Hot Money: The New Narcos
Hot Money is back. In this series, Financial Times reporter Miles Johnson investigates a mysterious murder in a small town that leads to a web of drugs, money laundering and state-sponsored assassinations stretching from Dublin to Dubai. At the centre is a cocaine super cartel that is revolutionising the global drugs market. This eight-part investigative podcast, published twice-weekly, probes the links between criminals and legitimate businesses, and between governments and gangsters.
Our Editor's Take
The story of the podcast Hot Money: The New Narcos begins on a winter morning in 2015. Police discover a murdered 50-year-old electrician, Ali Motamet, in the suburbs of Amsterdam. His cause of death is a bullet to the head. It's clean and precise, which leads law enforcement to believe it's an assassination. However, they can't figure out a motive for this crime. Local crime journalist Paul Vooks wrote a short article about the murder and went on with his day. Months later, he still couldn't stop thinking about the crime.
Vook's concerns received validation when a source encouraged him to keep investigating. In his research, Vooks discovered that Motamet was not who people thought. Mohammed Reza Kolahi Samadi was his real name. When he was 23, he set off a bomb that killed 74 people of the Islamic Republican Party. He escaped to The Netherlands to avoid a death sentence. Understanding the motive for the murder is only the beginning of the story. The rest of the tale continues across borders. It involves several governments, drugs, and a Dubai super-cartel. Journalist Miles Johnson expands on Vook's reporting. He delivers a captivating and surprising narrative on Hot Money: The New Narcos.
The podcast host has always had an interest in the way crime and business intersect. In Johnson's investigative work for The Financial Times, he's written about Russian billionaires. His reporting shares that the corrupt businessmen have a personal army of assassins. The journalist reported on the Italian Mafia, which launders their money through London. In Johnson's eyes, crime is a business. Those criminal organizations sometimes have thousands of employees, supply chains, and investment portfolios.
The global black market is worth trillions of dollars. It impacts everything happening in the world, including the trade of weapons and war. It's often hard to see, making it harder to report on. With Hot Money: The New Narcos, Johnson manages to find a way in. In a thrilling podcast, Johnson reveals how one drug cartel is responsible for so much mayhem worldwide.
Season 2
Season 1
