A while ago, a man walked into our Berlin office claiming to be
a big-time weed dealer.
And he said despite making tens of thousands of euros every month,
he wanted to get out of the game.
His reason? The weed business is a lot dirtier than most people think.
So before he stops dealing for good,
he wanted to tell us what’s really going wrong.
I’m heading to Banks’ hometown,
where he’s asked me to meet him in a parking garage.
Hi.
Just this morning, Banks has received a delivery.
He wants to tell us about a new danger
with the weed that he’s selling,
so we head to his bunker to see his stash.
But something has gone wrong with the product in recent years,
and that is the first subject
on which Banks wants to blow the whistle.
But whilst the cannabis trade is in the hands of criminals like Banks,
toxic weed is not the only problem.
Banks sources his material from organized crime in the Netherlands.
He communicates with his contacts using a specially encrypted phone.
Banks showed me an example of the casual violence
at even low levels of the weed trade,
a video he received from one of his clients.
Banks arranges a drop on the other side of town.
Later, the German police would confirm to us
that chemicals and weed have become a massive problem,
and that they have been linked to injuries,
psychosis, and even death.
If the risk is so low and the money so good,
I’m wondering whether Banks will really manage to get himself
out of the business.