The Original Narcos and the War on Drugs
Ira Pastor, ideaXme exponential health ambassador and founder of Bioquark interviews Javier Peña and Steve Murphy, former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and lead investigators in the manhunt of Colombian drug lord and Medellín Cartel leader, Pablo Escobar.
Ira Pastor Comments:
On a few previous shows, we have touched on the global problem of drug abuse of both legal and illegal drugs, primarily looking at the problem from a therapeutic perspective — specifically talking about topics related to addiction withdrawal.
But the problem is much bigger than that.
Drug Abuse Is a Huge Problem in the US
According to the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 20 million American adults battled a full-fledged substance use disorder in 2017.
Drug abuse and addiction cost American society more than $740 billion annually in lost workplace productivity, healthcare expenses, and crime-related costs.
Globally, the numbers escalate even further off the charts.
It is a war of amazing proportions with many different battle fronts — some of which we are winning, some not as much, but one that is always changing and that we need to stay ahead of.
The Men Who Took Down Pablo Escobar: Javier Peña and Steve Murphy
That’s why I’m so honoured to be joined by both of our guests today. Sometimes when I talk to people on the show, I say that “Hollywood could make a mini-series out of your career.”
Well, in this particular case, Hollywood did just that.
Javier Peña and Steve Murphy are both former agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) who were the two lead investigators in the manhunt of Colombian drug lord and leader of the Medellín Cartel, Pablo Escobar.
Their careers are represented in the first two of four seasons of the Netflix TV series ‘Narcos,’ and they both worked as consultants on the show, as well as making some cameo appearances.
Mr Murphy retired from his career at DEA in 2013 and today he heads a law-enforcement private consulting firm. Mr. Peña retired from the DEA in 2014, and in 2019, he published Manhunters: How We Took Down Pablo Escobar, co-authored with Mr. Murphy.
On this exciting show we will hear from Mr. Peña and Mr. Murphy about:
Their backgrounds, including where they grew up, how they became interested in law enforcement, and their amazing path from their first street assignments, to being at the epicentre of the crusade to bring down the world’s most notorious drug lord. Why Pablo Escobar is such a subject of public interest almost 30 years after his death. The toughest parts of their careers: $300,000 bounties on their lives, dealing with undercover informants, and other competing groups such as the CIA getting in their way. Their views on the current state of the war on drugs, drug decriminalisation and legalisation.
Credits: Ira Pastor interview video, text, and audio.
Follow Ira Pastor on Twitter: @IraSamuelPastor
If you liked this interview, be sure to check out our interview with Dan Addario, Drug War Veteran!
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