How Shipping Container Drug Trafficking Actually Works | How Crime Works | Insider

Andrew Pritchard was arrested for smuggling $130 million dollars worth of cocaine through the Caribbean to Europe using shipping containers in the 1990s and 2000s.

Pritchard initially smuggled cocaine for the UK club scene using hard-sided suitcases packed with concealed drugs and decoy luggage to evade airport security. He then began smuggling from Guyana to the Caribbean to the UK, shipping in containers packed with legal goods such as fruit.

In 2004, he went to meet a shipment of cocaine disguised as counterfeit cigars, which was seized by a Customs task force. Following two trials and 18 months on remand, Pritchard was acquitted. In 2013, he was arrested in a dramatic high-speed chase and later sentenced to 15 years for intent to supply and perverting the course of justice. He served his sentence in Belmarsh prison in the UK.

Pritchard has published two biographies: "Urban Smuggler" in 2008 and "Empire of Dirt" in 2026. He runs an ex-offender charity, the AP Foundation, to discourage young people in the UK from crime.

For more:
https://apfoundation.org.uk/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Empire-Dirt-Identity-Corruption-Redemption/dp/1919372601/?tag=70050d8-20

Read "After he was arrested in connection with over $130 million worth of cocaine-packed coconuts, he swore he was done with crime. It didn't last": https://bit.ly/3NRCcR6

00:00 - Intro
00:34 - The Network
03:54 - The Suppliers
06:01 - The Containers
11:12 - Clearing Customs
13:00 - The Distribution
14:26 - The Money
16:10 - The Violence
18:11 - The Purity
19:31 - The Planes
22:58 - The Backstory
25:13 - Weed Smuggling
28:57 - The Music
31:08 - The Fall
37:13 - The Trial
42:25 - The Aftermath
44:50 - The Future
49:38 - The Credits

------------------------------------------------------
#cocainetrafficking #drugsmugglers #howcrimeworks

MORE HOW CRIME WORKS VIDEOS:
How Outlaw Biker Gangs (The Mongols) Actually Work
https://youtu.be/_eCFNet6VLA
How Corrupt NYPD Cops Actually Work
https://youtu.be/pzKmnBJajMY
How Hit Men Actually Work
https://youtu.be/AhlCxiCLe7I

Insider's mission is to inform and inspire.

Visit our homepage for the top stories of the day: https://www.businessinsider.com/
Insider on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/insider
Insider on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insider
Insider on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thisisinsider
Insider on Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/discover/Insider/2708030621
Insider on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@insider

How Cocaine Trafficking Actually Works (By Sea) | How Crime Works | Insider