Inside The WORST Drug-Infested Slums Of Medellin, Colombia

The Connect- with Johnny Mitchell

Johnny Mitchell

True Crime

4.3 • 563 Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Medellín, Colombia — once the heartbeat of Pablo Escobar’s empire and the most dangerous city on Earth — has transformed in shocking ways. In this episode , Johnny dives deep into the hidden world of Medellín’s modern drug trade. 👉 From basuco “zombie” addicts roaming the hoyas, to the rise of small neighborhood gangs (pandillas) replacing cartels, Medellín tells a story of survival, profit, and transformation. Johnny explores Barrio Pablo Escobar, explains the disturbing chemicals that make up cocaine, reveals why Mexican cartels like Sinaloa now dominate global smuggling, and walks firsthand through a city's 30 year evolution. Topics covered in this episode: -Medellín’s violent past vs. its surprising present -The basuco epidemic and “walking dead” addicts -How guerrilla groups (FARC, ELN) now control cocaine labs -Sinaloa’s alliance with Colombian producers -Gangs, tourism, and why Medellín is safer than ever Medellín is no longer exporting cocaine like it once did, but the drug economy is alive and thriving — just in ways you wouldn’t expect. This Episode Is Sponsored By The Following: Cash App! Download Cash App Today: https://capl.onelink.me/vFut/1ekoiacn #CashAppPod. As a Cash App partner, I may earn a commission when you sign up for a Cash App account. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Visit cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures. FRE! Get 20% off you first order at https://frepouch.com using code CONNECT at checkout! Surfshark! Go to https://surfshark.com/connectmitchell or use code CONNECTMITCHELL at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN! Join The Patreon For Bonus Content! https://www.patreon.com/theconnectshow 00:00 Inside Medellín's Drug-Infested Neighborhoods 03:00 How the Drug Trade Shifted in Medellín 06:00 Medellín's Rise from the Cartel Era 09:45 This Episode Is Sponsored By CashApp 11:14 Pablo Escobar's Legacy and Tourist Boom 14:00 Transformation of Barrio Pablo Escobar 16:16 This Episode Is Sponsored By FRE and SurfShark 18:00 The End of Medellín Cartels and the New Drug Economy 20:55 The Shocking Chemicals In Cocaine: The Process Explained 26:00 Basuco: The Toxic Byproduct and Its Epidemic 30:00 Gang Control and Neighborhood Drug Markets 34:00 Rise of Urban Gangs and Pacified Violence 37:00 Personal Stories from Medellín's Underbelly 41:00 The New International Drug Trade 44:00 Why Medellín Remains Safe Despite the Drugs 48:00 Final Thoughts and What's Next Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	God damn.
0:02.0	This is the tenderloin on Mark McGuire's steroids, Doug.
0:08.0	Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
0:13.0	God damn.
0:16.0	Fool.
0:18.0	Whoa, fucking A, dude. Whoa. Whoa, fucking A, dude.
0:21.6	Oh boy.
0:24.6	That is heavy.
0:27.6	I hung out in the most dangerous, drug-infested neighborhoods inside of what used to be the most dangerous city on planet Earth, Medellín, Colombia.
0:42.3	These neighborhoods, which the locals call Oishas, literally meaning a hole or a ditch, make the slums in American cities look like relatively safe places by comparison.
0:51.3	I've never seen anything like it. Thousands and thousands of burnt-out
0:55.9	drug addicts openly selling and using Basuko, which as you're about to learn is South America's
1:01.6	version of crack cocaine, except it's about a hundred times dirtier than crack and a thousand times cheaper.
1:07.2	Oisjahs like these are dotted throughout Medellin and are a vital source of income
1:11.5	for the urban Pandas, or the gangs, who have taken over the criminal rackets in Colombian
1:16.4	cities ever since the fall of Pablo Escobar and the Kingpin era of the 1990s. This is the evolution
1:22.6	of the criminal underworld in Colombia. We're in Medellin, obviously the birthplace of international cocaine trafficking.
1:30.3	This is where it all began.
1:32.3	Pablo, the Ochoas, gotcha, all of the biggest drug lords that everybody knows about.
1:37.3	They populated these different neighborhoods, and this was where they took the work, they
1:43.3	refined it, and then they
1:45.2	exported it to the rest of the world. And now 40 years later, that business model is completely
	...

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