I trafficked $5 million worth of cocaine internationally — here's the full story of how I did it

Pieter Tritton, a former cocaine smuggler, tells BI about his experience trafficking drugs from Ecuador and Colombia to the United Kingdom.

Business Feb 28, 2024 0 47 Add to Reading List

I trafficked $5 million worth of cocaine internationally — here's the full story of how I did it

Pieter Tritton, a former cocaine smuggler, returns for a second interview with Business Insider about his experience trafficking drugs from South America to the United Kingdom. Tritton says he started selling cocaine in the illegal rave scene in the UK in the 2000s. He then established a cartel connection and began importing cocaine to Europe in larger quantities.

Tritton was arrested in Ecuador and served 10 years in prison there, first in Garcia Moreno in Quito, and later in Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, which is one of the world's most violent and corrupt prisons.

He now works as a public speaker on the dangers of drugs, consults with the UK police force, and is writing a follow-up to his 2017 memoir, "El Infierno: Drugs, Gangs, Riots and Murder: My time inside Ecuador's toughest prisons."

The National Crime Agency estimates the UK cocaine market is worth $13.8 billion, or £11 billion, a year. In the year ending March 2023, over 92 metric tons of illegal drugs were seized by police and Border Force, the highest volume since 2003 to 2004.