Retired DEA Special Agent Steve Murphy on The Opioid Crisis, China’s 100 Year Plan And the Ever Changing Nature of the War on Drugs

Oct 7, 2022

Welcome to The Opioid Matrix: A Journey Into The Rabbit Hole. As the Opioid Crisis continues to ravage the country, what is being done to solve the prevalence of these drugs in our communities? In this episode we are honored to be joined by Retired DEA Special Agent Steve Murphy.


Steve Murphy is a retired DEA Special Agent involved in the successful manhunt for narcotics kingpin Pablo Escobar, and his story formed part of the backbone for the Netflix series Narcos. Mr. Murphy began his law enforcement career in his home state of West Virginia. In the mid 1980s he joined the DEA and was assigned to Miami, Florida, home to an exploding cocaine trade. In 1991 Mr. Murphy was transferred to Bogota, Colombia to track down the Escobar Cocaine Cartel (source).
 

Join us as we discuss:

  • How has the war on drugs changed since his time in Colombia?
  • The role China has played in the production and manufacturing of synthetic opioids
  • How state supported injection sites are changing the conceptions of drug use in America
  • The failure of the Portugal model
  • The importance of diplomatic engagement when it comes to solving the Opioid Crisis

 

 

 

 

Views expressed in this material are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Rigaku Analytical Devices.

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Michael W. Brown is the global director of counter-narcotics technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices. He has a distinguished career spanning more than 32 years as a Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He served as the country attaché in India and Myanmar; During his tour in Myanmar, he provided foreign advisory support for counter narcotic enforcement that, to date, has resulted in the interdiction of over US$250 million in precursor chemicals and implementing the regions first use of Raman spectroscopy to degrade the supply chain for narcotics production. He was also part of a special specialized counter narcotics unit operating in the jungles of South America tasked with locating and destroying drug labs and narcotic supply chains. Most recently he was the DEA Headquarters staff coordinator for the Office of Foreign Operations for the Middle East-Europe-Afghanistan-India. Michael is a graduate of the United States Ranger Training Battalion and has a master’s degree in interdisciplinary technology and management from the University of Eastern Michigan.

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