Inside Pablo Escobar’s home city where drugs are readily available to a traffic jam of cars
“Listen man, we’re a narco state, it’s just how it is, if you want to see drug deals, I’ll show you drug deals – it’s Colombia.”
I’d only asked one of our Colombian producers in passing if it was possible to see drugs being traded on the streets of Medellin. I didn’t realise it was that simple.
Medellin is synonymous with drugs and cartels. The home of perhaps the most famous of all the drug lords, Pablo Escobar, it seems to revel in its notoriety.
There are pictures of Escobar everywhere, on posters, on caps, and on t-shirts. There are even guided tours to his grave, and a museum in his honour.
Stuart Ramsay speaks with a coca farmer, who earn very little from growing the crop
This is where the big business drug cartels were born, invented by Escobar himself, the original Latin American “Godfather”.
In an infamous district in Medellin, we were instantly confronted with the sounds of dealers on the streets shouting out their products for sale as we drove through.
“Cocaine! Pills! Ecstasy! Tusi!” they shouted. All available to a traffic jam of cars waiting to buy.
Motorcycle delivery drivers queued to make the pick-up for their clients waiting in high-end apartments and nightclubs elsewhere in the city, while buyers on foot discreetly scored their drugs, before moving on.
Medellin was the home of Pablo Escobar and drugs are widely traded on its streets
‘Narco’ culture
It was chaotic and noisy, a place where lookouts use whistles to send signals to the dealers.
Two toots mean it’s all clear, a single toot is a warning – it means the police are nearby.
In the middle of this big open-air market for drugs, dimly lit restaurants and cafes served dinner. We passed one café where we saw a family sat at a table outside, celebrating a woman’s 70th birthday.
This neighbourhood runs a 24-hour drug selling market alongside the usual shops and cafes that spill over on to the pavement.
It is not illegal to grow coca, only to use it to produce cocaine
Although Colombia has a long history and fascination with “narco” culture and drug-taking, its immediate problem is that President Donald Trump has launched a war on Latin American drug cartels, manufacturers, and the nations the drugs come from – and through.
Venezuela is at the top of his hit list; he has launched strikes on boats off the Venezuelan coast that he says were carrying drugs. He has boosted American military presence in the Caribbean – sending ships, marines, helicopters, drones and jets into the region.
There is speculation he may be looking for regime change in Venezuela, and that the war on drugs is a front to remove President Nicolas Maduro from power, claiming the Venezuelan government is basically a drug cartel. Something they of course deny.
This coca plantation was hacked into the rainforest on the border of Colombia and Peru
None of this bodes well for Venezuela’s neighbour Colombia, indeed President Trump has made it clear Colombia is high on his list of troublesome nations.
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There are other countries on his list, like Mexico, that he says has demonstrated willingness to clean up their act and take the war to Mexico’s deadly cartels.
Mr Trump’s gripe with Colombia isn’t necessarily that its society has a relaxed attitude to drug use – it is widespread across all classes – no, his problem is that Colombia is one of the biggest producers of cocaine in the world, and it feeds the biggest market, which is the United States of America.
Coca plantations are hidden miles away from other people in the Amazon
Hidden away, miles from people
It seems that the president’s view is that the supplier is the problem, not necessarily the user.
Cocaine is extracted from the coca leaf, which is grown in abundance in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia.
Growing the coca plant in these countries is not illegal, and the leaf itself is often used for other purposes. The plant only becomes illegal when it’s used for cocaine production.
I wanted to meet the farmers who grow coca to find out if they are the masterminds of a multi-billion-pound international drugs business, or just farmers meeting international demand.
My journey began just after dawn in pouring rain on the Amazon River in Colombia.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the plantations are hidden away in remote areas, miles away from people.
Stuart Ramsay in the rainforest
We travelled for hours in the rain, on a small boat with a guide, passing indigenous communities who have nothing to do with the business hiding in their forest.
The river narrowed as we got closer to our destination, and five hours later, after navigating through broken tree trunks and low hanging branches, we arrived at an eight hectare coca plantation hacked into the rainforest bordering Colombia and Peru.
The crop, which is two-and-a-half years old, is hidden by the trees and the river.
They are about to start harvesting it, but it’s incredible just how many leaves they need.
The farmer says that for every 70 grams of cocaine produced, the cartel producers need 30 kilograms of leaves.
