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The Syndicate

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Buried cash. DEA moles. Sibling rivalries. Skydiving planes. Fast cars. And an exploding hash lab. A group of college friends took advantage of Colorado’s medical marijuana laws to create one of the longest, most lucrative smuggling runs in U.S. history. But when a drug mule flipped, the whole enterprise came crashing down— and revealed how the marijuana black market is not just evolving in the era of legal weed, but thriving.
Series launches August 11.

ALL GONE TO POT | Chapter 8

The Syndicate

  • 670 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 39:36

Lifelong friendships and familial bonds shatter as law enforcement pressures members of the Syndicate into ratting on one another to avoid lengthy prison sentences. But looking back, did their outcomes consitute justice? And what did “Operation Golden Go-Fer” mean for marijuana's black market? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OPERATION GOLDEN GO-FER | Chapter 7

The Syndicate

  • 620 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 42:25

After Joe Johnson flips and becomes an informant, the noose starts to tighten around the Syndicate. In October 2014, police execute 18 simultaneous search warrants, bringing down the entire enterprise with SWAT teams and over a hundred armed police officers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

FAMILY MAN | Chapter 6

The Syndicate

  • 660 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 46:13

The backstory of the Syndicate's kingpin. We explore Tri's motivations, his history with the Syndicate's key distributor in Minnesota, and why he reacted the way he did when things in Denver started to go terribly sideways. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

PEST CONTROL | Chapter 4

The Syndicate

  • 880 views
  • over 3 years ago
  • 45:14

Even as the Syndicate's growing network expands, distribution remains a problem. Getting the organization’s product across state borders is as risky as it is profitable. And early on, the Syndicate goes through growing pains and personnel issues.

MORE PATIENTS, MORE PLANTS | Chapter 3

The Syndicate

  • 930 views
  • over 3 years ago
  • 33:57

Tri takes his marijuana business from a cottage industry to full scale industrialization with growing facilities all over Denver. The weed mogul also devises ways to perfect his "caregiving" model to fool cannabis regulators, all the while hiding his criminal activities in plain sight.

SETTING UP SHOP | Chapter 2

The Syndicate

  • 730 views
  • over 3 years ago
  • 41:01

Andrew Cohen moves to Colorado to help his longtime college friend Tri Nguyen start a marijuana business. But when Tri throws a duffle bag filled with cash and a GPS tracker off the side of a mountain in the Rockies, Cohen begins to realize the business is not exactly above-board.

THE DRUG RUNNER | Chapter 1

The Syndicate

  • 1.1K views
  • over 3 years ago
  • 32:03

In June 2014, a Kansas State Patrolman pulls over a minivan on a routine traffic stop, only to discover $374,000, a gun, and 66 pounds of pot stuffed into the rear luggage compartment. The roadside bust seems insignificant, but will ultimately lead to the takedown of a multimillion dollar criminal enterprise. Welcome to The Syndicate.

Trailer: The Syndicate

The Syndicate

  • 600 views
  • over 3 years ago
  • 01:42

A group of college friends gamed Colorado’s marijuana laws and made millions in the most sophisticated black market growing operation we’ve seen in America since states began legalizing pot. This 10-episode, narrative podcast follows the group’s rise... and spectacular fall. Series launches August 11.