Photographer Spends 10 Years Documenting the Bloody War on Drugs

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A teenage girl in a school uniform stands on a grassy mountain path, looking at her phone. She wears a red plaid skirt, white shirt, knee-high socks, black shoes, and carries a black backpack. Mountains and clouds are in the background.

A photographer has spent the best part of a decade documenting the War on Drugs — looking at where cocaine comes from and where it ends up.

Consumption and production of cocaine have never been higher, despite more than 50 years of the War on Drugs. For many Europeans and North Americans, cocaine is a party drug. For many Latin Americans, it’s a source of bloodshed, violence, corruption, and death.

Danish photographer Mads Nissen’s new reportage book, Sangre Blanca, is the most significant exploration of the cocaine industry via the medium of photojournalism to date.

It delves into the murky depths of the cocaine trade, examining the human consequences along its journey—from the neglected countryside of Colombia to cartel lands of Mexico, to (c)raving consumers on a European dancefloor. The publication, with photos taken between 2016 and 2025, takes us across countries and continents over almost a decade.

Four people wearing hats work on a foggy, green hillside, filling large white sacks with plants or crops. Lush vegetation and trees surround them in the background.

A person wearing a raincoat carries two large, striped sacks through a dense, green, and misty forest, surrounded by bare, thin branches and lush grass.

A thick cloud of bright blue smoke billows over a grassy field with trees and dense forest in the background under a cloudy sky.

Soldiers in camouflage gear take cover as a military helicopter hovers low to the ground, kicking up dirt and debris in a grassy field with trees and cloudy skies in the background.

Illegal drugs now constitute the world’s largest black market, bringing in corruption, underdevelopment, and extraordinarily high murder rates, particularly in South and Central America. Entire societies and nations are being destabilized. Despite decades of war and countless efforts to stop it, Colombia remains at the epicentre of the business. No country produces more cocaine (approximately two-thirds, according to UNODC), and no country has suffered more. From Colombia, cocaine travels by land, sea, and air to reach buyers, mainly in the U.S. and Europe. At every stop, the cocaine business both gives and takes.

A fire burns intensely inside a rustic, open-sided tent in a forested area, with flames rising from a large container under a makeshift roof, surrounded by trees and dense vegetation.

A group of people carry a colorful casket during a funeral procession outdoors, surrounded by floral wreaths, balloons, and a cloudy sky in the background. Mourners walk closely together in a rural setting.

A young girl in a turquoise shirt lies on a burlap sack on the floor, partially covered with a white sheet, looking thoughtfully at the camera. The background shows plastic barrels and a rustic setting.

A map with various labeled locations and passport-style photos of people attached, connected to different places. The map features areas such as San Pablo, La Angalia, Veracruz, and Pichili.

In Mexico, a key transit hub, the lucrative trade has empowered narco-cartels so immensely that many levels of society seem entangled in their influence. Meanwhile, their heavily armed cartels spread terror and instability, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. In Europe, cocaine use is becoming increasingly socially acceptable. The continent has now become the largest market in the world, driving demand even higher. From a safe distance from the dirty business, European consumers can conveniently place orders online and have cocaine delivered to their doorsteps within an hour.

Two soldiers in camouflage gear inspect makeshift equipment and blue barrels under a metal roof in a dense jungle, possibly investigating an illegal operation. One stands guard while the other examines wiring near a large metal tank.

A pregnant woman lies on her side on a bed in a dimly lit room, resting one hand on her exposed belly and looking directly at the camera with a serious expression.

A man sits shirtless on a stool, looking at his phone, while another man stands behind him holding a barber cape. A colorful mural of an angel with a sword is painted on the wall in the background.

A large group of men sit closely together inside a crowded tent, surrounded by hanging blankets and clothes. Some look at the camera while others gaze elsewhere, creating a somber and contemplative atmosphere.

“Sangre Blanca is my attempt to link a globalized, violent and confusing world. Over years of work across 10 countries, I met people on every side of the cocaine trade and I realized how they all, in their own ways, are trying to break free—free from poverty, hopelessness, or meaninglessness; from violence, or from the noise inside their own minds,” Nissen says.

“I was driven by a need to understand the system that connects us — the links between the world’s most violent cities and Europe’s hunger for intensity or instant pleasure. I witnessed a booming industry alongside a failing strategy, where the blame and the cost are largely offloaded onto already fragile communities. I came to realize that there is no such thing as pure cocaine. It is always soaked in blood.”

A large group of armed soldiers in full uniform and tactical gear poses together outdoors in a grassy, wooded area under a clear sky.

A young man with short hair, wearing a thin chain necklace, looks down with a neutral expression. He has facial scars and several tattoos on his chest, including the words "Familia" and "Elizabeth." The background is dark.

A woman with long, decorated nails holds a necklace with a figure pendant over her chest, wearing another necklace with a crucifix and a gold ring. She has red lipstick and is dressed in dark clothing and a brown coat.

A young woman and a young man sit surrounded by candles and marigold flowers at night. The woman looks thoughtful, while the man lights a cigarette. The scene is warm and illuminated by candlelight.

Nissen’s book is a collaboration with Colombian artist Juan Arreaza, whose paintings weave another visual voice and layer into the work. In his expressive oil paintings, Arreaza draws on his observations of nightlife across Europe and the United States, where young people party on the very substance that is devastating his homeland. And using chemicals sourced from cocaine laboratories, Arreaza portrays a gallery of powerful and historical figures who shaped the drug trade and its wars.

Sagre Blanca, which translates to “White Blood” in English, is published by Gost and available here.

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