'La Línea: Shadow of Narco': Netflix docuseries offers an inside look into city's drug-fuelled crime and chaos
The city of La Línea has been subjected to much controversy as a center for drug dealers, operating as a major hub through with drugs are smuggled through due to its bordering of Morocco and Gibraltar. It has garnered so much attention for its drug scandals that the residents of the city object to the Netflix release in the belief that it was harming the town's reputation and damaging its tourism industry. However, crime in La Línea has gotten so bad that there's no ignoring it, and only the constant pressure of police and political attentions can save it -- or at least, that's what the docuseries would have you believe.
Combining on-the-ground footage with interviews with local law enforcement as well as special task forces for the Drug Trafficking Coordination Agency (Organismo de Coordinación del Narcotráfico), the docuseries focuses on just how entrenched drug-related crime is throughout the city, and just what is being done to combat it. Mayor Juan Franco is also given much of a voice, as he talks about how little aid the city receives from higher-ups in the Spanish Government. Given the current political climate involving protesters and the police, the documentary comes at the worst time, feeling in large part like a pro-police propaganda video in their war on drugs.
At the same time, propaganda or not, it's impossible to ignore just how deeply entrenched La Línea's population is into leading lives of crime. With low rates of education, and low rates of income for those who do spend their days working hard to make an honest living, the seemingly easy, high-paying life of a drug runner is hard to ignore. Local children can drop out of school and start earning as much as 1500 euros a day simply acting as lookouts, and only move up the ladder from there -- making it harder and harder for them to have the qualifications necessary to ever work anywhere else.
As the police interviews show, there is an increasing frustration with how they're able to do their jobs. High-paid drug lords are seen as heroes for taking care of their families, financially. Criminals are better funded, better organized, and most dangerously of all, have no need to play by the rules. Some clans even disguise themselves as cops in order to steal drugs from other crime families, further weakening trust in the police. Most frustratingly of all is how flagrant crime is becoming -- one of the major heads of the Castana drug family, Francisco Tejon, even appeared in a rap video while on the run from the police.
However, the documentary ends on a hopeful note, as some major arrests are made and Franco -- painted as the lone voice of reason in a sea of apathy -- is re-elected for a second term. However, both the Mayor and the officers interviewed all warn that without constant pressure, resources, and political support, it won't be long before La Línea descends into absolute chaos again. There are no easy solutions for the crime-ridden streets of La Línea, and fixing it is going to be the work of generations, and that seems to be the point of the documentary -- to call attention to the problem before it's too late.
All episodes of 'La Línea: Shadow of Narco' are now available to stream on Netflix.