The Syndicate
Imperative Entertainment and Foxtopus Ink
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.
Cover Up: Ministry of Secrets
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 — a wartime hero and international celebrity. But that’s ju
New Series: Operation Morning Light
On a January night in 1978, a white light burned through the sub-Arctic sky. It was Cosmos 954, a nuclear-powered Soviet espionage satellite that had malfunctioned and fallen to earth. As the satellite disintegrated, it scattered dangerously radioactive debris across the vast traditional lands of the Dene, Métis, and Inuit in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Operation Morning Light tells the story of the Cosmos 954 disaster, its impact on the land, and the resilience of the communities in th
Wondery Presents: Frozen Head
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 filled with dead pets, gold coins, grenades, fist fights, mysterio
New Series: The Cost of Happiness: Tony Hsieh
Billionaire Zappos founder and tech CEO Tony Hsieh was obsessed with happiness and helping people achieve it. After running “the world’s happiest company” for two decades, Hsieh created his experimental community — The Downtown Project — dedicated to pursuing happiness. But what do Tony's life and death reveal about Silicon Valley’s obsession with re-imagining how society functions?"A gripping tale" - The GuardianListen and follow now: https://link.chtbl.com/costofhappiness Learn more about your
Special Preview Episode: Elizabeth the First. The Early Years
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 she knew herself to be.Headline News says ‘I love Elizabet
New Series: The Paddlefish Caviar Heist
Warsaw, Missouri, is a small, rural town of just over 2,000 people in the American Midwest. Locally it’s known as the “quiet end of the Lake of the Ozarks.” Very few realize that it’s the paddlefish capital of the world. But when a new group arrived driving flashy, imported cars and dropping hundreds of dollars on bait and tackle, the town became the setting for an undercover federal sting operation tasked with bringing down a suspected international caviar poaching ring. Financial Times says Pa
Amazon Music Presents COLD: The Search for Sheree
Sheree Warren left her job in Salt Lake City on a mild October evening in 1985. She told a coworker she was headed to meet her estranged husband, Charles Warren, at a car dealership. But she never made it, Sheree vanished. When her car mysteriously surfaced weeks later, hundreds of miles away in Las Vegas, no one could say how it got there. When a young mother disappears under unexplained circumstances, police always turn suspicious eyes towards the husband. And although there was distrust aroun
New Series: Devil Town
Fear and hysteria grip the small town of Gilmer, Texas, when the search for missing teenager Kelly Wilson takes a series of bizarre and shocking turns. Thirty years later, journalist Wes Ferguson returns home to uncover what really happened to Kelly, who has never been found, in this wild, 10-episode true crime podcast. Listen now: https://link.chtbl.com/deviltown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Introducing: Wolves Among Us, Season 1, The Larry Lavin Story
On the surface, there was nothing remarkable about Larry Lavin. He lived in a quiet neighborhood with his wife and family, drove a Volvo, and practiced dentistry in Philadelphia. But, from 1978 to 1984, Dr. Lavin ran one of the largest cocaine enterprises on the entire eastern seaboard. Through the voices and perspectives of law enforcement, drug runners, friends, business associates and Larry Lavin himself, Wolves Among Us, Season One, The Larry Lavin Story, tells the story of Lavin’s dual life
New Series: In the Land of Lies
From Sean Kipe and Imperative Entertainment comes the story of former Georgia police officer Michael Chapel, convicted of the 1993 robbery and brutal murder of Emogene Thompson and sentenced to life in prison. However, with the recent surfacing of new information, Chapel’s story may have taken a dramatic turn – one that could potentially prove his innocence. Kipe takes a deep dive into Chapel’s past to find the unbelievable truth behind a story that involves corrupt police officers, crime rings,
Wondery Presents: Fed Up
When Emily Gellis hears rumors of people suffering horrible side effects from a trendy diet she springs into action. Armed with over a hundred thousand Instagram followers, Emily launches a social media crusade to expose F-Factor and its founder, Tanya Zuckerbrot. It’s the start of a feud that will attract trolls, lawyers, and, eventually, national media all because of fiber. From Wondery, this is a story about wealth, wellness, and influence hosted by Casey Wilson. Listen to Fed Up: wondery.fm
Introducing: Who Killed Daphne
When a car bomb kills Daphne Caruana Galizia on the beautiful Mediterranean island of Malta, the hunt for her killers exposes secrets with consequences that go far beyond its shores. In the aftermath of her death an international team of journalists comes together to continue her work. Along the way they start to uncover clues that might lead to her killers. From Wondery, comes a new story about power, corruption and one woman’s fight for the truth. Hosted by investigative reporter Stephen Grey.
Wondery Presents: Blood Ties Season 3 – “Strange Days”
Our family members are not always who we think. When Eleonore Richland exposed her father’s dark legacy, she vowed to clean up the family business – and hired her half-brother, Santino Reyes, to help her do it. But old habits die hard. In the shocking new third season, Eleonore reckons with what her father always taught her growing up: medicine is a bloody business. From Wondery, the makers of “The Shrink Next Door” and “Dr. Death,” Blood Ties stars Gillian Jacobs (Community, Love), Christian Na
Wondery Presents: Scamfluencers
You never really know someone…especially online. In today’s world, the power of influence can be the quickest path to money and fame, and it often ends in ruin. These are the stories of the world’s most insidious Scamfluencers. And we are their prey. On Wondery’s new weekly series, join co-hosts Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi as they unpack epic stories of deception from the worlds of social media, fashion, finance, health, and wellness. These influencers claim to be everything from charismatic hea
Imperative Presents: Standoff
A new series on the 1974 Huntsville, TX prison siege, one of the most infamous hostage crises in American history that played out in dramatic fashion over 11 days – all in front of a terrified national audience. 100 hours of newly uncovered audio containing the actual hostage negotiations and the deadly shoot-out tell the story like never before.Listen now: https://link.chtbl.com/standoffLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Imperative Entertainment presents 'American Coyote'
Subscribe today: https://link.chtbl.com/americancoyote
What happens when a California-born tour guide and father of five finds two Guatemalan stowaways in the back of his tour van while on a trip to Mexico? A legend is born. This is American Coyote.
American Coyote is a new 10-episode series out right now. Subscribe today to start listening: https://link.chtbl.com/americancoyote
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A POTTED PLANT HISTORY | Bonus Episode 2
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
FOLLOW THE MONEY | Bonus Episode 1
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
ALL GONE TO POT | Chapter 8
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
OPERATION GOLDEN GO-FER | Chapter 7
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
FAMILY MAN | Chapter 6
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
ALMOST LEGAL | Chapter 5
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
PEST CONTROL | Chapter 4
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
MORE PATIENTS, MORE PLANTS | Chapter 3
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
SETTING UP SHOP | Chapter 2
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
THE DRUG RUNNER | Chapter 1
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.
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Trailer: The Syndicate
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