR: Using Agent Lenoir's
coordinates, holes are drilled down
into the tunnel. Next concrete will be poured
into the shaft. LENOIR: Well, that's it,
nobody goes back in, we're done pretty much
with this tunnel, we're going to start filling her
up and move on to the next one. NARRATOR: This tunnel is
out of action, but some of the Peruvian coke
got through. From the border it's trafficked along the notorious I-5
smuggling route to Los Angeles. Having got past
cops and customs, the coke has shot up in value
from $14,000 to $28,000 a kilo. POUND DOG: This is what you call
cocaine money. I would kill a [bleep]
for this life here. NARRATOR: Pound Dog is one of
LA's biggest dealers, selling cartel coke
on a wholesale level. POUND DOG: Working for
the cartel, I can go over there and be like, man, I'm going to
just take one kilo on credit today,
or you know, 4 or 5 or 100. Damn. NARRATOR: Tonight he is
preparing five kilos for a $140,000 deal. NARRATOR: If it comes off,
he makes 30 grand. POUND DOG: Since I'm plugged in
with the Mexicans, it's kind of like
hitting the lottery. I made in a week
half a million, easy. NARRATOR: He is certain
the buyer will like the product. POUND DOG: Peruvian flake, that's that good [bleep]
right there. [laughs] That's what they all want. NARRATOR: But he's not so sure
he'll like the buyer, because he's never met him. NARRATOR: There's a risk
this deal could turn sour, and Pound Dog can't afford
to make any mistakes with the cartel's coke. POUND DOG: You come back to
the Mexicans without that money, it gets ugly, you know. If they can't get you,
they will get your momma, get your kids snatched up,
get you [bleep] beat up. Believe it, they will come [bleep] your [bleep]
all the way up. It's just a [bleep] nightmare. NARRATOR: For his and
the coke's safety, Pound Dog counts on
his reputation. POUND DOG: I can honestly say
I have done a lot of [bleep] to get where I am. But if I want somebody killed, you best believe your ass
is going to go, you know. With the violence comes fear, and with the fear
comes the respect. [laughs] I never [bleep]. NARRATOR: Pound Dog is about
to find out if he'll need to get
violent tonight. NARRATOR: Reassured the guy
isn't out to rob him, Pound Dog gets out a sample. NARRATOR: The buyer agrees
to the deal. Five kilos is on the move, heading to West Hollywood,
a club and party mecca. Here, sold off in grams, the
coke jumps in value from $28,000 to its final price
of $80,000 a kilo. And one user has just got
her Peruvian product. COCO: Well, tonight
it's Friday night, in Los Angeles, California,
in Hollywood, so I say we go out
and get [bleep]. It's what we like to do, and
we like to do it rough and hard. NARRATOR: Coco is
a coke-sniffing club fanatic. COCO: I have my savior. In the club scene people use
drugs for fun, and you can party longer
with cocaine. Everyone does it, everyone. NARRATOR: Coco has bought
one bag to see her through the night. COCO: A half a gram, so that
sets me back like 40 bucks. It's an investment. I need it. NARRATOR: But the coke could
cost Coco more than money. COCO: Ready to party,
let's get crazy. NARRATOR: Cocaine can cause
heart attacks, brain damage, kidney failure,
and sudden death. Tonight Coco could be
risking her life. [sniffs] NARRATOR: Friday night in
West Hollywood, and party girl Coco is
flirting with danger, snorting Peruvian coke that's travelled 4,500 miles
to get to her. COCO: Amazing, I love it, and
ready to party, do hit it. [laughs] NARRATOR: As Coco heads out
to party, she is on a high. COCO: Sexy boys, there's drugs
everywhere, there's liquor, there's just a little bit of
everything going on, I love it, it's fabulous. And I feel fantastic! NARRATOR: But soon her high
needs topping up. COCO: We are going to
go do a bump. Because why? Because I need one. It has been over five or six
minutes, I'm antsy, I need it. NARRATOR: Coco gets her coke out
in the middle of the street. COCO: Bingo, there she is,
she's still there. NARRATOR: Now she's not only
risking her health, but also her liberty. But all Coco craves is the hit. [siren] [sniffs] COCO: Mmmm. Yes, back on my A-game. Let's go have a cocktail. Hit the dance floor,
this is what it's all about. NARRATOR: On the dance floor Coco is oblivious to the strain
her body is under. COCO: Oh, cocaine, yes. Yes. NARRATOR: And death is just
one of the dangers. Coco could also get addicted. COCO: And it's time
to do another bump, I mean, hello, let's bump, bump,
bump, bump, bump it up. A slightly bigger one, you know,
'cause why not? [sniffs] Ah! Yes. I pretty much control my habit, but there's been times where
I've used a little too much, and you're like, God,
it's been two days, and I'm still partying, so I mean,
I think everyone slips. NARRATOR: Tonight Coco stops when she is done
with her $40 bag. [sniffs] COCO: My night was fabulous,
I mean, it's LA, hello. NARRATOR: This time
she's been lucky. COCO: I have lost friends that
couldn't handle it, and they can't do it
occasionally, it becomes an issue for them,
and it controls their life. So it's not all
glitz and glamour. [chuckles] NARRATOR: On the other side
of Hollywood, Homey's got an order
from a celebrity addict. HOMEY: Alright, well, see that,
I just got a text right now from a very high-end
platinum hip-hop artist. Now, if you knew this person,
you wouldn't believe me, you would say,
'What the [bleep]?' NARRATOR: Homey deals to this
rap star all the time, but today one thing's different. HOMEY: Usually the way
he pays me is he deposits in
my bank account, right? But the banking system, they are
not accepting any more deposits from anybody other than
the owners of that account. NARRATOR: The new banking system
has been designed to crack down on dealers like Homey. HOMEY: I went and tried to
do that yesterday, and they asked me for my [bleep]
ID, so I walked out of there. NARRATOR: But he's already
found a way around it. HOMEY: Now we are doing
prepaid cards. You can have $100,000 right
here, and you get pulled over, and the cops never suspect
a goddamn thing. NARRATOR: For Homey, the future
is looking golden. HOMEY: More and more people
are acquiring money, more and more cocaine users are
networking with each other. So for me, business is always
increasing, always, always. Everything glitters,
and it's all money, and it's all white gold, y'all.
