Pure Narco tells the tale of arguably America’s biggest cocaine trafficker and his capture in Venezuela during one of the biggest antinarcotics takedowns of all time. But it is more than that; Pure Narco is unique in that it is a story of a family caught up in a life on the run and Luis Navia’s adjustment to civilian life after prison.

For a quarter century, Luis Antonio Navia worked as a high-level cocaine transporter for all of the major Colombian and Mexican drug cartels, including Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Cartel, and flooded the United States and Europe with cocaine before his dramatic arrest in Venezuela in 2000 during the 12-nation Operation Journey.

The story of Navia’s rise, fall, takedown, imprisonment, and redemption is expertly researched and told by acclaimed biographer Jesse Fink, who has gathered interviews with Navia, Navia’s family, and a dozen law-enforcement agents in the United States and Great Britain from agencies such as the DEA, ICE and Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise (now Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs). Told in vivid detail, this true crime story will captivate the reader from start to finish.

Maps

Foreword: The Trip by DEA Special Agent (Retired) Eric Kolbinsky

Introduction: Life on a Coin Toss by Jesse Fink

Prologue: Do the Right Thing

PART 1: TAKEDOWN

Chapter 1 El Senador

Chapter 2 The Venezuelan Job

Chapter 3 Midnight Run

Chapter 4 The Cab Ride

Chapter 5 Flight to Maracaibo

Chapter 6 Into the Black

Chapter 7 The Gringo

PART 2: ROCK ’N’ ROLL DRUMMER

Chapter 8 Silver Platter

Chapter 9 Tom Sawyer Land

Chapter 10 Grams in Georgetown

Chapter 11 The FM Scam

Chapter 12 Deathtrap

PART 3: BISCAYNE BANDIDO

Chapter 13 La Mona

Chapter 14 Sucking Tit for Milk

Chapter 15 Blue Boxes

Chapter 16 Stalin in the Flesh

Chapter 17 Disco Champagne

Chapter 18 Drive, He Said

Chapter 19 Ballad of a Well-Known Gun

PART 4: THE NETWORK

Chapter 20 Navia’s 11

Chapter 21 Dirty Work

Chapter 22 Dead-Shark Eyes

Chapter 23 Night Train

PART 5: WILD WEST

Chapter 24 Santa Marta Gold

Chapter 25 The Spaghetti Incident

Chapter 26 Kilo of Thorns

Chapter 27 River of Blood

Chapter 28 Sugar King of Palm Beach County

PART 6: WAR ZONE

Chapter 29 Five Units of Fercho

Chapter 30 Body in a Barrel

Chapter 31 Going Down

Chapter 32 The Night They Shot Galán

Chapter 33 Two Toucans

Chapter 34 Death at Dog Rocks

PART 7: SCARFACE

Chapter 35 Felony Favors

Chapter 36 The Wake

Chapter 37 Real Crazy Motherfuckers

Chapter 38 The Prisoner of Cartago

PART 8: BLAME IT ON CANCÚN

Chapter 39 Fire in the Lake

Chapter 40 Chasing a Ghost

Chapter 41 Dead in the Water

Chapter 42 The Board Meeting

Chapter 43 The Firm

PART 9: MAGOO IN MEXICO

Chapter 44 Dinner with Alberto

Chapter 45 Airdrops and Raindrops

Chapter 46 The Crocodile Thing

Chapter 47 Out of Breath

PART 10: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

Chapter 48 I Don’t Like Cocaine (I Love It)

Chapter 49 The Separation

Chapter 50 The Postcard

Chapter 51 Burnt Out

Chapter 52 Under the Gun

Chapter 53 The Heat

PART 11: AN INFILTRATED SITUATION

Chapter 54 The Phone Call

Chapter 55 The Butterfly Effect

Chapter 56 The Snitch

Chapter 57 Shitting Match

Chapter 58 Atlantic Crossing

Chapter 59 Nick the Fish

Chapter 60 Clear and Present Danger

PART 12: SOWING THE SEEDS OF LOVE

Chapter 61 The Business Deal

Chapter 62 The Roadmap

Chapter 63 Closed Doors

Chapter 64 Rule 35

Chapter 65 The Typewriter Room

Chapter 66 God Exists

PART 13: FLICK OF THE SWITCH

Chapter 67 Everything Kills People

Chapter 68 Team America

Chapter 69 Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter 70 The Forbidden Apple

Chapter 71 There Is No War

Chapter 72 Crossing the Line

PART 14: THE BELLY OF THE BEAST

Chapter 73 Stockholm Syndrome

Chapter 74 Collateral Damage

Chapter 75 The Heaven Part of Hell

Chapter 76 Crooked Road

Chapter 77 On the Hook

Epilogue: The Icepick

Narco Nicknames

Characters

Acronyms

Gazetteer

Operation Journey: By the Numbers

Glossary

Criminal Organizations

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

Endnotes

Index

About the Authors