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Luis Navia
Photo Credit: © Jesse Fink


Luis Navia, born in Havana in 1955, worked for nearly 25 years as a cocaine trafficker for the deadliest Colombian and Mexican cartels until he was arrested in the multinational takedown Operation Journey in 2000. He was released in 2005 and began a new career in construction. Today he also runs his own consulting business for private clients and liaises with the US Government in matters related to antinarcotics law enforcement. He is the co-author with Jesse Fink of Pure Narco.

Books by Luis Navia

Pure Narco

How does a young student majoring in Portuguese at Georgetown University in Washington, DC become one of the biggest drug smugglers on Earth? And how does he survive 25 years in the trade – and encounters with some of its most powerful and ruthless figures, from Pablo Escobar to Narcos: Mexico’s Alberto Sicilia Falcón – when he hates violence and never carries a gun?

In his decades in the business, the savvy, charismatic Luis Navia was responsible for hundreds of tonnes of cocaine making their way across the globe. In the process, he became a multimillionaire, but while living as a fugitive spent heavily on a lavish but wasteful lifestyle. All while Luis – torn between guilt and adrenalin – tried to maintain a semblance of normal family life as he frequently veered out of control.

In Pure Narco, Australian author Jesse Fink brilliantly tells this incredible story through the eyes of Luis, his family, and his wife and former lovers – as well as the relentless American law-enforcement officials who finally swooped and brought him to justice. It’s a white-powdered, white-knuckle ride you’ll never forget.

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Pure Narco by Jesse Fink and Luis Navia

In Pure Narco, Australian author Jesse Fink brilliantly tells this incredible story through the eyes of Luis, his family, and his wife and former lovers – as well as the relentless American law-enforcement officials who finally swooped and brought him to justice. It’s a white-powdered, white-knuckle ride you’ll never forget. https://www.penguin.com.au/books/pure-narco-9780143796275

Article
Writing Pure Narco

Jesse Fink reveals the machinations of writing a book with one of the biggest drug traffickers the world has ever known.