“Zombieland!” - Dark Web Deals, Fentanyl INC. & Rapper P*do Cult COVERUP | Ben Westhoff • 434
Julian Dorey · 12 Jun 2026 · 2h 44m
Guest: Ben Westhoff · Host: Joey Def, Julian Dorey
Journalist Ben Westhoff walks through how he became one of the leading reporters on the fentanyl crisis, describing the accidental origin of his book Fentanyl Inc. — a rave-death investigation that turned out to be about fentanyl-laced fake ecstasy rather than the ecstasy history he set out to write. He recounts posing as a drug buyer to infiltrate a Chinese fentanyl-precursor lab, detailing how he improvised his cover story, what the lab actually looked like, and how that reporting eventually led to Capitol Hill testimony and policy attention from the Trump administration. The conversation moves through China's tax incentives for chemical exports, the migration of precursor production to India, and current data on falling overdose deaths. A large portion of the episode covers Westhoff's documentary Antagonist, about naltrexone, an underused anti-addiction drug he argues is suppressed because it doesn't generate recurring revenue the way methadone and Suboxone do, and he traces the pharmaceutical industry's history of burying or discrediting it. The discussion broadens into food systems, veganism, sports gambling, surveillance law, and cryptocurrency as parallel examples of systems that profit from exploiting compulsive behavior. Later, Westhoff shifts into his hip-hop reporting background, discussing his investigations into Dr. Dre's history of violence, the mythology built around Death Row Records, and a disturbing exposé on hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa's ties to a cult leader convicted of child abuse, arguing that fame and yes-men create conditions where public figures believe rules no longer apply to them.
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Timestamps link into the episode on YouTube.
- Origins of the fentanyl investigation
- How fentanyl differs from heroin in potency
- China's role and precursor tax rebates
- Capitol Hill testimony and Trump/China policy
- Precursor supply shifting to India
- Naltrexone and the Antagonist documentary
- Suboxone and methadone industry incentives
- Purdue Pharma, Sacklers, and pharma accountability
- Food system, veganism, and factory farming
- Dark web drug markets and dealer interviews
- Dr. Dre and Death Row Records history
- Afrika Bambaataa cult and child abuse cover-up
Said on this episode
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“fentanyl is worse than all these others combined.”