Colombia is one of the biggest producers of cocaine
Only way to provide for his family
That’s a lot of picking – and the farmer will earn just $7 for those 30 kilograms of leaves.
The cocaine business might be incredibly lucrative for the cartels that control it, but at the very bottom the farmers hardly get paid a thing.
And though he is worried about getting caught, the farmer I meet sees it as the only way to provide for his family.
“For me it’s very valuable, it’s my sustenance, the way for sustaining life,” he told me.
“We are aware that illegal processing isn’t good for anybody, not exactly, you can’t say I am doing this, and this is good for people, no, this harms the entire community, everyone,” he explained when I asked him if he was at all conflicted about his crop.
“But we all make sacrifices, and we struggle to make our way in life.”
It’s hard to believe that the global business of manufacturing and shipping cocaine around the world all starts with these fairly innocuous looking coca leaves.
And whatever Donald Trump says, they will keep producing as long as users in America, Europe, and indeed the world, demand it.
Fourteen people have died after the US launched its latest attacks on boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean, which it says were transporting illegal drugs to the country.
It brings the total number of dead from 13 airstrikes to 57, amid increasing tensions between the US and the governments of both Colombia and Venezuela.
A 30-second video posted on X by the US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, showed four vessels exploding on Monday on what he said were the orders of US President Donald Trump.
Analysis: Is Trump going to attack Venezuela?
One of the boats appears to be piled high with packages.
Mr Hegseth, who is with Mr Trump on a tour of Asia, said US forces carried out “three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organisations (DTO) trafficking narcotics”.
They were identified as drug boats by US intelligence, he said, travelling on “known narco-trafficking routes, and carrying narcotics”.
A total of 14 “male narco-terrorists” onboard were killed, he said, “with one survivor”, who was rescued by Mexican authorities.
Narco-terrorists “have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same. We will track them, we will network them, and then, we will hunt and kill them,” he added.
The condition and whereabouts of the survivor are not known.
President Trump and Japan’s Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, in Tokyo on Tuesday. Pic: AP
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaking to troops on the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, in Japan. Pic: Reuters
It is the latest in a series of attacks on boats the US says have been carrying drugs in both the Pacific and Caribbean, and comes as Washington continues its military build-up in the latter, deploying guided-missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine and thousands of troops.
The administration has ordered the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier and its supporting strike group to the region, and it is expected to reach the Caribbean in the coming weeks.
Mr Trump has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading a drug-trafficking organisation, which he denies.
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September- ‘drug boat’ attacked by US military
Mr Maduro has repeatedly claimed that the US wants to drive him from power, while some in Venezuela believe the military build-up is aimed at destabilising his government and ultimately forcing regime change in Caracas.
Mr Trump has also authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.
The Pentagon has provided little information about any of the strikes, including the quantity of drugs the boats allegedly carried and the identities of those killed.
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Democrats in Washington have asked whether the attacks comply with the laws of war, while legal experts have asked why the US Coast Guard, the main US maritime law enforcement agency, hasn’t been involved and why other efforts to stop the shipments have not been tried first.
Venezuela’s government says the strikes are illegal, amount to murder, and are acts of aggression.
In August, the Trump administration doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million (£38m).
US warships in the region, the green light for covert operations, and deadly strikes on what the Trump administration claims are “narco terrorists” – could America’s next move be to strike Venezuela?
President Donald Trump has accused President Nicolas Maduro of leading an organised crime gang (without providing evidence) and declined to answer when questioned if the CIA has the authority to assassinate him.
In return, the Venezuelan leader has accused Mr Trump of seeking regime change and of “fabricating a new eternal war” against his country, as he appealed to the American people for peace.
The rhetoric coming out of the White House, coupled with the presence of military ships in the region, has raised questions about a possible armed conflict between the US and Venezuela.
The question in the air is: Will the US actually attack Venezuela?
The USS Gravely destroyer arrives in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on 26 October. Pic: AP
What are US warships doing?
The docking of the USS Gravely guided missile destroyer in the capital of Trinidad and Tobago – just 25 miles from the coast of Venezuela – is the latest incident to escalate tensions.
Venezuela’s government condemned the arrival and called it a provocation by Trinidad and Tobago and the US.
The USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier – the largest warship in the world – is also moving closer to Venezuela.
