Sam Quinones, bestselling author of The Least of Us, tells Clayton and Greg the harrowing story of how one man known as el Cerebro (the Brain) introduced the Sinaloa Drug cartel to fentanyl in 2005. The cartel’s discovery of synthetic opioids forever changed the illicit drug market and sparked a crisis that has contributed to over 100,000 deaths a year in the United States alone.

The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.