Pure Hell: Tracing Cocaine from Colombia to Canada
Introduction
Pure Hell: Tracing Cocaine from Colombia to Canada follows the global cocaine trade from the waters off Colombia to Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation in Labrador, showing how high-purity cocaine is reaching even remote parts of Canada. Produced by CBC in 2025, the investigation examines how rising cocaine production, organized crime, and shifting drug markets are contributing to a growing public health crisis.
Through on-the-ground reporting, Pure Hell follows law enforcement efforts to intercept cocaine shipments while also documenting the impact of addiction in Sheshatshiu, where community members are fighting to prevent further loss. The film connects the international drug trade to the realities faced by one First Nations community, highlighting the human cost of trafficking, addiction, and limited access to support.
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Quotes
"Peter Penashue as always been a voice for his people. A protester, former Grand Chief, Federal MP and the first Inuit Cabinent Minister. But his latest campaign saw him ditch politics and peaceful protests in favor of a crowbar."
"There's obviously a crisis in the community and I don't get a sense that people see it as a crisis. I don't sense that [the] RCMP are seeing it as a crisis. Every time I've spoken to them, they're going for the big fish. Well, forget about trying to catch the big fish, go after the people that are actually selling it in the community and who are pushing it."
"[Project Beehive] 17 of those little fish were arrested in a major sweep of Central Labrador. The man who allegedly tangled with the Penashue's [was] charged with trafficking cocaine. Police seized cash, meth, heroin, even nitazene, a strong synthetic opioid, but there was something about that cocaine that took even the most seasoned investigators by surprise."
"In 2009, when I started in [the] drug section, if we seized a kilo of cocaine, that was a big seizure. Since then, the amount of cocaine that we're seizing has gone up dramatically. The other thing I've noticed is that we're finding guns on almost every search warrant that we do … everything we seized was between 94% and 96% [of] pure cocaine, which is unheard of."
"Newfoundland and Labrador has seen a sharp increase in accidental drug deaths – a 221% spike in 10 years. Now look at cocaine: an increase of over 1,000% in the same time frame, while the rest of the country has been focused on fentanyl, cocaine remains the biggest killer in Newfoundland and Labrador."
"There was hope in 2016 when the Colombian government signed a peace agreement with the Revolutionary Army controlling much of the cocaine trade. But that failed when the government went back on its promises to compensate cocoa farmers to switch to other crops. The cartels flooded, in violence resumed and cocaine production skyrocketed. With the markets flooded, Peachman says dealers no longer need to dilute their products to maximize their profits."
"Cocaine bound for Canada usually lands in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic or the United States. From there can travel by air ship or land, arriving in central locations like Montreal, where it moves east and west to far-reaching corners of the country."
"This is Operation CARIBBE, Canada's effort to cut down on the surge of cocaine moving through the Caribbean."
"This is Apenam's House: an 8-week residential treatment program. The counsellors, all in recovery themselves, saw record demand this winter. 30 people signed up to live together and hopefully leave sober. There's companionship, three square meals and music."
"We don't want to keep seeing our people die because of drugs and alcohol. Our people are hurting and they use that to escape their pain. They think that's the only way out, that's all they know."
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