The Cost: Who Really Pays for the Drug Trade

Smuggling brings more than contraband across the Blue Water Bridge — it brings money, and money always leaves a mark. In The Cost, Rayvn Rowe uncovers the hidden ways the cocaine trade filters through St. Clair County’s economy: couriers spending cash on cars and bars, shadow businesses propped up by dirty money, and federal funding that follows every bust. But the balance sheet isn’t what it seems. Behind the payouts and contracts are families torn apart, schools strained, and futures lost. The trade profits a few — but the cost is paid by everyone else.