Pure Narco: One Man's True Story of 25 Years Inside the Cartels
About this book
‘Gripping story ... fascinating ... those interested in how the illegal drug trade and law enforcement interact will be rewarded.’– Publishers Weekly ‘Pure Narco is an unbelievable insider's look at the life and times of a real narco. During his 25-year criminal career, Luis Navia learned to work with all of the major Colombian cocaine manufacturing and distribution organisations, something not easily done, and miraculously survived to tell his tale. Jesse Fink and Navia provide a detailed and uncensored look at the underbelly of the beast, the international cocaine trade, and give an account that even most experienced law-enforcement professionals never see.’– Steve Murphy, DEA Special Agent (Retired) who hunted down Pablo Escobar‘In August 2000, a joint–law enforcement investigation between the U.S. and the British government resulted in the dismantling of a large drug-smuggling ring. Tons of drugs were seized, and arrests were made. Navia, a man who walked a tightrope of criminality and legitimacy, was nabbed after operating in the drug underworld for 25 years. Of Cuban heritage, Navia had worked for Colombia's Medellín and Cali cartels and gradually transferred his skills in working with various cartels in Mexico. He met and sometimes worked with the biggest names in the infamous underground empire: Pablo Escobar, Alberto Sicilia Falcon, the Ochoa Brothers. As recalled to coauthor Fink, Pure Narco amasses Navia's colourful recollections of past exploits in a candid yet guarded fashion. Navia disarms with his charisma and intelligence; his remorse is a little less apparent. He believes that the war on drugs is a hypocritical war with no end. Navia's insights make for a revelatory look inside the treacherous world of organised crime in this new true-crime classic.’– Booklist‘Intriguing and thought provoking. While there is no perfect formula when it comes to telling a life story...there can be an almost ideal result. A truly gripping and detailed account about a life lived on the edge. A must read.’– C. A. Heifner, author of Mule: My Dangerous Life as a Drug Smuggler Turned DEA Informant‘The best insider account ever written of the global cocaine trade and the outrageous but precarious lives of those at the top.’– Peter Walsh, author of Drug War: The Secret HistoryFor a quarter century, Luis Antonio Navia worked as a high-level cocaine transporter for all of the major Colombian and Mexican drug cartels, including Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel, and flooded the United States and Europe with cocaine before his dramatic arrest in Venezuela in 2000 during the 12-nation Operation Journey. The story of Navia's rise, fall, takedown, imprisonment, and redemption is expertly researched and told by acclaimed biographer Jesse Fink, who has gathered interviews with Navia, Navia's family, and a dozen law-enforcement agents in the United States and Great Britain from agencies such as the DEA, ICE and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise (now Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs). Told in vivid detail, this true crime story will captivate the reader from start to finish.