Satellite image shows USS Gerald R Ford on 25 October off the coast of Croatia, a day after the announcement it would be deployed to the Caribbean. Pic: EU Copernicus
It comes as the US has acknowledged carrying out at least seven strikes since September on vessels near Venezuela that it claims were transporting drugs, killing at least 32 people.
Venezuela’s government says the strikes are illegal, amount to murder, and are acts of aggression.
Earlier this month, Trump confirmed he has authorised the CIA to carry out covert operations – including lethal operations – in Venezuela.
The CIA has a long history of operations in Latin America, with actions varying widely from direct paramilitary engagement to intelligence gathering and support roles with little to no physical footprint.
What could happen?
To get an idea of what could happen next, Sky News spoke to Dr Carlos Solar, an expert on Latin American security at the RUSI defence thinktank.
He says the level of military strategy the US is applying around Venezuela seems “unproportionate” for the task of tackling drug trafficking.
In Venezuela, the government has civilians trained in the use of weapons to defend the country in the event of a US attack. Pic: AP
“A build-up this size can only suggest there’s a strategic military goal,” he added.
Dr Solar says the role of the CIA is “not surprising”, as the US often deploys spying capabilities in countries deemed adversarial.
“With the chances of a military conflict looming, having the most intelligence capable on the ground would be reasonable.”
The world’s largest warship, the USS Gerald R Ford, has been tasked to the Caribbean. File pic: Reuters
Asked what could happen next, Dr Solar told Sky News: “One scenario is Trump authorises a round of long-range precision attacks in Venezuela’s territory linked to drug trafficking operations, eventually forcing Maduro to reciprocate later.
“We saw this early in the year when the US attacked Iran’s nuclear facilitates and Tehran returned missiles to US bases in Qatar.
“If the US decides to move more strongly, destroying all critical military targets from the Venezuelan forces, then the US could have Maduro surrender and leave the country immediately.
“This would be the least disruptive without causing greater destabilisation of the country.”
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Venezuelan President: ‘We don’t want a war’
What does Trump say about Venezuela?
Trump said his reasons for the strikes on vessels were the migration of Venezuelans, allegedly including former prisoners, to the US – and drug trafficking.
“I authorised for two reasons really,” he said. “Number one, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America…they came in through the border. They came in because we had an open border,” he told reporters. “And the other thing are drugs.”
He has accused Venezuela of trafficking huge amounts of cocaine into the US, and alleged Mr Maduro is the leader of the Tren de Aragua gang – a claim most of his own intelligence agencies do not support.
President Donald Trump is currently on a tour of Asia. Pic: Reuters
The US leader has not provided evidence for the claim about prisoners, and Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay pointed out the fentanyl drug that is causing destruction in America is largely manufactured in Mexico, not Venezuela.
“We are looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” Mr Trump added. It is not clear what actions this could entail.
The Pentagon recently disclosed to US Congress that the president has determined the US is engaged in “a non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels.
When asked if the CIA has the authority to execute Maduro, which would be a massive intervention, Trump declined to answer. Instead, he said: “I think Venezuela is feeling heat.”
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Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro. Pic: Reuters
What does Venezuela’s leader say?
Maduro has been in power since 2013, including re-elections in contests marred by accusations of fraud.
The last decade has seen his country gripped by spiralling hyperinflation and a humanitarian crisis that has seen an estimated eight million Venezuelans flee the country.
As the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier moved closer to Venezuela, Maduro accused the US government of “fabricating a new eternal war” against his country.
Venezuelan ambassador to the UN, Samuel Moncada, holds a newspaper article about a recent US military strike. Pic: Reuters
“They promised they would never again get involved in a war, and they are fabricating a war that we will avoid,” he said in a national address.
“They are fabricating an extravagant narrative, a vulgar, criminal and totally fake one,” he added, perhaps a reference to Trump’s claim that he is the leader of the Tren de Aragua gang and that his country trafficks cocaine into the US.
“Venezuela is a country that does not produce cocaine leaves.”
Members of Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Guard. Pic: Reuters
Tren de Aragua, which traces its roots to a Venezuelan prison, is not known for having a big role in global drug trafficking but instead for its involvement in contract killings, extortion, and people smuggling.
Venezuela has raised a complaint to the UN Security Council and demanded accountability from the US.
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