More to the point "Narcos" is entertaining as judged by the number of viewers. For the purpose of this post I will note the importance of the evil doings, but well aware that many find it entertaining while admitting there is a lot of be learned.
Cocaine in this series started in a lab in Chile. The dictator there, Allende clamped down on refiners, killing without much need for court approval. One Chilean identified Colombia as being the best at smuggling and Pablo Escobar, the most talented. The target market was the United States, initially Miami where marijuana had been the drug of choice, but soon cocaine took over..
Escobar soon calculated the opportunity was massive and decided to divide the market and pool their resources for the drug traffickers. Before too long the biggest problem was what to do with all the money. One solution was to bury it and over time laundering. Escobar had a company of three taxis that made more money than many large companies. He also was charitable which helped him gain public acceptance and aim to be a politician that failed.
Richard Nixon signed into law that any banking transaction over $10,000 needed to be reported--this initiated more laundering procedures
Politics plays a critical role. In Colombia there is a battle between those who want to tamp it down, while others have been corrupted. In the U.S. we follow first Richard Nixon who does try to police it, but it keeps growing. The D.E.A. sends down agents to try to stop it at the source. Ronald Reagan at first does not give it priority, until he learns that the criminals are using Nicaragua and Cuba to transport the drugs and decides to give more aid to stop the communist invasion.
The series focuses on efforts by the D.E.A. They do stop some minor dealers and are well aware of Escobar and the other cartel members, but are limited in what can be done. The American regular, ?? was supposed to be head of janitorial services but working for D.E.A. moves to Bogota with wife and at one point adopt a child whose parents had been killed in gang wars. His partner Javier Pena spoke Spanish and enjoyed the Colombian sex scene. They had a rivalry with the C.I.A. and the two were often counter productive.
Socialists wanting to tear down the government used kidnapping rich offspring to finance their activities. They sometimes teamed up with the cartel.
As their business progressed often their greatest danger was other members of the cartel. Escobar very cleverly figured they could still do trafficking and be better protected in prison. They negotiated their own prison which was more like a luxury resort that included regular visits from prostitutes with no police or military within 2 miles. The D.E.A. was not fooled and eventually forced them out.
Bill Clinton developed a list that led to sanctions that proved to be a useful threat to get information
In the 3rd season the focus shifts to Cali under the Rodriguez Brothers who partnered with Mexicans. It was pointed out that the 1,954 mile (3,145 kilometer) border was easy to penetrate. They tried to set up their own prison, although it was not luxurious, they did make moves from there.
For many the appeal was the violence and/or the sex. The violence was relentless and gross. Ruthlessness was very common as it not only removes some troublesome people, but also intimidates others. One of the rewards of power was sex and there was a lot of that. Sometimes sex was part of a power move. On the other hand the cartel leaders were very family oriented. There was suspense as both sides were in danger of betrayal with many attempts to assassinate the bad guys or witnesses. Another frowned upon activity (at least by me) was smoking, some of which was for pot and very common and not just the bad guys.
For other viewers the scenery was impressive. Colombia is a beautiful country with the three cities Cali, Bogota and Medellin were all photogenic and there would be some beach scenes.
Unlike in the U.S., the Columbia Attorney General is appointed by the Supreme Court.
Often overlooked in the drug wars, including currently, demand should be an obvious point to attack. The only reason why ruthless behavior is so well rewarded is the insatiable demand for cocaine. Poor people are desperate to make money which is why the drug lords can find runners willing to risk their lives and corruptible bureaucrats. Too many people feel their lives are meaningless.
It took a tremendous number of talented people to put this series together. Here are only a few.
Andres Baiz was one of the directors. He has 16 director credits, 8 for producing, 7 for writing and 2 for the production department. There were 7 other experienced directors.
Three writers were given credit for creating the series: Carlo Bernard, Chris Brancato and Doug Miro. In addition 24 other writers were involved.
Pedro Bromfman composed the music. He has 40 composing credits and 14 for the music department.
For the thirty episodes they used 5 experienced cinematographers: Adrian Tejido, Carmn Cabana, Juan Carlos Gil, Lula Carvalho and Luis Davis Sansans.
They used 10 experienced editors: Matthew V. Colonna, Trevor Baker, Luis Carballar, Leo Trombtta, Nathan Gunn, Chris McCaleb, Ryan Jones, Jon Otazua, Victor Du Bois, and Alex Marquez.
Pedro Pascal played Javier Pena and was the only actor to appear in all 30 episodes. Just before he was born in Chile, Pinochet with a coup d'etat caused his family to flee with Pedro growing up in Denmark and the United States. He has 71 acting credits, 1 for producing and 3 for soundtrack including "Gladiator II" (2022) and "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" (2022).
Wagner Moura played the infamous Pablo Escobar. Born in Brazil he had to learn Spanish and gain 40 pounds for the role. He started as a journalist. He has been active in theatre, not too long ago doing a Portuguese version of "An Enemy of the People". See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/12/a-norwegian-masterpiece-captured-by.html This past year he became the first South American actor to win best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. Wagner has 52 acting credits, 5 for producing and 2 for directing including "VIPs" (2010), "Elysium" (2013), "Into the Amazon"(2018), "Wasp Network" (2020) and "Civil War" (2022).
Boyd Holbrook played Steve Murphy, a D.E.A. agent. At one point he had been a part time carpenter for the Jenny Wiley Theatre in Kentucky before getting acting breaks. Boyd has 47 acting credits, 2 for producing and 1 for writing including "Milk" (2009) and "Gone Girl" (2014).
Paulina Garcia, born in Chile played the wife of a Colombian president. She taught acting and was a theatre playwright. She has 53 credits for acting, 1 for producing and 10 for directing including "Gloria" (2013).
Damian Alcazar played Gilberto Rodriguez, a key cartel leader in Cali. He studied acting at the Theatre Faculty of Veracruz University where he later became a teacher. Heavily involved with two Mexican theatre companies. Damian has 144 acting credits and 2 as producer.
Francisco Denis played Miguel the other notorious Rodriguez brother. He runs (or ran) a theatre group in Venezuela. Francisco has 25 acting credits, 3 for directing and 3 for writing.
"Narcos" is available subtitled and dubbed on Netflix. It has already been well publicized for violence and sex so there should not be too many surprises.
As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have viewed.
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