The Syndicate

The Syndicate

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.New episodes publish Tuesday mornings.

Episodes

Trailer: The Syndicate

June 15, 2020 • 3 mins
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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THE DRUG RUNNER | Chapter 1

August 11, 2020 • 34 mins
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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SETTING UP SHOP | Chapter 2

August 11, 2020 • 43 mins
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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MORE PATIENTS, MORE PLANTS | Chapter 3

August 18, 2020 • 36 mins
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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PEST CONTROL | Chapter 4

August 25, 2020 • 44 mins
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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ALMOST LEGAL | Chapter 5

September 1, 2020 • 43 mins
Even as the Syndicate hits its stride as an illegal operation, Tri sets up a big play to go legal. He wants to leave the black market forever. But what will it take -- and what will the Syndicate sacrifice in order to go legit? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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FAMILY MAN | Chapter 6

September 8, 2020 • 45 mins
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 podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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OPERATION GOLDEN GO-FER | Chapter 7

September 15, 2020 • 40 mins
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 podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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ALL GONE TO POT | Chapter 8

September 22, 2020 • 42 mins
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 constitute justice? And what did “Operation Golden Go-Fer” mean for marijuana's black market? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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FOLLOW THE MONEY | Bonus Episode 1

September 29, 2020 • 24 mins
In this first bonus episode, Special Agent Steve Bratten with the Colorado Department of Revenue discusses the prior cases and investigative techniques he devised that informed his investigation of the Syndicate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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A POTTED PLANT HISTORY | Bonus Episode 2

October 6, 2020 • 37 mins
An extended conversation with drug historian Emily Dufton about history of cannabis in the United States, the protagonists who shaped it, and what we might expect for nationwide legalization going forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Special Preview Episode: Elizabeth the First. The Early Years

November 22, 2022 • 33 mins
Here’s your special preview episode of the new series Elizabeth the First – about the remarkable life of Elizabeth Taylor. In this preview, we learn how Elizabeth’s ambitious spirit was unmistakable early in life. The relationship with her parents and the push into the glamour and prestige of Hollywood collided with the reality of a male-dominated business – one that was more interested in making Taylor a product, than the person ...
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Wondery Presents: Frozen Head

January 23, 2023 • 5 mins
Hosted by Ash Kelley and Alaina Urquhart from the hit show Morbid. When 90-year-old Laurence Pilgeram drops dead on the sidewalk outside his condo, you might think that’s the end of his story. But, really, it’s just the beginning. Because Laurence and others like him have signed up to be frozen and brought back to life in the future. And that belief will pull multiple generations of the Pilgeram family into a cryonics soap opera f...
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Cover Up: Ministry of Secrets

March 6, 2023 • 5 mins
Cover Up is a series of investigative stories that take us on a journey into a world of subterfuge and secrecy - a world where the truth is concealed under a blanket of lies. From corrupt individuals to clandestine institutions, Cover Up exposes deceit, deception and the abuse of power.   Season one uncovers the story of The Ministry of Secrets, one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Cold War. At its heart is a missing person —...
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