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

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 Elizabeth the First’ and the Toronto Star says the podcast is ‘sumptuously produced’. Find out what all the buzz is about by listening to the full series right now: https://link.chtbl.com/elizabeththefirst Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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, mysterious packages, family feuds, Hall of Fame baseball legends, and frozen heads — lots of frozen heads. From Wondery, comes a story about life, death, and what comes next. Follow Frozen Head on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge early and ad-free by subscribing to Wondery+ in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery App.   Listen to Frozen Head:  Wondery.fm/FH_TS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 just the starting point. It involves the royal family, MI6, the CIA and the KGB. There’s conspiracies. And lies. This story is so sensitive, so secret - that the truth is being withheld for 100 years, until 2057. Presenter Giles Milton and producer Sarah Peters are on a quest to find out why… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices