How cocaine smuggling through Latin America really works

January 6, 2026

9 min episode · 2 min read

Jan Grillo

Episode

9 min

Read time

2 min

AI-Generated Summary

Published Jan 6, 2026

Key Takeaways

✓Price markup economics: A kilogram cocaine brick costs $2,000 in South America, sells for $10,000 at US border, then $60,000 plus retail after cutting and distribution through multiple trafficking layers.
✓Route evolution pattern: US enforcement shifted trafficking from direct Colombia-US routes to Colombia-Venezuela-Honduras-Mexico pathways, with Venezuela becoming major transit hub after Mexican cartels built infrastructure from existing marijuana and heroin operations.
✓Government involvement evidence: Multiple sources including traffickers, former Honduran drug czar, and airplane operators confirm Venezuelan military facilitated cocaine flights through airports, supporting US indictment claims against Maduro's cartel de los soles.

What It Covers

Journalist Jan Grillo traces cocaine's journey from Andean coca farms through Venezuela and Mexico to US streets, examining Venezuelan government complicity and Trump administration military strikes.

Key Questions Answered

•Price markup economics: A kilogram cocaine brick costs $2,000 in South America, sells for $10,000 at US border, then $60,000 plus retail after cutting and distribution through multiple trafficking layers.
•Route evolution pattern: US enforcement shifted trafficking from direct Colombia-US routes to Colombia-Venezuela-Honduras-Mexico pathways, with Venezuela becoming major transit hub after Mexican cartels built infrastructure from existing marijuana and heroin operations.
•Government involvement evidence: Multiple sources including traffickers, former Honduran drug czar, and airplane operators confirm Venezuelan military facilitated cocaine flights through airports, supporting US indictment claims against Maduro's cartel de los soles.

Notable Moment

Mexican general at military base offered journalist cocaine from seized pile to taste, demonstrating numbness effect while casually testing reporter's willingness to participate in drug examination firsthand.

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